Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

We live in a world that is restlessness.

This comes in all kinds of forms.

One is in the form of sleep.

According to the CDC, at least 1/3 of Americans do not get the recommended amount of sleep (1).

They are restless.

We see that Americans also struggle with finding rest and contentment in more recent studies during COVID as well.

According to a study by the University of Chicago in 2020 - only 14% of Americans would consider themselves very happy.

They are restless.

They are worried and anxious.

50% of people in this study said they felt isolated and lonely as well (2).

Where do we turn in order to get rest?

Many turn to drugs, alcohol, sexual sin, money.

But they all leave you empty and restless in the end.

The promise rest but the end up leading to more and more restlessness.

Watch anyone who is addicted to a substance and you will someone striving for yet never finding rest.

In fact, you will see someone who continually gets more restless with every use of the substance.

Watch anyone seeking rest from money and you will see that they find that there is never enough money to provide a cure for their restlessness.

When the stock market is going great they are restless knowing it is going to drop at some point.

And when the stock market is down they are restless wondering how much more they are going to lose.

Today we are going to talk about finding rest in the Lord.

We are going to see how God sovereignly provides rest for Ruth and we are going to see how this applies to us even today.

Let us pray.

Prayer

Today we are going to discuss three different realities that we find as we seek rest.

The first is:

I.

When We Seek Rest in the Lord...

The Risk is Real (1-7)

If you remember last week - we ended with around a 6-7 week barley harvest if not a bit longer.

Ruth has been working in the field of Boaz and providing a great deal of food for she and Naomi.

One must assume that the first day was not the only that Boaz invited Ruth to his table.

They have probably had some further conversations during this time as well.

God has continued showing favor to these poor and widowed women through the personal demonstration of grace through Boaz.

It has been such a blessed return to Bethlehem for Naomi and a blessed welcome for Ruth.

Yet Naomi knows there is still something missing.

What does Naomi mean when she says she seeks rest for Ruth?

The word, mānôaḥ (mah-no-ah), translated rest, refers to finding her a husband under whose protection would guarantee her safety and security in Israel.

You see, Naomi is significantly older than Ruth and realizes that if she dies then Ruth will be in trouble.

There is no Israelite inheritance for her.

She would have no home and would likely be forced to go back to Moab or at best to live in poverty in Israel.

Then we see Naomi start to reveal where Ruth can find that rest that she just mentioned!

Note that none of this is about Naomi.

Naomi is fine.

Her faith has been renewed through seeing the providential work of God in her own life.

She is able to stay in her home.

She is able to eat well because of the kindness of Boaz.

However, she knows that after she passes, Ruth will be left with no one.

It is likely safe to assume that in the 6-7 week period, Boaz and Ruth have gotten to know each other a little more.

Naomi has likely gotten to know more about Boaz as well.

His reputation in a small town like Bethlehem would be easy to learn about for Naomi.

Naomi has concluded that this man would be great for the job of marrying Ruth!

Note an incredibly subtle - yet important comment in verse 2:

Confirmation of Acceptance

Is not Boaz..our relative.

This is quite the first person plural pronoun here ladies and gentlemen.

She just called Ruth an outright Israelite!

Boaz has recognized her conversion to following Yahweh and Naomi has as well.

Moving to the end of verse two we see that Boaz is going to be winnowing barley that night at the threshing floor.

For those of you who haven’t heard of winnowing - Boaz would hammer the barley grain and then throw up (or winnow) the straw which would be carried by windy gusts and the barley being heavier would fall onto a rocky surface and be collected.

It separated the inedible straw from the edible barley.

Then we move on to the plan of Naomi:

Through verse two we are all probably on the same page.

Boaz seems like a great guy.

Ruth seems like a great girl.

Why not hook these two up.

Way to go Naomi!

And then we get to this crazy plan in verses 3-5.

Before going through this further I think it is important to understand a pivotal understanding of Scripture.

We have two big categories of Scripture:

Prescriptive - meaning that this is something that we should do.

Descriptive - meaning that this is something that is described in Scripture.

Much of the descriptive parts of Scripture are things that we shouldn’t necessarily do ourselves but are provided so that we can learn from the historical narrative given.

Prescriptive sections of Scripture are commands given to us by God - such as do not murder, do not steal, etc.

This section would be classified as a descriptive historical narrative.

This is not a plan we should make for our daughters.

If this plan was made in a different situation with different people - well bad things would likely happen!

Naomi and Ruth know something important about Boaz as this plan is formulated.

They know his reputation in the city and they know he is a righteous man (Ruth 2:1).

As we read this - we must be careful that we also understand that everything done in the Bible isn’t always done correctly!

Yet God sovereignly uses everything for His plan and purpose.

So getting back to this plan - Naomi comes up with a pretty crazy plan for Ruth to bathe herself, put on perfume (anoint herself), and sneak in at night and uncover his feet and lay down.

This seems a bit risky!

What is just as crazy as the plan is verse 5! Ruth just goes with the plan!

Ruth says she will do it and doesn’t even interrogate Naomi!

The faith of Ruth in God and in Naomi is incredible.

I’m pretty sure most of us would have a lot of questions if asked to do something this risky.

You would think she would ask questions like this:

What do I do if he gets angry?

What if he rejects me?

What if he tries to harm me?

But not Ruth - she goes in faith and does what Naomi tells her.

Then comes the plan in action:

We see Naomi’s plan played out here.

He lays down at the end of the heap of grain - no one else is around him.

And Ruth uncovers his feet and lays down.

I love this book of Ruth.

It has so many places where you don’t know exactly what is going to happen next.

We have just been presented with this outlandish plan of Naomi’s and we have seen Ruth follow it textbook.

How will Boaz respond to this incredible risk that Ruth has just done?