Sermon Tone Analysis

Open with Story of meeting Janine…everyone has a story...

Today we find ourselves in Ruth 3…and what we have here is a Hallmark Movie that is a true story…and if there was a way for Hallmark to make this take place at Christmas, you would be seeing this airing this week!

Our Story So Far...

It has been a few weeks since we met with Ruth…so we need to make sure we know what is happening before we dive into Ruth 3

The story of Ruth begins with Naomi, along with her two sons, following her husband, Elimelech from Bethlehem to Moab.

Moab was not a good place for them or any child of Israel...Elimelech dies, and then her two sons die, and she is left alone with two Moabite daughters in law.

They are three widows, childless, no family to carry on their line.

Naomi hears that there is food in Bethlehem, and so Naomi decides to go back to Bethlehem, tells her two daughters in law to stay there in Moab.

They both start out with her, but then one returns and the other, Ruth, looks at Naomi and says, “I’m going with you.

Your people will be my people.

Your god will be my god.

I’m going to be buried with you.

I am committed to you.”

And so at the end of Ruth 1, Ruth and Naomi walk together back into Bethlehem.

Naomi tells her friends who recognize her that she is bitter...She went away full and she has come back empty with nothing in her hands.

That leads us into Ruth 2.

Here are two women in need of food and in need of family.

The need for food is tackled in Ruth 2.

Ruth goes out into the fields to glean.

It was harvest time, and she just so happened to find herself in the fields of a guy name Boaz.

And Boaz just so happened to walk up when Ruth was working in his field, and she caught his eye.

And the rest is what Hallmark writers live for...

Boaz is the handsome leading man who comes to her rescue…and he wonderfully provides both food and protection for Ruth and Naomi...it was an incredible romantic scene in Ruth 2.

She comes back to her mother-in-law, and Naomi begins to change from bitter to hopeful.

She cannot believe all this grain that has been brought back.

And the best part is when Ruth tells her whose field she had been in.

She had been in the fields of Boaz, and Naomi immediately recognizes Boaz is from the clan of Elimelech, which means he is uniquely qualified to care for them, and to provide for them, and to protect them, to take them under his care.

And so Naomi says, “Ruth, stay in his fields.

Everyday you go to his field.”

And that’s what she did.

Everyday throughout the harvest season she’s in Boaz’s fields, week after week after week she is in Boaz’s fields.

But then we get this anti-climactic ending to Ruth 2, when it says “And she lived with her mother-in-law.”

Hallmark movie lovers are quite disappointed at this moment.

Food has been taken care of.

They have enough grain probably for at least the rest of the year, but family is still a void...

So if this was a movie, by now all you ladies are watching and wondering when Boaz is going to wake up and do something.

That is where we left off...So it’s like we’ve been on the longest commercial break in history…

By the way, historical narratives can be challenging to preach and teach…they don’t always lend themselves to the traditional format of here’s your main point and then subsequent points to build up that thought…

So today I want to take a slightly different approach as we walk through this story...

Instead of telling you the main point at the beginning we will wait to the end…

Let’s immerse ourselves into the story to hear what the original hearers were hearing…historically, this book takes place in the time of Judges, but it was written during the reign of King David…about David’s grandparents…

So as we look at this story we will break it down into Scenes...

Scene 1 — A Risky Plan

Picture in your mind’s eye this entire chapter takes place under a cloak of darkness.

It happens from sunset to sunrise.

Ruth 3:1 “Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?”

That’s Hebrew for, “Ruth you need a man.

You need a husband.”

be well with you…in that culture the rest, security, and comfort for women was found in the home of a loving husband.

You need a husband, Ruth.

Right off the bat we see the mother-in-law stepping into this romance thing and devising a plan.

Ruth 3:2 ““Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were?

Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight.”

The narrator reveals two things about Boaz.

Boaz is a kinsman, which basically means that Boaz is an eligible bachelor for Ruth.

And we’re going to see this even more in Ruth 4, this picture of the kinsman, the kinsman redeemer.

We saw it last week at the end of Ruth 2. It’s kind of a thread that’s been woven throughout.

We’re going to see it really come out in Ruth 4....But the picture is, Boaz is an eligible bachelor.

And then second, Boaz is going to be on the threshing floor...

After all the barley had been harvested, you would have a secluded area, most likely on the side of a hill or something where in the evening, when there was this cool breeze that was coming across, you toss the barley up into the air and the wind would come and blow away the chaff...the grain, which was heavier, would fall to the ground.

And so this is what winnowing is.

They would sleep at the threshing floor to protect their harvest from thieves.

The people in Bethlehem shared the threshing floor and had a rotation...Naomi knows that that evening Boaz is going to be winnowing barley in a place that’s more secluded.

Up until this point, Boaz has just been in the field.

It’s not like Ruth could go up to Boaz in the middle of the field and say, “Hey, have you ever thought about marrying me?”

It’s not happened to this point, but this is a unique opportunity that is set before them.

And so here’s what Naomi says needs to happen.

Ruth 3:3-4 ““Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

“It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do.””

You might be a little shocked be now to hear Naomi say this to Ruth…What in the world did she just tell Ruth to do?

This is not “Ruth go make yourself look hot!”

It is not “Ruth you stink from working in the fields and you’ll never win a man smelling like dirt”

Over in Second Samuel 12:20, King David does the exact same thing.

He washes himself.

He puts oil on, and he puts on his best clothes...to signify that he has left behind a time of mourning over his son who has passed away.

This is the transition from mourning to, “Okay I’m moving on now.”

And so the picture here is that the time for Ruth’s mourning over being a widow is over…it is time to move on…(can’t you just see that in a Hallmark movie where the leading lady is reluctant to have any relationships because of her past…)

Naomi says it’s time to put that behind you and move on to show that you are ready to move forward from your former husband.

“You’re eligible for marriage, and, in addition, you’ll smell better.”

So, she tells her to go hide at the threshing floor and keep an eye on him…do not make yourself known to him…you wait until he has finished eating and drinking....

This is not a picture of Boaz getting drunk…what we know of Boaz to this point would communicate that is not like him...

This is just simply wait until he’s in a good mood.

Let’s face it…men are in better moods after we’ve had a nice meal.

So wait until he’s finished eating and drinking, he’s in a good mood.

When he goes over to the edge of the winning floor, lays down and looks up in the stars and falls asleep, here’s what you’re going to do…notice the place where he lies…

remember the setting is dark…she didn’t have a cell phone to use as a flashlight…she had to make sure it was Boaz before she took the next step or she could be in a very difficult predicament.

uncover his feet and lie down…that’s not something you do with just anybody, any day.

To go to him and do this, as you’re listening to this being described, you’re thinking what is Naomi up to.

What is Naomi telling Ruth to do?

The effect of these words in the original language of the Old Testament is to send the hearers’ minds just racing.

Uncover his legs?

Lie down?

And this is what she’s supposed to do?

This is what a Moabite worker in the field is supposed to do to the Israelite owner of the field?

Ruth 3:5 “She said to her, “All that you say I will do.””

Can you imagine what is going through Ruth’s mind…this is a huge risk for Ruth to take…she knew what Naomi was telling her to do and that is why it is important for her to know it was Boaz…to take note of where he slept…she didn’t want to do this to the wrong guy!

Ruth 3:6 “So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.”

She did it…and sure enough Boaz falls into the trap!

So Naomi devised a plan and Ruth followed it completely.

Scene 2 — A Midnight Proposal