Sermon Tone Analysis

This is a scythe & he takes out the whipper snipper in this contest

Most of us older people have heard of the Grim Reaper

The Grim Reaper is a skeletal character shrouded in dark robes & carrying a scythe

This mythical figure appeared around the 14th C. & represents, not the devil, but death

If you are familiar with 14th C. Europe, you might be familiar with what was called the Black Death or Black Plague & the figure of the Grim Reaper first appeared during this time

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This is where the pandemic, most likely that of Bubonic Plague, killed about a third of the European population

The Grim Reaper is said to depict this horrible time & you would have noticed that he is carrying a scythe

But why the skeletal figure?

Why the scythe?

Why the robe?

Skeletons are symbolic of death, representing the human body after it has decayed.

The robe is thought to be reminiscent of the robes that religious figures of the time wore when conducting funerary services.

The scythe is an apt image taken from agricultural practices of the time: harvesters used scythes to reap or harvest crops that were ready to be plucked from the earth…and, well, that’s kind of what happens when humans die: they are plucked from this earth.

— https://www.britannica.com/story/where-does-the-concept-of-a-grim-reaper-come-from

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Video - Reapers are the ones who use a scythe or sickle - a sickle is a mini scythe to cut down the stalks

Sheaves are the bundles of the wheat or barley that are cut & dropped on the ground

All that is reaped, you then have to gather & tie into bundles (called sheaves) which are then taken to the threshing floor where the grain is beaten off the stalk or threshed off by the use of a big flat wooden skid that is dragged over the top of the unbundled sheaves

The mixture of the grain & the chaff (the leaves/stalk/residue) is then taken outside - preferable somewhere open to the wind - & it is thrown in the air with a big folk - a winnowing fork

The wind then carries away the light stuff - the chaff - & the heavy grain just drops to the ground where it is gathered up

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The next step, of course, is for the grain to be ground up so you have the flour left so you can make bread, cakes, scones & the like

We saw an old grinding mill when we were in the states

The mill stone was used to grind the grain into flour

You know how Jesus says that it is better to have a mill stone hung around your neck & be drowned in the sea than to cause one of His own to stumble into sin - they’re very heavy

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The chaff that blew away over the ground was also gathered up & then burned - since it is useless to the owner

You should also know the message of John the Baptist who uses the analogy of the chaff as He refers to what God will do with the “chaff” of the earth who refuse to repent

Unquenchable is an unmistaken reference to the unquenching fire of hell

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In the NT, you also have the figure of angels who gather or reap from the earth the harvest of the people who will be judged

The sickle works similarly to the scythe - the sickle you could say is a mini scythe

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In this next passage that I will show you, Jesus speaks of wheat & tares

Tares are actually weeds but are indistinguishable from wheat - they look the same

It’s only at the harvest that you can then tell them apart

But Tares produce nothing & some are, in fact, poisonous

So here you have the analogy to the harvesting of the wheat & the tares

The tares are bundled together & along with the chaff are burned - the analogy to the fires of hell

This is the meaning here too we find in Jesus’ words to His disciples

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In this chapter today from Ruth, we see her go to a field & she follows after the reapers - Ruth is a gleaner - gleaning the pickings & leftovers of what the gatherers failed to pick up on their way through

Now Ruth could not help herself to the bundles that the reapers cut down & gatherers collect

Ruth was going after all the pieces they had left behind

You might think that that would upset the owner of the field

Well, on occasion, yes - it would upset the owner who was ungodly & greedy

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The law of God actually made provision for the poorer people in this way

The godly owner would allow it to happen because he fears God

Here are some passages that speak to this provision

Ruth went gleaning behind the reapers & gatherers

To glean is to pick up what remains after the gatherers had bundled the stalks into sheaves

In other words, the reapers & gatherers were not allowed, by the law of God, to go through the field a second or third time to get as many pickings/gleanings as they can

They had to leave it for the poor - the corners of the field were even to be left for the poor

1. Ruth’s Mission

Ruth was a widow & under the law, she had every right to be in the field at harvest following after the reapers & gatherers

The Scripture here neatly puts what was highlighted in the first chapter - that under God’s providence, life can be very difficult - & I subtitled it - “When God’s Sovereignty Works Against You”

Yet by the same token, it’s not over till it’s over, as Paul reminds the church at Rome

In v.3 we see that it just so happened that Ruth came to the portion of the field that belonged to Boaz - oh really, it just so happened

I think we are to see here a measure of the grace of God operating through this happenstance

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What we see in Ruth is a model of virtue

Not only was she loyal to Naomi, but she is a hard worker & content to be in the situation she finds herself in

Yes, times were difficult - she lost her husband & joined another people & another God

She had stepped out, but she keeps giving & going forward

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So many people would want to give up at this stage being so miserable with their lot in life

Perhaps, Ruth had these struggles, but the image we get of her here, at least, shows that it had no impact on the way she acted

She put herself to work relying upon the grace she may find in the eye of the field owner

2. Reputation Rewarded

It just so happened that the field’s owner is Boaz & unbeknown to Ruth, Boaz is a near relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband

Boaz feared God.

To the reapers, he says, “Yahweh bless you” & they respond, “may Yahweh bless you”

Boaz happens to notice the person of Ruth among, no doubt, other women gleaning in the field

Q. Did she catch his romantic eye?

Perhaps, it may have been that she seemed very young to be gleaning - that she has lost her husband at such a young age

I tend to think that he had an eye for her, but we don’t know for sure

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But his interest surely intensify’s once he finds out who she is

Whoa, I know about her, what she has been through & what kindness she has shown to my relative Elimelech & Naomi

This woman is a woman of excellence, despite being a Moabitess

The sense there of a young bird coming under the wing of protection of it’s mother

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Ruth had a right to glean behind the reapers & gatherers, but she did not presume to do so, without permission

She asked the servant if she could do this - & got permission

She worked all day long in gleaning from the leftovers in the field

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Boaz, however, immediately pours his grace upon her

She is to...

Not leave his field to go to another owners field

She is to stay with his maids

She can go for whatever field he has & glean till her heart’s content

She can be at ease since he has commanded his servants not to touch or harm her

She has absolute freedom to drink all the water she wishes, from what Boaz’s servants draw

With that she bowed to the ground in gratitude

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However, it did not end there

Boaz commanded his servants that she be allowed to glean even among the sheaves that were bundled on the ground - so right up behind where they were reaping & gathering to bundle into sheaves

At mealtime - at noon - Boaz invited her to dine with him

She sat beside the reapers - with them - & Boaz served her roasted grain - he served her!

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If you have any idea of the social structure at this time, that would be considered out of line

This is a turn about face - meals were not eaten with just anybody

She was, technically, not on the same level in society as the reapers, after all, she was gleaning the fields for the dregs of what was left - she was, for all intents & purposes, a scavenger

But Boaz caused her to sit alongside his reapers & he himself served her food

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Q. Was she being rewarded for her kindness to Naomi or did Boaz have an eye for Ruth?

I know you romantics out there are probably reading into the story Boaz’s attraction to Ruth

Granted, it may well have been there

However, this is clearly an expression of his compassion & generosity to the woman who stuck by his relatives through thick & thin & he is rewarding her for her loyalty

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Oh yes, his generosity went even further as he says to the ones who gathered the stalks after the reapers cut them down

So his gatherers are to pull out some of the stalks from the sheaves & oh, accidentally drop them on the ground so that Ruth could pick them up

She is getting special treatment from Boaz - she is being rewarded for her good character which was shown by her loyalty to Naomi

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It’s a rare happening nowadays - I actually remember a time when loyalty was rewarded, but that has certainly fallen away

Take Electricity & Gas companies for example