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Text: Ruth 3:1-18
Theme: God is a great provider.
If we will only look around us we can see His loving provisions.
Date: 08/28/2022 File Name: Ruth_03 Code: OT08-03
There is a time for God’s people to wait passively for God to remove obstacles, but there also comes a time for God’s people to engage those obstacles in faith.
This is why in both Old and New Testaments, God’s people are encouraged to pray for and seek out wisdom.
Whether we are waiting on God or tackling a situation head-on, both are to be done in faith that God works all things together for good for those who love Him.
God is concerned about the details of our lives.
ILLUS.
I shared with someone earlier this week that if God is the loving Father the Bible says He is (and He is), then there is no detail about our life that God does not care about.
I used the illustration of purchasing a car.
When Linda and I bought our first new car after we’d gotten married, I asked my dad if there was a particular color that he liked.
His response was, “It’s your car.
I don’t care.
You choose.”
Well, I still wanted to know what color he liked and he finally told me.
Now, to be honest, we didn’t get that color, but I think my dad appreciated that I asked his opinion.
Does God care what color of car you buy?
In the grand scheme of His will for your life, I think God’s answer would be my dad’s answer, “It’s your car.
I don’t care.
You choose, but I’m glad you asked.”
(But then again, you might hear God say, “I like the bright red one!”
You see, we ask because we are in a relationship with God.
This is one of the lessons from the story of Ruth and Boaz — Godis at work in the seemingly small, everyday events of our lives.
He’s concerned about the details of our lives.
All three characters in this chapter took risks that rendered them vulnerable; all three trusted God; all three were motivated by love.
I. NAOMI PLOTS: The Mate
Ruth 3:1-5
1. when I say that Naomi is plotting, I don’t mean that in a negative way
a. but she knows that time is of the essence, and if God’s will is going to be accomplished, Ruth is going to have to engage the obstacle of Boaz’s romantic inertia
2. it has been two months since Naomi and Ruth have returned to Bethlehem
a. they got there just as the Spring grain harvest was commencing
b.
Ruth immediately begins providing for herself and her mother-in-law by going into the grain fields to glean
1) as we have seen in chapters one and two, God has providentially brought Ruth to the fields owned by Boaz who “just happens” to be a close kinsman of her deceased father-in-law
a) and let me remind you again that in the story of Ruth, nothing is “just happening”!
3. Boaz, as we say, has taken a shine to Ruth — especially after hearing her story of how she has dedicated herself to the care of her mother-in-law, and devoted herself to the worship of Yahweh — the One True God
A. BOAZ NEEDS A NUDGE
1. Naomi sees what everyone else in Bethlehem who has “eyes to see” sees — the developing romance between Boaz and Ruth
ILLUS.
They are playing the standard Hallmark Romance characters.
They are falling in love.
It is obvious to everyone except the couple falling in love.
Boaz, being a man, is especially clueless.
Naomi is going to have to explain things to Ruth and get the ball rolling.
a. Naomi is certain that Boaz’s interest in Ruth went beyond being merely a kind benefactor
1) in vs. 1 she approaches Ruth with all the kindness befitting a loving mother to broach a delicate matter
a) Ruth is going to have to take a bolder approach with Boaz
b) Naomi’s chief aim is Ruth’s well-being — Naomi is growing old, and wants to make sure Ruth will be provided for
2) what Ruth really needs is a husband and a family
ILLUS.
OK.
I know that is a really patriarchal, woman-hating statement that we dare not make in our progressive society.
That said, it remains God’s essential design for the flourishing of men and women and children in this world.
b. it was time for Ruth to stop mourning her late husband, and move on in her life
ILLUS.
In the 1954 Hollywood musical There’s No Business Like Show Business, Tim Donahue, played by Donald O’Connor is falling in love with Vicky Parker, played by Marilyn Monroe.
And she’s in love with him, only neither one is sure about the other’s romantic intentions.
At one point Tim Donahue sings the song A Man Chases A Girl (Until She Catches Him) written by Irving Berlin.
Here are the lyrics.
A man chases a girl until she catches him
He runs after a girl until he's caught
He fishes for a girl until she's landed him
It all comes out exactly the way she thought
Uncertain, he tags along behind
Uncertain, till she makes up his mind
A man chases a girl until she catches him
But don't run too fast while you are saying "No"
And once you've caught him don't ever let him go
c.
Boaz could just as well sung this song about him and Ruth
3. after introducing the subject, Naomi identified the object of her plan — it’s Boaz!
a. Ruth cannot delay any longer — the harvest season is nearly over, and when it is Ruth’s and Boaz’s regular contact will end
b.
Naomi outlines her strategy
1) be attractive ... be attentive ... be assertive ... and be available
“Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were?
See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
3 Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.”
(Ruth 3:2–3, ESV)
2) these actions would indicate to Boaz that her formal mourning period was over
a) if Ruth was wearing mourning garments — and she probably was — it may help explain in part Boaz’s compassion for her, but also his romantic inertia
c. all these actions would indicate that Ruth was ready to re-enter normal life — including the possibility of marriage
4. in these verses we witness Naomi’s love for Ruth as Naomi plots out a course of ction for Ruth to take
a. we also witness Ruth’s trust of Naomi’s judgment
1) we all need people like Naomi in our lives — wise people who’s judgment we trust
II.
RUTH PROPOSES: The Date
Ruth 3:6-10
1. the grain has been threshed, winnowed
a. in the morning it would be stored in ceramic jars which then had to be moved to Bethlehem
b. meanwhile, Ruth goes to the threshing floor and does everything her mother-in-law told her to do
“So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her.
7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.””
(Ruth 3:6–7, ESV)
ILLUS.
A threshing floor was a large circular area, with a hard, smooth surface where the stalks of grain were first flailed to knock the heads loose from the stalk and the grain loose from the head.
Sometimes oxen were used to drag a “grain sled” over the stalks to do the same.
This was called threshing.
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