REDEEMING RUTH #2 “GOD’S HAND IN

OUR LUCK”

RUTH 2:1-13 “Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech who’s name was Boaz. And Ruth, the Moabite, said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him and in whose sight I shall find favor.’ And she said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’“So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and he said to the reaper, ‘The Lord be with you.’ And they answered, ‘The Lord bless you.’

“Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, ‘Whose young woman is this?’ And the servant, who was in charge of the reapers answered, ‘She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.’

“Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.’ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’ But Boaz answered her,

‘All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward to be given you by the Lord to the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’

“Then she said, ‘I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.’”

 1-3 Isang araw, sinabi ni Ruth kay Naomi, "Pupunta po ako sa bukid at mamumulot ng mga uhay na naiiwan ng mga gumagapas. Doon ako sa may

likuran ng sinumang papayag."               Sumagot si Naomi, "Ikaw

ang bahala, anak." Kaya't si Ruth ay nagpunta sa bukid at namulot ng

mga uhay, kasunod ng mga gumagapas. Nagkataong ang

napuntahan niya ay ang bukid ni Boaz, isang kamag-anak ni Elimelec na napakayaman at iginagalang sa

kanilang bayan.

  4 Di nagtagal, dumating naman si Boaz mula sa Bethlehem. "Sumainyo si Yahweh,"

ang bati niya sa mga gumagapas.               "Pagpalain naman kayo ni

Yahweh!" sagot nila.               5 Nang makita si Ruth, itinanong

ni Boaz sa katiwala, "Sino ang babaing iyon?"

               6 "Siya po ang Moabitang kasama ni Naomi nang umuwi rito mula sa Moab," sagot ng katiwala. 7 "Nakiusap po siyang makapamulot ng nalaglag na mga uhay. Pinayagan ko naman. Kaya't maagang-maaga pa'y naririto na siya. Katitigil

lamang niya para magpahinga sandali."

      8 Nilapitan ni Boaz si Ruth at kinausap, "Anak, huwag ka nang pupunta sa ibang bukid. Dito ka

na lamang mamulot kasama ng aking mga manggagawang babae. 9 Tingnan mo kung saan sila gumagapas, at sumunod ka. Sinabi ko na sa

mga tauhan ko na huwag kang gambalain. At kung ikaw ay nauuhaw, malaya kang uminom ng

tubig mula sa aking banga."               10 Nagpatirapa si Ruth, bilang

pagbibigaygalang, at nagtanong, "Ako po ay isang dayuhan, bakit po napakabuti ninyo sa akin?"

               11 Sumagot si Boaz, "Nabalitaan ko ang lahat ng ginawa mo sa iyong biyenan mula nang mamatay ang iyong asawa. Alam ko ring iniwan mo ang iyong mga magulang at sariling bayan upang manirahan sa isang lugar na wala kang

kakilala. 

     12 Pagpalain ka nawa ni Yahweh dahil sa iyong ginawa. Gantimpalaan

ka nawa ni Yahweh, ang Diyos ng Israel sapagkat sa kanya ka lumapit

at nagpakupkop!" 13 Sumagot si Ruth, "Salamat po. Pinalakas ninyo

ang aking loob sa inyong sinabi. Kahit ako'y isang hamak na lingkod at sa katunaya'y hindi kabilang sa inyong mga manggagawa, naging

mabuti kayo sa akin."

VERSE 1, Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man standing, whose name was Boaz.

MARA MEANS BITTER; SHE’S A

BITTER OLD WOMAN

BOAZ.” Literally means “strength, mighty one, man’s man.” Sometimes refers to a MAN OF WAR – so he could fight. He also – it is used of men who are MEN OF WEALTH. So he runs a good business. He’s good with his money. And MEN OF WHEREWITHALHE’S A MAN OF WAR; HE’S A MAN OF WEALTH; AND A MAN OF WHEREWITHAL, meaning if there’s hardship, difficulty, oppression, he gets things done. He is the guy who delivers results. Boaz. Boaz is the dude of dudes.

VERSE 2 –And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields and pick up the left over grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor. Naomi said to her, Go ahead my daughter.

What is GLEANING? Gleaning is the equivalent to social services, food bank, homeless shelter, soup kitchen, food stamps. That’s the Hebrew equivalent.  And the way it works is this. God, in the Old Testament, he told his people, “The land belongs to me. So if you own a piece of land, actually I own it, too, and when you work the land, harvest what I give you for food, but don’t take all of the food. Leave a little bit so that the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien, the oppressed, the immigrant, the needy, can work” – not just get a handout, but work – “come to the field, and take some of the food home for themselves and their family.” This was the Hebrew welfare system.

They have hit rock bottom. These are women who are in a devastated, very difficult place.

But here’s Ruth, willing to work hard, do anything,

venture out in faith, and hope, and trust, and pray that the

Lord gives them away to have a meal. And she’s willing to work to also feed her mother-in-law.

VERSE 3. ” So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

THIS ISN’T HAPPENSTANCE, CIRCUMSTANCE, FORTUNE, CHANCE. THIS IS PROVIDENCE.

 But it’s the providence of God, which is the theme of the Book, that God sometimes works through his visible hand of miracle, sometimes works through his invisible hand of providence.

And here what it is saying is what looks to you and I like chance, circumstance, free will, decisions, good karma, lucky day, is really what? The gracious providing hand of the God of providence, who is both sovereign and good. As

James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.(NIV)

Isaiah 65:11"But as for you who forsake the LORD and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,(NIV)

If we’re Christians, we don’t believe in chance, circumstance, karma, fortune, luck. We believe in the gracious hand of a providential, good, sovereign God. It doesn’t mean we don’t make choices. Ruth did. But it means that God also is at work in our lives.

VERSE 4, Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, The Lord be with you. The Lord bless you, they called back.

VERSE 6, The foreman replied, She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi

What we see is that Ruth is a woman of outstanding character. She’s not looking for a handout. She’s working hard. She’s honest. She’s worked hard all day to feed herself and her mother-in-law. She, in many ways, illustrates the Proverbs 31 sort of great woman with a great work ethic.

ONE, what is going to attract him to Ruth is her character. Gentlemen! You need to marry a woman who’s not just attractive – you need to be attracted to your wife, she would appreciate that.

But not just attracted to her physically, you also gotta be attracted to her character and her work ethic and her, her devotion to the Lord, because there are some women who are a good time, and there are other women who are a good legacy.

In addition to being attractive, you got to look at her character.

TWO, Boaz is gonna go after the woman that’s

in front of him.

VERSE 8 So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter listen to me.

Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from

here. Stay here with my servant girls.

Look at the progression. Before he talks to the woman, he’s a Christian. He’s not going to hell. He has a job. Stops going to hell; starts going to work. Has a job, and then he talks to a woman.

Protector, provider, defender, Boaz, man of war.

Chivalry’s good. He’s a man of chivalry.

Paul says in the New Testament that gentlemen, we’re to treat Christian ladies as sisters. Boaz does that. He treats her like he would want his sister to be treated. Loves her, speaks to her, he’s gonna feed her, and care for her, and give her a job, and give her friends, and make sure no boys are messing with her. That’s a good guy. He’s a godly man. He’s not doing this for any ulterior motive.

VERSE 10. At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me - a foreigner 

VERSE 11. “But Boaz answered her, ‘All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me.’

“Ruth, your character, your reputation precedes you. Everyone is talking about you. You just met the Lord. You’ve had a hard life, but you love the Lord. You serve the Lord. You’ve come here to go to church. You’ve come here to walk with God. You’ve come here to walk with God’s people. You’ve been loyal and faithful to your mother-in-law. You’re a hardworking, wonderful woman. I respect you. I admire you. I’m not trying to flatter you, but I want to encourage you.” that is a great man.

VERSE 12  This is a beautiful beginning to any relationship. This is not the first person Boaz has prayed for. Boaz is a man who prays for people when he meets them. This is just part of his character. This is how he operates.

VERSE 12 he prays, “‘The Lord repay you for what you have done.’” THE FLIPSIDE OF PROVIDENCE IS PRAYER. Because God is sovereign and good, which is my definition of the providence of God, we can ask him. He will hear and answer because he can and he wants to.

He prays this, “‘The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you’ve come to take refuge.’”

Did that prayer of Boaz come true? Did God answer that prayer? Yes. Who did God send to answer the prayer of Boaz? Boaz. BASED UPON THIS TEXT, THAT SOMETIMES WE NEED TO ANSWER OUR OWN PRAYERS.

FUNCTIONS OF PRAYER:

SOMETIMES PRAYER MOVES THE HAND OF GOD,

SOMETIMES PRAYER CHANGES THE HEART OF THE ONE WHO IS ASKING,

SO OFTENTIMES CHRISTIANS PRAY FOR THINGS THAT ARE NOT WRONG TO PRAY FOR, BUT THEN FAIL TO ACT TO ANSWER THAT PRAYER.

DON’T JUST PRAY, ANSWER THE PRAYER.

Jesus did the same thing. I’ll tell you where he did it. On the cross, Jesus prays, “Father, “Forgive them.” And then what does Jesus do? Answers his own prayer by dying for the forgiveness of sin. Boaz prays for Ruth. Boaz answers that prayer.

What looks like a bunch of amazing coincidences ends up being a tapestry that God weaves together as both sovereign and good.

Don’t just pray for people, but in as much as God would enable you, answer those prayers.

But I just love the fact that our God would compare himself to a wing. Deep down, that means a lot to me. God’s a good God.

VERSE 13. “may I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord she said. You have given comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant- though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls.

Women are looking for a man who’s masculine, but can comfort, and speaks kindly. He comforts her. He respects her. He cares for her. He’s a defender, protector, provider. He’s a man who speaks kindly. He’s an encourager.

Boaz has gone far beyond on the law, all the way to grace. He’s done way beyond what she could have asked, or hoped for, or even prayed for.

The gospel is that you and I are Ruth, that we’re pagans, we’re sinners, we’re rebels. We come from the wrong background. We come to the Lord empty-handed and needy, and that the Lord Jesus is Boaz, that’s the gospel.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great English preacher and one of my all-time favorites, calls Jesus Christ, “our glorious Boaz.”

And as Boaz went to survey his fields, so the Lord Jesus came to survey his proverbial field here. And as Boaz looked out and saw Ruth, so Jesus has seen us, and as Boaz pursued Ruth, so Jesus has pursued us, and as Boaz spoke to Ruth kindly, so Jesus has spoken to us kindly, and as Boaz went beyond the requirements of the law, all the way to grace, so the Lord Jesus has gone beyond the requirements of the law, all the way to grace, and we’ve found, to use the words of Ruth, favor in the eyes of the Lord Jesus, our glorious Boaz.

NOW BOAZ UNDERSTANDS THAT HE COMES TO GOD EMPTY-HANDED, AND THAT EVERYTHING HE HAS BELONGS TO THE LORD. AND BECAUSE HE HAS RECEIVED EVERYTHING AS A GIFT, HE IS VERY GENEROUS, AND HE IS A GIFT-GIVER.

He’s a man of grace, or favor. The reason this is important is that the main thread of the book is the providence of God. Some of the secondary themes are God’s care for the poor and the widow, elsewhere he says also the orphan.

In the Bible – there are two kinds of rich people and two kinds of poor people. There are righteous and unrighteous rich. Unrighteous rich people rip people off and don’t share. Righteous rich people earn their money honestly and share it generously. Likewise, there are two kinds of poor people, righteous and unrighteous poor. The unrighteous poor drink all their money, are too lazy to get a job, they do drugs and squander it away gambling. They’re poor because of sin.

THE ISSUE IS NOT RICH AND POOR. THE ISSUE IS RIGHTEOUS AND UNRIGHTEOUS.

And what infuriates among some young Christians, some more urban Christians, is this issue that poor equals righteous and the poor are close to God. Some poor people love the Lord, some rich people love the Lord. It’s not rich and poor, it’s righteous and unrighteous. We can’t allow socio-economics and politics to dictate our gospel, our understanding of how we get close to God. It’s not through how much money we do or do not have. It’s through Jesus.

2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.(NIV)

Whether or you are rich, or whether you are poor, that does not make you any closer or further to God. It does not necessarily indicate whether or not God loves you or not. We receive salvation as a free gift, that Jesus is our glorious Boaz. He gives himself to us, his life, death, burial, resurrection. He forgives us, saves us. We, like Ruth, might look at Jesus as she looked at Boaz, and say, “Why have you been so nice to me?” And he would say, “It’s grace. It’s love. It’s mercy. It’s favor. I don’t owe you anything, but I love you. This is who I am.”

Boaz is, in the words of Corinthians, a cheerful giver. He doesn’t say, “Why do I need to give a portion of my earnings to the poor?” What he says is, “It all belongs to the Lord. This portion God has given me; this portion God has given me to share.” Why would God give us a portion to share? Because the providence of God works through us, oftentimes.

That is, God’s hand is extended to us, we put our hand in God’s hand, and then God uses us, not to just pray for people, but to care for them. Food, shelter, water, the kinds of things that dominate the Book of Ruth.

And so, it is the gospel. No one owes you anything, but we will give you what we have because that is grace. That is mercy. That is favor. That is Jesus. And you can do that if you’re rich or poor. Like Boaz and Ruth, whether you’re rich or poor, you could still be righteous.

We don’t want you to walk out of here thinking poor people are good, rich people are bad. You probably think that only if you’re poor, which is more than a little bit self-righteous.

We’re saying do your part with the people that are in your life. Give to your church. Beyond that, have a global heart for widows, orphans, the poor, and those in need, not ‘cause you have to, ‘cause you get to.

You say, “Well, this is my money.” No, it’s all the Lord’s. And, like Boaz, if we have that attitude – God loves a cheerful giver – and he who has been entrusted with little can be entrusted with much more. And the context there, according to Jesus, is money.

But what a blessing it is to have God take your hand and to put something in it, and God allow you the privilege of sharing it, and sharing in the joy of being a person who gets to do the gospel.

It’s about grace. It’s about favor. It’s about mercy. It’s about not just praying that God would change the world, but then participating in the work of God and sharing in the joy of God as he uses us as instruments in his hand to be about the transformation of people’s lives

Just, don’t come to him with hands full. Come to him with hands empty, as Ruth came to Boaz, and he will exceed all expectations. Confess your sin, and the Lord Jesus Christ will forgive you. When you’re ready, partake of communion, which is remembering the gift of Jesus’ body and blood, salvation by grace, through faith, in Christ.  

We’ll give of our tithes and offerings, not because this is what we give to the Lord, it’s because this is what belongs to the Lord, and this is the part he has given us to share, in addition to the part he has given us to spend for our own needs.