John Piper, “Ruth: Sweet and Bitter Providence,” Lesson 3

Covenant Reformed Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

It's time to go to chapter 3. I'm not trying to get away from it.

00:08

In fact, I love it So let's go there chapter 3

00:14

I Have one phrase I want you to keep in mind in this chapter and that is the phrase

00:23

Strategic righteousness It's my phrase. I'm not borrowing it from anybody may not be the best

00:30

I'll explain what I mean by righteousness. I mean something very simple of doing the the right thing

00:36

Doing the God -honoring thing doing the thing that looks Wise and God centered in the moment

00:50

Trusting in the Lord just doing right Strategic means that you you have put some thought into this

00:57

This is why I said I'm turning the tables on the non plan emphasis from last night Do do plan

01:06

Let your righteousness be thought about Plan some righteous behavior at the university this fall plan some righteous activity

01:18

Plan how to grow in righteousness plan how to treat people Righteously, so what we have here first in Naomi and then in Ruth and then in Boaz we'll take them just like that We have strategic

01:35

Righteousness so first Naomi in verses 1 to 5 and then

01:40

Ruth in verses 6 to 9 and Then Boaz in verses 10 to 15 we have three of them acting out

01:51

Strategic righteousness So first Naomi in verses 1 to 5 that the sheer fact that Naomi has a plan is

02:04

Very significant here's here's the significance When you are hopeless as she was

02:14

Apparently for a season in chapter 1 You don't dream dreams

02:21

Hopeless people don't dream dreams. They don't make plans.

02:26

They don't pour Thousands and thousands of dollars or pounds into conceiving and printing 400 ,000 copies of Mark, you don't do that.

02:41

You're hopeless You dream dreams and you make plans when

02:46

God is Reminding you Helping you feel encouraged that there's gonna be a tomorrow and there's gonna be some significance in your life and then dreams begin to happen so the very fact that Naomi Has this strange plan to send

03:08

Ruth down there at night? Means She's begun to feel

03:15

Like there's a future like there's hope and her plan. Of course is I'm gonna get a husband for you

03:23

Ruth I'm going this Boaz that you have Happened onto his field.

03:29

Oh, yes Boaz is a is a limo next Kinsman and so she thinks that through and she comes up with her

03:42

Planned a very very strange plan. So let's read it verses 3 & 4

03:49

Says do her daughter -in -law wash Therefore and anoint yourself and Put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor

04:06

Do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking But when he lies down observe the place where he lies and then go and uncover his feet and lie down He will tell you what to do go to the threshing floor dressed and clean

04:39

After he's gone to sleep lift the blanket and Lie down at his feet

04:47

Now at that point you're thinking Ruth is thinking everybody's thinking

04:53

What are you telling her to do and instead of answering the question?

05:02

Which everybody's asking everybody's asking instead of answering the question she says

05:10

He'll tell you what to do I'm not going to tell you he'll tell you what to do

05:19

Breathtaking what that's not clear as to what's going to happen here

05:27

You start to think about the possibilities here one possibility would be he wakes up.

05:33

He's a godly man He's been presented as a godly man, and he drives her away and says I thought you were worthy

05:40

That'd be one possibility get out of my life Wouldn't be interested in any woman who would act like that.

05:47

That's that's a risk that Naomi's taking or The possibility that most people would think of is he would look down there

05:57

Being a man. She's obviously presenting herself, and and he simply has sex with him

06:04

Now both of those are bad ideas That's not a good plan Fornication was wrong in the

06:14

Old Testament, and it's wrong today It was wrong then

06:20

It's wrong now Naomi knew it was wrong and Ruth knew was wrong and Boaz knew it was wrong and yet he wants

06:31

Naomi wants this to happen. She wants us to work. So what in the world is she doing?

06:38

presenting this this idea to her Daughter -in -law to go down there in such a sexually alluring and tempting way

06:53

Or will he have enough integrity to say so you are

06:58

Offering yourself to me as a wife Thank you.

07:06

I Will take care of it with the elders tomorrow and we will move on this in a proper way

07:12

Well, if that's the plan, it's really risky and really really strange so much for Naomi's Strategic righteousness, that's the plan.

07:22

She's she wants Boaz to marry Ruth and She's sending

07:28

Ruth down there in this inexplicable so far Behavior, but it's a plan and we will see a remarkably

07:40

Subtle profound plan so now we turn to Ruth and Her participation in this strategic righteousness verses 6 through 9

07:55

Let's read these So in verse 5 she says to her mother -in -law everything you say

08:03

I will do so She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother -in -law had commanded her

08:11

When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry He went to lie down at the end of the grain the heap of grain then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down At midnight the man was startled and turned over and behold a woman lay at his feet and He said who are you and she answered now what she says here

08:49

According to the text anyway Naomi hadn't prompted her on this

08:55

Naomi hadn't put the words in her mouth. She said dude that he'll tell you what to do

09:00

So these words now are words perhaps that they agreed on doesn't say that these are

09:06

Naomi's I mean Ruth's words She says to him

09:13

Now the translations here are gonna go haywire in your versions. All right, so we got to decide what is going on here in the

09:22

ESV it says spread your wings Over your servant now your version if you got the

09:30

NIV says garment the King James says skirt the

09:36

NASB says Covering Only the ESV does this wings thing.

09:47

So let's just go with garment Because if wings is proper, it's a double meaning and we may be on to something

09:58

But you're reading garment if you got the NIV or the NASB or the King James version or some other version that's really the common ordinary one

10:06

We'll come back to that so she says Spread your garment or whatever this wings thing is over me over your servant for you are a

10:17

Redeemer in other words, I Know my mother -in -law knows you're the relative who could marry me

10:27

Give the name of my husband male on a future and perhaps more

10:37

If we had children It's really clear, but she's saying what is going on with this word?

10:50

Skirt garment covering that the ESV translates wings

10:57

So Really helps to know your Hebrew here So I I got it out got it out again last night got it out 24 years ago

11:06

Did I looked at every one of them again last night the word It's used 34 times in the

11:14

Old Testament maybe all but four is wings wings of angels in Ezekiel Wings of birds wait, it's wings.

11:25

It's just wings a few times

11:32

Because of the context it seems to mean garment in some kind of Metaphorical way

11:42

There's one other place outside of Ruth Where it's used in relationship to lovers

11:51

I'm gonna read that one to you It's Ezekiel 16 verse 8

11:59

Ezekiel 16 is one of the most beautiful and horrible chapters in the

12:04

Bible about God's coming and marrying Israel Finding her like a baby weltering in in its blood utterly disgusting thrown out to die and God sees this horrible scene

12:22

And he and he takes the baby and when she's grown he marries her. So here's verse 8

12:30

When I passed by you again In other words later when you'd grown and looked upon you behold you were at the age for love and I spread my garment my skirt and that's the same word.

12:45

I Spread my skirt my garment my covering my wings over you and Covered your nakedness

12:56

Yay, I Plighted my troth to you and entered into covenant with you

13:02

Says the Lord and you became mine

13:09

That's the closest analogy in the Old Testament to this text and the use of the word wings

13:20

So it would be I think Very Contrary to the author's intention and Ruth's intention if we jumped to the conclusion that what's going on Here is a conniving mother -in -law and a risque

13:41

Loose woman Ruth to get a man That's not the feel if you know the language

13:50

This is language of God covering Israel and making a covenant with her when she was very unworthy and Had been so despicable in her weltering blood

14:08

So if there's an offer going on here which there clearly is It is a noble offer.

14:16

It's an offer of a desire for a covenant relationship and for something like a covering of God to happen from Boaz I want you to cover me

14:29

Boaz With your wings Now, I'm sure some of you are already ahead of me and where I'm going from last night

14:43

There's only one other place in this book where the word wings is used back in chapter 2 verse 12

14:57

Boaz had said you've come to my field Seeking help from me

15:05

Seeking protection from me and and seeking food in my field and seeking water at my well and You're asking

15:14

Why have you found this favor? And his answer comes back you took refuge under the wings of God When you came here

15:30

It's Boaz who sowed the seed in Ruth's mind that there's a connection between Boaz and his care and his protection and his provision and his love as a possible husband and God as the one under whose wings she has lived now for about Ten years or so and where she finds her security

15:54

Boaz sowed the seed of that connection and she goes home

16:00

Evidently and and talks this over with Naomi He said this and he did this he did this and they sit down either together

16:09

I don't know how I'm just guessing and they say All right

16:15

We can't be really sure That's what he meant that he was really Suggesting that you're coming to him

16:24

Finding his resources and his provision and his protection and his leadership husband -like has a relationship to your

16:36

Going to God so that if you go to God you go to him if you go to him you go to God And he really really would like to be that for you.

16:43

He's an older man He's set Not married but is he really saying that he's open to this and I think what they hit upon is a symbolic activity that is just as subtle and profound as Boaz's words to Ruth were on the field

17:12

You're coming to me and my field my protection my food and seeking security provision rest and I I recognize in that That you are a godly woman that you take refuge under God's wings

17:34

Implicit That's the kind of woman. I would like to take under my wing

17:41

So she goes She lies down She puts a cover over her and she waits

17:50

He awakens Who are you and at this moment?

18:01

everything hangs on what response he's going to give to this sentence because she's gonna take words upon her lips that Experiments with whether she's got it, right?

18:15

She's gonna she's going to say I'm Ruth Would you

18:24

Cover me with your weight in other words

18:34

He'll understand what I'm saying if I've got it, right? He'll understand what I'm saying And if I don't

18:41

What's gonna happen? That's Ruth's strategic righteousness

18:51

She thought she planned very subtle. I mean, I I don't know what to say here in terms of What this implies

19:00

Concerning the delicacy the subtlety and the profundity of relations.

19:08

I mean Boaz, I just try to imagine and this is an awful thing to do.

19:15

But let me do it. This is terrible suppose my wife died Hope she doesn't before I do

19:23

I'm 62 Should I remarry how old should the woman be that I remarry 40 50 60 70

19:39

What if there were a 45 year old woman in my church That I just wondered

19:49

Just wondered if it could work That would be a hard thing to approach

19:55

Wouldn't it I mean what if she said you're 62 you just feel so humiliated you just So I just I put myself in Boaz's shoes what what he says to her is

20:19

You haven't gone after any of the younger men you've come to me He he's he's amazed

20:29

He wanted it But he wasn't sure that he could so what do you do?

20:34

And I think the answer is you do something very delicate something very subtle something very profound

20:41

I wouldn't have that skill. I'm sure to be able to do it, but he said it

20:46

She got it. She returned the subtlety and then You've got clarity and now we turn to what does he do?

20:58

What does Boaz? Do here, so let's go to Boaz and finish with him verses 10 to 15 he said

21:14

May you be blessed by the Lord my daughter daughter You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men whether poor or rich And now my daughter

21:35

Do not fear Now the two things she could have feared she's gonna be right

21:43

Or she's gonna be rejected as a slut and he won't do either of those

21:51

My daughter do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask you've called me the

21:57

Redeemer You've said you're willing I'm going for it. I'll do all that you ask for all my fellow townsmen know you are a worthy woman

22:09

And now it's true that I am a Redeemer There's I'm a relative of a little bit like You there yet.

22:18

There is a Redeemer nearer than I There's another relative.

22:28

We haven't heard of him before he just shows up here, and we all want to say no a bad turn of affairs

22:37

What I thought the story was over oh No There is a

22:51

Redeemer nearer than I Remained tonight and in the morning if he will redeem you

23:00

Good oh Come on. Let him do it

23:07

But if he is not willing to redeem you And as the

23:12

Lord lives I Will redeem you lie down now.

23:19

We're gonna We're gonna pick it up there, but let me just close with with a comment about Boaz here this is strategic righteousness

23:31

Big time is it not? It's midnight

23:39

Stars are out He's been drinking and Feeling merry the woman that he wonders if in his wildest dreams might be willing to take an older man has come washed and smelling beautiful and Lay down at his feet and put his blanket over her and said

24:10

Cover me with your wing some of you guys have been in that situation

24:18

You gals have been in that situation He hears her offer.

24:26

I'm here, and I would like you to be my husband and you

24:33

Got two choices here. You can say Because of righteousness

24:43

We will wait or We won't wait

24:49

We're just gonna have sex now and we'll get married tomorrow and I just would like to close by by pleading with you

24:59

To be like Boaz and Ruth They were good lovers.

25:06

Oh, there was Supercharged power going on under that blanket Under those stars these two people were ready to have sex.

25:21

Can you believe they didn't? You lie here until the morning then

25:26

I'm gonna go do what has to be done to make this righteous. I Tell you young people so many of you have already blown it.

25:35

You're not virgins anymore God can have mercy upon you and he he will

25:40

If you turn to him, he can cleanse you make a beautiful relationship in the future. I know that he can

25:47

If you still have not had sex I just plead with you stand with Boaz stand with Ruth Embrace a strategic righteousness and let me put it in a in a larger context for you

26:01

What's going on here is the making of the ancestor of Jesus?

26:09

Ruth is about to be from Moab folded purely and Righteously into a line that will result in Jesus Christ the purity of the moment and the purposes of eternity

26:28

Link right here And that's true for you If you will in the safety of your apartment where she seems so willing

26:41

Say We will wait God will honor that He will honor that more vastly than you can imagine

26:54

Because here he honored it with the last chapter and the coming of Jesus Christ as the result of this

27:02

Holy and so I just plead with you to let the the beautiful strategic righteousness of Naomi's risky plan and Ruth's Sensitive discerning of this older man's heart and this older man's massive willpower