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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Righteousness so first Naomi in verses 1 to 5 and then

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Or will he have enough integrity to say so you are

Offering yourself to me as a wife Thank you.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NIV says garment the King James says skirt the

NASB says Covering Only the ESV does this wings thing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Skirt garment covering that the ESV translates wings

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

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

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

It's just wings a few times

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Says the Lord and you became mine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boaz sowed the seed of that connection and she goes home

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

He awakens Who are you and at this moment?

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?

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

Cover me with your weight in other words

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

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

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

Concerning the delicacy the subtlety and the profundity of relations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good oh Come on. Let him do it

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

Lord lives I Will redeem you lie down now.

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

Big time is it not? It's midnight

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

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

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

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

Got two choices here. You can say Because of righteousness

We will wait or We won't wait

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

To be like Boaz and Ruth They were good lovers.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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