Ruth Chapter 3 :: God's Amazing Love

God’s Amazing Love in the Story of Ruth

And thank you all for joining us this morning as we continue our study through the book of Ruth. And so my heart this morning is that above all else that we would see God's amazing love be put on display.

And so if you're a Christian, I pray that you would just be renewed with God's love and His faithfulness in your life as we see this be played out in the story of Ruth. And if perhaps you are not a Christian, I pray that you would just see something so tangible, so real that it draws you in and want to know more.

So if you would, please open your Bibles to Ruth chapter 3. And so this is a turning point in the story of Ruth, and I just want to say that it's going to get a little dicey. Ruth really starts to turn up the romance, and so we know that this is a love story, but it's about a much bigger love story.

But we're going to see just how these relationships play out. And like I said, the biggest picture that we're going to see is God's amazing love towards His covenant people. So as you're turning there, I want to briefly recap about some of the events that have led up and are leading up to Ruth chapter 3.

And back in chapter 1, we read that there was a severe famine. Right? Do you all remember that Elimelech, him and his wife Naomi, went into the country of Moab, and they brought their two sons. And there in Moab, their two sons married two Moabite women, right?

We remember Orpah and Ruth. And then tragically, we are told that Elimelech and his two sons die. So you have three characters in the story. You have three widows. They are childless, and they do not have any children to bear the family name.

And so Naomi hears that there's food back in Bethlehem. So she wants to leave Moab, and she tells her two daughter-in-laws, you all just stay.

Here.

I'm going to go back, and I feel just torn. I feel broken. And you remember Orpah's like, okay, I'll stay in Moab, no big deal. But Ruth says, no, no, no, no. You're my family, right? Your God is my God.

So Ruth goes back with Naomi to Bethlehem. And so that's how the story closes with, or the story, the chapter one ends with Naomi being bitter, right? Remember, she went away full, but then she comes back just completely empty.

She has lost everything in her mind. So chapter two begins kind of with these two looming problems in the life of Naomi and Ruth, right? They are in need of family, and they are in need of food. So we see that Ruth is gleaning in the fields, right?

She is gathering together grain, right? You see the loving character of Ruth. She's wanting to provide for her mother-in-law. So we see her gleaning in the fields. And then Naomi notices that there's a way that she can be provided on a much bigger scale.

She says, look, Boaz. This older man that owns the field, he can be a provider for us. And so we start seeing that there's somewhat of an immediate connection, right, between Boaz and Ruth. He overlooks her, he talks with her, he feeds her, and he shows her grace.

And so when Ruth and Naomi begin to talk about what's happened, she points out that Boaz is uniquely a kinsman redeemer, someone that's qualified to care for them and to take them under his care. And I thought it was kind of strange how Ruth chapter 2 comes to an end.

It just simply says that, and she lived with her mother-in-law. And I thought, man, there's so much other stuff that had taken place in chapter 2, right? They had the food situation taken care of, right?

But Naomi is seeing that there's actually hope in her life, that God has not totally left her. And so this sets the stage for Ruth chapter 3 in some of the most shadiest language in all of the Old Testament.

Naomi’s Plan for Ruth at the Threshing Floor

So if you would, look with me here at Ruth chapter 3. In verse 1 we read, then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were?

See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 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. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down and he will tell you what to do.

And she replied, all that you say I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did all as her mother-in-law had commanded.

Her.

Then when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was married, he went to lie down at the end of 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.

He said, who are you? And she said, I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant for you are a redeemer. And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first and that you have not gone after young men whether poor or rich.

And now my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.

Remain tonight and in the morning, if he will redeem you good, let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning. So she laid his feet until morning, but arose before one could recognize another.

And he said, let it not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor. And he said, bring the garment that you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.

Then she went into the city and when she came to her mother-in-law she said, how did you fare my daughter? Then she told her all that the man had done for her saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me.

For he said to me, you must not go back empty handed to your mother-in-law. She replied, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.

Let's pray.

Holy Father, thank you so much for your word and your grace in our lives. God, I pray that you would remove me from this setting and that your truth would be the only thing left standing. God, I pray that you would give us wisdom and insight to understand some of these hard things that are being brought out in your word.

Jesus, thank you so much for your ultimate redemption on the cross, Jesus. In your name I pray, amen. So like I said, this is a slow shift in the story and chapter three is really unique because it all takes place at sunset until sunrise the next day.

So it happens in a very short time frame. So as we begin to go back and look through this, I really want us to kind of slow down and go phrase by phrase. I want us to really soak in the scenery that's going on here.

So look at verse one. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you? Now we may tend to think that the word rest here, maybe Naomi is saying, hey, just take.

A nap.

Just take it easy. I want you to recoup. I want you to feel good. And actually, the Hebrew word for rest here has so much broader implications. It means to have security, like having a loving husband to take care of you, to give you a home so you can maybe have comfort.

And I love Naomi's character. She cares for her daughter-in-law. She wants it to be well with her. She wants her to find rest, to have security, and have a family. And so you also see Naomi here, she's kind of making a game plan, right?

She's kind of one of those scheming mother-in-laws, if you will, right? She cares for Ruth, right? So she's trying to make a game plan. So verse two. It's not Boaz, our relative, with whose young women you were.

See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. So there's a couple things I want to point out with Boaz here. We are reminded that he is a kinsman. He is a redeemer. And this basically means that Boaz is an eligible bachelor for Ruth.

And so hopefully we're going to see this develop more and more as we go through the text. And really, in Ruth chapter four, we're going to see how this kinsman-redeemer theme is so much bigger, and it ultimately points to Christ.

So Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer. And also, he's going to be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Now, this is really neat, because this is farmer terminology. Usually, the threshing floor is a secluded area away from where all the harvest is going.

And in these times, the threshing floor is maybe next to a small hill, okay? And so at the end of harvest, when they'd have all this barley grain, the farmer would go to the threshing floor, and he would get his pitchfork and throw the barley up into the air, and a cool breeze in the evening would come and hit the barley, and it would blow away the chaff, right?

And so the heavier barley would fall back down, and he could gather it up. Now, this is neat, because Naomi knows that there's going to be a unique opportunity for Ruth to go meet Boaz away from everybody else.

So you see the wheels turning in Naomi's mind about how they're going to do this. And really, this is where the shadiness begins. Verse 3, she says, "'Wash, therefore, and anoint yourself, but 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. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.'.

And she replied, "'I will do all what you say.'". Now, if you're the original audience listening to this for the first time, that's like, oh my goodness, did I hear Naomi say that correctly to Ruth? She's going to do what, right?

Because in your mind, you've got to think about the two people. Ruth is a young Moabite servant woman, and she's about to do this to the field owner, who is a Hebrew and a much older man. This is an unbelievably bold move.

So what she begins by saying, look, you're going to wash yourself. She said, wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on a cloak, and go down to the threshing.

Floor.

I definitely think Naomi is saying, look, we've got to get you looking nicer. You're about to go meet Boaz. But I also think this carries a greater significance, too. Naomi is encouraging. Ruth, look, you just lost your husband recently.

And I get it.

I get it.

We've been through this time of mourning together, but it's now time to open up a new chapter in your life. You need to let Boaz know that you are an eligible bachelorette, right? You're somebody that can bear child and continue on the family name.

So I think Naomi is really looking out for Ruth here. And verse three goes on to say, go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

And so the idea is, Boaz is not going to get drunk in any way. The idea is that he's going to be working really hard, he's going to be tired, he's going to be ready to eat a meal, and just wait until he is in a good mood.

And I guess that just means that as men, we usually are in better moods after we've had something to eat. I think there's probably something to that. So verse four says, but when he lies down, observe the place where he lies like.

She's saying, don't get this wrong. Make sure it's Boaz. And then go and uncover his feet and lie down. Now, we live in the 21st century. This is weird. I look at this and I'm like, all right, I've got to find some commentaries, explain to me what in the world is going on.

So it appears as though Naomi is instructing Ruth to propose marriage to Boaz by utilizing some ancient Near Eastern custom. But even the original audience listening to this story for the first time would be like, it's kind of strange.

Ruth is this young woman and she's about to offer herself in marriage ultimately to Boaz, this Hebrew older man. And I don't want you to miss this, that Ruth is supposed to really show respect to Boaz and what's going to happen.

The original audience would have been on the edge of their seat. And Ruth simply responds to Naomi and says, I will do all that you say. So verse 6 kind of sums up the whole story. And the original audience, they would hear, so she went down to the threshing floor and did as her mother-in-law had commanded her.

The original audience would be like, there's got to be more to the story. What are the details? When she went down there, was Boaz cool with it all? What in the world happened? And so this is where we get all the details.

We get to see everything that happened behind the scenes. So verse 7, when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. So think about this from Ruth's perspective, right?

She saw Boaz, she saw her man winnowing some barley, right? And then she's probably, you know, inching closer thinking, okay, it's getting closer to time. She's trying to get away from everybody. And then she sees Boaz, now he's eating his meal, he looks like he's in a good mood, okay, he's laying down.

This is my time. I can see her heart just pumping, right? It's racing like, okay, I can't mess this up. She goes over there, maybe he rolls over and thinks, nope, not yet, right? I just, Ruth, she's probably just like, oh my goodness, you know, just, I can't imagine.

And so this is a dramatic point because she needs to go totally unnoticed when Boaz is.

Asleep.

Verse 7 goes on, then she came softly and uncovered his feet and she laid down. She did it, right? I just think, oh my goodness, you could just feel the original audience like, oh, she's.

There.

She did what Naomi said. And I want to make a really strong point real quick that nothing sinful happened. I know the original audience is thinking, what in the world, right? But as we're going to continue to see, there is nothing that calls into question the character of Boaz and Ruth.

The only thing that we can take away at this point is this is really, really intense. And at midnight, the man was startled and turned over and behold, a woman lay at his.

Feet.

Of course he was startled, right? It's the middle of the night and I thought, what probably startled him? Well, a lot of commentators say, well, his feet was uncovered. He probably felt the cool of the wind in the evening and kind of, you know, woke him up.

And then he sees someone laying at his feet and he, you know, he can't even see what's going on. Of course he's startled. So, it's not like Ruth was, you know, just sawing logs right there next to him and snoring real loud.

You got to think, Ruth was not asleep, right? She was waiting for this exact moment for Boaz to notice her. And so he asked the question that we all would ask, who are you? And you got to think, he said it in a way that he startled, oh, who are you?

And so she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. Now if you've been following along in the study with us, we know that this is not the first time that in the English language we see that Ruth is talking to Boaz and says, I'm a servant.

Back in Ruth chapter 2 verse 13, she said to Boaz, I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant. Okay, now the reason why I'm making a big deal about this is because this time it appears that she says she's a servant again, but these are two different Hebrew words.

The first time in chapter 1, she is saying, look, I'm a bond slave. I'm a bond servant and I understand I have limited rights. But here in chapter 3, Ruth uses a more elevated term to let Boaz know that she is available for relationship.

But she is also acknowledging his authority over her. Now listen carefully to me here. Remember, Naomi was coming up with this game plan, look, you're going to see at the right time when he's in a good mood, he goes to sleep, you're going to go unnoticed, you're going to uncover his feet, leg area, and you're going to lay down, and when he notices you, let him do the rest, right, just listen to him.

But Naomi departs from the game plan, right, she keeps on talking. Verse 9, she goes on to say, spread your wings over your servant for you are a redeemer. And basically what she is saying is just in case you miss what's going on, I want you to pursue me in marriage.

She's like above all else, understand what I'm doing here. And some translations say spread your garment or spread your skirt over your servant. This is so interesting language because it parallels other parts in the Old Testament where God spread his garment of love and protection over undeserving Israel.

So Ruth is asking Boaz to take her under his care, under his love and protection in marriage. I also want you to notice the word wings there, or garment depending on your translation, that also was used earlier back in Ruth chapter 2.

Back in Ruth chapter 2 verse 12, Boaz was praying a blessing over Ruth where he said, the Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

So Ruth is saying to Boaz, you remember that prayer you prayed for me the other day, that God would protect me and that, you know, he would love me and take me in. Boaz, you're going to be the answer to your own prayer.

So I just wanted to remind you about that. And I thought, this reminds me of when my wife uses scripture against me. I just thought, I love this. One time, I got to tell you this real quick. I can get away with this because she's not here this morning.

But me and Allie were kind of frustrated at each other and I just wanted to go to bed. And I tried to lay down. I hear this voice say, don't let the sun go down on your anger. We need to talk about this.

And I thought, she's right. She's right. So I love that. That's this kind of moment, you know, Ruth is telling Boaz, you're going to be the answer to your own prayer. And he's like, yep, you're right.

So Ruth is saying once again to Boaz, you be the provision of God. You spread your protection over me since you are a kinsman redeemer. We keep mentioning that a lot, a lot. And I just want to touch on this briefly.

The idea of a kinsman redeemer comes from the law of Moses. In fact, Deuteronomy 25 explains that if a husband dies before he has any children, then the nearest unmarried brother bore the responsibility to marry the sister-in-law.

Now that's, we were talking about this in Sunday school. That would be strange today, right? But back in biblical times, there was a huge reason for preserving the family name, right? There was land. There was inheritance.

And you would follow that through the family name, right? And so we know this too. The family name is so important because there were certain prophecies and promises given to where the Messiah was going to come from.

So at this point in the story, think about the original audience, the audience that would be hearing this for the first time. Think about the anticipation that would be building up, right? Ruth just made it there.

Boaz just noticed her, right? It seems like everything is going great, but then what if Boaz doesn't respond in a good.

Way, right?

He just noticed. He's startled, right? And she just said, hey, answer your own prayer. Because think about this. Boaz might could get really mad and say, and rebuke her and tell her to get out and never come back.

I also thought about this too. This is also during the time of the judges. Y 'all remember where everybody did what was right in the sight of their own eyes, and there was rampant sexual immorality. So what if Boaz is going to take advantage of her?

All this would have been in the mind of the original audience. In verse 10, Boaz says, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You can almost just hear the sigh of relief like, oh man, he's going to speak favorably.

To her.

He's not going to harm her. He's not going to take advantage of her. He's not going to send her away. This is all going to work out. You have made this last kindness greater than the first, and that you've not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.

So the first kindness that Boaz is, that he noticed in Ruth was her loyalty to her mother-in-law,.

Right?

Remember, Naomi lost everything. She lost her husband, Elimelech, right? She is bitter. She is empty. And yet Ruth is still by her side. He noticed that. He was like, oh, what a blessing to even be close to see that.

And the second blessing, Boaz is surprised, stunned. He's honored that Ruth would even consider him to be somebody to pursue in marriage,.

Right?

She could have went after a younger man, someone more suitable for her, and yet she looked to Boaz.

He's honored.

Verse 11 says, and now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. Such an interesting phrase here, worthy woman. This is the same language used to describe the virtuous woman in Proverbs chapter 31.

Now, I was doing a little research, and you know our Old Testament, how it's ordered in a particular way? That's not always been the order of the Old Testament. A lot of scholars speculate that Ruth might have not come right after the book of Judges.

In fact, the story of Ruth might have came after the law, the prophets, and towards the end of the writings, especially right after the book of Proverbs. I don't know this for sure, but I want you to hear a little bit of what Proverbs 31 has to say.

Proverbs 31 verse 10 says, an excellent wife who can find. She is far more precious than jewels. So did you hear that? It said, excellent wife. In the Hebrew, it's the same phrase as a worthy woman. It's talking about a woman of noble character, a woman who fears the Lord.

We don't have time to just unpack Proverbs 31, but when you get some time, go back and read through that and think about Ruth. Think about how she works with her hands, how she loves other people, and she especially loves her own family, and her God is the God of Israel.

Her God is Yahweh. And so Proverbs 31, 31, the last verse in the book of Proverbs says this, give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works be praised at the city gates. So this is the same language used in Ruth 3 verse 11.

When it talks about the townspeople, the people at the gates are the ones who speak of how noble Ruth is. And so if Ruth came right after Proverbs, Proverbs 31, the virtuous woman would be the perfect portrait, just a springboard to see how the virtuous woman behaves, how she works, how she interacts with others.

And so the last thing I want to say here is that phrase, worthy woman, the similar phrase is used to describe Boaz, not as a woman, but as a man. Ruth 2 verse 1 says, now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

So that's so wonderful. We see, Pastor Stephen talks about how we see God's providence at work in the lives of not only Naomi, but Ruth and Boaz. He's taking these two people that are equally yoked, but I want you to think about this.

They are sold out. They love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and they love other people. This is such an exemplary look of what two godly people coming together, the beginning stages of them coming together in marriage.

So the audience, think about the original audience up to this point in the story. They've been on the edge of their seats, right? They see that Boaz is speaking favorably to Ruth. It looks like they're about to come together.

The only thing left is the wedding bells, and them live happily ever after. Then verse 12, Boaz says, and now it is true that I'm a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Oh, there's another guy in the picture, right?

Everything was going so good, and so now there's a bump in the road. But what I love about Boaz is he's a man of valor. He has noble character. He knows what the Word of God says. He knows what the Mosaic Law teaches, and we see him wanting to be obedient.

Boaz knows that there is someone closer in kin to Elimelech before him that deserves the right to redeem Naomi and take Ruth in marriage. So this means that Boaz probably had an older brother to Elimelech, or it might be the case that Boaz is a cousin to Elimelech.

There's a nearer kin than him, though. So he says in verse 13, remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good. I'm sure he didn't like just totally, I mean, he wants to be with Ruth, but he says, you know what?

Good.

Let him do it. But if not, if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem.

You.

So, lie down until the morning. So once again, we see the loving character in Boaz, right? He doesn't want Naomi, he doesn't want Ruth to go up in the middle of the night by herself. He wants her to stay there, and he reassures her, no matter what, you will have a redeemer.

You will have protection. You will be cared for. I hope it's me, but it might not be, and it's going to be okay. So they lay down there, and once again, I was thinking, you know what? If I was in Boaz's shoes, he's looking up at the stars, and he's probably just stressing out about the next day, right?

He's like, and I got to go to the townspeople and plead my case and tell them that, you know, I want to get married to this mole-bite woman. What are they going to think?

Right?

We got to talk about this other guy that's in the picture. I'm sure he did not sleep a wink that night. And what about Ruth?

Right?

Ruth's about to be married within 24 hours, and she doesn't know who her husband's going.

To be.

She didn't sleep either. But they know it's going to be okay. They're trusting in God. So she laid at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another, and he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.

So he's basically saying that, let's just keep this between us, right? We don't want our reputation to be damaged in any way. And he said, bring the garment you're wearing and hold it out. So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her, and she went into the city.

So I just want to point out a couple details that we see here. Number one, we see that Boaz is a good steward, right? He was able to give an orderly account of six measures of barley, right? He's a good steward of what God has given him.

So I think that's really commendable on Boaz's part. And here we see that Ruth's a strong girl, right? She's able to hold six measures of barley, and it reminds me of the Proverbs 31 woman. She loves to work with her hands.

And so you don't mess with Ruth. She can carry some grain. So verse 16, and when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, how did you fare, my daughter? Now we think about Naomi, right? She's back into the scene.

You think she slept any that night? No way. They didn't have cell phones where they could, you know, send text messages to get a little.

Update.

It's like, what did he say? Did you make it?

What's going on? She did not sleep a wink either.

And I'm trying to think.

Naomi finally sees Ruth. She's carrying all this, you know, barley grain, and she is saying, how did you fare, my daughter? Basically, who are you? Are you married? Are you unmarried? Are you with Boaz or not?

And this reminded me, very similar to the question that Boaz asked when he woke up,.

Right?

He said, who are you? And this is really the question of the whole story. Who is Ruth? Is she a Moabite or is she not? Is she going to be married into the family of Boaz or not? Because to me, she's looking like a covenant people, a covenant member of God.

She's looking more and more like an Israelite. She could have went back to Moab, right, where Orpah went, where they were worshiping these false pagan gods that wanted human sacrifice. But no, she worshiped Yahweh.

She worshiped the God of Israel, the God of Naomi. Then she told her all that the man had done for her, right? She told her all the details, how her heart, I'm sure, was racing and pumping, didn't know what was going to happen.

And then the narrator, I love this, the narrator did not tell us everything that Boaz had said.

Earlier.

We're about to receive a piece of detail when Naomi is present. I think it's important there. The narrator wants us to know this when Naomi is with her daughter-in-law. So verse 17, she was saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, and this is the part, you must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.

What's the significance there? When's the last time that we saw the word empty in connection with Naomi? Back in chapter 1, verse 21, when Naomi returned from Moab, this is what she said, I went away full and Yahweh, the Lord, has brought me back empty, right?

The narrator is wanting us to see a bigger picture. God had a sovereign plan designed for Ruth coming back from Boaz, not with just grain, right, but with a promise that she will be redeemed, right? And that there is a redeemer.

And so we see that Naomi is no longer empty, but she sees God at work in her life. So this is the message this morning. You are not empty. You are not empty. There may be times where you feel empty, or you're alone and God is far away from you, but it may be that God is setting the stage to do something miraculous in your life to show His faithfulness, to put His glory on display.

I know there will be times where we all feel like nothing is going our way, that nothing is working out the way that it's supposed to, and that's Naomi, right? Nothing was going on right. And when she came back with Ruth, right, she came back empty, bitter, Ruth was right there.

Little did she know that Ruth was a picture of this mighty faithfulness that God was about to put on display in Naomi's life in ways that she could not have imagined. Naomi experienced the promise that is found in both the Old and New Testament, that God will never leave us or forsake us.

And so verse 18 brings this chapter to a close. Naomi replied, wait, wait my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today. So chapter 3 comes to a close, and we see the curtains closing in on these two characters, Naomi and Ruth.

They don't talk anymore in the rest of the story, but I love the last thing that Naomi said to Ruth. She told her to wait, right? She understood that everything is in the hands of Yahweh, right? That we're simply going to sit back, trust in Him, and watch His plan unfold.

The Meaning of Chesed: Love Is Patient, Pure, and Providing

So what do we take away from Ruth chapter 3 when it comes to understanding how the love of God is at work and around us in our lives today? A moment ago I mentioned that we are not empty. For those of us that are in Christ, we stepped into a loving relationship with our Creator through the only Savior, and we have God's kindness put on display in our lives.