Ruth 2 Bible Study

We're continuing our study of the book of Ruth today. We're in Ruth chapter 2. This is where Ruth meets

Her future husband Boaz. So if you remember from last time there was an Israelite couple a limeleck in his wife

Naomi and because there was a famine in Israel, they traveled to the land of Moab their two sons got married to Moabite women the two women were

Orpah and Ruth and Then a limeleck and his two sons died Leaving Naomi alone with her due to daughter -in -laws.

So Naomi hears that the famine in Israel is over So she travels back to Israel to Bethlehem Specifically and Orpah goes back to Moab.

She leaves Naomi Naomi tells her to go back and Orpah departs heads back home to Moab But Ruth remains committed and loyal to her

Israelite mother -in -law Naomi so they Travel back to Israel, but more important than her remaining committed to Naomi Ruth is now committed not only to her

Israelite mother -in -law, but to the God of the Israelites and We touched on this last week where Ruth said to Naomi in chapter 1 verse 16 your people shall be my people and your

God my God So while Ruth is now part of the family by marrying into the nation of Israel Worshiping the

God of Israel. She is still seen at least at first as a foreigner as We're going to see here

She is called Ruth the Moabitess, so let's start reading

Ruth chapter 2 Beginning in verse 1 Says there was a relative of Naomi's husband

That's a limeleck a man of great wealth of the family of a limeleck. His name was

Boaz So Ruth the Moabitess Said to Naomi please let me go to the field and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight

I might find favor and She said to her go my daughter then she left 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 family of a limeleck

So you notice here it says that she happened to come to this part of the field

So while this was by chance There yes Boaz was there, but I mean she didn't know where to go

So while we might say this was by chance, that's the word people would use Who was directing?

Ruth steps the Lord was directing her Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 says trust in the

Lord with all your heart and Lean not on your own Understanding and on all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths

That's what's happening here. And that's really a promise for believers that if you will trust

God and if you will Acknowledge him in all of your ways He will direct your path

So we could say that the sovereignty of God looms large in the book of Ruth the hard times that came upon Naomi and her family she

Could not have imagined that would have led to a series of events That would have included the story

Included her in the story of the lineage of Israel's Messiah And of course Ruth will be directly part of that Messianic lineage and of course the sovereignty of God How he works all things according to the counsel of his will that runs throughout the whole

Bible as well but in the books of Ruth Esther Job You especially see that just a series of tragic events that occur

Where the Lord took it and used it for good When you see that it's truly amazing

God takes negative things Right, like we were talking about a moment ago where the

Bible some have said it's two -thirds negative but God takes all of that and he uses it to accomplish his purposes and if we trust in God that verse

Proverbs 3 verse 5 That verse not only applies to Ruth that God was directing her steps

God will direct our steps as well So the sovereignty of God is important, it's an important theme sort of It's always maybe underneath or in the background.

I Think of the verse Romans 8 28, which says and we know That all things work together for good to those who love

God to those who are the called according to his purpose So what's happened so far in the book?

There's been a famine. There's been the death of Naomi's husband there's the death of Ruth's husband and Now they're back in Israel.

They really don't have any way to eat So Ruth has to go and work in the field. A lot of bad things have been happening, but God is working it all out for his glory and the good of his people so Ruth because her and her mother -in -law need to eat she comes to this field and It's owned by Boaz who is a relative verse 4 says now behold

Boaz came from Bethlehem And he said to the Reapers the Lord be with you and they answered him the

Lord bless you Then Boaz said to his servant who is in charge of the Reapers whose young woman is this?

So the servant who is in charge of the Reapers answered and said it is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab and she said please let me glean and gather after the

Reapers among the sheaves So she came and has continued from morning until now though.

She rested a little in the house Then Boaz said to Ruth You will listen my daughter.

Will you not? Do not go and glean in another field nor go from here, but stay close by my young women

Let your eyes be on the field which they reap and go after them

I have have I not commanded the young men not to touch you and when you are thirsty Go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn

So we see that and this was stated in the first verse that Boaz was a wealthy man he is running something like a you know a farm or an estate so he has plenty of Food plenty of resources and servants and he seems to be treating

Ruth very very well and Why is that? well first of all is part of the law of Moses that the edges of the field were not to be harvested and Some grain was to be left for the needy.

So to some degree any Israelite man would have an obligation to help those in need and Ruth and Naomi certainly were in need of course

Boaz has heard the story of what has happened to them and He obviously has some sympathy for them

Whatever else might be going on So taking care of others and especially taking care of your own

This was very important to Boaz and it's part of what made Boaz godly, man

Taking care of family first Timothy chapter 5 verse 8 says but if anyone does not provide for his own and Especially for those of his own household.

He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever

You know, there's nothing worse If I can put that in modern terms first Timothy 5 verse 8

There's nothing worse than like a deadbeat dad Especially a deadbeat dad that wouldn't take care of his own children all while claiming to be a

Christian What does the scripture say anyone who does not provide for his own he has denied the faith

That's a pretty strong Statement. So to some extent the point being that to some extent

This is expected of Boaz to take care of family But how close is

Ruth to him? Well, there's certainly not immediate family at best.

Naomi was his sister -in -law and Probably not even that close. Obviously, there's no blood relation with Ruth But based on statement in the next chapter,

I think it's safe to say that they were probably like Cousins or distant cousins not that close

So Boaz may have some responsibility and he would do this just because there would be the thing to do for any

Israelite man Who's not you know someone who's denying the faith? But Boaz go he really goes above and beyond Boaz is going above and beyond and showing a special kindness to Ruth and You probably are thinking well, yes, she's young and she's beautiful and that's why he's doing it.

Well, I mean that That might be part of it. It doesn't really say but Boaz is not pursuing her if anything in the next chapter she pursues him, but We get the answer of why

Boaz is being so kind to Ruth look at verse 10 So she fell on her face after he shows this great kindness to her

She falls on her face bowed down to the ground and said to him why have I found

Favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me especially since I'm a foreigner,

I'm a Moabite and Boaz answered and said to her it has been fully reported to me all that you have done

For your mother -in -law since the death of your husband and how you have left your father and your mother in The land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before The Lord repay your work and a full reward be given to you by the

Lord God of Israel Under whose wings you have come For refuge.

So not only has Boaz why is he treating her? Well because he heard how she treated her mother -in -law

Who is his relative so that that's good he sees Ruth's godly character

But Boaz as a man of God He he sees what's maybe even more important than that and what

I think is more important than that That Ruth is really seeking refuge in the

God of Israel so for a Moabite woman to leave her

Past to leave her Moabite Heritage her family and to go and leave behind the

Moabite Idols and gods and to seek the Lord God of Israel. I think that's what really Impresses Boaz.

So not only does Boaz have a godly character He sees the same thing in Ruth Along with wanting to support her and Naomi after all they had gone through by hearing about Ruth's loyalty

He goes above and beyond So Boaz is saying to her

God is God is going to see this and he is going to bless you for it And of course God does bless

Ruth he's He's blessing Her in many ways through Boaz.

And of course again, the the greatest legacy is that she will be included in the lineage of The Israel's Messiah, so we're gonna see that we'll see that at the end in chapter 4 we'll kind of wrap the summary up maybe next week or the week after I'm not sure if this study is gonna go

One more week or two. We'll see how that works So Boaz is saying to Ruth God is gonna

God is seeing all this and he's gonna bless you for it and he does and God still Blesses his people today when

God sees his people being obedient He blesses them. He blesses us

I Think in the day and age we live in that concept Has been so distorted of God's blessing it's been distorted today by what we call the prosperity gospel where some preachers speak of how

The blessing of God is yours and that you know they make it all about money if you do this if you do that God is gonna make you healthy and wealthy and They they focus on Finances so much and by the way, do not get your finances your financial advice from preachers on television, okay not a good idea, but And you see the excess the private jets and all and the average person with an ounce of discernment realizes

There's something not right about this so we can sort of be influenced that the prosperity gospel has

Maybe tainted our view of how God blesses us in the here and now

So the temptation is for the pendulum to just swing in the other direction where we lose sight of the blessings of God that He does bestow upon his people here in the new

Covenant Jesus said in Matthew 6 31 through 33 Therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

For after all these things the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things

Shall be added to you So seek God obey God and God will provide for all of your needs if you want to be blessed by God Then obey him seek him remember in Proverbs and all your ways

Acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. So what did Ruth do? she believed in the

Lord she obeyed and all of her basic needs were taken care of and then some and Because she went

Above and beyond doing what most people wouldn't do Leaving her homeland seeking the

God of Israel remaining loyal to Naomi when Orpah went back home

God who is leading Boaz God chose to bless Ruth in abundance

So you can see everyone is going above and beyond Ruth is going above and beyond Boaz is going above and beyond and then the

Lord goes above and beyond So, how is Ruth going? Above and beyond well

Don't lose sight of this Ruth wasn't just sitting at home Saying well, you know

God's gonna work it all out, but she's not doing anything about it That's what people do sometimes they're just I'm just gonna and I don't think this is what a lot of people mean when they

Say this, but you know kind of let go and let God and I'm not gonna do anything I'm just gonna let God do it all

I'm just gonna trust in God that he's gonna work it all out Well Ruth was trusting in God But she didn't

Stay at home and do nothing Here's what she did Ruth Demonstrated her virtue.

She went out. She worked hard When situations came up she made good decisions

It's been said that God helps those who help themselves and you know I know that's actually not in the

Bible and some people don't like that phrase But you know, there is an element of truth to that verse 13 says

Ruth says let me find favor in your sight my lord for you have comforted me and you have spoken

Kindly to your maidservant though. I am NOT like one of your maidservants

So the fact that she's even out there working hard is it speaks speaks well of her and Then she is very humble

And you know, I'm a Moabite I'm not from around here. That's what she means. I'm not like one of your maidservants she isn't like the rest because she's a foreigner and Although most of you probably already knew this when

Ruth calls Boaz Lord because noted Just let me spend a moment on this verse 13

Ruth says let me find favor in your sight my lord And it's a lowercase

L So who's she talking to? She's not talking to God. She's talking to Boaz and she calls

Boaz Lord So again, most of you I think know this but that doesn't mean she's calling

Boaz God So let's just spend a moment on why

Ruth is calling Boaz Lord and I think there's something important here and something applicable for us today

It's sort of like the verse that pictures Sarah as the ideal picture of a Christian wife

Why in that she called Abraham Lord? right, so you have

You have that with Sarah and Abraham and you have that with Ruth and Boaz Ruth calls

Boaz Lord Sarah calls Abraham Lord and I you know today you I've often heard people express

Disgust with this like what am I supposed to do? You expecting me to call my husband Lord like you're crazy

You know, who does he think he is well, hopefully Your husband doesn't think he's

God that would be that would be a problem And if he does you'll let him know he isn't I'm sure but of course this isn't the point

Lord here does not mean God What is it? It's simply a respectful greeting

If you are out in society if you are being polite You would call a man especially a man of some means but you you might just call any man

Lord, it's sort of like saying sir So just as Boaz here's the thing just as Boaz showed

Ruth kindness Ruth in return Showed Boaz respect

You know, I think this is just basic The the man or the husband shows the woman kindness

The woman shows the man or the husband respect So we've sort of lost this today, but of course again, this wasn't just Ruth who's

Boaz his future wife doing this. This is just what people did they called men they called them

Lord and again, it's just it's Lord is an exclusive for God.

So it's it's a it's like calling them sir it's a sign of respect and we have we've totally lost this not totally but To a large degree.

We've lost this in our society in 2023

This seems odd, right? If you're reading this Ruth calling Boaz Lord, that just seems odd Sarah calling

Abraham Lord Give me a break. Like that's that's the way I've heard a lot of people respond to this

So what does that tell you we've lost something even in a church setting, you know, how many?

people in the church called the pastor pastor as Opposed to being on a first -name basis, which is fine,

I suppose But it just kind of shows where we're at Most of us still don't call our parents by their first name.

I mean you might do it on rare occasion, but And if you do

I'm not criticizing you but most people when Especially little children call their parents by their first name.

It's seen as disrespectful So we live in a day and age where I mean the idea that a wife would call her husband

Lord like that's ridiculous so, of course, it's not culturally, it's not something we would do anyways, but Calling the pastor pastor.

No, he's he's he's Bob, you know, or he's Bill. He's John. He's Mike You know in Israel when an old man walked in the room, you know what everyone would do they would stand up as a sign of respect

Even today when a lady comes in the room or if a woman comes on the platform

Sunday morning to say something oftentimes men will stand up as a

Gesture of courtesy for a lady, you know holding a door open for a lady

So there's there's a lot of things that were done in Bible times where it's just courtesy respect and Today, we've really we've really lost that We still have some of those remnants and I just think we'd be better off if we had a little more.

Okay So Ruth shows respect Boaz shows kindness

And now he continues to show even more kindness verse 14 says now

Boaz said to her at Mealtime come here and eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar so she sat beside the

Reapers and he passed parched grain to her and she ate and was satisfied and Kept kept some back and when she rose up to glean

Boaz commanded his young men saying let her glean even among the sheaves and do not reproach her that is do not

Act disrespectful toward don't reprimand her. Let her do what she wants

Let her take what she needs Verse 16 also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her.

So Boaz is really Haley. Make sure you leave a Lot behind for her

Leave it so that she may glean and do not rebuke her for 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening and beat out what she had gleaned and it was about an

IFA of barley So that's about 30 to 40 pounds, which is a good amount.

That's more than Ruth She's probably expecting, you know a tenth of that Then she took it up and went into the city and her mother -in -law saw what she had gleaned

So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied and her mother -in -law said to her

Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.

So Naomi sees this large amount of food and she's amazed She realized something happened something good just happened

There's no way Ruth got this all on her own So Ruth told her mother -in -law

With whom she had worked and said the man's name with whom I work today is

Boaz Then Naomi said to her daughter -in -law blessed be he of the

Lord who has not forsaken his kindness to the living and the dead and Naomi said to her this man is a relation of ours one of our close relatives

So this is where the kinsmen Redeemer theme begins and that will develop more in the next chapter

And of course the kinsmen Redeemer is Boaz who is a type of Christ who redeems his people

So a lot of tragedy a lot of hardship But it's all working all the bad things are working towards something good and that's what

God does the sovereignty of God He's working all thing according to his purposes for his glory and for the good of his people verse 21

Ruth the Moabitess said He also said to me you shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest

And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter -in -law. It is good my daughter that you go out with his young women and That people do not meet you in any other field

So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest

So she dwelt with her mother -in -law Commentator Matthew Henry writes this about verses 17 to through 23

It is a good question for us to ask ourselves every night Where have

I gleaned today? What improvement have I made in knowledge in grace

What have I done that will turn to a good account when the

Lord deals bountifully with us? Let us not be found in any other field nor seeking for happiness and satisfaction in the creature

We lose divine favors if we slight them So as we wrap up this study, there are some good points to consider and one last thing

One translation puts verse 22 this way where Naomi tells Ruth do as Boaz said my daughter

Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest you might be harassed in other fields

But you'll be safe with him so making Boaz a type of Christ That's the

Kiddinsmen Redeemer theme and when we remember that we can say the same thing about the

Lord Don't search for any other we won't find what we're looking for in any other field so to speak as the

Lord's flock and the sheep of his pasture, we are safe with him as Boaz would be a protector and a provider for his future bride