Ruth 2 Bible Study

Ruth Returns to Bethlehem and the Story So Far

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 and 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 of 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.

God's Providence and the Sovereignty of God in Ruth

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.

Boaz's Kindness and the Law's Provision for the Needy

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 a godly man. Taking care of family. 1st 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 1st 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, they're 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'd 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 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. No, I 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 picture 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's 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.

Ruth's Humility, Respect, and Boaz's Extra Provision

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 and 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 Kiddinsman 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 Ruth. So Christ is to his bride the New Testament Church and Lord willing will pick up the story in chapter 3 next week.