Loyal Love

Andrew Slay

Ruth: A Story of Redemption • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Ruth 2

Steadfast Love

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The Lord shows lovingkindness to those who take refuge under his wings.

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Introduction

For a baby chick, a mother’s wings is the most safest place they could be.

The wings provide protection, other animals, shelter during the rain, and warmth during cold seasons.

Under the wings of a mother duck, a chick will be able to continually receive the full extent of their mother’s lovingkindness.

As we pick up our story in Ruth 2 we see an example of this truth lived out in the life of Naomi. Though she still felt as if God’s hand was against her…little did she know that her gracious and merciful God was providentially covering her under the shelter of his wings…waiting a just the right time to lavish his lovingkindness upon her, upon her family, and upon her people.

Now, last week we left off at the end of chapter 1 seeing that Naomi is bitter and empty…she had left home full and come back empty, she had lost everything, and all she had was Ruth, who was her daughter-in-law that came back to Bethlehem with her from the country of Moab.

The author leaves us with the main question of the whole story or Ruth and ultimately the whole story of the Bible...what will happen to the family line, the line of the King, the line of the Messiah?

But in act 1 ending in doubt…in emptiness and in despair…there is a glimmer of hope…for Barley harvest is coming!

We see this feast begin to take place in chapter 2.

In light of the coming feast that awaited Naomi, while still in her bitterness and affliction, Charles Spurgeon comments saying:

“It is a sweet thing to be able to trace the hand of God in our affliction, for nothing can come to one of his children from that hand except what is good and right. Those are the hands of which the Lord says, ‘ I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.’ So we may rest assured that nothing can come from those hands but what infinite wisdom directs and infinite love has ordained!”

We see three demonstrations of lovingkindness displayed in the three scenes in chapter 2. Each act of chesed points to the lovingkindness God has demonstrated to us in Jesus in taking refuge under his wings.

MIT: The Lord shows lovingkindness to those who take refuge under his wings. In response, we must be the wings of the Lord to protect others and show them the same lovingkindness God has shown us in Christ.

Ruth 2:1-7 “Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she set out 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 clan of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”

Ruth’s Lovingkindness to Naomi (vs 1-7)

Ruth shows lovingkindness to Naomi by willing to put her life on the line and glean in the fields by herself to provide food for them.

It was dangerous, especially for young women, to glean in fields by themselves. They were vulnerable for kidnap and rape

Deuteronomy 22:25-27

She was a hard worker....verse 7 says, “she has continued from the early morning until now.”

Now we keep using the word “glean” But what does that even mean?

Glean means to gather leftover produce after a harvest had already been gathered.

God had commanded his people to not reap their entire field during harvest, but leave the edges of the field for the poor, widows, and orphans to glean from so they too could have food.

Leviticus 19:9-10 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

God’s sovereignty in allowing Ruth to “just happen” to glean in Boaz’s field in verse 3.

Compatibility between God’s providence and free human agency.

So how does Ruth’s loving kindness to Naomi relate to us??

Just as Ruth shows lovingkindness to Naomi in being willing to sacrifice herself to provide for her mother-in-law, Jesus has shown lovingkindness to us in being willing to sacrifice his life to provide salvation for us.

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Are you willing to put your livelihood, even your life on the line for Jesus? Are you willing to demonstrate this same sacrificial lovingkindness that Jesus has shown to you with your parents, your siblings, your friends, your coaches, your teachers, even your enemies…out of your love for Christ?

Ruth was willing… for she had experienced the grace of Yahweh and she could do nothing but express that grace and lovingkindness to Naomi.

Boaz’s Lovingkindness to Ruth (vs 8-16)

Ruth 2:8-16 “Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants. And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

The first thing we need to notice is that Boaz is a worthy man (vs 1, 4)

Word communicates a hero or champion

He blesses his workers with the blessing of Yahweh.

As a worthy man, Boaz exhibited multiple acts of lovingkindness towards Ruth in this scene.

Letting her glean in his field (vs 8).

Protecting her from harm (vs 9).

Speaking tenderly to her heart (vs 13)

Hosea 2:14 ““Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”

Boaz acted as the Lord’s representative to Ruth and her family taking refuge under his wings.

Psalm 91:4 “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”

Accepting her as part of the family (dipping bread in the vinegar) (vs 14).

Letting Ruth drink from the water with the men and Feeding her until she was satisfied (had food leftover-you have anointed my head with oil and my cup overflows from Psalm 23) (vs 14).

Normally foreigners (which Ruth was a foreigner from Moab) would draw for Israelites, and women would draw for men.

Therefore, letting the woman drink from the men’s water in that day would be unheard of….this was an extravagantly generous act on Boaz’s behalf.

Serving her (vs 15-16).

Boaz told his workers to take some stalks out of their own harvested handfuls and leave them for Ruth to retrieve. This goes beyond what is required in the law.

Why did Boaz do all of these acts of kindness to Ruth? What gave him the strength to do this?

Mary Wilson Hannah gives the answer saying,

“Boaz understands that his privileges originate in God’s unmerited favor. God’s generosity always provides the foundation, power, and pattern for his people’s generosity… In the days when so many were doing what was right in their own eyes, Boaz does what is right in God’s eyes”

What about you? While the world around you does what is right in their own eyes, will you seek to do what is right in God’s eyes?

abortion

race

poor/orphans

physically and mentally handicapped

Outcasts in your schools

Essentially, all these actions are pictures of Christ’s lovingkindness towards us...especially in the sense that, like Ruth, we are foreigners because of our sin...yet Christ welcomes us in his grace, showing us favor and making us part of his family.

Ephesians 2:11-14 “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”

Like Boaz who gave of his resources to provide for Ruth...Jesus impoverished himself to enrich us.

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

In light of the lovingkindness Boaz experienced from Yahweh, he graciously lavished this loyal love on Ruth, the moabite, a foreigner, who least deserved it…and God has done this same thing for us in Christ.

Yahweh’s Lovingkindness to Naomi (vs 17-23)

Ruth 2:17-23 “So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep 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, lest in another field you be assaulted.” So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.”

In this scene, we see Yahweh’s loving kindness to Naomi and the people of Israel in proving that there is hope for Naomi’s life to be redeemed through Boaz and Ruth (vs 20-22).

First, going back to Boaz’s kindness to Ruth and Naomi Ruth brought home an Ephah of barley....but how much is an ephah of barley?

Enough grain to feed a working man for several weeks (26 quarts).

Again, the Lord is gracious to provide for his people.

In verse 20, Naomi is not only blessing Boaz but also it is not clear who the sentence is directed to in the Hebrew (“whose kindness-chesed-has not forsaken the living and the dead).

It seems that the Lord has provided for Naomi and her family a “redeemer”

Because Boaz is a close relative (but he is not the closest), he is one of the family redeemers for both the redemption of the family land and the levirate marriage.

“stayed with her mother-in-law” symbolizes Ruth’s commitment to Naomi, her chastity, and builds dramatic tension (since Boaz has not taken the initiative to marry Ruth) to set up Act 3.

At the end of Act 1, Naomi is bitter, but at the end of act 2, Naomi is hopeful…as the Lord has remembered his covenant and not left his people destitute and empty.

Conclusion

So what must our response be to seeing these multiple demonstrations of lovingkindness from Yahweh, Boaz, and Ruth?

We must show the same lovingkindness we have experienced in Christ to others.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

Three questions to stir response...

Whom do we know?

We must remember the lovingkindness God has shown us in Christ and take refuge under his wings.

It is God’s grace and lovingkindness that will transform our hearts to seek to demonstrate lovingkindness towards others.

What do we have?

If we are saved…eternal life! The hope of the gospel!

Money, Time, Resources, Skills/Talents

Whom do we see?

Lost friends, family members, teachers, coaches, classmates, teammates, etc.

New Hope Pregnancy Center-Walk For Life

Foundation House

Hope 4 One

Caring Place

So, will you you be the extension of God’s wings of refuge to help care and protect those who are in need?

In a day where the world does what is right in their eyes…will you stand up and do what is right in God’s eyes

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