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Well, congregation, the story
of the book of Ruth continues. And as you just heard from the
reading, we are now entering into Ruth chapter two. And in
order to appreciate, you have to be able to substitute the
characters who are in this story for the characters who are in
the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. First of all, you have
to see Elimelech as a picture of the first Adam, who failed
to lead and protect his wife, just as Adam failed to lead and
protect Eve. You also have to see Boaz as
a picture of the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
one who comes and takes the place of the first Adam. And then you
have to see Ruth and Naomi as a picture of the church of Jesus
Christ. In many ways, these two characters
sort of merge together in the story, and they form a composite
character, if you will, as they represent the church itself.
But you know when you do that, you can see very easily how the
book of Ruth is a picture of the gospel story. The first Adam
brought about death. But through the second Adam,
Boaz, there's restoration and there's redemption. On the basis
of a new marriage, a union between Ruth and Boaz, the inheritance
of Ruth and Naomi is restored. They come back into the land
and they come back to their place in the kingdom of God. Now, as
we come to the story proper and we begin in verse 1, what you
notice right off the bat is that there is a passing comment. There's a passing and introductory
comment about Boaz. And it seems that what the writer
wants to do here is just introduce him as the next main character.
And so he says there was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of
great wealth of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. Now, we're going to park here
for just a second because this is interesting. The writer begins
to give us at least two things about Boaz that he wants us to
know before we get into the narrative. First of all, he wants us to
know that Boaz is a relative of Elimelech. And here, the word
for relative, just so you know, is not the word for the kinsman
redeemer. That's a different word, okay?
So he's introduced as a relative, and we're supposed to ask the
question, does he qualify to be the kinsman redeemer? Well,
by the end of the chapter, we will find out that he may qualify. He could qualify. He is somewhere
in line. But at this point, the writer
just wants to tease us with that possibility. The second thing
that he wants us to know is that Boaz is a wealthy man. And here,
if we're thinking very carefully, we can see how the story, typologically
speaking, might unfold. We can see how the story might
fit together. Ruth and Naomi at this point
in their lives have no provider, no one to care for their needs.
But Boaz is a wealthy man. Boaz is rich and provision is
not a problem. And in that sense, we can already
see that Boaz is a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
why do I say that? Well, when it comes to righteousness,
you and I are poor, and we have no righteousness of our own.
And what we need is to be united to Jesus Christ so that His righteousness
becomes our own, so that we can have a standing before God Himself. We're the ones who are poor.
We're the ones who are destitute. But He's the one who is rich.
And by union with Jesus Christ, everything that belongs to him
now belongs to us. But you know what? There's something
else that we need to see here. Very interesting. And that is
the meaning of the name Boaz. I think it is interesting that
if you go to 1st Kings 7 in verse 21, you learn that when Solomon
was building the temple, he established two great pillars in front of
the house of God. Two great pillars. And it's fascinating
because Solomon gave names to those pillars. One was called
Jachin, which means established, and the other was named Boaz,
which means strength. So Solomon was establishing the
house of God in strength. And that's what these two pillars
are represented. Given that Solomon actually built
the temple many years after the story of Ruth, it's very possible
that he named that great pillar in the house of God after the
man who is in our story. And if that's the case, then
it serves to reinforce another aspect of this man, Boaz. And what is that aspect of his
character I want to highlight? It's the fact that Boaz was a
strong man. Now Boaz, for all intents and
purposes, is a picture of true masculinity. And I don't just
say masculinity, I say true masculinity. Okay, so Boaz is not a weak and
effeminate man. Boaz is a man of competence.
Boaz is capable. He has the ability to lead a
wife and lead a home because we can already see that he's
a leader in business. He's a leader in the community. Boaz is a strong man. But just as a parenthetical consideration,
for the men who are here today, let me just say you should make
it your aim. to be Boaz in your life. And the way that you do
that is first of all, you put your trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ and you daily draw your strength from the strength of
Christ. And as you do that, what's going
to happen to your life? It will radically transform.
You'll have the ability to get up and do what he's called you
to do. You'll have the ability to be ready by the grace of God
to face the duties and responsibilities, yes, the challenges and the dangers
of your life, and you'll face them like a man. Because life
is hard, but you're called to learn, you're called to work,
you're called to build, you're called to fight and defend, and
you are called to persevere to the end. Boaz is a strong man. Boaz is the central Christ-like
figure in the story. And every man in this room should
be looking at the character of Boaz as something to be emulated
in his own life. A little snippet. But in Revelation chapter 3,
Jesus is talking to the church in Philadelphia. And in verse
8 he says, I know your works. And I have set before you an
open door that no man can shut, for you have a little strength.
You have kept my word and you have not denied my name. And
then in verse 10, he says, because you have kept my command to persevere. And then he says in verse 12,
behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have that
no man may take your crown. And he who overcomes, I will
make him a pillar in the temple of my God. A pillar in the temple
of my God. Jesus says that if you live and
you work and you persevere in doing what he's called you to
do, then you will be a pillar. You will be a Boaz in the house
of God. Now going back to the story,
Ruth doesn't even know that Boaz exists at this point in the story. Now remember, the writer just
wants to introduce him to the reader because he's the next
main character that we will see. So in verse 2, we pick up with
the narrative. Ruth says to Naomi, please let
me go to the field and glean the heads of grain. I'll go to
the field and maybe I'll find favor in someone's eyes. And
Naomi said, of course, go, my daughter. So now, before we transition
from the house to the field, I wanna make just a few comments
to give you some background information about what's going on. The reason
that Ruth was able to go and reap the grain from another person's
field was because of a special provision that was made in God's
law. Maybe you've heard of the gleaning
laws in Israel. These were laws that applied
to the land owners. God told them that during the
harvest, they were to leave the corners of their fields unharvested,
untouched. He told them that as they reaped
the fields, they could pass through once, but not a second time.
They had to leave quite a bit behind. And if they dropped anything
in the process of collecting the grain, the law was that they
were not allowed to bend down and pick it up. These were provisions
for the poor. that God was setting aside. These
were provisions for the stranger, the foreigner who came from the
outside into the covenant people and their land. Other passages
say the poor, the stranger, and the widow. And in the passage
in Deuteronomy chapter 4, God gives the reason for those laws.
He says that they were put in place to remind the people that
at one time they too were slaves in Egypt. At one time they were
strangers and they were foreigners who lived in a land that was
not their home. And so the gleaning laws were
there to teach the people the right way to treat the poor,
the right way to care for the stranger, not by giving them
a handout like we do in the American welfare system, but by giving
them the opportunity to work for what they need. It's a beautiful
set of laws, but that's the background here. And Ruth gets up, she leaves,
she goes out to the field to glean. Because she's a stranger,
she's a foreigner, and she's a widow. And in verse 3, it says
that she just so happened to land in the part of the field
that belonged to Boaz. Now in verse 4 and following,
we see the coming of Boaz onto the scene. So now, Boaz comes
from Bethlehem, and there's several things that we should notice
here by way of observation. First of all, notice that Boaz
is a godly man who represents the Lord, his God, in everything
that he does. Verse 4 says, Now Boaz came from
Bethlehem and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they
said to him, The Lord bless you. So here we can see that Boaz
is a full-time believer. He's a full-time Christian. He's
not the kind of guy who treats his faith like a hat. He puts
it on when he comes to church, but then he takes it off when
he goes to work. In this situation, Boaz is the
owner of a business. Boaz owns the plot of land. Boaz has servants who are working
for him. Boaz has reapers that have been
hired. So he's the boss and the servants
and the reapers are his workers. And yet when he shows up, he
greets them in the name of the Lord. Boaz is a full-time believer. He doesn't check his faith at
the door. Boaz has absolutely no shame
to bear the name of his God everywhere he goes and in everything that
he does. It's also noteworthy that he
has the love and respect of those who work for him. He says, the
Lord be with you, and they immediately respond, the Lord bless you.
They love this man because he has first loved them. And so
the takeaway here is very simple. No matter where you are, what
you're doing at the time, you are a Christian first. You are
always a Christian and you never take off your Christianity for
anyone. And therefore never be ashamed
of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, you'll notice
that there's something about Ruth that now comes to the fore. So we're looking at Boaz, but
now Ruth, something about her comes to the fore. When Boaz
inquires about Ruth, his servant gives him a very good report. Boaz says, who is this young
woman? And the servant says, that's the 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 while in the house. So here we could see
something about the character of Ruth herself. Ruth is not
a lazy woman. She knows that God is gracious,
okay? She understands the provisions
that are made for the poor, but she also knows that if she's
not willing to get up and work hard to secure that blessing,
then she and Naomi, her mother-in-law, will suffer. And so very clearly,
Ruth has an upright character. Ruth is a strong and industrious
woman. The servant said that she was
working all day long with only a little time that she needed
to rest in the house. And so, of course, And whether
you're married or hope to be married soon, here's an aspect
of your character that you need to develop. This is an aspect
of your character that you need to work on at all times. Be diligent
in the work that the Lord has given you to do. You know, in
Proverbs 31, you'll notice that several of the descriptions of
the virtuous woman are about this very thing. Verse 25 says
that she's a woman who is not weak. It says that she clothes
herself with two things, with strength and honor. In verse 27, we see that her
work is anchored in the home. It says that she looks well to
her own household, and she does not eat the bread of idleness. Here we can see that if you want
to be a virtuous woman, you need to get up and get to work. Yes.
Around your own home for the sake of your own family. And
what that means very practically speaking is you can't be sitting
all day scrolling on your phone. You can't sit there all day scrolling
on your phone. And then finally it says the
hard working woman will be praised. There is a reward of appreciation
for every woman who works hard in her home. It's an appreciation
that she deserves. And you can see in the text that
it comes from her children. They rise up and call her blessed. It comes from her husband who
is willing to praise her in the gates. And so there's a certain
sense of glory that this hardworking woman receives. Verse 31 says,
give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise
her in the gate. Well here, that's exactly what
we see in Ruth. It's what we see in Ruth. Ruth
is not a lazy woman, but Ruth is a good worker. Now going back
to Boaz, because the story just gives us a little snapshot of
Ruth, but then continues with Boaz, there's a few more things
that we really need to see. First of all, notice what Boaz
says to Ruth in verses eight and nine. He says, you will listen,
my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another
field, nor go from here, but stay close to my young women.
Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after
them. 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. Now watch as we unpack what Boaz
just said to Ruth. Watch as we unpack that, how
glorious of a picture we get of this man. Provision. Boaz is no doubt an able and
capable provider. He demonstrates that he has the
ability to meet the needs of Ruth. And so he tells her that
she does not need to go into any other field. He says, do
not go to glean in another field. Protection. We can see very clearly
that Boaz offers Ruth protection. Notice that he not only provides
for her, but he keeps her safe from all the other men who might
be in the field. And that way she will have no
fear. She won't be distracted for her own safety. She'll be
able to focus on her work. He says, let your eyes be on
the field or have I not commanded the young men not to touch you. So Boaz is strong. He can provide,
he can protect. He can guard her and he can guarantee
her a place of safety where she can do the work that she is called
to do. But also notice privilege. Boaz
gives Ruth a special privilege. He doesn't just say, okay, well,
you can come and you could glean in my field and I'll make sure
my men are behaving themselves. But he actually says, whenever
you're thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young
men have drawn. Boaz wants to make sure that
this hardworking woman can be refreshed along the way. Just a small word to husbands,
make sure your wife is refreshed along the way. She's a hardworking
woman, make sure she gets the rest that she needs. Permanence,
think about this idea of permanence because Boaz gives to Ruth a
sense of permanent belonging. Notice that he tells her that
she can join the group of his other young women. And he says,
do not go from here. So he does say, you don't need
to go into another field, but he also says, don't go from here. Stay here. Ruth, you can settle
down here. You can make some friends for
you are welcome in this field. He gives her a sense of security
in that he offers her some sense of permanence. Well, all of those
things are right there on the surface of the text. We didn't
have to look far to see them. A Boaz can give this woman everything
that she needs, everything that she could want, provision, protection,
privilege, and permanence. And so it's very easy for us
to see now why it is that I said Boaz is a real man. Boaz is a
picture of true masculinity. Now at the end of our passage,
there's a beautiful interaction between Ruth and Boaz. You see,
after Boaz comes to Ruth and he says all of these wonderful
things, he offers her all of these blessings that we just
saw, It shows us that Ruth is surprised. Ruth is almost beside
herself. In verse 10, it says that she
fell on her face. She bowed down to the ground
and she said, why have I found favor? That is grace in your
eyes that you should take notice of me. Watch this since I am
a foreigner. Who knows what a foreigner's
experience would have been in Israel in those days? But here
she comes to the field of Boaz, and she has been received with
great kindness and generosity. So she says, why have I found
favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since
I am a stranger? Well, here I want to slip in
a small consideration. that you might miss if you didn't
think about the genealogy that is given to us at the end of
the book. There's a little genealogy that's
working in the background that helps us to sort of dig into
her question here. In Ruth chapter 4 verse 21 it
says, Salmon begat Boaz and Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse
and Jesse begot David. So there's the genealogy that
will connect Boaz to King David. Okay. But here we can see that
the father of Boaz was a man named Salmon. His father's name
was Salmon, and that's fine, but if you go to Matthew 1 in
verse 5, Matthew gives us some insight there, and he says, Salmon
begot Boaz specifically by Rahab. In other words, Rahab was the
mother of Boaz. So why did I even bring that
up? Well, in one sense you can say that, you know, maybe the
reason Boaz was such a generous man when it came to the strangers
and foreigners in the land was that he knew that his own mother
at one time was a stranger in the land. Rahab was not an Israelite
woman by birth and so until she married Salman, as she was an
outsider to the Commonwealth of Israel, she was separated
from the people of God in that formal and covenantal sense. So that's just a little glimpse
into his background that might have played a part in how he's
treating Ruth. But notice that's not what Boaz
actually says. when he answers her question
in verses 11 and 12. Instead, he says that the real
reason that he wants to bless Ruth in the way that he does
is that in the report that he heard about her, he learned that
she was a faithful woman. Okay, now wait. So far we've
seen that Ruth is a hard worker, but that's a little bit different.
Here, Boaz has learned that Ruth is a faithful woman. What really
impressed him was her faithfulness to her family. And not just any
family. She was faithful to her mother-in-law. And she was faithful in her trust
and commitment to the God of Israel. Verse 11 says, 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
and your land of birth and have come to a people you did not
know before. And then he gives her the blessing
of the Lord in verse 12. He says, the Lord repay your
work. And a full reward be given you
by the Lord God of Israel under whose wings you have come for
refuge. You know, the way that little
section ends here is just so beautiful. Because what's happening
here is Boaz is commending Ruth. for her character. And we've
seen that she's a hard worker, but now we see that she is a
faithful woman. There's a sense of loyalty behind
this woman. But notice where her loyalties
lie. They lie not always and not necessarily
in her biological relations, but in her covenantal relations. She is loyal to her mother-in-law,
who is not her mother by birth, but her mother by covenant. She's
not loyal to the gods in the land in which she was born, but
she now wants to be loyal and faithful to the Lord God of Israel,
the only true God that there is. And she wants to enter into
covenant with this God. And so she wants to take refuge
under his wings. So what's happening here is Boaz
sees that and he hears that and he senses that. So he receives
her and he imparts to her the blessing of the Lord. He speaks
like a true representative of the Lord. He not only receives
her, but he actually receives her for what she is in her heart. This woman may be a foreigner
by virtue of her birth. Physically speaking, biologically
speaking, ethnically speaking, she's a foreigner. But if you
notice the language of verse 12, you can see that her faith
and the work that justified her faith, her faith and the work
that justified her faith demonstrates that now she is a true daughter
of Abraham. Look at the language of verse
12. Look at the Abrahamic language. Just as God called Abraham to
leave his father's house and to leave the land in which he
was born and go to a land that he had never seen before. So
Boaz hears a very similar thing about Ruth. He says, I heard
how you left your father and your mother and the land of your
birth. And you have come to a people
that you did not know before. This is Abrahamic language. This
is the language where Boaz, as a representative of Jesus Christ,
is receiving a Gentile woman into the church. And so what
he sees in Ruth, congregation you need to know, is the same
thing that the Lord Jesus Christ sees in every one of his believing
people. Those of us who love the Lord
Jesus Christ more than anyone, more than anything in the world,
are the true sons, we are the true daughters of Abraham. Even
though many of us, not all of us, but many of us, were Gentiles
in the flesh, we are now the seed of Abraham by faith in Jesus
Christ. We were on the outside of the
commonwealth of Israel, but now we have been brought near by
the blood of Christ. It's just so amazing how this
gospel picture permeates the text of the story. And therefore, congregation,
the blessing that Boaz gives to Ruth as we close is a blessing
that belongs to you, and it's a blessing that belongs to me. And so, as Boaz says, the Lord
repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God
of Israel, under whose wings you and I have come for refuge. Amen.
The Gospel of Ruth, Pt. 3
Series The Gospel of Ruth
| Sermon ID | 9242422949848 |
| Duration | 29:06 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Ruth 2:1-12 |
| Language | English |
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