Ruth - Chapters 1-4

During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land of Bethlehem. Elimelech and his family moved to Moab, where he died. Naomi and her two sons married Moabite women. After ten years, both sons died, leaving Naomi and her daughters-in-law. Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem and urged her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab. Orpah left, but Ruth insisted on going with Naomi. In Bethlehem, Ruth worked in the fields owned by Boaz, a relative of Elimelech. Boaz showed kindness to Ruth because of her loyalty to Naomi. Naomi realized that Boaz could be their kinsman-redeemer. Ruth followed Naomi's instructions to ask Boaz to redeem them. Boaz agreed, but there was another relative who had the first right to redeem. This relative declined, and Boaz married Ruth and redeemed Naomi's property. They had a son named Obed, who became the grandfather of Jesse. I'm Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so very much for taking time out of your busy, busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at thevab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are looking at the love story of Ruth, but even more than that, it is the loving kindness story of the Lord to his people. The book of Ruth is the third book of history of the Jews. Once Moses died, the children of Israel entered the promised land with the leadership of Joshua. Moses' right-hand man and Aaron's son Eliezer was high priest. Their conquest gave the Israelites land for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, but problems arose when they did not subdue all the land that was promised to them. Not only that, but they did not remove all the false religions of the land, and very soon the people intermingled. The book of Judges starts with Joshua and Eliezer dead, and so the cycle of Judges went like this. The Israelites sinned against the Lord by worshipping other gods. This brought oppression from the non-Jewish people in the land. The people cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard their cry and raised up a judge to free them from their oppression. As long as the judge was alive, there was peace and rest in the land, but once the judge died the cycle started all over again. The writer of Judges also made it a point to show that with each cycle the sinfulness became worse even among the judges and the priests of the age. Some people call the book of Judges the dark ages of the Bible. The last few chapters stress the point that in those days Israel had no king, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. I say all of that because verse 1 of chapter 1 of Ruth says, In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. In last year's lesson entitled Ruth the Moabite and Boaz the Kinsman Redeemer on March 3rd, I stressed how in the time of the dark ages there was still people faithful to the Lord even though they were few, and that is called a remnant. This year it dawned on me that perhaps the Lord sent Elimelech and his wife Naomi and their two sons Malon and Kilion to Moab in order to protect them from the evil that was in the Jewish land. The Moabites come from Abram's nephew Lot, and this is found in Genesis chapter 19 verses 30-38. We see that they temporarily moved because of a famine. We have talked before about God being sovereign, meaning he is ruler over everything, and how God uses things like famine and war to bring about his plan. Sometimes it is hard to understand why God allows or causes different things, and we find in this story that Naomi struggled with that, but looking at her story we also see that God has a bigger picture of what is going on in the whole world. The Lord declared through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 55 verses 8 and 9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. The plus about God's sovereignty is that when the world seems crazy, we see from this story and from the whole Bible that the Lord watches out and fights for the people that worship him. It doesn't mean bad things don't happen to us, it just means that he is with us and he will guide us in the midst of those circumstances. We experience God's chesed love, or his loving kindness, which is a love that is relational. So due to a famine in the land, Elimelech and his family moved temporarily to Moab. While there, Elimelech died. At least Naomi had her two sons, and they got married to Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. They lived there ten years, and then both of her sons died. This left just the women. Naomi heard that there was now food in Bethlehem, so she planned on heading back. The ladies packed up, and chapter 1 verse 7 says that when they got to the road that would take them to the land of Judah, Naomi told her daughters-in-law to go back to their homes. Chapter 1 verse 9 says, May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband. She kissed them, they wept, she sent them off, Orpah left, but Ruth clung to her. Ruth told her, Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. It seems clear that Ruth has placed her faith in the God of the Jews. Naomi realized she couldn't change her mind, so off they went to Bethlehem. They became the talk of the town. When people spoke to her, she told them, Don't call me Naomi, which means pleasant. Instead call me Marah, because the Almighty has made my life bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me. The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. The sad part is that Naomi did not realize what a blessing her daughter-in-law was at this time, because she did not come back empty. She came back better. That's the thing about hardships. We either become bitter or better. They arrived just in time for barley harvest, and this is where the story gets exciting. Even though this was during the time of the judges, there was still a man who honored the Lord, and I'm sure there were more than just that one. And his name was Boaz, who was a relative of Elimelech, Naomi's dead husband. Now when we covered the laws of the Lord found in the books of Moses, we learned that the Lord made provisions for the poor and the alien, and that when a crop holder gathered the harvest, they were to leave some of those in need to eat from their crops and vineyards. That's what Ruth did, at Naomi's suggestion. I love what chapter 2 verse 13 says, As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. As it turned out, I call that a God thing. When Boaz came and checked out the crops, he noticed Ruth and asked about her. Well Bethlehem was not a large place, so needless to say everyone, but apparently Boaz, seemed to know that Ruth was the Moabitess that came back with Naomi. The foreman told Boaz she was a hard worker. Boaz spoke to Ruth and told her to stay in his field, stay with his servants, and get water from his water jars. He also said that he informed the men not to touch her. She bowed down and asked why such favor, and Boaz said it was because of her actions toward her mother-in-law. And then chapter 2 verse 12 says, May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wing you have come to take refuge. Boaz even gave orders to his men to not embarrass her, and to leave extra stalks for her to pick up. After she picked the stalks, she threshed the barley she had gathered. That means to beat it and then toss it in the air so that the chaff would blow away and then the seed would come down to be gathered. She took home an ephah, about three-fifths of a bushel. Naomi was amazed by how much she brought home and asked where she worked. Ruth told her the story, and Naomi said, That man is our close relative. He is one of our kinsmen-redeemers. Chapter 2 verse 20, It was decided that Ruth would stay in Boaz's fields. In chapter 2 verse 23 we find that she gleaned through the barley and then the wheat harvest. Chapter 3 verse 1, One day Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you where you will be well provided for? It seems they had been there for a year, because in chapter 3 we find it is barley harvest time again. Naomi tells Ruth to prepare herself to go to the threshing floor and lay at the feet of Boaz. This seems to be the custom of asking to be married, and Ruth did everything that Naomi told her to do. Around midnight Boaz woke up, found a woman at his feet, and asked who she was. Ruth said what Naomi told her to, and mentioned that Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer. Boaz responded in chapter 3 verses 10-13, The Lord bless you, my daughter, this kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier. You have not run after younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid, I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning, if he wants to redeem good, let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it. Lie here until morning. Early that morning Boaz sent Ruth with food to her mother-in-law. Naomi knew that Boaz would not rest until the matter was settled. Chapter 4 explains how this matter was settled, which is found in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 5-10. The purpose of the kinsman-redeemer was two-fold. It kept the tribe's land within the tribe, and secondly, it was to continue the lineage of the one who died from that tribe. One thing I find interesting is when this lineage is recorded, it says Ruth and Boaz, not Naomi's son's name. Boaz met at the city gate, had ten elders come as witnesses, and when the nearer kinsman-redeemer realized that with the land came a wife, he declined. Boaz said in front of the witnesses that he would buy Naomi's property that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Malon, and acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Malon's widow, as his wife. The leaders blessed Boaz and this union with Ruth that they would be blessed like Rachel and Leah who together built Israel, they were Jacob's wives, and like Tamar and Judah who bore Perez. They married and had a son. The woman of the town told Naomi, he will renew your life and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons has given him birth. Chapter 4 verse 15 The boy's name was Obed, who became the father of Jesse, the father of David. We see through the faithfulness of Ruth and Boaz the Lord blessed, plus we see that through their faithfulness the Lord will be faithful to bring forth a godly king who will lead his people, King David. In Matthew chapter 1 we see the genealogy of Jesus, and verses 5 and 6 tell us, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. We know that Rahab was not a Jew, but she was saved when the Israelites took Jericho because she hid the spies, and Rahab was the mother of Boaz. She was a woman of faith in the Lord of the Israelites. Rahab was a Moabite, but she took refuge under the wings of the Lord of the Israelites. It was because of their faith that they were blessed to have as their descendants King David and ultimately the Lord Jesus. So let me ask you, where do you take refuge? There is peace and rest that come when we willingly come to Jesus and take refuge under his wings. His steadfast love is new every morning, and he is strong enough to handle anything that comes our way. If you have heard his voice today, please don't harden your heart, instead let's be women of faith and place our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the descendant of King David, the predicted Messiah of the Israelites, and for all who come to him with belief and obedience. Until next time, and thanks so very much for listening.