Ruth 1 & 2
We are entering a season in which the original meaning can sometimes be lost to the busyness and chaos of the season. A season in which 41% of Americans are willing to go into debt in the spirit of gift giving. A season in which an estimated $15 billion of gifts will be returned because they are unwanted. A season in which an estimated $6 billion will be spent on Christmas trees in America alone. We shop a lot. We travel great distances. We juggle Christmas festivities between families. And I love it. I love buying things for my girls, I love traveling, and I love spending time with family. But, if we aren’t careful, we’ll wake up on December 26th, tired and full, without having spent much time dwelling on and talking about Jesus.
For the next 4 weeks, Christmas service included, we are going to look forward, in a way, to the birth of Jesus. Using the book of Ruth as our foundation, we’ll see an incredible parallel of hope through a redeemer. Go ahead and open your Bibles to the book of Ruth, Ruth chapter 1. Now for the sake of time, I’m going to give a summary of chapter 1 to bring us up to speed, and we’ll spend most of our time in chapter 2 this morning.
Recap Summary
Ruth takes place in the time of the judges, and a great famine had come upon the land. A young family of 4 moved from Bethlehem to Moab to work and survive. Unfortunately for them, the father, Elimelech dies, leaving his wife and 2 sons behind. The sons marry 2 women from Moab, Orpah and Ruth. 10 years later, both of the sons die, leaving the mother, Naomi, and the 2 daughters behind. Naomi catches wind that the Lord had favor on Israel and there was now food back home in Bethlehem, so she decides to journey home, but wants to part ways with her daughters-in-law. They don’t have any kids, and Naomi knows that it would be best if they return to their families and get a fresh start.
Orpah agrees and heads home, while Ruth refuses and demands to stay with Naomi, no matter what happens. I want to highlight a few things that will help us as we dive in a little deeper.
1. Naomi felt discouraged and hopeless.
1:12 - “If I were to say I had hope.” Implication is that she didn’t!
1:13b - “it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”
Upon returning to Bethlehem, people are excited to see her again. But look at verse 19-21. (Read vs. 19-21)
Naomi left her country, lost her husband, lost both of her sons, and was at what was probably the lowest point of her life. She feels like God has abandoned her, in fact she feels like God has for some reason caused all of this to happen TO her. She is in need of hope.
2.. Ruth was faithful
1:14 - “Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.”
Read vs. 15-18.
This matters, because turn over to Matthew chapter 1. Read Matthew 1:1-6. The faithfulness of Ruth that leads her into Bethlehem places her into the genealogy of Jesus. She is the distant great-grandmother 10 generations up, of Jesus. So not only is the book of Ruth a foreshadowing of the coming Redeemer, but there is a direct physical connection between the 2. By the way, Ruth the Moabitess is not a part of Israel, she is a Gentile, from which Jesus will eventually come.
Chapter 2 begins and we find ourselves in Bethlehem. Naomi has returned with Ruth by her side, and the last detail we have from chapter 1 is that it is the beginning of barley harvest.
Big Idea: We have a Redeemer who heaps undeserved grace on our lives.
Undeserved Grace on Top of Grace
Read 2:1-3
Boaz, a relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband, was a “worthy man,” meaning he had great character and great wealth. Ruth, also a woman of character, decides to go to work to try and provide for herself and Naomi. So she finds a field in which to “glean after the reapers.”
Here’s what that means, not my words. “In Bible times, the reaper grasped the stalk with his left hand and cut off the grain with a sickle in his right. When the armload of accumulated ears became unmanageable, he laid them in rows beside the standing stalks for women to tie in bundles. Since prudent reapers worked carefully, the gleaning of fallen grain was mere subsistence living, much like trying to eke out survival today by recycling aluminum cans.”
So Ruth, fingers crossed, would glean enough grain for her and Naomi to have a small meal together. But look what God does: “she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.” She “happened” to come. Listen to me, there are no coincidences. The Lord compelled Ruth to stick by Naomi’s side, brought them back to Bethlehem, and placed Ruth in the field of the one who could redeem her life.
Read 2:4-7
Look again at what God did. The moment that Boaz comes to check on his workers is the same moment that Ruth is close enough for Boaz to see her, and take notice. And he sure does, doesn’t he? From this moment on, Boaz is fixated on this foreigner who, we’ll see in a minute, he has already heard much about.
God has moved the pieces into place, and we now begin to see this undeserved grace heaped one on top of the other. Remember, Ruth is a Gentile Moabite who is a foreigner in Bethlehem. Her only connection through marriage. She shows up, and after 1 day of working, watch what happens.
Grace Moment #1
Read 2:8-9
Already Boaz is showing her favor.
First dibs on gathering the leftovers
Guaranteed protection from the men of the fields
Permission to drink water when she needs it, without having to draw it herself
It may seem like it’s not much, but it’s more than she deserved. And Ruth recognizes it, look at verse 10 (Read vs. 10). In an act of humility she bows to the ground, admitting that she is undeserving of the favor that she is being shown.
Grace Moment #2 - Reward from the Lord
Read 2:11-13
Rather than taking credit, Boaz turns her attention to the Lord. “I’ve heard of your faithfulness,” Boaz says, “how you stuck by Naomi and left your family and home behind to come to a place that is completely foreign to you.” His spoken blessing as a result of this is that the Lord would heap on Ruth encouragement, fulfillment, confidence, refuge…rewards for her faithfulness. In turn then, Boaz, being a man of God, desires to treat her in the same way. He comforts her with his presence and his words, he speaks kindly to her, even though that wouldn’t have been unexpected as a foreign woman who wasn’t under his employment. And it all happens so fast!
Grace Moment #3 - Abundance
Read 2:14-17
There is so much here. Boaz invites Ruth to eat with him, which is something in and of itself. But the fact that Boaz is joining his servants for a meal is a really big deal. Not only that, but Boaz was serving Ruth. He was getting her food for her. This woman he only just met! And she doesn’t just eat this meal, but it says she “ate until she was satisfied.” And she had some left over! I mean when’s the last time she had a meal like this?! And it just keeps getting better.
From the same commentator I referenced a few minutes ago:
"Gleaners were presumably restricted from this area for two reasons: first, the owners’ desire to keep any dropped grain for themselves; and second, the temptation for unscrupulous gleaners secretly to take even piled sheaves. In essence, Boaz instructed, “She has my permission to glean there.....Access to the area between the piles of sheaves would increase Ruth’s daily harvest considerably since more dropped grain lay there than among the stalks. ”
And not only that, but Boaz tells his reapers to intentionally leave some behind for her. So much, that she collected an ephah, which many think would have equated to half a month’s wages, and she did it in one day!
I mean we can just see how much grace Ruth is receiving from the Lord, and in turn from Boaz. It’s incredible.
Read 2:18-20
Boaz is what’s called a kinsman redeemer. According to various Old Testament laws, this was a man who had the responsibility to act on behalf of one of his relatives who was in trouble, in danger, or in need. One of the roles we see in Leviticus 27 is one who redeems property or a person. It’s important to note that this isn’t about marriage, yet. A kinsman redeemer is one who saves a relative out of a desperate situation. And Ruth was in a desperate situation, struggling to make enough to eat.
But here’s here we get a first glimpse of hope. Naomi recognizes his name, knows that he is a relative, and understands what this means for their lives.
Read 2:21-23
If we read this story through the lens of Christmas. If we take this story as a foreshadowing of what’s to come, we see so many connections to Jesus.
Christ Connections
All of Scripture points to Jesus. Sometimes it’s difficult to draw the connection, but sometimes it’s relatively easy. Right away we see this story taking place in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, and we saw in the genealogy of Jesus how Ruth is included. As we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus in just a few weeks, what else do we see here that points to our Savior?
Think about our 3 “grace moments.”
In all of them, Ruth is given more than she deserves. And it isn’t just anyone that is providing for her, it’s a kinsman redeemer. Think about Ruth though. She is in a helpless and hopeless place in life. The only solution for her is for someone to step in and save her. She is a foreigner. She doesn’t belong. But she is given a place at the table, she is given more than she can eat. She is given access to water whenever she wants it.
In Luke 14 we find the parable of the Great Banquet in which a man gave a great banquet, but all those he invited came up with excuses as to why they couldn’t come. So he tells his servant to go out into the city and find the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame, and give them a seat at the table.
We even see Jesus in the invitation to drink water freely. In John 4 Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, and in that conversation he offers her water that will last forever, water that will cause you never to be thirsty again. Even that small detail in Ruth, something she needed and was freely given.
All of Scripture points to Jesus. But, zoom out and just think about what Jesus gives: undeserved grace on top of grace. We are foreigners, and we have been brought into the fields of Jesus, protected and provided for. We have a seat at His table. We have more than enough, more than we deserve.
Undeserved grace on top of grace.
The story ends and Ruth has been given hope. Hope in a redeemer who would give her life, life to the fullest.
