We need to understand that with the coming of Christ and the bringing forth of that good news, it wasn't because man was worthy, but rather because God is gracious. As well, it wasn't because man got lucky. It wasn't just a happenstance or a lucky event that on that day in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ was born, but rather it happened according to the eternal plan and purpose of our sovereign God who works all things out according to His will." And there are five women, including Mary, that are mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1. And three of those particular women feature in the book of Ruth.
Last week I said two. I apologize for the mistake. There are three women that feature primarily, or predominantly, in the book of Ruth. Rahab is not mentioned in the book of Ruth, but she, of course, is the mother-in-law of Ruth.
Ruth is mentioned, of course, and then as well Tamar. So those ladies show us the extraordinary power of God working through very ordinary persons. The book of Ruth is not a book filled with miracles. It's not a book filled with the sensational, but rather it is, as I said, a very ordinary story of very ordinary people, but a God who is using them to accomplish an extraordinary plan in terms of bringing His Son into this world.
So I'll just pick up reading in Ruth chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
Therefore, wash yourself and anoint yourself. Put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down.
And he will tell you what you should do.' And she said to her, all that you say to me I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. And after Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. And she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled and turned himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, who are you? So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.
Then he said, blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request. For all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.
Now it is true that I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I. Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good, let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you as the Lord lives.
Lie down until morning. So she lay at his feet until morning. She arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
And also he said, bring the shawl that is on you and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six ifas of barley and laid it on her. Then he went into the city. When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, is that you, my daughter?
And she told her all that the man had done for her. And she said, these six ephahs of barley he gave me. For he said to me, do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law. Then she said, sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out.
For the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day." Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our God and our Father, we ask now for the ministry of Your Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus said that apart from Him we can do nothing. And we confess that even now. We know that worship and receiving the truth of God is something we need divine help in.
So we pray that You would pour out Your Spirit and that You would be well pleased to take these things and to demonstrate to us Your glory, Your majesty and Your power in bringing about the salvation of men. God, how we thank you that these figures in the book of Ruth played a key role under the hand of Providence to bring about the best event ever, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for his life. We thank you for his death.
We thank you for his resurrection and for his current session at the right hand. And even now we pray that he would give the Spirit to his church and that the Word of God would have its way in all of our hearts. As well, Father, we ask that you would forgive us for all of our sins and transgressions. We confess our sin.
We know that we have not lived in light of your truth. We ask that you would wash us and purify us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, for those here who have not come to Christ, we pray that today would be the day of salvation, that they would know the joy of having their sins forgiven, that they would know the joy of having their their guilt canceled and having that favor with you. We ask our Father that you would do this for your glory and for the good of souls and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well as I said the Lord Jesus Christ didn't come because men were worthy. He came because His Father and the triune God rather is gracious and glorious. Jesus didn't come because it was a lucky happening, but rather the Father had purpose to send the Son. So our confession says it pleased God in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and to do what men could not do.
He lived in light of the law, He obeyed the law of His Father, He succeeded or fulfilled all righteousness for us, and then he died as a sacrifice and a substitute in our stead, so that everyone who by the grace of God looks to Him will have everlasting life. But that eternal purpose was fleshed out in history. As we saw last week, it's fleshed out in the lives of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz. Basically, there was a family, a man by the name of Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons.
Famine had come to Israel, specifically the house of bread, Bethlehem, where Elimelech lived. Because this famine came, Elimelech took his wife Naomi and his sons and they went to the land of Moab. And there, in the land of Moab, Elimelech dies. Naomi's sons then marry two Moabite women.
One of them, of course, is Ruth. Well, in the course of time, those two sons die, and so Ruth now has, or Naomi rather, hears that there's bread in Bethlehem, so she wants to return there. The two daughters-in-law want to accompany her, and she basically tries to shoo them away. She says, no, stay here among your own people so you can take husbands that will provide security and stability for you.
Of course, Orpah, one of the daughter's-in-law, does. She returns to Moab and she returns to her god, Chemosh. But Ruth, however, sticks with Naomi. Ruth makes that incredible confession of faith in Ruth chapter 1, verses 16 and 17.
She says, "'Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.' Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." This is an expression of allegiance in Israel's God.
That is central to this, and your God, my God. As a result of that allegiance to God, your people are now my people. And particularly out of the mass of Israelites, Ruth had a special affection and attachment to Naomi. And then when we get to chapter 2, they've returned to Bethlehem and now they need to have food.
And so Ruth has an idea that she will go out and glean in the fields. That was something stipulated by the law. When the harvesters went out, they didn't take every possible scrap of food that could be taken from the field. There was some left on the ground and the gleaners could go in and take that food so that they wouldn't starve to death.
It really was a blessed arrangement. It's not only the deprivation, but also the dignity involved. We need food, but it's also a blessing to be able to work for that food. There's dignity in God honoring labor.
And so these gleaning laws were provided in such a way that the poor got to eat, but the poor got to eat by the work and toil of their own hands. Very blessed arrangement. So then Ruth goes out and she happens to come to the field owned by Boaz. Now as we considered last week, there's nothing happenstance.
It was not lucky. This was the author's way of drawing attention to the fact that God is sovereign. God is orchestrating these events. God is over these details.
God is the one who is putting this plan together and fleshing it out so that we can come to the end of Ruth and the birth of Obed. So Ruth comes to Boaz's field. Boaz takes notice of this young woman and he starts to treat her very kindly and very graciously. Chapter 2 ends with the immediate needs being met.
In other words, Ruth is gone and lame. She's been successful. Boaz has said, attach yourself to my field, to my women. And you can certainly eat as a result of that.
So she comes back to Naomi, tells her everything that had happened. Now Naomi takes the initiative in Chapter 3. Naomi understands that we need something more than short-term provision. We need long-term security.
Actually, it's not a we with Naomi. It's a Ruth. Naomi truly is benevolent. Naomi truly wants good to come for Ruth.
And so she understands that Boaz is a close relative. Because Boaz is a close relative, under God's law, this may be the means by which Ruth will secure stability for a long life. So that's what's going on in chapter 3. Essentially what we have in 3 and 4 is chapter 3 is the plan of redemption and chapter 4 is the accomplishment of redemption.
So if you want to take notes that's where we're going this morning. I hope to connect us to Matthew chapter 1 at the end of the message this morning. If we run out of time, God willing, we will do that tonight. So if this study in Ruth provokes your interest in any sort of way and you want to see how it does connect to the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 to 24 deals with that.
So as I said, we'll try and get to that this morning. If not, we will carry over into this evening. So those of you who are savvy can now rest assured we will not go into the late afternoon. I think I just at least heard a silent expression of relief.
Thank you. We're going to carry it into tonight. All right. Longer introduction, but we're dropping into a particular time in Israel's history.
It's good for us to know what's going on. The book of Ruth, of course, is in the period of the judges. It's prior to the monarchy. It's prior to the kingdom. in Israel.
It was a time wherein there was a lot of brutality, a lot of sin, a lot of depravity that was fleshed out among Israel. Remember there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. And the book of Judges shows us in many ways the negative aspect of that period. The book of Ruth, however, shines the light upon the reality that even in the midst of this period God has his lights.
Ruth is a godly young woman. Naomi is a godly older woman. Boaz is a godly older man that certainly exemplifies and typifies the greater than Boaz that would come from his loins, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Plan of Redemption
So let's look first at the plan of redemption in chapter 3 under two broad considerations.
The Initiative of Naomi
First, the initiative of Naomi, and secondly, the implementation of the plan. Notice in chapter 3 at verse 1, Again, Naomi wants good for Ruth. Naomi wants Ruth to be taken care of. Naomi has affection for her.
They have become attached to one another. There is a mutual love. There is that characteristic of kindness and grace that the Hebrew word calls hesed. And that is being displayed not only by God, from on high, but by God through His people.
So certainly what Naomi and Ruth have is something very special in this particular instance. Remember back in chapter 1 at verses 8 and 9. As I said, Naomi tried to shoo them off. And in verse 8 it says in chapter 1, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go return each to her mother's house.
The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. So she is saying the same thing here. We considered last week, this particular time in history, it was the case that a woman who was a widow had a difficulty.
It was good for her to marry another man. There was financial concern. People don't live on love and fresh air. And when a woman sees her husband buried, it doesn't mean that all her debts are somehow cancelled.
It doesn't mean that she no longer has to eat. It doesn't mean that she no longer has to provide warmth. It doesn't mean that she can just sort of float around in this ethereal state where nothing ever bothers her or affects her. No, a man in this society was very helpful and, yea, crucial for a woman in distress.
So Naomi is thinking in terms of this. It is good for you to find this particular man. Notice the reason why. It says, now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative?
This is something else that takes us back to the law of God. as revealed through Moses, the man of God.
The Kinsman-Redeemer Defined
This man was called a goel. That's the Hebrew word for a redeemer, a kinsman redeemer. This is a very important function of family in this society. This goel, or this kinship redeemer, denotes the near relative who is responsible for the economic well-being of a relative.
And he comes into play especially when the relative is in distress and cannot get himself or herself out of the crisis.
Family Responsibility and the Goel
Note the particular emphasis here. If someone fell on hard times in Old Covenant Israel, it was not immediately the responsibility of the state. It was not immediately the responsibility of the taxpayer. It was not immediately the responsibility even of the church.
It was the immediate responsibility of the family. This is why in 1 Timothy chapter 5, the Apostle exhorts those who have widows in their lives to take care of them. Family members are responsible for widows. And Paul specifies and stipulates to make sure that if you are going to give aid to the widows, they don't have family.
They've met these certain criteria. They've met these particular obligations. And he speaks specifically so that the church may not be burdened. You see, in Old Covenant Israel, from which Paul is working off of in 1 Timothy 5, this kinsman redeemer served a very important function.
One of the things he did was to redeem land that was sold during a hardship. to redeem land so that he could keep it in the family. Remember, God gave tribal allotments to Israel. You got what you got in the land. If you lost that, you were out.
The land was central in Israel's theology. It was central in their life. It was central in their livelihood. And so if you fell into hardship and had to part with the land, the Goel, or the kinsman redeemer, would come and secure it so that it did not leave the family, did not leave the tribe.
As well, the goel or the kinsman redeemer would redeem a family member from slavery. Also, this kinsman redeemer functioned as the avenger of judgment. In other words, if someone murdered someone or someone committed manslaughter against someone, it was this kinsman redeemer that would hunt them down and execute them prior to their arrival at the city of refuge. I know this seems a bit odd to us because it's so far removed.
But if you take the time to go through Israel's law code, you'll see the justice of it. You'll see the rightness of it, the righteousness and the equity of it. And that most of all, it's pro-God and pro-victim. You know, today the victim is often victimized twice.
God sees the victim as the one that deserves recompense, restitution. The victim deserves justice. As well, this particular kinsman-redeemer ensured that justice was served in a lawsuit involving a relative. And then finally, this kinsman-redeemer was part of what was called the Leveret Arrangement.
And the Leveret simply means that if an Israelite was married to a woman and that Israelite died, the idea was that that woman marries her brother or marries someone, not her brother, I'm sorry, his brother, to keep the inheritance going, to keep the line intact, and to provide offspring, progeny, for that particular tribe. And that is essentially how Boaz functions in this particular book. So note the particular plan that she gives to her. Again, we'll just run quickly through some of these details.
She basically tells her in verses 3 and following. Wash yourself, anoint yourself, put on your best garment, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will tell you what you should do." Now, there are those who have taken this particular passage and read into it sexual misconduct.
Some have taken this particular passage and said, well, what Ruth is doing really isn't legit. What Naomi wants Ruth to do would compromise her integrity as a godly young woman. One only needs to read the passage in its context to see how godly Boaz interpreted it to see that it was a legit situation. But make no mistake about it.
What is in view is that Naomi tells Ruth to go see Boaz and ask him to marry you. That's what the language of verse 9 is all about. Take me under your wings. It is a euphemism, a metaphor, a figure of speech that is used for marriage.
Now again, some of you young ladies might be thinking, I don't know about all this. I can't imagine me going to my boyfriend and saying, honey, will you please marry me? I'm not telling you young ladies that you ought to do that. In fact, I would highly suggest that you don't.
Young men ought to show initiative. They ought to go, and they ought to be the ones who say, honey, will you marry me? Different age, different culture, different setup, but the particular endgame is this. You need security, Ruth.
See, we all operate on love, and romance, and stars in the eyes, and fireworks. That's probably a 20th century conception, or convention. Throughout the history of the world, people didn't marry because fireworks went off. People didn't marry because they got wooed in their hearts.
People got married because it was a blessed arrangement given by God for the mutual benefit of the two parties involved. Not because He makes my heart go pitter-patter. Now, I'm not suggesting that later on in this particular book, Boaz's and Ruth's heart didn't pitter-patter. I quite suspect that they did.
I suspect that by the time we get to the end of chapter 3 and Boaz introduces this problem, he says, there is a relative that is actually closer than I am. Ruth is probably disappointed. I'd rather marry you, Boaz. I quite like you.
You've been very kind to me. Certainly Boaz, the way that it responds, he immediately goes to find this particular Goel, this other man that's closer. Why? Because Boaz wants to marry Ruth by this point.
But up until now, it isn't all of that that's on the table. It isn't the stars in the eye. It isn't the pitter-patter of the heart. And I think there's a good lesson here for us by way of corollary.
Think with your heads, young people, when it comes to marriage. Are you saying I shouldn't love the person? I'm not saying that. Are you saying I should find the person miserable?
I'm not saying that. Are you saying I should be repulsed by that? No, I'm not saying that. But I'm saying there are times in the most intimate of unions that rational thought and objectivity flies out the door.
We hear things like, but I love him. Well, maybe you shouldn't because he needs to repent and believe the gospel. Or perhaps because he needs to repent and go find a job. Yeah, but he plays great on Call of Duty.
Unless he's making, you know, 75k a year playing Call of Duty, find a guy that's got a job. See, I think we can at least glean this from this gleaner. Sorry. And from Boaz.
We've got to be objective. It's about future orientation. It's about what honors God. This person that I've set my affections on and I'm going to marry, is this the means by which I will bring glory to God?
I mean, who of us ever thinks like that when it comes to a major life decision? Will this bring glory and exaltation to the God of heaven and earth, or is it something that I want? And then I'll try and fit God in later as I proceed. Young people, the decisions you make in your youth are long-reaching. and heavily impacting.
So learn from Ruth here. Learn from Boaz. Learn that there is objective standard that ought to go into the choice of a mate. As Puritan says, choose your love and then love your choice.
Choose your love and then love your choice. Give yourself to that person wholly and fully and forever. But as she describes this, I don't think that Ruth is telling, or Naomi is telling Ruth to get all dolled up. In other words, don't, you know, get all decked up so that you're this gorgeous woman that when he lays eyes upon you, Boaz had already laid eyes upon Ruth.
When it says to put on your best garment, you'll notice in the New King James that best is supply. The word garment here is simply the outer garment that Israelites wore to keep themselves warm in the daytime and that they would use as a blanket during the night time. Probably what Naomi is exhorting Ruth is to put off your garments of widowhood. We see something parallel in 2 Samuel chapter 12 with reference to David.
You don't have to turn there, but 2 Samuel, after David's son died, what happened? He anointed his face, he started to eat food, and he conducted himself again. But during that time of grief, and during that time of mourning, and during that time of heartache, he wasn't conducting himself normally. Bloch makes the suggestion that what Ruth had been wearing were the garments of widowhood.
Listen to what he says. It may well be that until this time, Ruth had always worn the garments of widowhood, even when she was working out in the field. Perhaps this was the reason for Boaz's inertia. Why Boaz didn't initiate prior to this particular time.
I mean, the guy's not a vampire. She's dressed as a widow. He's not there saying, marry me, marry me, marry me. He is honoring this reality that she is going through this period of widowhood.
I think this makes some sense. He says, as an upright man, he would not violate a woman's right to grieve the loss of her husband, nor impose herself upon her until she was ready. We know too little about how long widows would customarily wear their morning clothes. But it may be that Naomi is now telling Ruth the time has come to doff her garments of widowhood and let Boaz know that she is ready to return to normal life, including marriage, if that should become possible." That's legit.
Again, 2 Samuel 12, you see the same sort of thing in the life and ministry of the life of David, king of Israel. It's not saying just deck yourself out, look gorgeous, so that when he lays eyes on you, he'll get the pitter-patter and say, wow, I must marry this woman because she's beautiful. No, that's not it. Put off the widowhood garments.
Communicate to Boaz that you want to marry. And then notice what Naomi says to Ruth. Verse 5, she said to her, all that you say to me I will do. That's going to take faith from Ruth, isn't it?
Think about this. Remember Ruth is a Moabitess now living in Israel. Ruth is a servant working for the master. Ruth is a woman seeking to initiate a relationship with a man.
Daniel Bloch makes a comment concerning this particular situation. He said, in a world previously characterized, I'm sorry, that's the wrong quote. I'm not going to find it now. Essentially this, that she had, as a slave, came to initiate with the master.
She, as a woman, comes to initiate with a man. She, as a foreigner, comes to initiate with an Israelite. You want to talk about faith? Ruth has faith, brothers and sisters.
Have you ever been called upon to do something difficult? You say, I don't know if I can do this. You need to step out in faith. Look at what Ruth is being told by Naomi.
Perhaps in Ruth's young mind, this convention or this situation is just fine and dandy. I can work in his field. He's a benevolent and generous man. I bring home ephahs of flour and barley.
I bring home enough for us to eat. But Naomi's thinking long term. Naomi says, you need to go and do this. And Ruth does it.
This is an absolutely incredible venture that this young woman undertakes. Look at the position of compromise should Boaz wrongly interpret. At least one of the commentators, or some of the commentators, suggest that at time of barley harvest, when all the men are out reaping, this was a keen and particular time when the prostitutes would come to the sleeping area. These guys are working hard, they've had their dinner, they've had a glass of wine or two, and there's the prostitutes.
You see, Ruth is putting everything on the line in this particular expression here. Naomi says that whatever He tells you, all that He tells you, you say to Him, I will do.
The Implementation of the Plan
Now notice, the implementation of the plan. I'm going to tell you right now, we're not getting out of chapter 3 this morning. So before you get revitalized with this, are we ever going to end? We're going to end at the end of chapter 3.
As I said, if you want to see how the story concludes, please come back tonight. It's interesting, there's no law on the land that forbids you from coming to church twice on one day. It's beautiful. There's everything in the law of God that would specify that you should come to church twice on one day.
Anyways, notice specifically.
Boaz's Response Vindicates Ruth
These actions could have had a sexual significance, but the language does not necessitate it. The decisive factor for understanding this, not as a sexual advance, but as a desire for marriage, is found in Boaz's response to Ruth. Here's Block. How could Boaz, also a virtuous person, bless Ruth for her action and characterize her as a supremely noble woman if she was seeking sexual favors from him?
Neither Naomi nor Ruth seems interested in sex or progeny at this point. Naomi is driven throughout by a concern to provide more security for Ruth than she, as mother-in-law, can provide. Ruth needs long-range protection and support such as only a husband can provide. That's what's going on.
See this is the plan of redemption. The redemption as I understand it is the redemption of Ruth. This Goel, this kinsman-redeemer will take her under the shadow of his wing. The very thing he prayed, the very thing he petitioned, the very thing he wanted to happen to Ruth, under God, Boaz becomes the vehicle by which this will come to pass.
Look at chapter 2. Notice what Boaz says to her in verse 11, 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 you by the Lord God of Israel." Notice, "...under whose wings you have come for refuge." This is precisely what Ruth requests from Boaz in verse 9. Look at, take your maidservant under your wing for you are a close relative, a kinsman redeemer, a goel.
Isn't it interesting how the hand of God works? Think about this. Just think about it. Family from Bethlehem gets hungry so they go to Moab.
Most of the family dies except for mom. Mom, in the transaction, ends up with Ruth. That right there is enough for us all to bow before the presence of God and confess His glory and majesty. You probably get very few Ruths in your lives, brethren.
God hands you a Ruth. He doesn't need to be named Ruth. I'm just using a convention here. If God gives you a gift like this, if it's a husband, if it's a wife, if it's a son, it's a daughter, it's a parent, be very thankful to Him.
I don't know if you've noticed, but when you look out into this world, not everybody's a Ruth, are they? It's a brutal world. It's a wicked world. One is well said, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the streets declare the wretchedness of men.
You get a Ruth in your life, praise God Almighty from whom all blessings flow. But notice what happens. Ruth comes to Boaz. Naomi says, go after Boaz.
Boaz is receptive to this whole idea. So we'll see in chapter 4, it's Boaz who takes the initiative to do the legal bidding necessary to secure Ruth as his wife. So notice, as we've portrayed her, as we've seen the scene, chapter 2, the very beginning, Ruth takes the initiative, she goes to Glean. Chapter 3, Naomi takes the initiative.
She gives Ruth instruction to go fetch Boaz. Chapter 4, Boaz takes the initiative to go and secure the redemption rights to Ruth and to the property. But
God's Providence Behind the Plan
who's actually taking the initiative here? Who's actually orchestrating this entire affair? Who is actually behind the scenes making sure that his plan and his purpose and his details are put into place very specifically? The author is telling us all along that God has His hands all over this.
This whole scene smacks of God. This whole situation is just full of God. See, we don't get to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in a lucky sort of way. We get there because God has purposed eternally to save His people through His Son.
And in order to get his son born in Bethlehem in the fullness of the times, there's a lot of details that didn't just fall into place, but that were put into place by a sovereign, omnipotent, glorious God. Here's another corollary.
Assurance Grounded in God's Sovereign Purpose
If you are ever struggling, or you are ever down, or you are ever wondering about how much does God love me? Well, you are loved in the beloved first and foremost. Christ is the reason why God loves you. That right there ought to just cause you to joyfully jump and shout.
But look at what God's done for sinners like us. Look at what God has orchestrated for sinners like us. Look at what God has put together for sinners like us. Look at all the moving parts that have come to pass so that Christ could come, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.
God has a massive purpose. See, our problem is that we think this big at times. We just think so narrowly at times. See yourself in the purpose.
See yourself in the plan. Not your purpose and your plan. I'm going to go do this and I'm going to go do that. See yourself in the purpose and plan of God.
That gives meaning to your life. That gives significance. That promotes joy. What does Paul tell believers in Colossians 2?
We are to consider our sufficiency in Christ. What does he say? You're complete in Him. Do you know how many Christians are seeking sufficiency, seeking completion, seeking betterment, seeking something other than, I'm in Christ.
Philippians 3, 9 is the best place you and I could ever be. Where Paul says, "...and to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but the righteousness which is from God through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord." So this isn't just some story set in Israel back in the period that the judges ruled. This is the plan and purpose of God for the salvation of guilty sinners like us. This is the plan and the purpose of God so that His Son would come, so that His Son would live in obedience to the law, so that His Son would always do what the Father says.
Can you say that? I can't. Can you say for a moment, I always do what the Father says? Probably we would be better served to say, I never do what the Father says.
Well, praise God that Jesus always did what the Father says. And he didn't do it just for a little bit of time. He did it for 33 years. You want to see what righteousness looks like?
Don't look at me. You want to see what righteousness looks like? No offense, but don't look at Pastor Cam. You want to see what righteousness looks like?
Don't look at your parents. Now there's a sense where we all ought to be exemplifying and modeling the glory of God in Christ. Boaz is able to say the whole city knows of Ruth that you're a virtuous woman. But you see my point.
There are 33 years in the history of this world that the Father looks upon and is well pleased with. And it's the life of Christ. You see, it didn't end there. We need a righteousness that will avail with God.
Christ satisfies through His obedience to the Father. We also have this sin problem. We're guilty, vile. We are filthy.
I know people don't like to think about that today or hear about that today, but that's the problem with mankind. I mean, the two police officers sitting in their cruiser could be shot in the head. that people can be brutalized, that abortion is going on probably as we meet this morning. This isn't a lack of education. It's not a lack of money.
It's not a lack of resources. It's a presence of depravity. It's a presence of being in Adam. It's being sinful, vile, wicked.
And it's not just those guys out there who shot the police officers point-blank. It's not just the wicked and lawless man right now performing an abortion on some poor baby. It's us. Isn't this what Solomon said?
Behold, I have found this. that God made man upright, but they sought out many devices. Your device may not be shooting policemen in the head. Your device may not be murdering babies in the womb. Your device may not be crack cocaine.
Your device may not be homosexuality. Your device may not be heterosexual fornication. But you've got a device. You've got a sin.
You've got rebellion in your heart against God. You see, we need to be washed. We need to be cleansed. We need to be purified.
We sing the song, there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunge beneath that flood. Lose what? They lose all their guilty stains.
Washed in the blood. Praise God Almighty. that we are washed in the blood. You say, what do I care about Ruth and Boaz and Naomi? They were vehicles in God's plan to bring Jesus.
I don't know about you, but I just love that. I love that the Bible is massive! I love that we can focus on the details of our particular redemption. and particular redemption, but our particular redemption. Don't you love to see the connection?
Don't you love to see the covenant? Don't you love to see the plan and purpose of God? This is why we sang 147 again. Yes, I know we sang it last Sunday too.
O come, O come, Emmanuel. This is the prayer of faithful Israel. Comes to fruition in Matthew 1. Because the faithful Israelites, like Naomi, Like Boaz, and like Ruth.
A Moabitess by birth, but an Israelite by religion. An Israelite by covenant. Brethren, we are part of a much bigger whole. We are part of a massive plant.
When you get to the book of Revelation, you see men assembled from every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. John Gill says we have an emblem of this in the conversion of Ruth. The religion of Israel was never meant to be confined solely to Israel. But I will give you as a light unto the Gentiles, the Father says to the Son.
It's truly amazing what we're part of. I think this is what ought to encourage you. I think people always want that feeling of accomplishment, or that feeling of a hard day's work. And I'm all for that.
Work hard. Do your jobs unto the Lord. Bring glory to the Father. The Bible says, you see a man who excels in his work, he shall stand before kings.
But for the most of us, we're not going to actually stand before kings. We're going to get up tomorrow, do our thing, and probably not a lot of people are going to recognize it. You say, man, my life really has no meaning. Yeah, it does.
If you're in Christ, your life has all kinds of meaning. You're connected covenantally to Ruth the Moabitess. You are connected covenantally to Boaz. Do you want to meet Boaz?
You probably have a list of people you want to meet when you get to heaven, don't you? I think most Reformed guys, obviously after Jesus, will see the glory of God and the Lamb who sits upon the throne. Most Reformed guys, Paul. Gotta see Paul.
David, Moses, Boaz. He's a godly man. There's nothing ill written of him in this book. He's a man of virtue through and through.
Beautiful. See what grace does. See what God's mercy does. See how God uses a Boaz to bless a Ruth.
How God uses a Ruth to bless a Naomi. How a Naomi, or God uses a Naomi to bless Ruth. You see what we have in the book of Ruth in four short chapters is extraordinary grace fleshed out through very ordinary people. That's available to us.
We're very ordinary people. If you've checked the blog, yes, we have a blog. You'll notice there's a documentary on C.H. Spurgeon.
It's a two-hour documentary. It's called, Through the Eyes of Spurgeon. Go there.com. You can watch a two-hour documentary about C.H.
Spurgeon. Watching that, I think you'll agree with me that not every pastor is a Spurgeon. There's one Spurgeon every however many generations. So we're connected covenantally to that brother.
And our work is no less significant than his work, because it's for the same God. See, I think as Christians we mess up here. We always want to do the bigger, and the better, and the brighter. Again, don't go home and say, I'm going to be content to stay in my position here and never work hard so that I get a raise.
Don't do that. Work hard, get raises, be promoted, all that sort of thing. But there's a restlessness in the Christian. I'm just a regular, ordinary, normal guy that God loves and sent his son to die for and to rise again.
Take Ruth, take Naomi, take Boaz. They were normal people that an extraordinary God did amazing things through. So what happens? Ruth executes the particular plan.
She complies. She responds favorably. The potential response, Boaz could have perceived her as a prostitute and either A, evidenced his own godlessness or B, evidenced something else. If he would have recognized her as a prostitute and actually had relations with her, then we know something about Boaz.
If he recognized her or thought she was a prostitute and sent her away, well then the story folds. You see, Boaz understands what's going on. Boaz knows what's happening. Verse 8, it's happened at midnight that the man was startled, turned himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet, and he said, who are you?
So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative. Now note the response Then he said, Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich." He's an older man. He's happy.
He has set his affections upon this young woman. He's acted with great dignity, chastity. Blessing God for the reality that she didn't chase after a younger man, whether rich because she wanted a sugar daddy or poor because she was so smitten in love. Principle is what ruled and governed Ruth.
Boaz is quite content with this arrangement. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do to you all that you request. For all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.
If we put a sexual interpretation on the preceding, this does not make any sense. Boaz is a better interpreter of the actions of Ruth than modern commentaries. Ruth's purpose was noble. Boaz interprets it that way, and Boaz says essentially, yes, I want to take you under my wing.
I want to provide security. I want to provide stability. I want to shelter you under the covenant God of Israel. There is a problem.
Now it is true that I am a close relative, verse 12. However, there is a relative closer than I. Stay this night and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good. Let him do it.
But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you. As the Lord lives, lie down until morning. So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
Also he said, bring the shawl that is on you and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley and laid it on her." Now the marginal reading says, then he went into the city. That's a better rendition. He went into the city.
Why? Because he's got to find the closer relative. Boaz has a mission. He's a redeemer.
He wants to cash in. I don't mean that in a base way. He wants to secure the salvation, the redemption, and the security of Ruth. Or he wants to make sure that it's done by this close relative.
He gives her these ifas. He gives her this food. It is a token. It is a kindness.
It is a deposit of his generosity to her. Go back to Naomi and wait patiently. I'm going to go to the city. I'm going to meet this fellow.
I'm going to go before the elders of the town, and we're going to do the business. By the end of this day, or by the end of tomorrow, Ruth, you will be a married woman." That's what he says. Again, if you'll allow me to wax typical for a moment.
Boaz as Type of Christ
In this, Boaz is Christ, isn't he? Father, all that you have given to me, I will go for them. I will redeem them. I will pay the last mite.
I will suffer on their behalf. I will obey the law. When you get to the New Covenant documents, when you get to the Gospel records, do you find a resistant Christ? Do you find a Christ that doesn't want to do the task that has been entrusted to Him?
Do you find a Christ that is going through the motions because He has to? I always do what pleases my Father. When it comes time for Him to go to Jerusalem, what does He do? He sets His face like a flint.
He sets his face steadfast to Jerusalem. He tells Peter and he tells the disciples, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be tried at the hands of godless men. I must suffer.
I must be killed. I must be raised the third day. Christ is a willing Redeemer. Christ is a willing Savior.
Christ is one who alone has the power and the ability and the one alone who says, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Application: Christ the Willing Redeemer
If you're not a Christian here this morning, if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ here this morning, And if you are not here tonight, let me just give you the hub or the core of what will come out tonight. Jesus' mission is specified by the angel to Joseph in Matthew 1.21. What's Jesus' job, if you will, when he comes in the fullness of the time? To be a political ringleader? to free the economic captives, to ameliorate the downtrodden and the poor, to orchestrate social engineering such that no revolutionary before him had ever done.
The mission of Christ is quite simple. This week we'll hear a lot about it. The world likes to at least say they want to think about the birth of Jesus in this coming week. Why did he come?
Was it so that once a year men of goodwill could be nice to each other? No, there are no men of goodwill that are nice to each other. There are men who have experienced God's free grace that might be nice to each other. Was it so that we can sit by the hearth and enjoy the fire and a little bit of gift exchange?
What's the purpose for Jesus coming? He will save his people from their sins." That's what you need to learn of Christ. He will save his people from their sins. The same way that Boaz will save Ruth from her economic woes, that is a situation, Jesus saves his people from their sins.
Ruth returns to Naomi. Naomi asks, what happened? Ruth answers, and in verse 18, Naomi says, "'Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out. For the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.'" See, we live on the other side of this.
I don't have to tell you to wait, to wonder, to sit, to fret, to think, to consider, perhaps Jesus will take me. No, the Bible is crystal clear. All those who look to me will live. All those who come to me will live.
All those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved." There's no mystery, there's no waiting, there's no, I wonder what I'm going to do. You are a sinner who stands in need of forgiveness. You are a sinner who stands in need of the righteousness of Christ. And Christ has provided these things for sinners.
The Bible says that when sinners look, they live.
Spurgeon and the Gospel Call
I want to close with one passage that I think underscores this particular theme. If you watch that documentary, or if you read the account of C. H. Spurgeon, his autobiography, he records or rehearses his conversion.
It was an interesting day. He was a young man. He had been wrestling with sin for a long time. He's a young man.
Yeah, but early on, early on, this little kid got delighted when he could go into his grandfather's library and read. I longed for the day when my little grandsons longed to be in there to read. Not to push books back, to bug Papa. but to pour over those volumes, to pour over the God of those volumes. Spurgeon was keenly aware of his sin at a young age.
It was a very snowy day. He got thrown off course, so he walks into a primitive Methodist church. The pastor was sick, or the pastor was hindered so that he could not preach. You'll have to read the autobiography to get Spurgeon's real description of the situation.
The documentary just kind of gives the facts, but it doesn't explore the details involved. Essentially, Spurgeon said he was not the most intelligent man. His job was not preaching. He didn't know a lot.
What he knew, he said. What he said, he said over and over and over. And what he said, the Spirit of God used to bring Spurgeon to himself. So that preacher that no one knows of, I can't recall in the autobiography, Spurgeon even indicates his name, who filled in for another man on that day, became the means or vehicle by which God Most High would save a C.H.
Spurgeon, which as you know, was instrumental in the salvation of more than one. You know what that text was? Look to me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. It's beautiful.
The preacher looks at Spurgeon and he says, young man, young man, are you saved? Young man, have you looked? Young man, look and live. May God take this simple passage and by the power of His Spirit work in hearts so that they'll look and live.
Beautifully simple text. Look and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you that we are part of your plan, your purpose. God, truly this causes us to stand in awe at what a great and glorious God you are. We thank you for this eternal purpose fleshed out through your providence in the lives of ordinary people, and we thank you that in the fullness of the time you sent forth your Son, born of a woman and born under the law, to redeem those under the law. Thank you for so great a salvation.
We pray that wherever the gospel is preached today, the Spirit of God would be there, and that hardened sinners, dead sinners, would be brought to life through divine power and grace. Do this for your glory. Do this for the advancement of your kingdom. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.