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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. 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. 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. So let's look 
first at the plan of redemption in chapter 3 under two broad 
considerations. 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. 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. 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. 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. 
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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.