So Lord, may you graciously help
me. I'll turn your prayerful attention to the book of Ruth,
and particularly looking this evening at chapter two. But I
do want to, for a text, take verse 10 in chapter two of Ruth. The words of Ruth, the response
of Ruth to the kindness, the unexpected kindness that she
received from Boaz. Ruth chapter 2 and verse 10. Then she fell on her face and
bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, Why have I found
grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
seeing I am a stranger? Ruth chapter 2 and verse 10. The words of Ruth. Then she fell
on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said, Why have
I found grace in thine eyes that thou shouldest take knowledge
of me, seeing I am a stranger? Well this morning we looked at
really the first chapter of Ruthmore. The fact that there was this
a separation between these two daughter-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth,
both travelling with Naomi, seeming to go with her and seeming to
travel with her and wanting to go with her to Judah and yet
there was this separation. There was this test that Naomi
gave and Orpah returned and Ruth clave unto her. I will go with thee, where thou
lodgest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, and thy God
my God." It was a clear choice and desire that she had, that
she wanted to know the blessings that Naomi had experienced. And yet Naomi had actually said,
call me not Naomi, call me Mara. Naomi means pleasantness, Mara
means bitterness. She felt the Almighty had felt
very bitterly with her. She felt under the chastening
hand of God. And yet Ruth, seeing another
child of God under the chastening hand of God, was drawn by love
to see that this was the right way. This was the way that leads
to life. This was the way that leads to
know the Redeemer. And indeed, of course, Ruth did. come to know the Redeemer in
due time. And so we, then if we look in
chapter two, it begins with this lovely statement that we're told,
and Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth,
of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. So here we
have the contrast. Ruth, Naomi, in negative equity,
they seem to have, the land has been sold, mortgaged, and they
need to find that money back if they're going to ever have
it for themselves. They're in negative equity. And
they're in widowhood. There's no seed raised up in
the name of the dead. So many needs that they had.
And yet, in a contrast, we're told that there was a kinsman
of Elimelech, a mighty man of wealth, one that was wealthy.
But he was not just wealthy. And that was the great thing
of a kinsman redeemer. They had to be of a near relative. They had to be wealthy if they're
going to redeem people. If they were poor themselves,
how could they help somebody else out? But they also needed
to be willing. And here you see the heart of
Boaz was a loving heart. He had a love towards Ruth. And so the Lord has a love to
his people. He loves his people. And therefore,
you see, he is such a suitable saviour. Well, we're told that
we had this situation then with Ruth. They didn't have anything
to eat, but it was the time of harvesting. And so Ruth picks
up on this, whether she read it in the Old Testament, we don't
know. How she knew there was these
laws concerning gleaning. The idea of gleaning was that
when they did the main harvest, they would drop some corn on
the ground. And it would be hard work to
pick up those single grains. It would take a lot of work to
get only a little bit of fruit. and it was God had particularly
designed or made a provision that this work could be done
by those who were very poor and who didn't have anything to eat
and they could pick up those grains one by one and gather
them together and that could be theirs and that could sustain
them. And you see God had made this
provision and so often through the Word of God we see these
the provision for the poor. You see, the gospel is for the
poor. The poor have the gospel preached
unto them. The poor in spirit. And as we
see here, as we've named for our text in verse 10, you see
the humility of Ruth. And this is so vital, humility. We cannot come to God in pride. We can come to God in pride,
but with the rich hath he sent empty away. God resisteth the proud, we read,
but giveth grace unto the lowly. Ruth was lonely. And how vital
this is. This is so vital. We need it
so much. And it is the work of the Spirit.
It is that meekness that is so vital. In Psalm 34 we read, verse
18, the Lord is nigh, the Lord is close, nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart. Not those who are strutting about
in pride, impressed with their own righteousness, impressed
with their own works, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of
a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit, a
repentant spirit. And this is so much portrayed
in the behaviour of Ruth. She was one that was repentant,
one that was seeking to, realizing her nothingness, and realizing
that it was all of God's grace, you see, and we need to come
there, that we don't deserve the least of God's benefits.
See, if we come with, we live in a world that thinks everybody
has tremendous rights, and they think they have a right to everything,
But actually, you see, we've come short of the glory of God.
The wages of sin is death. We have a right to that. But
here you see Ruth came to glean. She was one of those that didn't
have anything to eat. And Naomi and Ruth willingly
went, you see, we're told. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn, after
him in whose sight I find grace. She says it in a gracious way.
It's not, I'm going to go, it's my right to go and glean. No,
just to see whether there would be mercy. She was seeking for
kindness from somebody who would allow her, and the law was on
her side in that sense, because God had commanded. And you see
Boaz, this mighty man of wealth, was one that loved the law. and
kept the law as it were. Later on, when he was going to
take Ruth to be his wife, and there was a nearer kinsman, he
didn't say, well, we won't worry about that. We'll just go ahead
and do it anyway. No, he's satisfied. He sorted
out all the requirements so that Ruth could legally and rightly
be his bride. And so is our beloved Saviour.
He hasn't taken his bride and twisted something to get her. He satisfied the demands of justice. Justice was satisfied. No claim
could come against her. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. This is the New Testament. Boaz,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is that one who honored the law and satisfied
all the claims of his bride so that she could be his. and nobody
could speak against it. We're told, and Ruth the Moabitess
said, let me go in the field and glean ears of corn with him
in whose sight I found grace. And she said, go, my daughter. And this is so often by God's
people down through the ages been seen as a picture of how
sinners can come and seek to glean in the gospel field. in
their, from their poverty, in their emptiness. They come to
glean from Christ. You see, those that are proud
with their own self-righteousness, they don't need something from
God. The Pharisees didn't think they needed anything from God.
They had many things to give God, and they thought God would
be impressed with them. But you see, wrath doesn't come
like that. She comes as one that's need.
And if we've been taught by the Holy Spirit of our need. We're come seeking God for mercy. We're come seeking that the Lord
would come and bless us. So she came and gleaned and she
went and gleaned in the field. You see she was diligent. She
wasn't lazy. You see we are to have that in
the Sunday school. Ask and you shall receive. Seek
and you shall find. Knock and it shall be open. It
didn't say we'll just sit down and just wait. No. does say in
one place of the Bible, in Ruth, sit still my daughter, but that
comes when she had made a claim to Boaz and now she needed to
wait for Boaz to perform all that was necessary. It wasn't
a waiting in laziness, it was a waiting upon God. As she put
her claim totally in his And now she needed to wait until
Boaz would perform it. But you see here that Ruth was
diligent. She was using the means. There
was a possibility, there was this law that she could go and
glean in the field and she used it. She wasn't lazy, she was
diligent. Ye the Lord while he may be found,
call ye upon him while he's near. There is a diligence here you
see and we're told that she did it later on. It says she did
it from the beginning of the morning. It was early she got
up and did this. And she went and gleaned after
the reapers and her hat was the light on the part of the field
belonging unto Boaz. Why was that? She didn't know,
we're told you see at the beginning of chapter two that she had this
mighty man of wealth that was a relative that was Boaz, but
clearly Ruth didn't know that. It was only later on that when
she goes back to her mother-in-law and says the man's name was Boaz
that Naomi says actually that means something, he's a near
kinsman. Ruth didn't know that at the
time, but we read here her hap. was the light on a part of the
field belonging unto Balaaz." What a hap! And you see, our
lives, the providence of our lives, where your job is, where
you live, the people you come into contact with, are all in
the sovereign hand of God. The providence of God, that ruleth
everything according to the counsel of his own will. She was diligent
in the means, but God put her in the field of somebody who
had a heart for gleaners, who loved gleaners, who were going
to take care. There may have been some that
would have ignored the law and said, get out of my field. I'm
not having you in my field. But no, she came to this one
who had a heart for gleaners. a part of the field belonging
unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech." Wonderful providence
of God. The providences of God. You see,
the sovereignty of God. And yet the responsibility of
us is to seek. Responsibility of Ruth to go
and glean. If she'd have stayed back in
the house or wherever they were staying, she wouldn't have met
Boaz, would she? She went out to glean. Those that seek me early shall
find me. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. So she was there busy in the
field, you see, busy working away. And what does this mean
in a spiritual sense for us? Gleaning in the gospel field,
it's reading God's word, hearing the preaching of the gospel,
reading those books that show forth the praises of God. Having
those times of prayer and meditation on the Word of God. These are
the things that are gleaning in the field. But what a mercy, isn't it, when
we're busy gleaning, that the Lord of the harvest comes and
visits his people. And how much more productive
it was once bowers came. And you see, as the Lord visits
his people, those gleanings, those reading of the Bible, those
times of prayer, those times of meditation, oh, how much more
fruitful they are as Jesus himself drew near and went with them. You see, we read here in verse
four, and behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the reapers,
the Lord, be with you, the reapers." We can think of those as the
gospel preachers. The Lord be with you. This is what Boaz says to them
and how vital it is that the Lord is with his people. As we
preach the gospel now we need the Lord's presence. And this is what Boaz says, sorry,
and he said unto the reapers, the Lord be with thee. And they
answered him, the Lord bless thee. The preachers of the gospel,
isn't that what they want? The blessing of God. Yes, we
want the Lord to bless us, but we ultimately want his name to
be exhorted. That's the real aim, isn't it? For the glory of God. Not living
for our own glory. We want to be blessed, yes, but
crown him! with many crowns, not crown ourselves,
we will receive crowns of glory. But really, it's the lamb is
all the glory in Emmanuel's land. And that's what they say, they
answer him, the Lord bless thee. Verse five, then said Boaz unto
his servant that was set over the reapers, whose damsel is
this? Ah, you see, when you were busy
with your reading of the Bible, busy in prayer, busy in thinking
of the things of God, would God think upon, would he visit you?
Ah, well, you see, Ruth, in her diligence, in her gleaning, Jesus
himself drew near and came. And he was inquiring. He was
interested in this one that was gleaning in his field. And you
see, the Lord Jesus is interested in gleaners. He's interested
in those. And why was Ruth gleaning? Because
she needed it. She was hungry. She had nothing
to eat. And you see, we come hungry for
the Word of God. We need that fresh supplies.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God shall man live. There needs to be a
feeding on the word. And she needed that food. And
as she was seeking that food, the Lord of the Harvest came
and visited her. Then said Boaz unto the servants
that were set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? He's interested
in gleaners. And may that be an encouragement.
You might say, well, the God of heaven, with all that's going
on in heaven, isn't interested in whether I read my Bible or
not. Oh, he is. You see, he's interested in gleaners. He's interested in encouraging
gleaners. He's interested in visiting them.
He's interested in speaking peace to them, and kindness, and love,
and mercy. Then said Boaz unto his servants,
it was said, O the reapers, whose damsel is him? And you see the
reapers then give an account of Ruth, don't they? And you see, we're told that
the servants of God, they need to give an account of the people.
They need to say how they've been gleaning, what they've been
doing. And the servant that was set over the reapers answered,
it is the Moabitess damsel that came back with Naomi out of the
country of Moab. And she said, I pray thee, let
me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So
she asked if she could, and they said she could. And she's been
busy now to the morning until now. She's been diligent. She's
been using the means. She's been seeking to gather
those things that would feed her naturally. But there's a
spiritual parallel. She wanted her food, you see.
And then, you see, the Lord of the Harvest comes. It wasn't
owned by the reapers, was it? And you see, the ministers of
the gospel don't own the harvest. It's not my harvest. It's His
harvest. It's His glory. And He visits
His people. He uses means. He uses the reapers. He uses the young men to draw
the water so that when they need something to drink, there's water
there. He uses these people. But you see, it's the Lord of
the harvest. It's the one that's ultimately
in control. The one that is overseeing it. He's visiting his people as we
had this morning. He visits his people. And then in verse 8 you see we
have Boaz then speaking directly to Ruth. Think of it. One that had just come to glean
in the field. You can imagine, yes, he wants to speak to the
servant that has set over the reapers and find out what's going
on, and then he'll go off. You see, that's the wonderful
thing about our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Though he
was rich, for your sakes he became poor. Though he's so great, yet
he's able to communicate with each one of his people, persons. To come where they are, the beautiful
account of the good Samaritan. You see, the scribe and the Pharisee,
sorry, the priest and the Levite, they saw the half-dead man and
they went by on the other side. They didn't help him. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. Boaz, as he came
into the field, he came where Ruth was and spoke to her in
a language she could understand, kindness and encouragement and
love. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Here is thou not my daughter?
Why did he say that? I'm really talking to you. You
don't think I'm going to talk to you, but I am. I am talking
to you. And you see, the Lord is talking
to his people in his word. As we read the word of God, he's
talking to his people. Whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. The Word of God is written that
we may feed on it and that we may know those blessings. Here is thou not, my daughter?
She might have said, well, I'm sure you're not talking to me.
You must be talking to somebody else. Here is thou not, my daughter?
I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you. My daughter, go not to glean
in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast
by my maidens. There was an encouragement. She
must have thought, well, perhaps am I really welcome here? But
he was showing her, yes, you're very welcome here. You see, the
Lord loves his people. He delights. You think of Joseph
and his brethren when they were saying we'd be verily guilty
concerning our brother, he went aside to weep. They didn't realise
it, but he was so delighted to see that they'd come with repentance,
that the work of grace was going on in their hearts, that they
weren't carrying on in their unbelief and sin and rebellion,
that they had been broken. and that they were seeking to
find mercy and seeking to confess their sins. And so the heart
of Boaz, you see, he's for his people. The heart of Boaz. Here is thou not, my daughter,
go not to glean in another field. You see, if you go gleaning in
the field of the world, you won't get food for your soul. It won't
be a blessing for your soul. The lust, the pomp, the pride
of life, all that this world calls good or great will not
satisfy. Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. You see, there was a sense of,
you're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. Let thine eyes be on the field
that they do reap, and go thou after them. Have not I charged
the young men that they shall not touch thee? I've made sure
that nobody's going to be unkind to you. And I'm the Lord of the
harvest. I'm in control. And I've done
this so that you will be able to glean. You will be able to
feed and able to get those things that you need in this field. You see, he's made provision
for his people. And when thou art athirst, go
unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have
drawn. You see, now Boaz here was going beyond what the law
stated. The law made provision for gleaners,
but it didn't mean that they had to feed them in the field
and water them in the field. This was Boaz going beyond. You see, it's the goodness of
God that leadeth us to repentance. Oh, Boaz did need to have gleaners
in his field, but he didn't need to treat them like this. This
was beyond what he would require to do by the law. He did it in kindness and love,
you see, to Ruth. And it's the love of Christ that
constraineth us. As we see his love, he was not
duty bound to do this. The love of Christ to sinners. And then you see the reaction
in verse 10, what we named as a text. Then she fell on her
face and bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, why? have I found grace in thy sight. See, this is humility. You see,
the left to ourselves, walking in pride, we think everybody
should be doing something for us. Ruth wasn't of that disposition. Ruth realised that she was at
the mercy of God. And it's a wonderful thing when
the Lord has broken down All that pride and all that self-righteousness
and all that seeking to merit our way to salvation. When we
come as empty. See Ruth was empty. In Moab no doubt she had a fullness
but she was now empty. She'd been empty and now she
was gleaning. And you see we need to be empty
so that we can be filled. We need to come to the end of
our own righteousness so that we can seek the righteousness
of another.' Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to
the ground and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine
eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am
a stranger?" She felt she was a stranger. She felt she was
not like one of Israel. She says, not like one of thy
handmaidens. She felt that separation. yet
you see she is very humble. But interesting
you see, you see a difference in verse 11. Boaz tells her something
that must have shocked her. And Boaz answered and said unto
her, It hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done unto
thy mother-in-law, since the death of thine husband, how thou
hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity,
and art come unto a people that are thy newest, not heretofore.
The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee
of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to
trust. She didn't expect that. How does he even know who I am?
Let alone all this. You see in the New Testament, in Matthew 25,
we have something similar going on. Matthew 25 verse 34 this is this
the judgments going on and the king is judging the people and
Matthew 25 verse 34 then said the king shall the king say unto
them come on Them on his right hand come in ye blessed of my
father inherit the kingdom prepared for you and from the foundation
of the world. For I was an hungred, and you
gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in naked, and you
clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me,
and in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous
answer and say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee an stranger, and took thee in? Do you see?
The righteous, they're not looking to their works. They see imperfection
in everything that they do. They've got nothing to glory
in. And yet the Lord of the harvest, you see, He delights as we seek
to serve Him with imperfection. And yet we seek to serve Him. Or when saw we sick and prisoned
and healed thee, the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Inasmuch As ye have done it unto the least of
these my brethren. You've done it, Ruth, to Naomi.
You've been kind to Naomi. You didn't think I knew that,
but I did. I saw you being kind to her.
I saw the kindness that you've given to Naomi. And the Lord,
you see, blesses her. You see, it's the blessing, and
she doesn't think of it at all. The exact opposite, you see.
you have with those that walk in pride. The exact opposite. Ruth, you see, she thought much
of Christ. She needed Christ to do so much
for her. And she thought little of herself.
He must increase, I must decrease. But you see, the self-righteous
come with a load of things that they've done for God. Matthew 7 verse 21 it says, Not
everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which in
heaven. Many shall say unto me, Lord, Lord, we have prophesied
in thy name, we have cast out devils in thy name, have done
wonderful works. Then will I profess unto you
I never knew you. Depart from me the work iniquity. You see if we're so busy as we
think doing things for God. And he'll be so pleased with
us for what we're doing. If that is our mentality, then
you see we're like Matthew 7. We're not really, we're doing
it ourselves. We're not looking to Christ.
We're not seeking to do it as unto him. We're not walking in
humility and love. We're walking in self-righteousness
and pride. And you see, Ruth was so surprised
that Boaz should pick this up. And so were they in Matthew 25. They were amazed that this is
what the king should say, inasmuch as you've done it unto the least
of these my people. Oh, you see, we can do something
great when somebody's great about, but have you done it to the least
of these my people? How have you treated the least
one? And you see here, the Lord really blesses Ruth. She is very lowly and yet,
you see, the Lord is nigh unto them which are of a broken. and
of a contrite heart. The Lord recompensed thy work,
and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose hand thou art come to trust. Then she said, let me find favor
in thy sight, my lord, that thou hast comforted me, and for that
thou hast spoken friendly to thine handmaid. Though I be not
like unto one of thine handmaids. And then he brings her to this
meal. They have a meal of parched corn,
that is roasted corn. She has a bounty in this field.
She has some over that she takes back to her mother-in-law and
gives that to her. And is there not that something
of that when we've benefited from those times of refreshing
from the presence of the Lord? Do we take some back for somebody
else? Do we go and tell others of what
the Lord has done and how the Lord has blessed us and given
them some blessing too? You see, was she concerned? She wanted her her mother-in-law
to benefit from that meal that she had in the field. And when she was risen up to
glean, Boaz commanded the young men, let her glean even among
the sheaves, and reproach her not, and let fall also some of
the handfuls of purpose, purposely the bounty given to Ruth, purposely. Isn't that sometimes when we
read the word of God and it just seems to fit exactly what we
stand in need of. A handful of purpose, a bounty. We say that's just exactly what
we needed. To go on and to be encouraged.
Handfuls of purpose. And then you see we glean. It's
when Boaz comes then the gleaning you see becomes so productive. as we glean in the gospel field.
And you see as she went on with her gleaning. And as you go on
in the rest of the book of Ruth, it's the relationship that Boaz
becomes the chief thing. Yes, her gleaning's important.
Her Bible reading's important. Her prayer's important. But it's
important as it brings us to the Boaz. It's as we learn of
him. I am meek. and lowly in heart." You see
he loved, Boaz loved the meekness and lowliness of Ruth. He saw
it as a tremendous quality. Later on when she came and asked
him to be her kinsman redeemer, he said to her, And blessed be thou of the Lord,
my daughter, for thou hast shown more kindness in the latter end
than in the beginning, inasmuch thou hast not followed young
men, whether rich or poor. It seems that Boaz was a lot
older than Ruth, and naturally there wasn't the same natural
attraction in that sense, in a natural sense. He was a lot
older Ruth, because she had respect under God's laws, respect unto
raising up seed in the name of the dead, respect unto the lost
inheritance, she realised that this is the one that could redeem.
And you see to the natural eye, the Lord Jesus, he's a root out
of a dry ground, no form nor comeliness that we should desire
him. But the Church of God see things differently. Church of
God say he's altogether lovely, he is the chiefest among 10,000. See and Ruth you see, she had
come to see everything in Boaz, that he was everything she needed
and he realised that in a natural sense she could have satisfied
her natural appetite more easily with others, with other young
men. She could have gone and got somebody
else, she could have got somebody back in Moab. But you see, she had respect
on the recompense, the reward. She was concerned what God wanted
her to do. What will thou have me to do?
And you see, Ruth Boaz loved that. And you see, the Lord Jesus
loves the grace that he has worked in his own people. as they come
humbly, seeking to do his will, saying, Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do? No longer doing their own way, no longer seeking
their own way. We think of Judah, Judah that
one that sold, that suggested that they sold Joseph into slavery. Judah was the same one that became
shorty for Benjamin. What a change! What a total U-turn! The one that was so selfish and
horrible to Joseph was the very surety for Benjamin. And you
see that's what the grace of God does, and God loves the grace
of God in his people. As he sees that reflection of
himself, imperfect, yes! Ah, but it's... It has a resemblance of Christ.
till we all come in the fullness of the image of Christ. We are
to resemble him, we are to be made like him. Yes, we're poor
images, we're poor mirrors, but we are to shine for his glory.
We are to see what he has done for us and we are to walk that
out in our lives. we might be those that resemble
the Savior and Ruth in her kindness you see she she there was a resemblance
of what Boaz so much needed to do for her Boaz saw that beauty
in her too and that's why in the in the Song of Solomon you
see it's a two-way beauty the bride can't see what what
the bridegroom sees in her but you see there is a beauty because
she's been made beautiful by him she's been given a robe of
righteousness she's been given hungering and thirsting after
righteousness that she never had before that's beautiful to
the savior he delights in it and you see they aren't all fair
my love they're all fair While we look at ourselves, Ruth looked
at herself, and she could only, as it were, see nothing in herself,
see herself as a stranger, not like one of thine handmaidens.
But Boaz loved her. Boaz appreciated the grace that
God had worked in her. And you see, the Lord loves the
grace of God in his own people. Not that we should go round in
pride, but he loves to see the humility. The Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken and of a contrite spirit." Ruth demonstrated
that in her willingness to humble herself, to get on her hands
and knees and pick up those grains of wheat. But as she was diligent
in doing that, she found those handfuls of purpose coming. And
she went at the end of the day with this great amount of 20
kilograms, I worked out, grain that she took back to her
mother-in-law, enough to make 37 loaves of bread in one day. You see, she had a bounty. She'd
been visited by the Lord of the Harvest. He'd encouraged her
in that gleaning work, that hard work, that back-breaking, bending
work. But she was willing and she You
see, she came back with a good result of Boaz. But you see the
Boaz, it didn't stop there, did it? The harvest went on, she
went on with the gleaning. But Naomi then says, shall I
not seek rest for thee? It's not enough just to be a
gleaner. There needs to be that union. Boaz needed to become her redeemer. He needed to take all her debts. He needed to be that one that
would raise up seed in the name of the dead. He needed to give
her that rest. And so we need to go to our heavenly
boas. We need to learn of him from
his word and then we need to know him. We need to experience
his love. And we need to realize that this
mighty man of wealth has all that riches. for the benefit and the blessing
of his church. And that's why you see Paul the
Apostle having nothing and yet possessing all things, because
he had Christ. And because Ruth had Boaz, everything
was hers. And those who believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ have everything. because He is the fullness, He
owns everything, He's the Lord of the harvest, He's drawing
sinners to Himself, making them hate the sins they once loved,
working that grace in their hearts so that they may become beautiful,
though imperfect, but beautiful, and so that they may live to
Him. May the Lord make us each, gleaners,
in the harvest, those that in our gleaning have dealings with
Boaz, the heavenly Boaz, and that he might bring us into that
fellowship, that we might truly know the rest that remaineth
to the people of God. Amen.