Turn with me this morning to
the Little Old Testament book of Ruth, found right after the
book of Judges. And I say that it's a little
book because it only contains four chapters. And it's little
in size, but it's big in the Gospel. Back in 2015, we studied
through the book of Ruth, and Thursday of last week, I had
a dear friend write me rejoicing in the story of Ruth, and it
got me to thinking about the wonderful gospel that's found
in its contents. May we always remember, we talked
about this a couple weeks ago when we looked at the book of
Daniel, But may we always remember that every Old Testament book
is a message about Christ. It's a message about our Lord
and Savior and His redemptive work. In Acts chapter 10 verse
43, the scripture says, to Him give all the prophets witness.
In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1, we're told that God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners, spake. to our fathers by the
prophets. Who were the prophets? Moses,
Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah. What was their subject? Their
subject was Christ. Often times the Jews told our
Lord, Moses said this and Moses said that, and our Lord responded,
he said Moses wrote to me. Another time, they said, we have
Abraham. And the Lord answered, and he
said, Abraham, rejoice to see my day. And he saw it and was
glad. Our Lord told the Jews, you search
the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures. Remember, that's
all they had. He said, for in them you think
that you have life, but they are they which testify of me. So again, I say that every Old
Testament book is about Christ. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. Christ himself said that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. And he,
Christ, opened the Scriptures and began at Moses and the prophets
and the Psalms, and he taught them the things concerning himself. In Romans chapter 1, verse 3,
Paul, speaking of the gospel, said that the gospel was concerning
God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Often I'm asked, what do you
believe? What do you preach? Well, it's
not what I believe, it's who I trust. And it's not what I
preach, but who I preach that gives life. And as I told you
last week, as we saw from the scriptures, Christ is a sweet-smelling
savor of life unto life unto some, not all. And Christ is
to others a savor of death unto death, all that God might make
Christ a sweet-smelling fragrance of life unto you who are yet
lost in your sin. Only He can do it. Now, we don't
have time to read all four of these chapters, so I want to
just take a few minutes to just try to summarize the book of
Ruth. In chapter 1, we're told that
there was a man of Israel called Elimelech. He was a wealthy man
in Israel. He owned land. He lived in Bethlehem,
Judah. But God sent a famine in the
land. You know, it's God that sends
famine. There's a famine in the land today. We talked about that
not long ago. It's a spiritual famine. A famine
of the lack of bread. spiritual bread, Christ the bread
of life, a famine. But the Lord sent a famine and
Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons, they left Israel and
they moved into an ungodly place called Moab. Moab was a heathen
country. You might also remember from
our study in Genesis that God sent a famine one time and Abraham
went down to Egypt but God wouldn't let him stay. But Elimelech's
story is much different than Abraham's and it's a much sadder
story. Because after Elimelech moved
to Moab and spent some time there, Elimelech died and his And he
left his wife and his two sons. And we see here in Ruth chapter
1 verse 4 that these two boys married women of Moab. And as I said, Moab was a heathen
and pagan country. Moab was an ungodly nation. And these two boys didn't live
there long with their wives. It seems just a few years. And then they also died. And that left Naomi and her two
daughter-in-laws in a sad and poor situation. So Naomi, now poor without any
support, and I might add also broken hearted. My, she had just
lost her husband and her two children. Can you imagine the
grief and the sorrow? And she determines to leave Moab
and go back to Bethlehem, her home in Israel. So she tells
her two daughter-in-laws to stay in Moab because it was their
home, and they were still young, and I'm sure still beautiful,
and she told them to stay and to marry men from their own nation,
men accustomed to their own culture, and men that worshipped the same
gods. And one of them did what she
asked, but there was a daughter-in-law called Ruth. And she said, I'm
going with you. I'm going with you. And you know,
about all the average person knows concerning the story of
Ruth is about her faithfulness to Naomi that's found here in
chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. And I'll paraphrase this. She
said, don't make me leave you. Don't make me leave you. Where
you go, I'll go. Where you live, I'll live. Your
people will be my people. Your God will be my God. Where
you die, I will die. Where you're buried, I'll be
buried. Only death will separate us. And we can't help but to
consider what love, honor, respect, and devotion that Ruth had for
Naomi. I remember this being one of
your mother's, Clarice's, favorite stories. She saw Ms. Coleman as her Naomi. Many of
you ladies saw your Naomi in Ms. Clemmie Coleman, Ms. Betty Cavanaugh, and even Ms.
Brown. And it's my prayer that some
of you ladies will prove to be Naomi's to others while you already
are. So Ruth and Naomi, they leave
Moab and they journey back to the land of Israel. And as they
come into the town, the people of Bethlehem saw these two women
coming and remember what Naomi had been through. So much sorrow,
trial, trouble, and heartache. She was a different woman than
when she left. I'm sure she looked different.
You know, stress can be hard on a person. She left with plenty,
she left prosperous, and she comes back with nothing. Absolutely
nothing but a daughter-in-law who is in many ways a liability.
She has two mouths to be concerned with feet. She came back poor,
broken-hearted, distressed. She came back with nothing, and
sorrow and stress had paid its toll. Oh, I have to ask you,
has sorrow and stress had its toll on you? The people in the
city, they looked at one another and they said, is this Naomi?
Is this Naomi? Are you sure this is her? And
Naomi said, call me not Naomi. That's not to call me pleasant. That's what the word means. Don't
call me pleasant. Call me Myra, which means bitter. And then she said, for the Almighty
hath dealt bitterly with me. Oh, I'm telling you friends,
whether we know it and acknowledge it or not, it's God that's behind
everything. If we've been dealt bitterly
with, it's because the Lord has dealt bitterly with us. I only
hope that He's done so to cause us to come to our senses and
to come to Him, to come to Christ. Now I failed to mention that
the name Elimelech, Naomi's husband, means my God is king. Do you
remember that from our study back so many years ago? And between his name, my God
is king, and Naomi's, which means pleasant, I think we see a beautiful
picture here of man's great fall. You know, man was once rich. His God and His Father was Creator
and King. And God provided everything for
man. God gave Adam the whole world.
God put him in the garden. Everything was provided for him.
God said, it's yours Adam. Reign over it. Subdue it. Conquer
it. Replenish it. It's all yours. Why, in many ways, Adam was a
king. because his God was king. Adam
was a priest. Adam was a prophet. Adam had
all these blessings, but he fell. And great was his fall. And here's
Elimelech, my God is king, and here's Naomi, the pleasant one,
and they left Israel. They left Bethlehem. They sold
out. Isn't that what Adam and Eve
did? What a picture this is of the fallen man. They disobeyed
God and they lost it all. Like Elimelech and Naomi, they
turned their back on God. The princely Adam became a servant,
a servant to sin, not a servant to God. The prince is now a pauper. He's poor and miserable. The pleasant is now the bitter.
The blessed is now the cursed. Oh, how great the fall of man.
Friends, man didn't just stump his toe when he disobeyed God.
He died in trespasses and sin. That's what God said would happen.
In the day thou eat of the tree that I commanded you not to,
in that day you shall surely die. And though he lived 930
years, he died. He died spiritually. So let me say again that the
story of Ruth is a story of how man is reconciled to God and
how man is redeemed. This is a story of redemption.
Much like our story in Daniel a few weeks ago. It's not a story
about how faithful Ruth was, even though she was. But it's
a story about how man can be reconciled to God. Only one way. By a near kinsman redeemer. Naomi
and Ruth are back in Jerusalem, but they don't have any support.
They have no food, while they have nothing. They're nothing
more than beggars. Dear sinner, do you see that
you're a beggar? Well, you're a mercy beggar.
You need mercy. May God have mercy on you. You
need mercy, and you have no way to obtain it yourself. Adam sold
you out. You're broke. You're bankrupt. You have nothing to offer God. So Naomi tells Ruth, well, we've
got to have something to eat. We're going to die if we don't.
So Ruth said, well, I'll go out into the fields and glean. And
this was permitted in the Old Testament when the reapers harvested
the fields. They didn't have time to pick
up every little grain. So they left little sections
of grain all over the field and the beggars, the poor, could
and would come into the fields after the reapers finished and
pick up the leftovers and take it home. That's all they had
to live on. So Ruth, she went out into the
field and she began to glean what the reapers had left, just
like all the other beggars. I remember my mother used to
always tell me, I'm like, why can't I have the nice tennis
shoes like so and so? And my mother would say, beggars
can't be choosers. Ruth was a beggar. And just like other beggars,
just little pieces of wheat here and there was all she got. And
then we're told in Ruth chapter 2 verse 3 that Ruth came and
gleaned in the field after the reapers and then it says her
hap or what came to pass was to light on or come to a part
of a field belonging unto Boaz who was of the kindred of Elimelech. Hmm, that's interesting. Now
that word hap in the Hebrew language is kind of a tricky word. It can mean an accident, or by
chance, or by fortune. Yet the root word that it comes
from means to appoint, to bring to pass, and to come to pass.
I like how John Gill explained this verse. He said to Ruth it
was by chance. It was by what some would call
luck. but it was according to the providence,
purpose, and direction of God. I like that. I'll accept that. This wasn't a coincidence. There
are no coincidences with a sovereign God. How do I know? Because God
says, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. This wasn't an accident. There are no accidents with God
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works
all things, not some things, not a few things, not just the
good things, but all things, after the counsel of His own
will. There's no accidents with God.
This wasn't a lucky occasion. There's no such thing as luck
with a God of purpose. All things work together for
good to His elect that are called according to His purpose. So
what I'm telling you, I'm backing up with Scripture. Ruth 2.4 He tells us, and behold, Boaz
came from Bethlehem. Oh, can you see Boaz come riding
in this field? I'm sure on a horse, a nice horse. And he saw this young woman,
and she was beautiful in his eyes. Man, I mean she was beautiful
in his eyes. She found favor in his eyes.
Isn't that what grace and mercy is? You see the picture here? There
was a time when my Boaz saw me and thought I was beautiful.
And he set his affection upon me. Don't know why. Uncomely
I am. But beautiful in his eyes. And
Boaz, as the story goes, called some of the reapers, the harvesters,
over to him. And he said, you see that young
lady over there? Whose damsel is she? Now, some of you guys know what's
going on here. You see a young lady. I remember
when I saw my wife, I thought, who is that? He was interested. And notice how they answered
in verse six. They said, that is the Moabite
damsel. They came back with Naomi out
of the country of Moab. Who is this damsel? Well, she's
a Moabite. She's a stranger in the land
of Bethlehem. She's from evil stock. She's one that knows not God. She's associated with where she
is from. And all throughout this chapter,
she is referred to as Ruth the Moabitess. That sounds a lot like me. I'm
David, a Moabite, a Gentile in the flesh. I'm David, a wretched
sinner. I'm David, one who was once without
Christ. One who was an alien from the
commonwealth of Israel. One who was a stranger from the
covenant of God's promises. One who had no hope. One who
was without God in this world. One who was afar off, Ephesians
2, 11 and 12. Who is this damsel? Well, she's
miserable and poor. She has nothing. She is nothing. She's just a beggar. Gleaning
leftovers in the master's field. Friends, we can't buy God's love.
We don't deserve His grace. We cannot merit His mercy. We're helpless and we're hopeless. We're nothing. We're less than
nothing. We're nothing more than miserable
and poor beggars. Who is this damsel? She's one
who's been emptied and made exceedingly humble. God's people are made
to be that way. There'd be no proud person in
heaven because God knows how to make His people humble, doesn't
He? Ruth said in chapter 2, verse
10, she said, why have I found grace in thy sight? Why should
you take knowledge of me? Made humble. You remember what
Hannah said? Hannah said, I'm a woman of sorrowful
spirit. And if you look closely at that
word sorrowful, it means obstinate, impudent, presumptuous, insubordinate. She wasn't saying, Lord, be sorry
for me. God made Hannah as he does all
saints, conscious of who and what they are. Knowing what she
was before God, then she said, let thine handmaid find grace
in thy sight. Well, we want grace because God
shows us what we are. And what Hannah and Ruth really
mean is, let me find grace in spite of me. In spite of who
and what I am. And I tell you, that's my prayer
too. Mephibosheth, what a pitcher he is of the sinner, lame on
both of his feet due to a great fall. That's you and I, lame
on both our feet due to a great fall. You remember what he said
to King David? He said, what is thou servant? What is thy servant that thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? I tell you, I love
dogs. I'm a dog lover. One might think
and say that a dog is worth a little, but a dead dog's worth nothing.
God made Mephibosheth to know what he was. Has God made you
to know what you are? Huh? I pray that he has. Peter said, I'm a sinful man,
O Lord. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners.
I'm less than the least of the apostles, not worthy of the least
of God's mercy. He said, I'm not fit to be called
an apostle. And this is the attitude that
God's people have of themselves. What do you think of yourself?
Has God shown you what you are? When Ruth came home that evening,
she had a large sack of grain. Before Naomi took notice. You know, usually the poor just
brought home a few handfuls. But Ruth got a big plump sack
full of grain. Do you know why? Because Boaz
said, leave Ruth handfuls. and leave them on purpose. You
see, God leaves His people handfuls of purpose, handfuls on purpose,
and handfuls for a purpose. Handfuls. Because of her abundance, Naomi
asked, where did you glean today? And Ruth said, I gleaned in the
field of a man named Boaz. What field are you leaning in? Look at what Naomi said in verse
20. Still in chapter two. Blessed
be he of the Lord who has not left off his kindness to the
living and to the dead. Then she said, the man is near
of Canaan to us, One of our next, our near kinsmen. Now listen,
this is the key to the book of Ruth. Naomi said, this man Boaz, he's a near kinsman. He's our
kinfolk. He's related to us. And he has
the right to redeem us. He has the right to buy back
what we lost. Well, who does that sound like? If you read Leviticus chapter
25, you'll find that God made a provision that a family in
Israel could not totally lose their land. If they had fallen
on hard times, become poor, and had to sell their land, after
a certain number of years, that land could be bought back and
given to them by a kinsman redeemer. They could be as poor as a church
mouse. They might not have a shirt on
their back. They might not have a cent to
their name. But if a near kinsman would do it, they could buy back
all that that man had sold and give it back to them. It's called
the year of Jubilee. And if the kinsman redeemer be
willing, he could buy all that had been lost and give it back
to the one that lost it. Isn't that the gospel? All that
I've lost, Christ, my near kinsman redeemer, He can purchase it
all back for me. That's the story we have in the
book of Ruth. Limelech had sold all of his
property in Israel during a famine. Naomi had nothing. Ruth had nothing. You and I have nothing. Our father Adam sold all that
God had given him, and you and I don't have anything. Nothing. So again, let me ask you, where
will you glean today? Will it be in the field of your
near kinsman Redeemer? You see, He's the only one that
can redeem us. He's the only one that can buy back all that
we've lost. He has the right. Not just anybody
has the right. But that near kinsman redeemer
has the right to redeem. You see, God declared it to be
so. The book of Ruth is not just
a love story. It's not just a story of the
faithfulness of Ruth. It's the story of redemption
in Jesus Christ. Naomi told Ruth, tonight Boaz
will be winnowing. That's separating the grain from
the chaff. That's what that word means,
winnoweth. Down at the threshing floor. Look what Naomi told Ruth
to do in chapter 3, verse 3. She said, wash thyself therefore,
and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee
down to the floor. But make not thyself known unto
the man, until he hath done eating and drinking. And it shall be,
when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he
shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and
lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. and
Ruth being obedient to Naomi's word, and verse 5 said, all that
thou sayest unto me, I will do. Now listen, dear sinner, we've
got to be obedient to God's Word if we ever hope to be redeemed.
We've got to be obedient to God's Word. We've got to do what God's
Word tells us to do. What must I do to be saved? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. What else? Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. What else? Keep believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 6, And she went down into
the floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law
bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk,
and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the
heap of corn. And she came softly and uncovered
his feet. and laid her down. And I honestly
believe that she lay across His feet. That's how a sinner comes
to Christ. At His feet. At His feet. It's an act of submission. Verse
8, And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and
turned himself, and behold, a woman laid his feet. And he said, Who
art thou? And notice how she answers. And
she answered, I am Ruth. Not the Moabite, Now she refers to herself as
Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over
thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. O Lord Jesus,
spread your perfect righteousness over me. Take my sin, Lord, upon you,
and make me perfectly righteous in your perfect righteousness. You're my near kinsman. And he
said, bless be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed
more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. In so
much as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich, her
interest wasn't in the young men. Her interest was in Boaz. There's a lot of things in this
life that are appealing to many. But to a child of God, they've
got one focus, and that's on Christ. And he said, now, verse 11, and
now, my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou
requirest. That's salvation, isn't it? Christ
doing for us all that God requires of us. Don't we say that all
the time? What a beautiful explanation of that. I will do to thee all
that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know
that thou art a virtuous woman, made virtuous, and now it's true
that I am thy near kinsman. What a glorious word of encouragement
from Boaz to Ruth. Boaz assures Ruth that he is
truly a kinsman that could redeem her. Now hear me on this, Ruth
believed that Boaz was able to provide for her all that she
needed. Do you believe that Christ can
provide for you all that you need? That's the question. That's the question of the hour.
This redemption was personal and it was certain. Boaz said,
I am your near kinsman. Boaz didn't say, I'm going to
be your kinsman. He said, I am your kinsman. Friends,
Christ is your Lord and Savior. Whether you know it or not, He's
your Lord. I pray that you bow to Him as
your Savior. Not someone else's, but yours. So is our redemption in Christ.
The elect of God belong to Him. He's the believers near Kinsman. God gave them to Him before the
foundation of the world. They belong to Him. Now to redeem
Ruth would come at a great cost, Boaz. You see, a limeleck had
much to redeem, the wealthy man. But infinitely more was the price
that our Savior paid to redeem us. He gave Himself. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. Beloved, we are bought with a
price. I think sometimes we don't consider
how great a price we were bought with. Ruth had nothing to pay
for her redemption, neither do you. We have nothing to pay for
ours. Boaz paid it for her and Christ
paid it for us. But notice the last part of verse
12. Boaz said, How be it there is
a kinsman nearer than I? And there's no doubt in my mind
that that nearer kinsman, Boaz here is speaking of in verse
12, represents the law of God. The law of God is holy, just,
and good, and it was made for man, for the benefit of man.
And the law came to us before Christ did, and in that sense,
it's a near kinsman to redeem us. But wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified
by faith. You see, but the law can never,
ever redeem and save fallen man. It was never God's purpose for
that near kinsman than Boaz to redeem us, to redeem Ruth. And it was never God's purpose
for his law to redeem us. Why? Because what the law could
not do and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, Romans 8.3. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law that they might
receive the adoption of sons. The law curses, but never cures. The law provides punishment,
but never redemption. The law bruises, but never blesses. The law gives terror, but never
peace. And when we stand before the
law, we have no hope of redemption. We cannot keep God's law, much
less the whole law. For whosoever shall keep not
the whole law, or for whosoever shall keep the whole law, excuse
me, and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. And notice
also Boaz's words. concerning the other near kinsmen.
Look at verse 13. I'm almost finished. He said,
Terry, this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he,
speaking of the near kinsmen, that if he will perform unto
thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do the kinsman's part,
but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will
I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth. And notice what he says to her.
Lie down. Lie down until the morning. Whether he is your kinsman or
whether I am your kinsman, all I want you to do is just lie
down and rest. Leave that up to me. You see,
the role of a kinsman redeemer was written in the Law of God,
and Boaz must honor the Law of God to rightfully redeem Ruth. Are you following me on this?
Do you see what a beautiful picture this is? Christ didn't just do
away with the Law. No, He fulfilled the Law. He
didn't just take our sin and sweep it under a rug. No, He
took our sin upon Himself and He fulfilled the law of God every
jot and tittle until God's holy justice was satisfied. And that's
how you and I now have His perfect righteousness. He didn't leave it for Ruth to
deal with. He didn't say, Ruth, you need to go ask this near
kinsman if he'll redeem you. No, sir, he said, you lay right
here and rest, and I'll go to him. And if he don't redeem you,
I will. What a promise of love and compassion. Ruth, one way or the other, you're
going to be redeemed. You're going to be redeemed.
He would see to it. Boaz would see to it that Ruth
would be redeemed. Child of God. If you're one of
His elect, He's going to see to it that you're redeemed. Christ our Savior went to the
law of God on our behalf, and as I said, He fulfilled the law
for us. Boaz must honor the law of God
concerning the kinsman's part, and Christ must honor the law
as our true kinsman redeemer. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it's written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Someone once said that God could
not suffer and man could not satisfy. But the God-man, he's
both suffered and satisfied. The Son of God has made Himself
our kinsman-redeemer. How so? He became flesh and blood
and dwelt among us to redeem us as flesh and blood. The Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman-redeemer,
has willingly done the part of a kinsman for us. And He's not
only a willing Savior, friends, He is most definitely an able
Savior. Wherefore He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. We lost our inheritance in Adam. We're stripped. We're bankrupt. We're beggars. But our Lord saw
us in our sad and pathetic condition. And like Boaz loved Ruth without
a cause, Christ loved us without a cause. He paid our debt. He redeemed us from the bondage
that we were sold into. He married us when we were desolate. He interceded with a near kinsman
on our behalf. The law will not and cannot do
the part of a kinsman. But Christ can, and Christ did.
So you ask, well, what are we to do? Like Ruth, just lie down
and rest. We've come to Christ at His feet,
and He bids us to tarry there. Isn't that what He said? Tarry
here tonight. Terry here. Lie down, dear sheep. He's the Good Shepherd. He's
the Good Shepherd. He leads us in the path of righteousness
for His name's sake. Lie down, dear sheep, and rest.
Your Redeemer commands you to do so. Oh, Lord, help me to rest. I need to rest in my near kinsman,
Redeemer, and what He's done for me. Only God can grant such
a desire.