I didn't want everyone to know
Sandy's on the front pew. When everybody came in to see
me, Sandy was up walking around and said, where's Sandy at? I
said, she's here. It is such a delight to be here
together with you people once again and be able to worship
our God. I've enjoyed it already so much. So Lindsay, I appreciate
that lesson. Bless my heart and thank you
ladies for that song. I want you, if you would, turn
in your Bible to the book of Ruth. This morning and this evening,
the Lord willing, I want us to look at this book. Four chapters. This morning, we'll try to look
at chapter one and chapter two, and then this evening, chapters
three and four. I wanna read one verse from chapter
two, and then we'll go back in chapter one. In Ruth chapter
two, verse three. And she went, talking about Ruth,
and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And her hap
was to lie on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was
of the kindred of Elimelech. I titled the message, It's Not
an Accident. The theme of this book, this whole book, and especially
Ruth, is about the kinsman redeemer. If someone had died and they
lost their property or whatever would happen, they'd sell it.
Someone that was near of kin because they were three qualifications
for a kinsman redeemer. Well, first of all, you had to
be near of kin. Then he had to be willing. He may be next of
kin when he said, well, I'm not willing to do that. And then
he may be next of kin and he may be willing, but then he's
not able to do that. So you keep those things in mind.
And here, it's amazing to me how that God, he remembers that
we are just dust. It's like this morning in the
lesson, the bond slave is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ becoming
the servant to save his people. And here in this book, we have
this story about this woman named Ruth who lived in Moab and how
she comes to meet a man named Boaz and how they get married. And how all that comes about
is a picture of us being Ruth, the outcast, the stranger from
the covenant of promise, and Boaz being our Lord who redeems
his people, buys back all that was lost in Adam. And what we
see in this book is how God brings all these things together to
make that happen. He rules and overrules everything
for his glory and the salvation of his people. What was going on at this time? in the history of Israel. We
see in verse one, now it came to pass in the days when the
judges ruled. Now, how was it in the days when
the judges ruled? In the book of Judges, before
this book, we have Gideon, we have Samson, we have Deborah,
we have those people that were judges that God raised up. Well,
and it's kind of ironic, in the last verse of the book of Judges,
here's what it says. In those days, There was no king
in Israel. Every man did that which was
right in his own eyes. What I see here, it was a dark
time. And this picture's the day in
which we live. Everyone does that which is right
in his own eyes. But what is amazing is in that
dark time, When everyone's doing that which is right in their
own eyes, we're gonna see from this book how God is arranging
everything to come to pass to bring about King David. Even in the midst of that time. We talk about the world when
we see all these things coming to pass. Let me remind you of
one thing this morning. Our God's on the throne. In these
dark days, he's exalting his king. Okay, so verse 1 of Ruth, it
came to pass in those days when the judges ruled that there was
a famine in the land and a certain man, a Bethlehem Judah, went
to sojourn in the country of Moab. and his wife and his sons. Now we know Moab, they are the
descendants of Lot and that ancestral relationship with his two daughters.
From those unions came the Amorites and the Moabites. And it's not
just that reason that they are looked down on and despised in
the scriptures, it is also because of the way that they treated
Israel when they came out of Egypt. Remember, it wasn't that
the king of Moab who hired Balaam to try to curse the children
of Israel, and God held him accountable. But those people, they were still
a remnant according to the election of grace. They would, what I
want you to see, they would be the most unlikeliest people that
you would think that God would have any of his children there
that he would save. When did this famine take place?
Some believe, let me show you this in Judges chapter six in
verse one. And the children of Israel did
evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into
the hand of the Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian
prevailed against Israel, and because of the Midianites, the
children of Israel made them the dens, which are in the mountains
and caves and strongholds. And so it was when Israel had
sown that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the
children of the east, even they came up against him, and they
encamped against him, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till
thou comest to Gaza, and left no substance free of Israel,
neither for sheep, nor for oxen, nor for ass. For they came up
with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers
for multitude, for both they and their camels were without
number. And they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel
was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. And the children
of Israel cried unto the Lord. And what did God do? He raised
up Gideon. So if that was the time when
this famine came, Elimelech says, we're going to leave Bethlehem,
Judah. Well, why are we going to leave?
Now, you know, Elimelech came, he's of the tribe of Judah. Some believe that he's son of
Nashon, who was the great prince there in the wilderness, and
then they had the son named Salmon. So he was probably a very wealthy,
influential man. And he says, okay, there's a
famine, so we're going to leave. Why in the world would you go
to Moab? Why in the world would you go to the world? He must
have thought, well, things look pretty good in Moab. So, and
listen, he not only just went himself, he took himself, his
wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Malian and Chilian, and he packs
up everything and leaves Bethlehem, the house of bread, and goes
to Moab. Now you see the picture. And
the name of the man was Elimelech. And the name of his wife, Naomi,
and the name of his two sons were Malian and Chilian, Ephraimites
of Bethlehem, Judah, and they came into the country of Moab
and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband,
died. And she was left with her two
sons. And you think about this. Here
a woman with two grown sons, and her husband dies, and she's
in a strange place. with strange people. Read on. Verse four, and they took those
two sons, took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of
the one was Orpha, and the name of the other was Ruth. And they
dwelt there about 10 years. I would say when Elimelech went
down from Bethlehem, he never intended to stay there 10 years. You know, 10 years is a long
time. And while they stayed there, Malian and Chilian died also,
both of them. And now the woman, Naomi, is
left of her two sons and her husband. All she has now is two
daughters-in-laws who were Moabites. And I'd say everything's gone.
She's a widow indeed. She has no one to take care of
her. The Moabites ain't gonna take care of her. They could
care less what happened to her. But then verse six. Then she
arose with her daughter's in-laws that she might return from the
country of Moab. Why is she gonna leave now? You think, why didn't she leave
when her husband died? Why didn't she leave when her
sons died? They died and they still stayed,
why? When did she leave? We find out
when she heard in the country of Moab. And I don't know exactly
how far it is from Moab to Bethlehem, but it's probably a good distance.
She heard. What did she hear? Here's faith. Faith comes by
hearing. She heard how that the Lord had visited His people in
giving them bread. We can't stay here. If we stay
here, we are going to starve. This is how God brings people
that he intends to save. He brings them to the place that
they see that they have to leave where they're at. We cannot stay
here or we'll perish. But she didn't just leave herself.
Those two daughters-in-law left with her. Why would they want
to follow this woman that their only connection to that woman
was because they were married to her sons? It doesn't say,
but I think they saw something in Naomi. I think they saw something,
how she dealt with it when her husband died. I think they saw
something, how she dealt with it when her two sons died. And
they watched her, and now that she's leaving Moab, they said,
we're going with you. We're going to a place we've
never been. We've heard about Bethlehem,
we've heard about the Jews, but we're going to go with you. She
had heard in the country how the Lord had visited his people
and given them bread. Wherefore, she went forth out
of the place where she was and her two daughters-in-laws with
her, and they went on the way to return into the land of Judah.
Now, I want you to see this. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-laws,
go return each to her mother's house. The Lord will deal kindly
with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. She says,
why don't y'all just go on back? Now, religion would say, no,
you don't do that. You want to do everything you can to try
to persuade them and to trick them into going with you. She
says, why don't y'all just go on back? The Lord grants you
that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband.
And then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice, and
they wept. And they said unto her, surely we will return with
thee unto thy people. They both said, we're both going
with you. You can't make us go back. And Naomi said, turn again, my
daughters, why will you go with me? She asked them this question. And when you ask someone a question,
they have to think about it. Why are you going with me? Why would you follow me? I'm
just a poor widow. I don't have anything. You've
never been to Bethlehem. All you know about Bethlehem
is what I've told you. Why in the world would you go
with me? Now, what's this? Are there yet any sons in my
womb that they may be your husbands? She said, is that why you're
staying? Because you think that I can
give you some more husbands? Turn again, my daughters. Go
your way. I'm too old to have a husband. And if I should say
I did have hope, If I should have a husband tonight and should
also bear sons, would you wait around for them? That's what
she's saying. She said, would you stay unmarried
till these boys are grown and then there's something there
because, see, that was the responsibility. They would have raised up and
they would have married these girls under the law. She said,
would you wait on them? Is that why you're following
me? You know what she's saying? I can't help you. I can't help you. That's what
she's saying. I can't help you. I can't save you. I can't give
you hope. What was those girls' hopes?
They're widows. Their only hope was to have a husband that could
deliver them and would love them and care for them and protect
them. And they have none of that. She said, verse 13, for it grieveth
me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out
against me. Then they lifted up their voice and they wept
again. Now watch this, and Orpha kissed
her mother-in-law. She had an affection toward her,
but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, she looks at Ruth
and said, behold, thy sister-in-law's gone back. One of those girls walks up and
kisses Naomi on the cheek. And she said, you've been a good
mother-in-law. But I just think, after I've thought about this,
I think I'll just go back to my people. What we see here, people can
go for a long ways and then go back. But what about Ruth? Both of
these women are sinners. Both are morbides. Both are totally
depraved. But Ruth has said she claimed
to her mother-in-law. She's heard the same thing that
Orpha heard, but what makes the difference? What makes the difference
in any case, it's the grace of God that makes the difference.
God had singled this girl out. You think about this. He had
singled this girl out, her name's Ruth, and he's gonna show her
mercy. You think about this, what if she'd never come to Bethlehem?
What if she'd never came? Well, she'd have never met Boaz. And I don't think by now, I don't
think that Naomi's even told her about Boaz. She's just, she's
acting on the light that was given to her. And isn't that
what we tell sinners? You act upon the light that God
has given unto you. She said, your sister-in-law's
returned unto her people, verse 15, unto her gods. Return thou
after thy sister-in-law. He said, you see her go back?
Ruth, why don't you go back? You know what I thought about?
I thought about our Lord. He turned one day, and he said
something, and a lot of people left him. And he looked right
at the disciples, and he asked them a question. He said, will
you leave also? Will you leave also? And I love
this right here, what Ruth said. I see something, something's
happening here. Something, I don't know, something's
happening to this woman, Ruth. And Ruth said, entreat me not
to leave thee, don't make me leave thee, or to return from
following after thee. For whether thou goest, I will
go, and whether thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I
die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me also, and
more also, if aught but death part thee and me. And when Naomi
saw that Ruth was steadfastly minded, To go with her, she left
speaking to her. She was quiet. You know what
that means, steadfastly minded? You're not changing my mind.
Isn't that amazing? She said, your people. And she's never met her people.
She met Naomi. You think about this. The only
thing she'd ever saw of a Jew was in Naomi. You think about
that. I heard Henry preach a message
sometimes that, well, what if anybody ever saw about a child
of God was you? What would they think? And I
have to say, at times, oh me. But all they knew about Israelites
was Naomi. And she says, your people, your
people's going to be my people. And your God's going to be my
God. And where you die, that's where I'm going to die. I'm not
leaving you. I'm not leaving you. You know
why? Because something she knew, Naomi couldn't help her, but
she knew that if she's ever to find any rest, because she said,
I wanna seek rest for you, Naomi's gotta be the one to show her.
She's the instrument that God used. Verse 19, so they too went
until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they
were come nigh to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about
them. And they said, is this Naomi? An illustration of this
was over at Mark and Regina's last night. They played an old
video of Darvin Pruitt from back in the 80s. Now, if I'd have
saw that and not seen Darvin today and saw that, I mean, he
had his long black hair and his sideburns. very slim, very attractive
young man, and then send him to Naomi, and you go, is that
Darwin? That's what they're saying. You
imagine what it looked like when she left. She may have been dressed
in a fine dress, and they had all these things, and now look
at her when she comes back. She's weathered, and she's worn,
and they go, is this Naomi? You look at Adam in the garden,
and you look at us now, and you go, is that Adam? What's happened? Sin. and death. Don't you know that that hurt
in Bethlehem? I heard that Naomi's husband died. I heard that Malian
and Chilian died. You know, I heard somebody say
that they were coming back. I can see them kindly watching
and see them start coming down the street and they go, man,
she looks awful. I mean, I don't mean that wrong.
She just looks Tired and worn. That's what sin does. My heart, it used to be this
gray. Now it's not turning gray, it's turning loose. But what
is that? That's sin. Sin. And she said unto them, Naomi
said unto them, call me not Naomi, call me Myra. For the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me. She said, I went out full. and the Lord hath brought me
home again empty. You know, we could spend all
morning on that part of that verse. I went out full, look
at everything that God gave Adam, and we wasted it all. But she
said, the Lord, who brought her home? Who brought her home? She
said, the Lord did. The Lord hath brought me home. Do you think she was glad to
be home? After you've lived in Moab, you'll
be glad to be home. He hath brought me home again
empty. Why then you call me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified
against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me. So Naomi returned,
but she didn't return alone. What's the only thing that she
brought back? One daughter-in-law. I can see her not have two nickels
rubbed together. A Moabite, a Moabite daughter-in-law. She's a Moabite, and they know
it. And they returned out of the country of Moab, and they
came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest. This was an
exciting time. This was a time of celebration.
This was a time of gathering in the grain. This means we're
going to have something to eat. And isn't it amazing that they
just happened to come at the beginning of barley harvest.
They just happened to come. They just planned it that way,
didn't they? Like I said, it's no accident. So this is how,
the reason I read that chapter is so you can see how Ruth wound
up from Moab into Bethlehem. And she comes as a widow, no
husband. And her and Naomi have nothing. Nothing. They're poor. And you
know something, nowhere do I see right here, I don't see when
she came to Bethlehem that the first thing she did was look
up Boaz. She didn't go to seek relief from Boaz. She didn't
go to present her cause from Boaz. She didn't. And I don't
understand why, but she didn't. And her and Ruth, They find them
a place somewhere to be able to stay, just them two widows.
Now, what are they gonna do? How are they gonna survive? Those
are questions that you would have asked. This is a strange
place to me now. What am I gonna do? Well, it's
the beginning of barley harvest. Chapter two, verse one. Here's their hope. And Naomi
had a kinsman of her husband, a monumental wealth, of the family
of a limelight. And his name is Boaz. She has a kinsman whose name
is a limelight. I mean, whose name is Boaz. So you'll know who Boaz is now.
This will bless your heart. Most believe Gil said that Elimelech
and Salmon were brothers, sons of Nashon. And you remember who
Salmon married? You remember when they came out
of Egypt, the first city they came to was what? Jericho. Who
lived in Jericho? Rahab the harlot. Well, who married Rahab? Salmon
did. So you know who Boaz's mother
was? His mother is Rahab the harlot. Isn't that amazing? And he's their near kinsman. One of the next of kin. Now Naomi
knows it. Now we see it. Now it comes up. Because this is very important.
Because you take Boaz out of the picture, they're all gonna
die with us. You take Christ out of the picture
and we're all gonna die depraved widows without any hope. You see the picture. He's a mighty man of wealth.
He's a mighty man. Not only is he a prominent man,
Gill said he's not only a man of wealth, material wealth, but
he's wealthy in the scriptures. In verse two, and Ruth the Moabitess
said unto Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of
corn after them in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said, and Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of the corn in
whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, go my
daughter. Naomi, I don't think, I think
she sold, she can't go to the field and clean, but Ruth can.
You know, when I see her, she's not lazy. You know, in Proverbs 31, 27,
which describes the church, that's the virtuous woman. You know
one of the characteristics of a virtuous woman, the church,
she eats not the bread of idleness. They didn't just sit there and
say, well, if God's gonna feed us, he'll send us something. No,
this woman, She says, Naomi, I'm gonna go down the street,
and I don't know one field from anybody else's field, and I'm
gonna ask them, because I'm a beggar, I'm gonna ask them if you would
let me glean in your field. Because God, and I believe Naomi
probably told her this, because God made stipulations under the
law that when you gather the corn in a cornfield, you don't
gather the corners, If something falls and it don't go into the
machine, you don't reach down to pick it up. Why? It's for
the poor and the strangers. And the poor knew that. They
could go to the field and ask, they had to ask permission. Will
you let me glean in your field? And what is gleaning? It's nothing
more than walking around and you have to look down for something
to eat. And you have to reach down and
pick it up. And she says, that's what I'll
do. Now this is not just for her, it's for her and Naomi.
So here she goes, every field looks the same. It's got reapers
and there's people out there gathering corn in every field.
Why did she just happen to come to Boaz's field? To her, you know that word hap,
it means an accident or chance. You go, we know there's nothing
happens by accident or chance. When she came that day, to her
it was nothing more than an accident or chance, but we know that it
was ordained. And I think she will eventually
know it, but not right now. I can see her walk up to these
people in that field and she says, would you let me glean
in the field? Well, what if they tell her no? We only let Israelites glean
in this field. We don't let Moabites glean in
this field. And she just happened upon that
part of the field. And she was probably out there,
oh morning, we'll read this in just a second, and something
happens. They're out there working, been
out there in the hot sun. And verse four, and behold, Boaz
came from Bethlehem. I can see Ruth saying, well,
I wonder who that guy is. He must be somebody pretty important. Everybody's showing him respect,
and he's showing him respect. Isn't that amazing? She just
happened to be in the field the day he showed up. You know what
we have here? We have a picture. The field
is God's church. The field is where God brings
sinners, and they just happen upon his field, and just so happened
that day, our Lord Jesus Christ, he shows up, and he manifests
himself. Why did Boaz come to the field?
Do you think he's a prominent man? Most people would say, well,
I'm not going to get my hands dirty. He got his hands dirty. He got down to where they was
at. He came to check on them. He came to see if they needed
anything. He was going to see that they
had it. These are his workers. They're his servants. But you
know the main reason he came? The main reason he came that
day was because Ruth was in the field. Now watch this, and he said,
Boaz said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you, and they answered
him, the Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto the servants
that was set over the reapers. Who is this damsel? Now listen,
Boaz knows everybody's in his field. He's not asking this for Boaz's
information. Who's he asking this for? He's
asking it for Ruth's information. You mean that guy, he's talking
about me? He said, who is that? And that
reaper said, I can tell you exactly who she is. She's Ruth the Mulbis.
And then here's what he said. The boy said to the servant that
was sent over the reapers, whose damsel was this, and the servant
that was over the reapers answered and said, it's the Moabite's
damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. And
she said, and here's what he said, she said, I pray you let
me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So
she came and she's continued even from the morning, even until
now, and she tarried a little in the house. He said, she's
been here all morning. He tells her who she is, where
she's from, and why she's there. That's why she's in that field.
Why? She come there to glean. I asked you a question this morning.
Why did you come to Moaz's field? Why did you come this morning?
You may be a Ruth that God brought here on purpose. And you know
what? You're just looking to glean
something. Just something. looking for something
that was left, and it doesn't cost you a dime, and all she
had to do was reach down and pick it up. Boaz speaks about
Ruth, and the servants speak for Ruth before he ever speaks
directly to her. In verse eight, then Boaz said
to Ruth, What a blessed day when God Almighty
speaks directly to you. And to you. You know when the
gospel becomes good news? When it becomes the gospel of
your salvation. Here's how I picture Ruth. What
they would do is, you know, it would be so hot and after gathering
corn in the middle of the day, they would have the little shed
over here somewhere, maybe just a makeshift thing, that they
could get under and get out from under the sun. And I can see
Ruth sitting over there because Boaz shows up, isn't that ironic,
just at lunchtime. And they're sitting over there
under the shed, and I can see Ruth over at the other end of
the table. I can see her saying, they know that I'm a Moabite,
they don't want anything to do with me, so I'm just going to
sit on over here by myself and just be quiet. And I can see
her when he calls her name, I can see her thinking in her mind,
you think he'll make me leave? You think, he finds out, he knows
I'm a Moabite, he ain't going to let me stay here. He says, Ruth, curious thou not,
what a kind word. My daughter, go not to glean
in another field. Neither goes from hence, but
abide here fast by my maidens. Don't leave this field. The safest
place to be is a place called God's field where the gospel
is preached. And that's why he's saying don't
leave this field. 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? When thou art
athirst, go to the vessels and drink that which the young men
have drawn. You can get you anything to drink.
What is her response? And she fell on her face and
bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, Why have I found
grace in thine eyes? Why would you show mercy to me?
Why would you even let me in your field? Why would you let
me pick up anything from your field? Why would you do all this? Why would you allow me to be
here? And she sees it, and she knows it, and she falls at his
feet. Why would you show grace unto
me, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I'm a
stranger? His eye, Christ's eyes, if you're
his, his eye has always been upon you. You just didn't know
him. You think about, now I want you
to say this, what is she learning here? She's learning a little
bit about this man called Boaz. What is she learning now about
the man called Boaz, who's a picture of Christ? Well, he's gracious,
he's kind, He's tender. He said, the poor have the gospel
preached to them. He's preaching the gospel to
this woman. You see the effect it had. She
fell on her face. Why would you show me mercy? Why would God be merciful to
you? And boy has answered and said unto her, he doth been,
now watch this, he doth been fully showed me all that thou
hast done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband,
And how that thou hast left thy father and thy mother, she did
what? She left her father and her mother,
and the land of thy nativity, and you are come unto a people
which thou knewest not hithertofore. It's been told what you done.
The Lord recompensed thy work, and a full reward be given unto
thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come
to trust. That's who she's trusting. And you think about this, what
if she hadn't come to the field that day? She'd have never met him. What
if she'd wound up in another field? Just so you understand,
it's where she's coming down the road and she sees all these
buildings and they're called churches. And people that are lost, they
don't know any different. They say, what, they all just
look like a field. They all look like a church.
Let me just go into that one. And it's not Boaz's field. And
then they just so happened by God's amazing grace come into
where the gospels preached and just happened on his field. And
out of all the people like in this room this morning, he singles
you out and speaks to her. She said, verse 13, then she
said, let me find favor in thy sight, my Lord, for thou hast
comforted me, for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid,
though I be not like one of thine handmaids. And Boaz said unto
her, at mealtime come thou hither. I asked you a question, does
she have right to eat at that table? He said, at mealtime you come
to this table. and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in
the vinegar, and she sat beside the reapers. And he reached her
parched corn, and she did eat. It's like he gave it directly
to her, and what's this, and she was sufficed. That satisfied
her. And then she leaves. You know
what she does? She ate, he fed her, and then
she gets up, and what's she gonna do? She didn't just say, well,
I've gleaned all morning, I've gleaned enough. She goes right
back to gleaning. Right back to what she was doing.
Why? She's not just doing it for her,
she's doing it for her and Naomi, and I want you to see this. And when she was risen up to
glean, now she don't know anything about this. Boaz commanded the
young men saying, let her glean even among the sheaves. They
never let them do that. He said, you're gonna let her
glean among the sheaves. She's not just gonna pick the corners
of the field. She's just not gonna get what's left. Let her
glean even among the sheaves and reproach her not. And this verse 16 blesses my
heart. And he said, let fall also some of the handfuls, not
handfuls on purpose, handfuls of purpose. Who are they dropping
them for? They're dropping them for her.
Isn't that amazing? I thought about this a while
back. You know, when you're gleaning, you may hunt for five or 10 minutes,
but you find one ear of corn. But you imagine when you get
it by handfuls on purpose. It's like he gives you a handful,
and he said, this is just for you. Marquesa, this is for you. I
can see her gleaning, and she comes up, and here's a whole
pile of corn. She says, where did that come from? It was just for you. You ever come to God's word and
sometimes you struggle and it's like gleaning. It's like you're
trying to find something. Your soul needs something to
feed upon. And then God is like all of a
sudden just drops you a whole handful on purpose and go, oh
my goodness, I never saw that before. And he did it for her. And he said, you leave them.
that she may glean them and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the
field into evening, and beat out that which she had gleaned,
and it was about an ephah of barleys. Most guilds said that
she gathered enough for her and Naomi both for five days. That's
a right smart. For an old beggar, isn't it?
Then read on. And she took it up and went into
the city. And her mother-in-law saw what
she had gleaned and she brought forth and she gave to Naomi of
what she had reserved after she was sufficed. And she gave it
to Naomi. Where did she get this? Lord
gave it to her. And her mother-in-law said unto her, where in the world
did you glean today? You don't glean and get that
much in a day. Where in the world did you glean? And where wroughtest thou, blessed
be he that did take knowledge of thee, and as she showed her
mother-in-law with whom she had wrought, and she said, well,
I really don't know much about him. They said his name was Boaz. Boaz? You see Naomi's eyes light
up? Boaz, you know who Boaz is? Honey, do you have any idea who
Boaz is? He's a near kinsman. Batman is? That's who he is. Do you see
here how God reveals himself to us? We come to his field and
then he shows up and we have no clue who he is. We're so ignorant,
so blind. And then God begins to show us
who he is. You know what she's saying? That
man who owns the field, who owns the grain in the field, who owns
the reapers in the field, he's the kinsman redeemer. And he has the right and he has
the ability to redeem us if he will. Do you hear that? He has the
ability. He has the means. If you will. If you will, you
can make me whole. And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law,
blessed be he of the Lord, verse 20, who hath not left off his
kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto
him, this man is near of kin unto us. One of our next of kin. And Ruth the Moorbody said, he
said to me also, thou shalt keep fast by my young men until they
have ended all the harvest. She said, Naomi, he give me permission
to come to his field every day. She gets up every morning and
she don't have to be afraid. You think about this. she don't
have to be afraid to go to his field. I'll ask you this morning,
what do you have to be afraid of? I pray this morning as we've
met to worship that our great Lord Jesus Christ would drop
handfuls of purpose just for you. So she kept fast by the maidens
of Boaz to glean into the end of barley harvest and of wheat
harvest and she dwelt with her mother-in-law. And they survived
of what Boaz gave them. And this evening, if you want
to read ahead, read chapters three and four, and you'll see
how that Boaz will redeem Ruth and all that was lost. And then
he marries that old moabite girl, who just happened upon his field. Nothing happens by chance. Her showing up in Boaz's field
that day will change the rest of her life and Naomi's life. And we look back at Proverbs
and we see how things happened then and how it brought us here
today. But when it happens, we don't
see it. She's just out there looking for something deep. You
know what Spurgeon said, this blessed my heart, he said, among
the sheaves, she's looking among the sheaves, you know what she
found? She found her a husband.