Well, it has been so good to
be with you again. Shelby and I always look forward
to our time in Sylacauga, and it's been good to sit under Brother
Darwin's ministry, and the music, the fellowship has just been
a blessing to me. Again, I ask you to remember
me in prayer as I endeavor to preach the gospel of God's grace
where God opens the door for us and pray for God's blessings
upon the laborers. The day is coming when work will
be done for my part and I ask that you'll pray that God will
make me profitable in the days he's appointed me in this course. For the increase of his kingdom
the establishing of the gospel, the gathering of his elect, and
the glory of his name. What an honor, what an honor,
what an honor that God would choose to use such things as
we are for that purpose. Amen. Ruth chapters 1, 2, 3,
and 4, the gospel of Ruth. Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4. That's my text. You can use your
table of contents. That's one of those real small
books. Or you can just turn to the end of Deuteronomy and then
past Joshua and Judges, and you'll come to the Book of Ruth. The
Book of Ruth was written and contains an account in the life
and family of a man during the time of the judges. And it's
given to us specifically to be a picture of a prophecy given
by law concerning the kinsman redeemer. The law is given in
Leviticus chapter 25. And it points to the Lord Jesus
Christ, our great Redeemer, our kinsman Redeemer. In order for
one to be our Redeemer, he must be one of our kin, one of our
own blood kin, our flesh and blood. And the Lord Jesus is
God's darling son who took on himself our nature, became our
near kinsman for the express purpose of redeeming us. As you
go through these four chapters of Ruth, You'll see that this
word Redeemer is used over and over and over again in these
four chapters because the kinsman, the kinsman Redeemer, he is the
one the book is all about. The kinsman is the one who has
the right to redeem. The law of the kinsman Redeemer
given in Leviticus 25 is very brief, but it lays down the stipulations. This prophetic law points us
to our Savior and is fulfilled in him. You remember our Lord
Jesus said in the Psalms, then restored I that which I took
not away. And thus, he portrays himself
as the one who restores all things for his people that we lost in
our father Adam. Now let me identify the characters
of this short book. You can jot this down if you
want to, or just try to remember as we go along. The principal
characters, of course, are Boaz and Ruth. Ruth means companion. Boaz means strength, or in him
is strength. Elimelech, Naomi's husband, means
my God is king. Naomi means sweet, pleasant. Malon, Ruth's husband, means
weakness. Her sister's husband, Chileon,
means consumption. Orpah, Ruth's sister, means stiff-necked
and declining. But the picture is all about
Boaz and Ruth. Well, let me rephrase that. It's
all about the Lord Jesus and you. who He is, all about the
Son of God and me, all about our dear Savior and His church,
His bride, whom He has redeemed with His own precious blood.
Now, I'm not going to try to read these four chapters. I sat
down this morning again and read them, and last night I read them.
And I encourage you, when you get home, as soon as you have
a chance to read the chapters at one setting, especially with
these brief books. I would encourage it with any
book in the Bible. But if you want to really get
the book, sit down and read the whole thing at one setting. Read
these four chapters at one time, bearing in mind the things you
hear this morning. And I promise you, the book of
Ruth will become to you what it has never been before. Brother
Darvey mentioned the other night about our Lord opening the scriptures
to those disciples on the road to Emmaus. When you see how the
Old Testament prophets and the Old Testament laws and the Old
Testament history was designed, intended, and recorded by God
to show Christ our Redeemer, the Old Testament just pops open
with life for you. Until then, it's all just so
many words, possibly facts and theories, possibly prophetic
things, but it really has no meaning and bearing on your life
until you see how it portrays Christ, our Redeemer. And that's
nowhere more beautifully portrayed than it is here in the book of
Ruth. Elimelech, whose name means,
my God, is king. was a wealthy man in Bethlehem,
Judah. God had given him a wife by the
name of Naomi, and they had two daughters, Orpah and Ruth. But the time of great famine
had come to Bethlehem, Judah. God had sent a time of tremendous
need in Bethlehem, Judah. And Elimelech, thinking as men
often do, thinking of no one but himself. thinking only of
taking care of himself, me and mine. Rather than using the wealth
God had given him to provide for his brothers and sisters
in Bethlehem, Judah, took all that he could put in his bag
and took his wife and his two daughters and left Bethlehem,
Judah, left the people of God in the time of their great need
and went down to a place called Moab. A cursed place. A place where God was neither
known nor worshipped. A place where there was no prophet
to speak to his soul. No one to care for his soul. The souls of his wife, his two
daughters. And he left there hoping to hold
on to what he had. And while he was in Moab, he
lost everything. He lost everything. It came to
pass in time, and Limelech died. And it left Naomi a widow with
two daughters. Those two daughters married Moabite
men, Malon and Chileon. And those two men died after
they'd lived with them for 10 years. And then Naomi, poor and
brokenhearted, has these two daughter-in-laws with her, I
had spoken of daughters, these are her daughter-in-laws and
these two daughter-in-laws she is bound to take care of and
she urges her daughter-in-laws to stay in Moab but she had heard
that the Lord had visited his people While she's down in this
cursed land of Moab, she heard that the Lord had visited his
people. And there was now a restoration
of bread in Bethlehem, Judah. And she, in her emptiness, in
her poverty, in her destitution, determined to go back to Bethlehem,
Judah. Now, look at verse 16, chapter
1. She encouraged her daughter-in-laws
to stay where they were, to go back to their people and to their
gods. And Orpah, she at first said,
no, I'll go with you, like Ruth did. But after a little while,
she said, well, you got me convinced. I believe I'll stay here. But
not Ruth. Verse 16. Ruth said, entreat
me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For
whither thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest, I will
lodge. And thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. Now Ruth heard what Naomi had
taught her about the kinsman redeemer. And Naomi understood
what the ancient women in Israel understood with regard to God's
promise that he would send one of the woman's seed to redeem
and save his people. And every believing woman in
Israel hoped she might be one through whom God would send his
son into the world. And Ruth, hearing those things,
said, oh, I I'm going home with Naomi. I'm going back to Bethlehem,
Judah with Naomi. There's one coming who's a redeemer,
and I want him. This is not just an attachment
to Naomi. As a matter of fact, if you care
to read it, it's almost exactly what Elijah said to Elijah. When
Elijah said to him, I want, Elijah said, what is it you want from
me? He said, I want God to give me a double portion. of that
which you have." And that didn't mean I want twice as much as
you've got. He said, I want the portion of the firstborn. I want
the heritage God's promised to his people. And Elijah said,
well, you hang around. If you're here when I'm gone,
you'll get it. and so Ruth speaks to Naomi and she says verse 17
where thou diest will I die and there will I be buried the Lord
do so to me and more also if ought but death part me and thee
so Naomi and Ruth together returned to the land of Israel and to
the people of God, and it was at the beginning of the barley
harvest. And let me show you five pictures
in this blessed, blessed book. Number one, in chapter one, we're
given a picture of our ruin by the fall of our father Adam.
Look at verse 19. So they too went until they came
to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they
were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about
them. And they said, is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? And she said unto
them, call me not Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty
hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the
Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi,
seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty
hath afflicted me?" When Naomi started back to Bethlehem, Judah,
as she got near town, her kinfolk, I suppose, and others had heard,
Naomi has come back. Naomi's come back from Moab,
and she'll soon be here. And all the town went out to
see Naomi. This woman who had left Bethlehem Judah one of the
wealthiest women in the place, this woman who left Elimelech's
life with great wealth and riches and fullness and beauty and all
the finest threads you could buy on her back, now comes back. And they were looking for her.
And they saw this ragged, bent, old, skinny, poor woman with
a poor, dark-skinned, Moabite girl with her. Is this Naomi? Is this Naomi? They were shocked. They were shocked. This can't
be Naomi. This is not the Naomi I remember.
This is not the woman we knew. Oh no, is this Naomi? And Naomi
said, call me Mary, Mara. Don't call me pleasant and full
and beautiful. Call me bitter, bitter. For the Almighty hath dealt bitterly
with me. Yes, I went out full. I went
out wealthy. I went out with everything heart
could desire. And here I am now with nothing. Call me bitter. The Lord hath
dealt bitterly with me. I got up this morning like you
did. And I went in, took my shower, got out of the shower, and I
looked in the mirror. And I try consciously to do this.
I said to myself, is this Adam? Is this Adam? God made Adam in
his own image and after his own likeness. What a man he must
have been. What a man he must have been.
Upright, brilliant, strong. Adam was not a caveman. He was a brilliant man. Adam
named every creature in God's creation Adam was a brilliant
man, had a brilliant mind, brilliant understanding and then one day
Adam plunged himself and all our race into sin and death and
condemnation and rebellion against God and suddenly Adam began to
decline God made man upright, the wise men said, but he had
sought out many inventions. And now, what we are, what we're,
we're, Feldman, you and I are sons of Adam. Our wives, daughters
of Adam. And we're not anything like him.
No, Adam was upright. We're sinful. Adam was righteous. We're corrupt. Adam had no evil
in him. We have nothing but evil in us.
Adam walked with God. That meant, pastor, he walked
with God, communed with God, and God with him. God talked
to Adam like I'm talking to you. And Adam knew God better than
my wife knows me. He walked with God. Communed
with God. Now man lives in enmity against
God. Ever rebelling against God. Adam
was rich. Oh how rich. Now we're poor. Oh how poor. destitute of any
righteousness, destitute of any goodness, destitute of any ability
to make ourselves righteous before God, destitute, empty, and their
lives full of bitterness. So that man living in this world
lives with one bitter experience after the other. One bitter experience
after the other. Even those things that give us
great joy in time cause us great bitterness. That's the way it
is with fallen man. You've all heard Brother Mahan
tell of the times of Great Depression. He's old enough, he lived through
those things. I'm not. I just have to hear what you
old folks say. He said one day there was a fellow
helping in a soup line in Chicago. And he was just watching folks
as they'd come through and get their meal, what little bit it
was. And he spotted a man back in
the line. who obviously was wearing a suit
that was tailor-made. It's now old and a little ragged
and a little dirty, but it was obviously a wealthy man's suit,
tailor-made for that man. And this man just couldn't take
his eyes off of serving the soup line. As he came forward, the
fellow who was in the soup line, he realized this man was staring
at him wondering, what's your background? Where did you come
from? And he got there and held out
his cup and he said to the fellas he dipped soup in his cup, he
said, I've seen better days. Oh, sons and daughters of Adam,
we have seen better days. When God created us, we were
princes, now we're paupers. When God created us, he made
us king over the universe, now beggars. When God created us,
he created us in pleasantness, in a full, pleasant environment.
Now we're in bitterness. He created us full, and now we're
empty, blessed, and now cursed. All right, look at chapter two.
Chapter two. Here we're given a picture. of
Christ's free love to sinners. Oh, what a picture it is. Let's
begin in verse 1. Now he only had a kinsman of
her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech,
and his name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn, after
him in whose sight I shall find grace. How do you reckon she
knew that, Darwin? Well, Naomi had told her. They
didn't have any laws like this in Moab. Moabites were like folks
in Silicon Valley, mean and selfish. They weren't about to have laws
like this. But she learned this. This was God's law in Israel.
Naomi said, God gave us some laws. And God gave us some laws
that point us to one who is full of grace, one by whom we shall
obtain all things. And one of those laws is that
when a man or woman is poor and they've got nothing for themselves,
the folks who've got plenty, they're not allowed to go out
and gather up all they've got. They have to leave some pears
on the trees and some grapes on the vine and some sheaves
in the ground. They've got to leave things for the poor to
come along and take care of them. And Ruth said, Naomi, Let me
go out today and glean with those people who glean wherever I can. Read on now. And she said unto
her, go my daughter, verse 3. And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers. Now mark these next two words,
or these next three words, and her hap. Ah, her hap. We often talk about luck and
such as that, that's the word here. Her hap, her luck was just
this. Well now, that's how it appears
to us. It just happened that she happened
to be in this spot. She's just gliding, she didn't
know where she was going. She knew there was a kinsman out
there somewhere and she knew she could reap and that God required
that the man who owned the field leave stuff for her to reap.
So she went and found some folks who were reaping in a field where
there was plenty and she just fell in line with them. happened
to fall on a certain place. Watch this. It was according
to God's purpose, but she didn't know it. It was according to
God's design, but she didn't know it. As far as she was concerned,
it just happened this way. Was to light on a part of the
field belonging unto Boaz. Where am I bleeding? Oh, this
field belongs to Boaz. Boaz. Boaz. I've heard that name before.
That's the man Naomi said was our kinsman. That's the man who
can help. That's the man who can buy back
her heritage. Who was of kindred of Elimelech,
verse four. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. Boaz appears on the scene from
the house of bread and said to the reapers, the Lord be with
you. And they answered him, the Lord
bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was sent over the reapers, whose damsel is this? Whose damsel
is this? He spotted this dark-skinned
Moabite woman. And he said, ooh, who's that? Who's that? He was attracted
to her immediately. Though she was a Moabitess, though
she was cursed, his heart is immediately attracted to her.
Verse nine. Let thine eyes, he says to Ruth,
be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them. Have not I charged the young
men? I've given commandment to all
my servants that they shall not touch thee. They shall not hurt
you. I said the other night when I
was preaching, and a couple of you asked me about it afterwards,
a couple of you ladies, no hurt shall come to God's elect. No
evil shall befall God's elect. Does that mean that there's not
going to be any pain? Oh no, no, no, no, no. But those
things intended by Satan to harm us. Those things intended by
men to hurt us can never do us harm, but only good. God made
a covenant even with the beast of the field on our behalf. And
Boaz said, I said to the young men, don't you hurt Ruth. Don't you put your hand on Ruth. Don't you touch Ruth. I've got
my eye on Ruth. And the Lord God says to all
hell, don't you touch Don Ford. Don't you touch him. But it turned
Satan loose on Job. Yeah, but it couldn't hurt him.
It couldn't hurt him. Oh, but he smote him from head
to foot with boils. He took his children. He took
his wealth. He took his cattle. He took his camels. He took everything
he had. Oh, no, he didn't. No, he didn't. He didn't take anything away
from Job. Read the last two chapters and
find out. All Satan did was that by which God was pleased to multiply,
increase, and bless Job in his end. I've given my young men
commandment not to touch you. Read on. And when thou art a
thirst, go into the vessels and drink of that which the young
men had drawn. You go drink, they'll draw the
water, you go drink it. But I don't know what for, well
they drew it cause I said to. They're my servants and you go
drink it. I didn't see, I presume Larry,
one of you ladies put this up here. And I know there were two
here sitting here before. I wonder if that was for me. I can't find my name on there.
Let's see if that water, man that's cold, don't you wish you
had some? Alright, I believe that'd be
good. But I don't know if that's for me or not, let's see. Yep, they put that just for me. I
know it was, I just had some. I just had whatever God puts
in this world. Whatever God does in this world,
he does for his people. For his people. Everything. Everything. Now, you thirsty? You come drink where the young
men had drawn water. As I said before, Naomi and Ruth
came to Bethlehem Judah at the beginning of the harvest season.
They were poor. Their inheritance was gone. They
had no one to support them. But God required the Israelites,
when they cut down their harvest, when they gathered their gleanings,
to leave the fields plenty, plenty. for folks who came along behind
him. If there is a driving back and a cart drops a bundle of
cheese, just leave it lay there. Don't pick it up. Don't pick
it up. That's for the benefit of the poor in Israel. Now Ruth
knew that there was a kinsman. She knew there was one who could
help her. Naomi told her his name in verse
1. She didn't know who he was, but
she knew his name. She didn't know where he was,
but she knew his name. And she knew what God said about
him. And she knew where he could be
found. So Ruth went to the fields to glean. He was a kinsman, a
mighty man, a mighty man of wealth. Boaz kinsman, the kinsman of
Ruth, beautifully portrays our Lord Jesus, our kinsman redeemer.
Now you don't need to turn back there and look, but in Deuteronomy
25, the law is given in Leviticus 25, but the explanation of the
kinsman, who this kinsman is, is given in Deuteronomy chapter
25. And there are four things necessary for a man to be the
kinsman redeemer. The first is, he must be a blood
kid. He must be a blood kid. He's
got to be one of your family, one of your family. And the Lord
Jesus, God's darling son, in order to redeem our souls, became
one of us. John, he came here in your body,
in your flesh, in your blood. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. It behooved him, the scripture
says, since the children were partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same, that he through
death might destroy him that had power of death and deliver
us, who through all our lifetime were subject to the fear of death.
It behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. In order to
redeem and save his people, in order to fulfill the law for
us Brother Darwin just told us about, in order to bring in everlasting
righteousness, in order to satisfy divine justice, Jesus Christ
must become what we are. Real man. Real flesh and blood. Altogether what we are, sin alone
accepted. He must become what we are, real
man. God came into the world as a
man. Now, I know the theologians,
they say you're not supposed to say God became a man, you're
supposed to say he took on himself our nature, he assumed our nature.
Anything to say God became a man, that seems to lower God. I apologized
to the theologians, but God said he became a man. The word was
made flesh. But the Darwin read Acts 20.
There the apostle Paul says God redeemed the church with his
own blood. Is that what it said? God redeemed the church with
his own blood. God doesn't have blood. No, but the God-man does.
God couldn't die. No, but the God-man did. God
couldn't be punished. No, but the God-man could and
was. He must be a real man, one like
us. Second, the redeemer had to be
able to pay the price that was required. The kinsman redeemer
could not just say, I'm a limolex kin. Now, I want his property
back. He had to be able to pay the lawfully required price for
that which Elimelech had lost. That which Naomi and Ruth had
lost through Elimelech's terrible act and through Elimelech's fall.
Our Lord Jesus has redeemed us, not with corruptible things and
silver and gold from our vain conversation, but with his own
precious blood. The blood of a man, perfect,
righteous, and holy. The blood of a man whose blood
is of infinite worth, for it is the blood of a man who is
himself God. Oh, you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus, how that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. The kinsman redeemer had to be
willing to pay the price of redemption. He must be willing. Hold your
hands here, Ruth, and turn to John chapter 10. I want you to
see this. John chapter 10. In Ruth chapter 3, verse 11,
Boaz said to Ruth, my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all
that thou requirest. I'm willing to redeem you. I'm
willing to do whatever is necessary to have you. I'm willing to do
whatever is necessary to have you. No matter what it costs
me, I want you. I'm going to have you. I want
you for my wife. I'm going to have you no matter
the price. I'm willing to do everything you require. Look
here in John chapter 10, verse 15. The Father knoweth me, our
Savior said. Even so know I the Father, and
I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Now watch this. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me. I'm not forced into this, but
I lay it down on myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. When our Lord Jesus came into
the world, he said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God, by
the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ one time and then forth. The Redeemer must
himself be free of any debt or obligation. If the Redeemer himself owed
for property, If the Redeemer himself was in debt, if the Redeemer
himself did not actually possess everything that was in his name,
but had it under usury or loaned out to someone or loaned out
to someone because he had borrowed on it, he couldn't redeem. The
Redeemer must be completely free of debt. And the Lord Jesus owed
nothing. Now understand this, he owed
nothing to man, and he owed nothing to God. He owed nothing. But why did he obey the law?
Why did he fulfill all righteousness by his obedience? Why did he
suffer and die? Because he became what we were
in order to redeem and save our souls. He didn't just assume
our debt. As our brother just said, he
was made sin for us and became guilty before God's law and now
pays that which he did not owe. because our debt became his,
and he satisfied the justice of God. Ruth went out into the
fields to glean, hoping that she might find grace in the eyes
of her Redeemer. Chapter two, verse two. And Ruth
the Moabitess said to Naomi, let me now go to the field and
glean ears of corn, after him in whose sight I may find grace. And Naomi said, all right, go,
go. Now hear me, you who are without Christ, if it were possible for this
woman to have an inheritance among God's chosen people, if
it were possible for this Moabite woman, she is a Moabitess, one
of two races of people, specifically cursed of God, Moabites and the
children of Ammonites. Specifically cursed of God because
they came from lots incestuous acts with his two daughters.
They're specifically cursed of God. But Ruth said, if it's possible,
that I can have my inheritance among God's covenant people,
the children of Israel, I'm going to have it. I'm going to have
it. I'm a Moabitess. I've got no
claim here. I'm a Moabitess. I've got no right here. But if
it's possible for a Moabite to have an airship with the children
of Israel, I'm going to have it. I say to you, seek ye the
Lord. And I'm here to tell you that
it is possible for you who are strangers and aliens from the
covenants of God and the people of Israel, you who are the cursed
race of Adam, it's possible for sinners like you and me to find
an inheritance, an everlasting inheritance with God's elect,
His covenant people, the Israel of God. Seek the Lord, for it
may be found. So Ruth went out to the place
where she was most likely to meet her kinsman with the hope
that he might be gracious to her. I wouldn't presume to say,
nor do I think it right to say, that the only place God calls
his elect and the only place God saves sinners is inside the
walls of a church building like this, listening to a fellow preach
on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night,
whenever. God saves his people, though, by the preaching of the
gospel and causes them to hear it one way or the other. And
most of the people, most of the people I know, most of the people
I know, saved by God's grace were saved because they, for
some reason, came into a place like this, where there was a
man standing here like this, preaching the gospel of God's
free grace, and heard the word. That's the most likely place
to find the Savior. He's in his house among his people
with sheep seeking bread from the shepherd. Come to the house
of God. Oh. Word to God, I can make you
hear me. Word to God, I can make you hear
me. Come to the house of God. You men and women, Do everything
in your power. I'm not suggesting that you bow,
beat them, and twist arms and force them. Do everything in
your power to get your sons and daughters and your neighbors
regularly under the sound of the gospel. God might just save
them. This I know. Without the gospel,
he's not going to save them. Without the gospel, he's not
going to save them. Bring them to hear the word and glean where
God's people are fed from the shepherd's head. While she was
gleaning, she's out there in the field and Boaz spots her. He spots Ruth. And he said to
his servant, whose damsel is this? And the servant said, You
remember hearing about Naomi in a limo there? Can you remember?
Naomi came back a while back and she brought with her a Moabitess.
This is the woman that came with Naomi. She stayed by Naomi. She'd been faithful to Naomi.
This is the woman. And Boaz took notice of her. His eyes were upon Ruth. He had
compassion on Ruth, even before she knew he was around. So it
is that the Lord Jesus, before the world was, loved us and chose us. He loved us freely
from eternity. Now, third, in this second chapter
of Ruth, the Holy Spirit gives us a picture of God's special
providence. Here's a tremendous illustration
of God overruling evil for good. I'm even hesitant to use the
word overruling. Here's a tremendous picture for
the role of God using evil for good. It's not just that things
happen and God decides he's going to overrule it for good. No,
no, no, no, no. God purposed everything that
is, everything that is for the good of his people. Let me give
you a couple of illustrations right here before you. Elimelech
did a horrible thing. Alan was horrible. He took everything
he could and left Bethlehem, Judah in selfishness and went
down to Moab. But if he hadn't gone to Moab,
Ruth would have never married his son. And she would have never
come back to Bethlehem, Judah and married Boaz. And the Son
of God would never have come into the world. That's exactly right. Ruth is
the great, great, great grandmother of Jesus Christ our Savior. Lot
did a terrible thing. Lot in his drunken stupor commits
incest with his daughter. It's inexcusable. It's inexcusable. It's inexcusable. I said, well,
the Lord was in that. Don't you find an excuse in that?
You try that with God, see how far it gets you. It was inexcusable. It was inexcusable. But God used
it to bring into this world a woman named Ruth, through whom he would
bring his son into this world to redeem our souls. And the
Lord God here gives us this picture of Ruth under the care of God's
special providence. In verse 1, she heard about this
man Boaz. In verse 9, chapter 2, Boaz says,
you let your eyes be on the field they reap. You stay right here.
Then in verse 16, Boaz says to his young men, these who are
gathering up his harvest, they're gathering up the barley, let
fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her. and leave them, that they may
glean them and rebuke her not." Boaz says, she could hardly carry. That's
God's marvelous prophecy. Handfuls of purpose that brought
us at last to Him. You've seen stories of little
boys trying to catch a bird that dropped a little seed. up a little
seat until a bird just came right to their snare. He's eaten all
along the way and finally caught in a snare. God Almighty drops
handfuls of purpose and catches us in the snare of his grace
because of his everlasting love for us. In his wise and good
providence, he orders everything to order our feet to the Savior. Read the 103rd Psalm and see
how he does it. As the fields of Bethlehem belong
to Boaz, so this world belongs to the Lord Jesus. The whole
creation of God is his by design, decree, and death, and he rules
it for our good. And as Ruth's hamp was to light
on the part of that field belonging to Boaz, so God graciously brings
each of his elect to the place where he will be gracious to
them. Boaz asked, Ruth said, why don't
you join me for lunch? And in verse 14, at mealtime,
he said, come here and eat of the bread, and dip the morsel
in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers.
And Boaz, well, let me see if I can put it this way I want
to. He was determined to get Maruth's heart. He just flirted
with her. That's all he was doing. He just
flirted with her. He dipped his homemade biscuit
in a little bit of that gravy and he said, here honey, have
a bite. This is for you. This is for you. That's special. He paid attention to Ruth. He
did something special for Ruth. He's getting Ruth's interest
and getting Ruth's heart attached to him. At the table, Boaz commanded
his young men, he said, now don't you touch her. And so the Lord
Jesus says to all creation, touch not mine anointed. And as Boaz
commanded the young men to leave handfuls of purpose, so our Savior
takes care to provide for his elect. Now, look at verse 18,
chapter 2. And she took it up and went to
the city, and her mother-in-law saw her. She saw what she had
claimed. And she brought forth and gave
to her that which she had reserved after she had sufficed. In other
words, she said, I've eaten all I can hold. And she brought the
rest of it to her mother-in-law. And her mother-in-law said to her,
honey, where have you been gleaning? Where hast thou gleaned today?
Where wroughtest thou? And she showed her mother-in-law
with whom she had wrought and said, the man's name with whom
I wrought today is Boaz. Naomi said, oh, bless God. Oh, bless God. This is the man
I've been talking to you about. Blessed be he of the Lord who
had not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
And Naomi said to her, the man is near akin to us, one of our
next kinsmen. Now, look at chapter three. Naomi
tells Ruth what she's got to do. He said, tonight, Ruth, they
will be having a party down on the threshing floor. And you
go down there, you wash yourself, and you put on your garments,
and you find the place where Boaz is going to be spending
the night. You go down there and find a place where he's going
to be spending the night. And mark that place and go in
quietly. Don't tell anybody what you're
doing. Don't tell anybody who you are. And you lay down right
there and wait for him to come to bed. And when he comes to
bed, you lift up the covers and tell him who you are when he
speaks to you. And he will not rest until he's
done everything you need. So she goes down to the threshing
floor. And she didn't have anything. She didn't have a thing. I mean,
she's poor as Job's turkey, as we'd say. She didn't have anything.
She didn't have one thing to offer Boaz. But she had something
of which she could be very proud. She had something that made her
stand out above others. Ruth had a remarkably good name. when Oprah left. She stayed by
Naomi when her limolet died. She stayed by Naomi when her
husband died. She came back here with Naomi.
She's always taking care of her mother-in-law, Naomi. Everybody
knew who Ruth was. And Naomi said to Ruth, said,
honey, you got to lose that romance. You're going to have to sacrifice
your good name for romance. And she goes in there, this virtuous
woman, and lays herself at that man's feet. He said, it's true I am your
kinsman, but there's one of nearer kin to you that I am. The law of God gives him priority. I've got to deal with him first.
So chapter four, he meets with the elders of the city. He calls
out 10 elders of the city, 10 elders of the city, and said,
you're going to be witnesses for me. Now remember, Boaz is
dealing with her according to law. He's a kinsman, but he can
only redeem her when the one who has a prior claim on her
has been dealt with. So Boaz, in chapter 4, gathers
these 10 men. And he calls out this kinsman.
He said, buddy, stop here a minute. Stop here a minute. He said,
Naomi, you know, has come back. And she's got just two kinsmen,
you and I'm next to you. And one of us needs to buy back
her inheritance that Elimelech has lost of the hand of Naomi
and the kinsmen. He said, well, I'll do that.
I'll do that. Right before the law, these 10
witnesses, these 10 commandments of God. I'll do that. And Boaz
said, well, that's fine. That's fine. But in the day you
do, you've also got to buy Ruth, the Moabites, that cursed woman. for your wife. Oh, I wouldn't
think about that. No, I can't do that, Boaz. I
appreciate the opportunity. But if I take her, that will
mar my inheritance. Boaz says, I was hoping you'd
say that. He said, take your shoe off your foot now and testify
to these elders. You release your legal claim
on Ruth, and I'll buy her. And so the Lord Jesus comes into
the world and deals with God's holy law, fully satisfying every
demand of God's law, and purchased his people. And the 10 witnesses
of the commandments of God said, we release our claim. We release our claim. Take your
Ruth and go your way. Take your bride and go your way. And these 10 witnesses, these
10 witnesses then speak to Boaz. Now watch what they said. Watch
what they said to him. Let's see if I can find this
right quick. I just read this a few minutes ago. Verse 11. They said, we're witnesses. The Lord make the woman that
has come in to thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two
did build the house of Israel, and do thou worthily in Ephrata
and be famous in Bethlehem now go on read what these ten witnesses
said and let thy house be like the house of Phares whom Tamar
bared to Judah he named another wicked woman whom Tamar bared
to Judah of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this
young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was
his wife. So the Lord Jesus, by lawful
purchase, takes us to be his own. Naomi said to Ruth, the man will
not be in rest until he's finished his work. Christ Jesus, when he had finished
the work, entered into his rest. And now there remains a rest
to the people of God. And let me tell you how you get
it. You stop working. You stop working. Believe on
the Son of God. enter into his rest. Oh, God
help you to do so for Christ's sake. Amen.