Okay, now this evening we're
going to look at the last few verses in Ruth chapter 2. Ruth chapter 2, and I'm using
for a title the words found in verse 20. And Naomi said unto
Ruth, Ruth was her daughter-in-law, blessed be he of the Lord who
hath not left off his kindness. God delights to show mercy. Blessed be the Lord. That's the
title of the message. Blessed, blessed be the Lord. Now this is the right and real
attitude of every believer before the sovereign Lord of glory.
Everything we know, he taught us. Everything we have, the Lord
sovereignly gave that unto us. Everything we ever shall be,
in God's presence is by his hands full of purpose and his grace
given to us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The Apostle Paul writes about it this way. You remember the
Apostle Paul before he became the Apostle was that self-righteous
Christ-hating Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. But after he
met the Lord and the Lord showed loving kindness to him, he writes
this in scripture, by the grace of God, I am what I am. It's
by the grace of God that I am what I am. And his grace, which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with
me. His grace is with his people.
Now last week we left Boaz and Ruth out in the barley field,
and we read in verse 14, and they were eating lunch together.
Boaz graciously invited Ruth to the dinner table out in the
field. Boaz had graciously told her to come and eat with all
the reapers, And she heeded that invitation and she came to Boaz
at the meal table and Boaz took notice of her and Boaz reached
and took some parched corn and reached it to her and told her
to dip it in that vinegar sauce and she did eat and she was satisfied. Now what a special occasion this
was. Ruth was a nobody, but Boaz had
an eye for her. looked upon her with pity, looked
upon her in mercy. Now, I tried to point out last
week that the Lord does, with the gospel, graciously invite
us to the gospel feast of his grace. When the gospel is preached,
needy, hungry sinners are filled with the blessedness of the gospel,
and they come away from the gospel feast satisfied. They come away
encouraged. They come away refreshed. They
come away comforted. They come away complete in Christ. As it says there in the last
part of verse 14, she was satisfied. She was satisfied. And believers
feed upon the gospel and they are satisfied. Our Lord said
in Isaiah 55, ho, everyone that is thirsty, come ye to the waters,
come and drink, come and buy wine, milk without money and
without price. The gospel's free. Remember,
we studied in the Revelation, the last chapter in the Bible,
the last chapter in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The Spirit and
the bride say, come. Let him that heareth say come,
and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. I'm one of those whosoever. Coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ, and drinking the water of life. Our
Lord said, if you labor heavy laden, come unto me. and I'll
give you rest." Rest for your soul. What a blessing God has
given to us to hear the gospel and to hear it with an interest,
to hear it with an understanding, and to receive the gospel in
our heart by faith. Remember Cornelius said to Peter
when Peter was summoned to go down to the house of Cornelius,
the Gentile, to preach the gospel, and Cornelius said, we're all
here, present before God, to hear all things that are commanded
thee of God. Paul, when he writes to Thessalonians,
said, we thank God without ceasing, because when you receive the
word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as
the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God that
affects the work in you that believe the gospel. When Ruth
had eaten and was filled, she went back to work, gleaning in
the field. I notice verse 15 and 16, and
when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men
saying, let her glean even among the sheaves and don't reproach
her, don't shame her, as the marginal reference has. Don't
make fun of her because she's poor. And he says, verse 16,
let fall also some handfuls of purpose, purpose for her and
leave them that she may glean and rebuke her not. Now here's
a gracious, gracious provision that God gives through this man
Boaz concerning the welfare of Ruth and to Naomi. He said, let
her freely glean among the sheaves. This was not an ordinary way
a person would glean out in the field, but this was a special
privilege that Boaz gave only to Ruth. Most of the time they
just went out and picked up what was left over, the remnants.
But Boaz said, you, you let some handful of purpose fall for her.
God in the gospel of Christ has given unto us a special privilege
to freely glean among the sheaves of his written inspired word
to enjoy and feed upon the word of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, come and eat. All this
book is for you to eat. Oh, taste and see. The Lord is
good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in Him. Believers desire the sincere
milk of the Word that we might grow thereby. Boaz also commanded
protection for her. Let her glean, and don't bother
her. He told the young reapers in the field not to shame her
for being poor, not to criticize her for gleaning among the sheaves.
Boaz had a special eye to Ruth, and the Lord had a special eye
upon his Poor and needy sinners. He remembers our frame. He knows
that we're but dust. David writes often in Psalms,
I'm poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. Though the Lord
be high, yet he hath respect unto the lowly, but the proud
he knows are far off. He's nigh them of a broken heart.
He save us such as be of a contrite spirit. Boaz commanded some handful
of purpose be given to her. and full of purpose be given
her. And the reapers working the barley harvest were told
by Boaz to cast some special, special grain toward Ruth, and
do it on purpose. It wasn't by chance, it wasn't
by luck, it was by providence, God's sovereign providence purpose. If we use these reapers as a
type of the Lord's servants preaching the word, we are to preach the
gospel with a purpose. With a purpose. What is that
purpose? To honor the Lord Jesus Christ
to the glory of His own name. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord. We preach our King and Redeemer
and give out the message of Christ and Him crucified to poor and
needy sinners. This is His command. Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. This
is the very command that the Apostle Paul, his last word to
young Timothy, preached the word. Preached the word. Preached the
word. And we say with the Apostle Paul, I'm determined not to know
anything among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What a glorious word. I pointed
that out last week. That word there in verse 16,
purpose. Purpose. Purpose. Purpose. To everything there is a season,
a time, to every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastic. What a glorious word. Purpose.
Everything God does, he does wisely on purpose. Purpose. He elects a people unto salvation
by his purpose. He calls sinners out of darkness
into God's marvelous light by his purpose. He regenerates and
gives us the new birth and regeneration, and he does so on purpose. He
saves sinners, not by accident, by purpose. Everything God does,
he does on purpose. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose, purpose. in whom also we obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will." Don't you love
that word purpose? God has a purpose. His purpose
is his glory. God who saved us, Paul said,
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our work but
according to his own purpose. is on purpose and grace given
to us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.
Now look at verse 17. So she gleaned. She went back
out in the field after lunch and she gleaned out in the field
until it was quitting time, until the evening. And then she beat
out what she had gleaned, that is she Separated the grain from
the husk and beat it all out, however that process is done.
And it was about an ephah, about an ephah full of barley. Now,
as I pointed out before, the best I can estimate that is about
six gallons. You think of a five-gallon bucket. It was a five-gallon bucket overflowing. Maybe she came home with two
five-gallon buckets. full of wheat. These old archaic
measurements, it's just an estimation, an omer and an ephah. But it
takes ten omer, and that was a daily provision of manna. It
takes ten omer to make one ephah. She went home with a lot of grain.
She went home with a lot of grain, and her mother-in-law was shocked.
Because, you know, you glean out in the field all day, you
might maybe get a gallon or so out there crawling on your hands
and knees and picking up a piece of grain here and there and there
and working all day. And here she comes home with
this overflowing bucket full of grain. And she took it and
went into the city and her mother-in-law saw that she had gleaned and
she brought forth and gave to her that which she had reserved,
she had abundance. And she was satisfied too. She was satisfied with that too,
it says there in verse 18. Ruth stayed out in the field
and worked until quitting time. and then took what she had gleaned
and went back home, and Naomi could not believe what she had
received. The Lord blessed her efforts
to find and seek food for herself and her mother-in-law. She was
out there seeking food, and the Lord provided for her. Those
who seek the Lord by His command, those who seek salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you know what? They'll be blessed. They'll be
blessed of God. Blessed of God by His purpose.
Psalm 65 says, Blessed is the man to whom thou choosest, and
causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even in
thy holy temple. Jeremiah 29 says, You shall seek
me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. There's
nothing wrong with telling someone to seek the Lord. I've been seeking
the Lord for over 40 years. I've never stopped seeking the
Lord. I'm seeking His mercy every day. You remember we studied
in Matthew 7, asking it shall be given you, seeking you shall
find, knocking it shall be open for everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and him that knocketh, keep on
knocking, it'll be open. Seek the Lord. Seek mercy where
mercy's found. Mercy's found in Christ, in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 18 and 19.
Well, let's look at verse 19. We considered verse 18. And her mother-in-law said to
her, Naomi said to Ruth, where did you get all that grain? Where
hast thou gleaned today? And where did you work today? Blessed, blessed be he that did
take knowledge of thee. She's talking about Boaz. Boaz took knowledge of her, special
attention. And God takes special knowledge
of his people, the foundation of God stand assured, having
his seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. He did take knowledge
of thee. And she showed her mother-in-law
with whom she had wrought and said, The man's name with whom
I rock today is Boaz. I can just see Naomi right now
jumping up off the floor, jumping up and down. Boaz is near Kinsman
to us. God has provided us a Kinsman
Redeemer in Boaz. Oh, she was so thrilled. She
was so thrilled and she was so happy. Boaz took notice of her,
and Boaz graciously provided for her, Boaz protected her,
and all that is a picture of Christ, our Kingdom Redeemer,
as He takes care of us. A testimony of God's good providence. I found this statement It was
written by a preacher that lived a long, long, long, long time
ago. 345 A.D. That is about 300 years
after the Gospel age. 345 A.D. His name was Augustine. He said, trust the past to God's
sovereign mercies. He will have mercy on whom he
will. Trust the present to God's sovereign love. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust the future to God's sovereign good providence. Of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory both now and
forever. We don't know what the day holds.
I don't know anything about tomorrow. But the Lord does. We don't know
what the day holds for us tomorrow, but we know who holds the day.
We know who holds the day. We know who controls the day.
We know who controls all things. David writes about it this way,
my times are in thy hand. I want them there, don't you?
Blessed be the Lord who hath not left off His kindness or
His mercy to us. And that reminded me of that
Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His blessing to us, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercy. That's our Lord. Loving kindness
and tender mercies in our blessed Savior. The last part of verse
20, then Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is near kin to us. The man
with whom you met and in whose field you gleaned, he's one of
our near kinsmen. One of our next kin, one who
has the right to redeem. Now remember we ran into this
man, look at chapter 2 verse 1. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man
of wealth, Of the family of the Limelech, that was Naomi's husband,
and his name was Boaz. Boaz, the mighty man of wealth,
the kinsman redeemer. All of this is a beautiful story
of our kingdom and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Boaz had
the right to redeem what Elimelech and Naomi had lost because he
was near kin to them. And this was according to the
law of God. In Leviticus 25, verse 25, if
thy brother be waxen poor and sold away some of his possession
and any of his kin come to redeem it, then he shall redeem that
which his brother had lost. So Boaz had the right to redeem
them. He had the right to redeem. Even
so, the Lord Jesus Christ, and more so, has the right to redeem
us because he's near kin to us, taking our humanity unto himself. The Lord Jesus never stopped
being God, but he was manifest in the flesh. Manifest in the
flesh Paul writes about it this way Jesus Christ being in the
form of God That it not robbery to be equal with God But made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of man And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross, wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
that name every knee should bow, every tongue should confess,
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
All this was according to the decree of God. The Lord Jesus Christ came because
he was sin of God. He died for our sin according
to the scripture. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. He had the right to redeem. I did something today that I
don't think I've ever done before. I looked up that word redeemer.
Redeemer. Redeemer. And I found that it's
used 18 times in the Word of God. And the first time the word
Redeemer is used, it's used in the book of Job. You remember
Job 19.25. This will be familiar to most
of you. Job said, and Job is said to
be one of the oldest, older, the oldest book in the Bible.
It's said to be older than Genesis. That is in the writing of it.
Job said in Job 19, verse 25, I know my Redeemer liveth, and
He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Job's hope
was the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then I found it used
18 times, and most of the time that it's used, it's in the book
of Isaiah. For example, Isaiah 41, 14, fear thou not, Fear not,
thou worm, Jacob, ye men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." The Lord Jesus Christ
is our Redeemer. The Redeemer is one who delivers
us. We need a deliverer. I cannot deliver myself. He had
delivered us from our sin. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. And then in Jeremiah
50, I found this verse too about the Redeemer. And I like what
it says. Their Redeemer is strong. We
have a strong Redeemer. He's the Almighty God. The Lord
of hosts is His name. He shall truly plead their cause
that He may give them rest. Aren't you glad you have a Redeemer
like that? The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes about it, Christ
alone is our uniquely qualified and rightful Redeemer of His
covenant people. We read in Ephesians 1, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin
according to the riches of His grace. The Lord Jesus Christ
has obtained for us eternal redemption with His own blood. We've heard
that before, haven't we? In whom we have redemption, He
obtained eternal redemption for us with His own blood. Our study
in the book of Hebrews chapter 9. Remember the right of redemption
under the law was dependent upon three things. Three things. One, we've seen, he had to be
near Ken, had to be a relative, a first cousin or closer. He had to be near Ken. One who had the right to redeem
had to be near Ken. Boaz was near Ken. He had to
be not only near Ken, but he had to have the ability to redeem. And Boaz had all kind of ability. He was a wealthy, mighty man.
And then thirdly, one who was willing to redeem. He had to
be willing to redeem. And we know that Boaz was more
than willing to redeem Ruth, what Elimelech had lost, and
Naomi too. He bought the whole family. He
bought all their possessions. And the Lord Jesus Christ bought
us with his own blood. Now, let's look at several things
that declared us the Lord's exclusive right to redeem His people. The man, verse 20, the man, the
God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the God-man mediator, He's
near akin to us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. One of our next kinsmen, one
who has the right, he has the right to redeem us. He bought
us with his own blood. Redemption by a close relative
was a matter of divine appointment. The kinsman redeemer must be
divinely appointed of God. Only the appointed redeemer has
the right to redeem. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
is appointed of God. anointing of God, sin of God
in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a
woman, made under the law to redeem them. The one who has
the right to redeem must be one who is near kin to the person
for whom he acts. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
was a partaker of flesh and blood, even as we, apart from sin. Verily, the kinsman-redeemer
must be entirely free of debt, Boaz didn't have any debt. He
was free of debt. He was a wealthy man. And our
kinsman-redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, is free of debt. He had
no sin. He knew no sin. And he did no
sin. He was free of debt. Oh, he took
our debt to himself, but he had no debt of his own. Christ is
the spotless Lamb of God. We are redeemed with His precious
blood. Here's the fourth thing. The
one who has the right to redeem must be able to redeem. He must
be able to fully satisfy the law of God, both in precept and
penalty. And Christ, our Kingdom Redeemer,
did both. He honored the law of God for
us. You remember Matthew chapter 5? He magnified the law, made
it honorable, Matthew 5, 17. He satisfied every penalty of
that law. The penalty of the law says the
guilty must die. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
our sin according to the scripture. He redeemed us with his precious
blood. And the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
our salvation. So he is able to redeem, able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. The
fifth thing is the one who has the right to redeem must be willing
to do so. No one could be forced to be
their kinsman redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ is certainly
our willing Savior and Redeemer, isn't He? He said, no man takes
my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. I'm looking for
a verse over here, don't turn, let me read it to you, Isaiah
50. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, verse 5, I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. The Lord God will help me, therefore
shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is
near that justifies who will contend with me. Let us stand
together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near. Behold, the Lord God will help
me. Who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all wax old
as a garment, and a moth shall eat them up." The Lord Jesus
Christ willingly came, willingly laid down His life, willingly
gave up His Spirit in order to redeem His people from their
sin. The kinsman-redeemer also made
a particular and effectual redemption, didn't he? There was nothing
general or universal about Boaz's redeeming Elimelech's family. Boaz only redeemed what Elimelech
had lost. He did not make any attempt to
redeem anyone who had lost their inheritance other than Boaz and
redeeming Elimelech's family. Lamelech was the one that Boaz
focused on as a kinsman redeemer. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ
focused on his elect. He came and he redeemed only
his elect. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. He redeemed his people from their
sin. He redeemed his bride. He loved
the church and gave himself for it. Our Lord Jesus Christ obtained
for us an everlasting redemption, everlasting inheritance, and
he has given us everlasting salvation. Now what a kinsman redeemer we
have. Oh, he's near kin, he's willing,
and he's able. He has all power to save. We
have an inheritance in him being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who will work with all things at the counsel
of his own will. Now let me give you this in closing. The one who has the right to
redeem must raise up seed or have children to have children
or to preserve children in the name of the man who had lost
his inheritance. Now this again is according to
the law of God. So if a man died and his wife
was left a widow, that man's brother could take that woman
as his wife and raise up seed to the brother through the widow. And here's the law of God, Deuteronomy
25. If brethren dwell together and
if one of them die and have And have no child, the wife of the
dead shall not marry without unto a stranger. Her husband's
brother shall go unto her, and take her to him, to wife, to
perform the duty of a husband, husband's brother unto her. And
it shall be that the firstborn, which she bareth, shall succeed
in the name of his brother, which is dead, that his name be not
put out of Israel." So it was all to raise up seed in that
brother who had died to raise up and to keep his name alive. Our great and glorious King and
Redeemer will raise up a seed of people unto His glory. The
family shall be born unto Him out of darkness into God's marvelous
light. You remember we studied in Galatians
chapter 3, now the Abraham and his seed where the promise is
made, and he saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and
to thy seed which is Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has a covenant
children, and he raises up people sons of God. He's made us sons
of God by his grace. Paul writes about it, now therefore
you're no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and you are the household of God. He's raised
up a whole people out of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue
under heaven. It is a faith that it might be
by grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all the sea. The Lord Jesus Christ raised
up a mighty people in him and he gives them all spiritual blessings,
he gives them all salvation, he gives them all grace now and
he gives them glory forever and ever and ever. Okay.