Ruth chapter two. Ruth chapter
two, and I'm taking the title from the word found in verse
10. The middle part of verse 10 says,
let's just read verse 10. Then she fell on her face, that
is Ruth did before Boaz, bowed herself to the ground and said
unto him, why have I found grace in thine eyes? There was no reason
in Ruth that Boaz would be gracious unto her. Boaz was gracious unto
her because he was gracious. He determined to show grace,
show mercy. Why have I found grace in thy
eye that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I'm a
stranger. I'm a stranger. I'm not one of
your maidens. I'm a stranger. I'm an out-of-towner. So I'm taking the title for the
message from those words, why have I found grace in thine eyes?
Think about that. Can't you apply that to yourself?
Every believer is fully aware that all the grace we have received
at the hand of our great God and all the mercy we enjoy from
the Lord Jesus Christ, the reason or the cause of it is not found
in us, but rather, in the sovereign electing love of God in his covenant
mercy. Just as David showed mercy through
that crippled boy Mephiboshep, he did so because of that covenant
that David made with Jonathan. Boy, they were best friends.
And Jonathan said to David, when I die, you take care, promise
me you'll take care of my family. David said, I will. And when
Jonathan was dead, David made good on his covenant promise,
didn't he? And our God, he has showed mercy
to us for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Our God delights to show
mercy, it says in Micah 7, 18. Our God is called the God of
all grace, 1 Peter 5, 10. And Paul, when he writes to the
Corinthians, said, blessed be God, even the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the father of mercies and
the God of all comfort. He's the father of mercies. He's
the God of all comfort. Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem
in the beginning of the barley harvest, and it was a custom
to allow the poor people in the city, those who, without support,
It was a custom and according to the word of God, according
to the law of God, to allow the poor people and those without
support to follow the reapers when they harvested the field
and to pick up what was left, what was just dropped along the
ground. Ruth went out to glean in the
field by God's providence. She gleaned in the field a Boaz
who was near Ken. to Elimelech and Naomi. Boaz took notice of Ruth and
had compassion on her, instructed her to glean in his field. He
said, don't you go anywhere else, you stay right in my field. And
told the reapers to let some fall on purpose. Just scatter a little bit of
extra as it says there in verse 16, let some fall handfuls of
purpose for her and leave them. So Boaz has taken some extra
measures to take care of Ruth. Now we know that God saves sinners
by His purpose, doesn't He? God saves sinners by His purpose
and by His grace, which He has given us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. God has never saved a sinner
by accident. Every sinner God saves, He saves
on purpose. God's eternal purpose. His purpose
and grace was given us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. The story of Ruth and the Kingdom Redeemer is the story
of all of the elect of God who've been called out of darkness into
God's grace and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth is
a picture of us. Who are we that God would show
mercy to us? And Boaz, we know, is a picture
of our great Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our story, isn't it?
We say with the Apostle Paul, I am what I am by the grace of
God. God has called us out of darkness and translated us into
the kingdom of God's dear son, and it's all by his purpose and
grace. In this lesson, this message
today, we meet Boaz. And we see his gracious act toward
this pagan Gentile woman, Ruth. What a glorious picture of a
sinner meeting the gracious Lord, the gracious Redeemer, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what Ezekiel called a
time of love. That's a time of God's love. Well, let's meet Boaz. And Naomi,
verse 1, chapter 2, had a kinsman of her husband, That is a Lamelech
family. He was a mighty man of wealth
and he was a blood relative to a Lamelech and his name was Boaz. Now Boaz here is a picture of
the kinsman near kin redeemer, the near kin redeemer. First
of all, we learn that Boaz was near kin to Naomi's husband,
Elimelech, a close blood relative, and according to the law of God,
had a right to buy back or redeem what Elimelech had lost. And
the Lord Jesus Christ, we know he is our near kin redeemer,
right? In order for the Lord Jesus Christ
to redeem us, he had to be near kin unto us. And the Lord Jesus
Christ is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Such a high
priest became us. He became us. The word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption
of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ was our
near-kin Redeemer. Secondly, Boaz was a mighty man
of wealth. You see that? He was not only
near-kin, but he was a man who had the ability to redeem. He
had a lot of wealth. A kinsman Redeemer had to have
the ability to redeem. And his name, Boaz, means strength,
it means riches, it means power, It means grace. And oh, by the
way, he was of the tribe of Judah, just like our Lord Jesus Christ
was the lion of the tribe of Judah. Boaz was the son of Rahab
the harlot. Remember, she lived in Jericho.
Not many people were spared in Jericho. You remember what Rahab
the harlot did? She let out that scarlet line
out that window and every place she lived in that wall and the
whole wall around Jericho fell except Rahab the harlot's house. And that's a picture of God redeeming
blood. God spared Rahab the harlot that
they would have a son named Boaz. In Matthew chapter 1, you remember
that genealogy? Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab. That was Boaz's father, Salmon. And Boaz begat Obed of Ruth,
and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David the king, and David
the king begat Solomon. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
is called mighty line of the tribe of Judah who possesses
all power, who possesses all things. He has all power to save,
doesn't he? He has all power to save. The
Father hath given me power over all flesh that I should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given to me. Boaz was also
a man of wealth. He was near kin. And he had the
wealth to redeem, Boaz was a man of wealth. Our blessed God and
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is rich beyond description. How rich is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He said in Psalm 50, the world is mine and the fullness thereof.
We don't own anything. Everything belongs to the Lord. The world is mine and the fullness
thereof. Though we know the grace of God,
the grace of God that though he was rich, yet for our sake
he became poor, that us, that we through his poverty might
be made rich, rich in him. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the kinsman redeemer
had to have a will to redeem. He had to be near kin. He had
to have the will to redeem and he had to have the ability to
redeem. All that is true of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was near akin to us. He has
the ability, or has all power to save, able to save to the
uttermost, and He's willing to do so. He willingly laid down
His life for us, didn'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. Now,
look at verse 2. Chapter 2 verse 2, and Ruth the
Moabitess said unto Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean
ears of corn after him and whose sight I shall find grace. Notice how that's written. I
shall find grace." She's seeking grace where grace can be found
in the right person. And Naomi said, under her goal,
my daughter, Ruth had been given an earnest desire to go to Bethlehem
with Naomi and not to return to the land of Moab. But living
in Bethlehem, she had to live as a poor beggar. living upon
the grace and mercy of others, and she was more than willing
to do so. Just let me go back and be a
beggar and pick up a little bit of food along the ground. Grace
chose Ruth unto salvation, just as grace has chosen us. Grace
created in her a need for God's mercy, God's salvation, and grace
met her need in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is always God's
method of grace. who's able to meet all our need
according to his exceeding great riches. I'm gonna go and I'm
gonna find grace. And Naomi said to her, go my
daughter, go my daughter, go. Look at verse 13, that same word
is used. Then she said, let me find grace
in thy sight, my Lord. She's seeking grace in the right
place. Even those that are called and saved by God's grace have
been given faith in the true and living God, and a willingness
to take their place at the throne of God as mercy beggars. Didn't
our Lord say that in Hebrews chapter 4? Seeing that we have
a great high priest, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. Our God is gracious. We are made
willing in a day of God's power to come to the Lord Jesus Christ
because he gives us saving faith to do so. Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto him. We are
poor and needy, aren't we? Yet the Lord thinks upon us. He's not of them of a broken
heart, save as such as be of a contrite spirit. The Lord has
never turned. I've never one time read in Scripture
where the Lord turned away a sincere mercy beggar coming for help,
coming for need, coming for healing, coming for forgiveness or salvation.
He always delights to show mercy to those who come to him for
mercy. Now, he had some hard, sharp word to the Pharisees.
He called them a bunch of vipers and the children of the devil
because they sought salvation by what they did, rather than
in Christ alone. Now, look at verse 3. And she
went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers,
after they had done their main cutting of the crops, And they
left behind some remnants of what they had harvested. And
her hap was to light on the part of the field belonging to Boaz
who was the kindred of Elimelech. Now, you can see what we call
the sovereign good providence of God. The sovereign good providence
of God. This just didn't happen. It was
ordained. and predestinated of God. It's
God's sovereign purpose that he brought it to pass. It wasn't
just blind fate or good luck. It was ordered of God that she
came to this particular field at this particular time. Ruth
just so happened on a part of the barley field that belonged
to the near kinsman. Not by chance, but by God's divine,
good, and sovereign providence, unknowing to her at the time,
that was all part of God's eternal purpose, to bring Ruth to fall
in love with Boaz. Remember the scripture said that
he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. He works all things after the
counsel of God's own will. And one day, Ruth would join
to Boaz in marriage and from that union came the Lord Jesus
Christ, his humanity. If you trace that right back,
it goes right back to this union of Ruth and Boaz. We see something
of the infinite wisdom of God who orders all these things.
Everything that happens in the lives of God's people is not
by chance, but by God's eternal purpose to bring us to hear the
gospel and to fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, being
married to him In that union of grace, we have all spiritual
blessings freely bestowed upon us because of Christ and our
union with Him. You see, He is the bridegroom.
We are the bride. He chose us. He bought us. He married us. He's our husband. And He freely provides all things
for us. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
He freely gives us all things by His grace. Ruth here didn't
earn one blessing from Boaz, did she? It was all on Boaz's
part to freely give and freely give. And that's what God has
done for us. He freely gives us all things. God who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall
he not with them also freely give us all things? Now, verses
four down through verse seven, Boaz came from Bethlehem and
said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you. And they answered
him, the Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant
that was over the reapers, who is this damsel? Who's damsel
is this? And the servant that was set
over the reapers answered and said, it's the Moabites, the
Moabites woman that came back with Naomi out of the country
of Moab. And she said, I pray you let me glean and gather after
the reapers among the sheebs. So she came and hath continued
even from the morning till now that she tarried a little in
the house. She came early in the morning
looking for food to eat. Moaz speaks about Ruth to his
servant before he speaks directly to Ruth. And notice Boaz came
from Bethlehem. Now I wrote that scripture down
that I tried to quote a moment ago in Micah 5 verse 2, if you
want to write that at the bottom of your page, because it says,
but thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me
That is, the ruler in Israel who's going forth hath been from
old, from everlasting. You see, all this is a picture
of Christ, our eternal Savior. And in the same way, the Lord
Jesus Christ speaks about His elect in the Council Halls of
Eternity before He speaks to us through the preaching of the
Gospel. He speaks about us. He says, all that the Father
hath given to me, they will come to me. And those that come to
me, I'll never cast them out. The foundation of God standing
sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. You
see, He knew us long before we ever knew about Him. He knew
us from all eternity because He loved us with an everlasting
love. Now, a couple things here. Notice the relationship between
Boaz and his servants and his reapers. The reapers and Boaz
seem to be one in purpose and heart. And the Lord and his covenant
people have a special relationship with each other. They give all
the glory to the Lord. The Lord Jehovah bless thee.
Their purpose is the glory of God. And I love what they said
there. Boaz came from Bethlehem and
said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered
him, Will the Lord bless thee? Like David said in Psalm 103,
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless
his holy name. Bless his holy name. Their purpose
was to glorify God, wasn't it? And that's our purpose here.
That's our sole purpose here, to magnify and glorify our Lord
Jesus Christ. Secondly, Ruth wisely followed
the servants and the reapers through the field. She didn't
strike out on her own and started chopping down some grain. That
wouldn't have worked, would it? But she patiently submitted to
God's will, following the reapers, picking up a little bit here,
a little bit there, a little bit there, putting it in her
sack. going down through the field. God's people gladly followed
the servant of the Lord through the field of Holy Scripture,
seeking to glean some much-needed food for our soul. And that's
what we do when we read the Scripture. We just glean through the Scripture. Arthur Pink had a whole series
of books called Gleanings Through the Scripture. Gleanings in the
book of Genesis. Gleanings in this book. Gleanings
in that book. And that's what we do when we
read the Word of God. We just glean a thought here,
a thought here. But it's all about feeding upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, who's the bread of life. Gospel preachers
are set before their hearers. They set before the hearers the
promises of the gospel, the doctrines of the gospel, and the Christ
of the gospel, so needy sinners can feed upon the word of truth. That's what I try to do. I glean
through the scripture and ask the Lord for the message from
the word, and then present that to you as the gospel message. We preach not ourselves. We don't
preach ourselves. We preach Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ and Him crucified as all our salvation. The preaching
of the gospel is declaring unto sinners what God in Christ has
done for us, not what we must do for Him. It's what God has
done for us in Christ. And He's performed all things
for us, hasn't He? The third thing we see is this.
Ruth was gleaning in the fields. Ruth was gleaning in the field,
and Boaz came among the reapers, overseeing their efforts and
encouraging and instructing them how to best gather the grain.
And we can be sure of this, as we study the word of the Lord,
we will meet with the kinsman redeemer, the Lord of lords,
the Lord Jesus Christ. For all the scripture is about
Him. If we read this book, and in
the book revealed, what do we see? We see the Lord Jesus Christ,
don't we? You remember when the Lord came
upon those two men on the road to Emmaus, and they were perplexed
and somewhat discouraged because the Messiah had been killed.
And the Lord, beginning at that same Scripture, preached unto
them the Gospel and all things concerning Himself. And that's
what the Scriptures are about. All the Scriptures. These things
are written that you might believe in Him. To Him give all the prophets
witness. All the Scriptures about Him.
And He will instruct us. He will encourage us in the way
of salvation as we see it fulfilled in Christ. And it's so encouraging
no matter where you turn in this book. It's about Christ. I had a friend of mine, some
of you may remember him, Charlie Payne, one of the elders in 13th
Street. And he took one of his old Bibles
and he took a drill. Did I ever tell you this story?
He took one of his old Bibles and he took a drill and drilled
a hole right through it. Right through it. It came out
the other side. And then he took a red ribbon,
stuck it in that hole, pulled it through. And every place he
turned in the Word of God, there was that ribbon. There was that
ribbon. And no matter where you turn
in the Word of God, it's all about Christ, His person and
His work. And that's what this whole story's
about. It's about Boaz, our kinsman, Redeemer. Now look at verse 8
and 9. Then said Boaz unto Ruth. Now
finally, here's the word. Notice it wasn't a suggestion. He speaks with the authority
of the owner of the field. You don't go anywhere else. You stay right here. You stay
right here. And a key word here is abide. Abide. Abide in the gospel. Abide in Christ. And let thine
eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them. Ab, I not charge the young men
that they should not touch thee, when thou art a thirst? Go into
the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Boy, he's taking care of her, isn't he? Taking care of her. The gracious words of Boaz to
Ruth. Boaz assured Ruth of his gracious
intentions toward her. He called her my daughter and
told her to listen to his instruction, telling her to look to him for
everything and to trust him. Isn't that what the gospel teaches
us? Look to the Lord Jesus Christ
and trust him for everything? Don't go and glean in another
field. Let thine eyes be upon this field,
and we are to trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of our salvation. And let the eyes of our faith,
God-given faith always looks back to the giver of faith. The
faith of God's elect looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
look unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be saved. I am
God, and there is none else. Boaz said to her, abide. You see that in the last part
of verse 8? Abide here fast. Fast. Stay steadfast. Abide here by
my means. And that's the instruction of
the Gospel. Abide in Christ. Be ye steadfast. unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord. Be steadfast in the gospel.
That's what faith does. Faith abides in Christ. Faith lays hold of the Lord Jesus
Christ and will not let go. Boaz promised Ruth protection. Let thine eyes be on the field
that they do reap, my reapers, my field, and go thou after them. Have I not charged the young
man that they should not touch thee? Here he provides protection
for her. When you are thirsty, you go
unto the vessels and drink of that which the young man hath
drawn." He's providing for her, isn't he? Boaz promised Ruth
protection. The young man shall not hurt
thee. They shall not hurt thee. Look
over at verse 15. Ruth chapter 2 verse 15, And
when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men,
saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her
not. And let follow also some handful
of purpose, and leave them, that she may glean them, and do not
even rebuke her." Just leave some extra stalks of corn and
wheat and barley out there that she may get them. Boaz provides protection, doesn't
he? And the scriptures teach us,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies, who is he that condemneth his Christ and
died, yea rather, is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also makes intercession for us. You see, we're kept by
the power of God, aren't we? Through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're sustained by His grace. We're maintained by His
love. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're
preserved by His mercy. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. His compassions fail not. They're
new every morning. Boaz gave Ruth permission to
drink water freely. I like that, don't you? Christ
is a water of life. You remember what he said to
that woman, told the woman at the well? You drink of that water,
natural water, you'll thirst again, but if you drink of that
water that I will give thee, you'll never thirst, but then
ye will be a well of living water springing up into everlasting
life. Remember what we studied in the last chapter of the book
of Revelation? He said, take the water of life
freely and drink. Whosoever will. You thirsty?
He said, come and drink. Come and drink. Now look at verse
10 in closing. Then she fell on her face and
bowed herself to the ground. Now she's giving thanks for what
she's doing here. She's falling in worship, in
reverence to Boaz, the mighty man of wealth. She bowed herself
willingly, lovingly to the ground. I mean, she made her headquarters
in the dust. She bowed down in the dust. It's
reverence, isn't it? It's submission. She bowed herself
to the ground and said unto him, why have I found grace in thine
eyes that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am
a stranger? I'm a dead dog. Why would you
look at me? Well, the reason is found in
God's grace and God's purpose, is it not? Ruth's response was
it humbled her, didn't it? Boaz's gracious action toward
her humbled Ruth. Ruth was astonished and overwhelmed
by the goodness of Boaz. His generosity humbled her. It reminds me of that story we
read a moment ago about Mephibosheth where he said, King David, who
am I? I'm a dead dog. And yet, you're
going to show me kindness? You're going to cause me to sit
at thy table all the days of my life and eat abundantly? Yep. Because of that covenant. And
that's true of the Gospel. Covenant mercies in Christ. Covenant
mercies in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ redeemed sinners, and
redeemed sinners saved by His grace were overwhelmed by the
Lord's mercies unto us. And you know what that does in
our sight? It humbles us. It humbles us. Who made you to
differ from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive? It's by the sovereign goodness
and grace of God. You see, it's not the wrath of
God that leads us to repentance and faith. It's His goodness.
His goodness leads us to repentance and faith. Why have I found grace
in thy eyes? Why me? Ruth knew she was a stranger,
a Gentile, without any covenant rights, without any covenant
merit, without any plea from the covenant of the law. Paul
said this to those Galatians that at that time you were without
Christ, being alien from the commonwealth of Israel, stranger
from the covenant of the promise, having no hope and without God
in this world. But now, you who were sometimes
afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. He is our peace."
We were strangers afar off, and he sought us out. Oh, to grace
how great a debtor daily I am constrained to be. Let thy goodness
like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. Those who have
received grace in their heart are always astonished and amazed
at his sovereign grace. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He will be gracious to whom he
will be gracious. We do not merit His favor. We don't merit His love. We don't
merit His mercy. He freely gives that unto us. Why does He do that? For Christ's
sake. Those people who have been given
to the Lord Jesus Christ in that covenant, that eternal covenant
of grace, that's ordered in all things and is sure, this is all
my hope and all my salvation before God. Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. You think about that. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, ungodly, vile, wretched sinners,
that we should be called sons of God. We find grace in His
eyes, don't we? Because the Lord is gracious.
The Lord is gracious unto us.