Back again tonight to the Book
of Ruth. We've come this evening to chapter
two in this small book of four chapters. Last time I said that
we had come to a turning point in the history, and it all began
with a message. We have these three widows in
the land of Moab, Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah, and the turning point
for them and their lives began with a message. It was a message
that we read in chapter one in verse six, the Lord had visited
his people in giving them bread. The Lord had visited his people. makes me think of the prophecy
of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, the day that he
was named, when we read here in Luke chapter 1, and his mouth
was opened immediately and his tongue loose, and he spake and
praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt
round about them, and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout
all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them
laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child
shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was
with him, and his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost
and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for
he hath visited and redeemed his people. He hath visited and redeemed
his people. That's the message that Ruth
and Naomi heard, that the Lord had visited his people in giving
them bread. And we looked last time at two
subjects. The first was the gospel, how
the gospel is pictured by the bread of life, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and also God's effectual call in the fact that Orpah turned
back and Ruth counted the cost. And by the grace of God, she
came along with Naomi. Now tonight in looking in chapter
two, I want us to consider some things that we read here of two
people. Things that we read about two
people, Boaz and Ruth. And we will begin with Boaz. The first thing that we read,
and we'll look at these in the order in which they are given
to us. Ruth chapter 2, verse 1. And Naomi had a kinsman. Boaz, he was a kinsman. Now to those who are unfamiliar
with the law of God, this wouldn't mean much. Wouldn't mean much
to a lot of people to hear that there was a kinsman. But we see,
if you look down to verses 19 and 20, that Naomi was very familiar
with the law. And her mother-in-law said unto
her, where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that 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 wrought today is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law,
blessed. Why would she start blessing
the Lord when she was told that her daughter-in-law had gleaned
in the field of this man by the name of Boaz. Blessed be he of
the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and
to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, the
man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. She was familiar with the law
that God had given concerning the kinsmen. Let's keep our places
here, but let's turn back to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter
25. And let's read this law. Deuteronomy,
chapter 25. See what it was that so excited
Naomi that she began to bless the Lord, because he was a kinsman. Boaz, he was a kinsman. We're
here in Deuteronomy, chapter 25, beginning in verse 5. We read, if brethren dwell together
and one of them die, now that's what had happened. Her husband,
Elimelech, had died and Ruth's husband had died. One of them
die and have no child. They were childless, two widows. The wife of the dead shall not
marry without unto a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go
in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the
duty of a husband brother unto her. Now notice this, and it
shall be. Now I told you last week that
Elimelech's name would die out in Israel, and that's something
Israelites feared. Their name would die out. Well,
God provided in the law. this way where a man's name would
not die out. If he died childless, then his
brother should go in unto his wife and perform the duty of
the brother-in-law, the next of kin, and the firstborn child,
the first son. Whose son would this be? It would
be the son of the man who had passed away. In this case, it
would be a limeleck son. It shall be that the firstborn
which she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother, which
is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. And if the
man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's
wife go up to the gate unto the elders and say, My husband's
brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel.
He will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. Then
the elders of his city shall call him and speak unto him,
and if he stand to it and say, I like not to take her, then
shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the
elders and loose his shoe. We're going to see that again,
God willing, as we go through the book of Ruth. This matter
of a man's shoe being loosed, and that was not all she was
to do. She was to spit in his face,
and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man
that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be
called in Israel the house of him that hath his shoe loosed. How would you like to have a
name like that? His name is the man whose shoe is loosed. No, there was a law God had provided
for this very case. And as I said, Naomi was familiar
with the law. And so when she heard where Ruth
had gleaned in the field of a kinsman, she was very excited and blessed
God thanking him from whom all blessings flow. All right, notice
the second thing we read. Naomi had a kinsman, that's first
of all, kinsman of her brothers, a mighty man of wealth. This is the second thing we read
about him. He was a mighty man of wealth. Now, when we think of wealth,
we think of riches, silver and gold, and rightly so. And this
man, no doubt, was a very wealthy man, as we will see as we go
through the book. He was a wealthy man, but this
word and this term cannot be limited to worldly riches. The Jewish Talmud, and that was
a paraphrase of the Hebrew scriptures translated into Aramaic, but
this is the way they translate this here, that he was mighty
in the law. in the scriptures, in the word
of God, a truly religious man which completes his character.
So the second thing we read about this man is he was a mighty man
of wealth. And that means more than just
physical material wealth. He was an upright, upstanding
person. He knew the law of God, he knew
the word of God. He was a godly man in character. And number three, his name was
Boaz. Notice that. He was a mighty
man of wealth of the family of Alemelech and his name was Boaz. According to Philip Morrow, This
name Boaz means in him is strength. In him is strength. And it's
interesting as you look in the Word of God, the Old Testament,
if you look up that name Boaz, you will find it once again when
Solomon built the temple. Now the temple we know that Solomon
built was a beautiful, beautiful building. It had two pillars. Two pillars. Well, a pillar was
to support, right? To support an upper level of
some kind. And one of those pillars was
named Boaz. Solomon named them both. And
one was named Jacob, and the other was named Boaz, which means
strength. And that just is borne out in
thinking of it being a pillar. because it would be bearing the
weight of something that was above him. So his name is Boaz,
and it means in him is strength. All right, now notice the fourth
thing that we read about him. And Ruth the Moabitess said unto
Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after
him, in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her,
go, my daughter. And she went and came and gleaned
in the field after the reapers. And her hap was delight on a
part of the field. Belonging unto Boaz, who was
of the kinsmen of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. That's the fourth thing that
we read about him. He came from Bethlehem. You know
what Bethlehem means, don't you? Beth is a word for house. Bethel, the house of God. Beth-Barbara,
the house by the river, the Jordan. And here it is, Bethlehem, the
house of bread, the house of bread. That's where it came from,
the house of bread. All right, number five, I want
us to see his first recorded words, the first words that we
read that Boaz spoke. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem
and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. His first words
are words of the Lord. Speaking of the Lord, the Lord
be with you. And then the sixth thing that
we read here about him is his interest and concern for others. Notice that in verse five. Then
said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose
damsel is this? We see he has concern for this young woman. Now he
was a mighty man of wealth. We've already seen that. But
notice he took notice of this poor person. She was a poor person. She's out there gleaning in the
field. That was for the poor. She was gleaning in the field.
But this man, who was a mighty man, he took notice of this woman. Whose damsel is this? He recognized that she was poor
before she was out there gleaning. I mentioned recently in a message
that I brought from 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, that God had a poverty
program. God had a poverty program. It
was a program in the law which provided for the poor. And remember our Lord said this,
the poor you have with you always. God provided for the poor. But it was a program that did
not promote laziness and indolence. The person was poor and God provided
for them, but they had to go out into the field and glean. They followed the reapers. Look
at this in the law of God. First of all, in Leviticus chapter
19. Leviticus chapter 19 and verses
9 and 10. God said, and when you reap the
harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of
the field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. Gleanings is to go back over.
You go through the field once, harvesting, and then you come
back a second time and make sure you got everything. No. The gleaning, that was for those
who were poor. They would come secondly. Neither
shalt thou gather, and thou shalt not glean thy vineyard. When
you go through and pick the grapes off the vine, you don't take
them all. You leave some, and you don't
come back a second time. You don't strip the vines. Thou
shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every
grape of thy vineyard. Thou shalt leave them for the
poor and the stranger." The stranger, that's what Ruth was, a stranger. She was a stranger, a Moabitess. Leave that for the stranger,
the poor. And notice the reason, I am the
Lord your God. I'll take care of you. I'll take care of you. The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. You don't have to take all the
wheat and all the grapes. You go through the field one
time, and leave the rest. Leave what is left, I should
say, for the poor. Look with another place where
this law is given in Deuteronomy chapter 24, the second giving
of the law. In chapter 24 and verse 19. Don't you love to think about how gracious and
kind God is? and he considers the poor. Doesn't
that thrill you? That just causes my heart to
rejoice that we serve such a God. Deuteronomy, chapter 24, verse
19. When thou cuttest down that harvest
in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, what are
you gonna do? You forgot a sheaf? I think that
means where they'd stack that sheaf up, right? And then come
back. No. When thou cuttest down thine
harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field,
thou shalt not go again to fetch it. It shall be for the stranger,
for the fatherless, and for the widow. that the Lord thy God
may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. So that's the
sixth thing that we see recorded about Boaz, his interest and
concern for others. Who's this damsel? All right,
here's the seventh thing. His kind words to this stranger. Notice that back in our text
tonight. Ruth chapter two and verse eight.
His kind words to this stranger. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, harvest
thou not my daughter. Now, daughter, that's a family
term. A daughter. You see, you see
what I'm saying? His kind words to this stranger. And by calling her my daughter,
in some way he identified with her, or identified her with him,
my daughter. And then the eighth thing that
we see that we're told about him is he provided for her. Notice again in verse eight,
go not. to glean in another field, neither
go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be on the field
that they do reap, and go thou after them. Notice, have not
I charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And
when thou art a thirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that
which the young men have drawn. Skip down to verse 14. And Boaz
said unto her, at mealtime, come thou hither, and eat of the bread,
and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers,
and he, he shoved the parched corn down to her. And he reached her porch corn,
and she did eat, and was sufficed and left. And when she was risen
up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, now listen
here, let her glean, even among the
sheaves, and reproach her not, and let some You just let some
fall, also handfuls of purpose for her and leave them. He provided
for her. Now, think with me for just a
few minutes, these eight things that I've mentioned that we've
read about Boaz, and let's think of them in relation to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He became our kinsman that He
might redeem us. Look with me in Ephesians chapter
5. He became our kinsman. The first
thing we read about Boaz in this chapter is he was a kinsman. And the Lord Jesus Christ became
our kinsman that He might redeem us. In Ephesians chapter 5, The
Apostle is speaking here concerning the relationship between husband
and wife, beginning in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they
too shall be one flesh. Now notice, this is a great mystery. And it's a great mystery that
we would never have known if God had not been pleased to reveal
this truth to us. I speak concerning Christ and
the church. This union, Christ becoming bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh, this is a great mystery. He who is God Almighty was made
flesh that he might be our redeemer, our kinsman, redeemer. And this union speaks of a oneness
we have with him, a union. You, tonight, child of God, are
in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a mystical union. It's a vital union, just like
the vine, or the branch, rather, is in the vine. And if the branch
is not in the vine, it will not bring forth fruit. It's a vital
union. If the branch is to bring forth
fruit, it must be in the vine. We must be in union with Christ
if we are going to bring forth fruit of the Holy Spirit. The union,
mystical, yes. It's a mystery. It's a mystery. We've all been baptized by one
spirit into one body. That one body is the church,
the body of Christ. He's the head. And we're all
members of that body. There's a union. Just like when
a man and woman marry, they become one. So we are one with Christ. The second thing we read about
Boaz, he was a mighty man of wealth. All the gold, when we
think about this in relation to the Savior, in relation to
the Lord Jesus Christ, All the gold and all the silver is his,
and the cattle upon a thousand hills. But we know that he laid
aside that glory, that richness, for our sakes he became poor,
that we through his poverty might be made rich. But he is truly
a mighty man of wealth. I want to tell you how wealthy
he is. He's rich in mercy. That's what
we need. Mercy. He's a mighty man of wealth. He's rich in mercy. He's rich
in righteousness. That's what we need. That we might appear before God
and not be consumed. He's a mighty man of wealth.
And forgiveness. And forgiveness. Know that passage
in Isaiah 1 where God said, Come unto me, or let us reason together. Though your sands be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Reason not with Satan. Reason not with your flesh. Satan will tell you, your flesh
will tell you, you're too wicked, you're too sinful, there's no
hope for you. No, hear God. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. The blood of Jesus Christ, he's
rich, he's rich. A mighty man of wealth, wealthy
enough to take a sinner like you and me, and wash us so that
we're white as snow, white as snow. All right, number four,
we said that the scripture says he came from Bethlehem. Now,
when I think of Bethlehem, because it means a house of bread, my
mind always goes back to one particular place in the scripture. A man who lived in a place that
was just the opposite, right? There's a man by the name of
Mephibosheth, and he lived in Lodibor. No pasture,
no pasture. But David said, fetch him. and
he was fetched and brought and his place was at the table of
King David. All his needs supplied. That's where all of God's sheep
were found. We're in a house, we're in a
place called Lodibar, a place of no pasture. We're like the
prodigal son trying to fill our bellies with the husks of this
world that are for the swine. We're living, all of us by nature,
in a house of no bread. The Lord Jesus Christ, he comes
to us where we are. He fetches us. The fifth thing,
that we read his first recorded words. Well, the first recorded
words of the Lord Jesus Christ are, I must be about my father's
business. And what was that business? Well,
we know what it was and you can read that in Daniel chapter nine
and verse 24. The sixth thing, Boaz had a concern. He had an interest for others.
Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is here because of his concern and
interest for others. That's the reason he came. He
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give his
life a ransom for many. And then the seventh thing is
he had kind words for a stranger. A stranger would be a Gentile. strangers from the covenants
of promise. And I think of that one woman,
a woman of Canaan that is recorded in Matthew chapter 15, who came
to him, beseeching for her daughter who was grievously vexed with
the devil. And at first he would not answer
her word because he was sent to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel, but she continued to cry after him Until the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke kind words to her, O woman, great is thy
faith, be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. The eighth thing
Boaz provided for Ruth, and the Lord Jesus Christ has provided
for all his elect, he has provided an atonement that really atones,
a righteousness that really justifies, a holiness that brings all his
people into the presence of God. All right, let me say three things
about Ruth. Those are eight things I said
about Boaz. We've read them from the scriptures
and then tried to make application how they would relate to our
Savior, our kinsman, Redeemer. But notice these three things
hurriedly about Ruth. Three things were told. She was
an exception to the rule. Let me show you that. She was
an exception to the rule. You remember, we've seen this,
that there was no king in Israel and every man did that which
was right in his own eyes. Did Ruth? Did Ruth? Look at verse two. Ruth the Moabite
said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and
glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said, she asked permission.
She asked permission of her mother-in-law to allow her to go to find grace. She didn't just say, well, I
think this is what I want to do. This is what I think is right. No, she submitted asking permission
of Naomi. And we saw last week that she
had counted the cost, and she came with Naomi. The second thing,
she was an object of divine providence, verse three. And I know we all
have seen this so many times and rejoiced in seeing it. She
went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers,
and notice her hap happened, if you look in the margin. Her
hap happened. Her hap was to light on a part
of the field belonging to Boaz. Now let's remember that she didn't
turn into a fence farm and over the gate there was some emblem,
some sign, this is Boaz's farm. No, no, it wasn't like that at
all. She goes into a field that is open, and many people had
their crops planted there. It was an open field. But her
help was to turn into the field of Boaz. We see an invisible hand directing
her steps all the way. And you and I, we miss much joy
if we fail to meditate on God's providence in bringing us to
hear the gospel. God's good providence, just like
Ruth. You were just as directed. Your
hap was to come under the sound of the gospel, just like that
invisible hand was directing Ruth into the field of Boaz.
And the third thing we see about her, she was in a safe place. You say, why? Why was she in
a safe place? Was she in a safe place because
Boaz had commanded the young men, don't touch her. Don't you touch her. Was that
the reason she was in a safe place? Well, no doubt that did
give her some safety. But no, what I'm talking about,
is what Boaz told her in verse 12. The Lord recompense thy work,
and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings thou hast come to trust. She's in a safe place,
under the wings. The hymn writer said, under the
wings I am safely abiding. Though the night deepens and
tempest are wild, Still, I can trust Him. I know He will keep
me. He has redeemed me, and I am
His child. Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever? Under His wings, my soul shall
abide, safely abide forever. I pray that the Lord would bless
these thoughts to all of us here tonight. What a wonderful Savior. Amen.