Class: Surrounded by Acceptance, Ruth 2

Don Ruhl

9 years ago

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Surrounded by Acceptance

Ruth 2

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • September 7, In the year of our Lord, 2014

Persuasion:

Ruth 2.1 – A Man of Great Wealth
1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.
1. Are men of great necessarily
  1. more evil than the rest of men, or
  2. more righteous than the rest of men?
2. Can one possess great wealth and great faith simultaneously?
Ruth 2.2–3 – Seeking Favor
2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
1. Ruth was a grown woman, yet,
  1. she submitted totally to Naomi,
  2. who technically was no longer Ruth’s mother-in-law.
2. Ruth did not just tell Naomi what she was going to do, but
  1. sought permission,
  2. after all Naomi also knew the local customs and people.
3. Ruth wanted to work,
  1. to do her part.
  2. She did not sit idly and
    1. wait for the government to take care of her, but
    2. she did what she could,
      1. even if it was manual labor.
      2. Is anyone harmed by doing what they can?
4. The Law of Moses explained to the Israelites
  1. that they had to let the poor, widows, orphans, glean the fields,
  2. rather than just handing things to them.
Ruth 2.4 – A Man from Bethlehem
4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!”
1. We have observed the connection with Bethlehem before,
  1. now we do again.
  2. That little town’s influence on the world we cannot measure.
2. Is it not interesting that during the days of the Judges
  1. when Israel so often rebelled against the Lord,
  2. that He still worked to save man?
3. Boaz like Naomi, put the context of everything in the Lord.
4. What do you think of Boaz as an employer?
  1. What do you think his employees thought of him?
  2. What did he think of his employees?
Ruth 2.5–7 – A Man of Great Wealth Noticed a Woman of Great Humility
5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, “Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.”
1. Boaz noticed a new worker that day.
2. Was Ruth a worker, or did she expect others to do things for her?
  1. She worked.
  2. The Bible tells us to work,
    
    11 …that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing (1Th 4.11–12).
Ruth 2.8–13 – The Favor of Boaz
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” 10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” 13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
1. How did Boaz seek to favor Ruth?
  1. He gave her assurance that she would have a job.
  2. He gave her instructions on what to do.
  3. He commanded his young men not to touch her, giving her security.
  4. He provided for her.
2. How did she show her gratefulness?
  1. She bowed down.
  2. She acknowledged that she was a foreigner.
  3. She acknowledged his favor.
3. According to Boaz, why did he show her favor?
  1. He had heard of Ruth’s good works toward her mother-in-law.
  2. He had heard of how Ruth left her family and nation.
  3. He had heard of how Ruth went to a people whom she had not known.
  4. He wished upon her the Lord’s blessing.
4. She again showed humility, acknowledging
  1. that she had found favor in his sight,
  2. that he had comforted her,
  3. that he had spoken kindly to her,
    1. calling herself his maidservant,
    2. although she quickly denied being like his other maidservants.
Ruth 2.14–18 – The Generosity of Boaz
14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.” 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.
1. Boaz had provided water for her, then he provided food.
2. He wants to bless her, but
  1. he does not just hand it to her,
  2. rather he expected her to do something, but
    1. made it easy for her, and
    2. forbid others from stopping her.
Ruth 2.19–22 – Ruth Speaks of Her Day
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” 21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.”
1. When you go home, do you not like to talk about your day?
  1. You like to talk about it, and
  2. your family may ask how things went.
    1. So it was with Ruth and Naomi.
    2. Naomi wanted to know and Ruth wanted to tell.
2. Did Naomi know Boaz?
  1. Naomi could see that something good was happening.
Ruth 2.23 – Ruth’s Obedience
23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.
1. Ruth obeyed both Boaz and Naomi.
2. What do you think of her spirit?

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