Episode 3 of Rescue & Rest

--- Welcome to episode four in our Bible study on the book of Ruth called Rescue and Rest. We took three weeks to go through chapter one, that's a long time, but you know it made sense because it was about 10 plus years of Naomi's life and now we're going to take one week to go through chapter two because, and it makes sense because it's one day, pretty much one day in the life of Ruth and Naomi. I want to begin with a passage from Isaiah. It is Isaiah 30 verse 15, we'll put it on the screen for you. It says,

And I wanted to begin with that, it's a beautiful verse. Naomi and Ruth's return to Bethlehem set in motion God's rescue plan in their lives, which would produce their rest. We naturally think there's something in us human beings that we naturally think in order to connect with God, find favor with God, that we have to do something, we have to labor, we have to work, we have to do better, we have to clean up. This is what comes naturally to us and so I like this reminder that it is in returning and rest the great theme of the book of Ruth is found as she yields to the work of Boaz in her life and the great theme of the Bible is found as we yield to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross in our lives as well.

Well Naomi and Ruth didn't realize in the moment that this rest was coming for them. So their next task in life now that they were back in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest was to find food, which meant that they were going to go out and work. They were going to labor in the fields, they were going to glean so that they could have food. Fortunately they entered back into a culture that had a mandate for those sorts of things. So I'll remind us of Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 19 that the Lord through Moses told them this is what you guys should be like in your culture. When you harvest, when you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field just don't go back and get it. Don't be so detailed in how you harvest your crops. Leave that for the sojourner, the fatherless, the widow that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. So the Lord was telling Israel be just a little sloppy when you harvest and it'll leave something for those less fortunate. So that is the culture that they entered into. So now let's begin Ruth chapter 2 verse 1. Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech whose name was Boaz. And Boaz actually belongs in this place. And Ruth the Moabite, which reminds us she does not belong in this place, she is separated, she is alienated, Ruth said to Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor. And she said to her, go my daughter. So she set out 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 clan of Elimelech. We're reminded there again that Boaz belongs and Boaz is a relative of Elimelech. Verse 4. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and he said to the reapers, the Lord be with you. And they answered, the Lord bless you. And then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, now whose young woman is this? I don't know if that was his inflection. That's just the way I read the story. And the servant in charge of the reapers answered, she's the young Moabite woman. Don't get any ideas. I hear the disciples say, Jesus, do you know what kind of woman this is? That's what I hear in his voice. Who came back from Naomi from the country of Moab, I'll say it again. She said, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. So she came and she's continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest. All right. We're going to pause and remind ourselves that when we study the Bible, it's super helpful for us to ask, what does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean to me? Some people go through the book of Ruth and they fixate on Ruth's character. She does have commendable character, that's for sure. But they say, oh, look at Ruth. She is so good to her mother-in-law and she is so patient and she is diligent and she is loyal. So the point of this story is that we should be like Ruth. But that is not the point of the story. The point of the story is not the character of Ruth. The point of the story is the character of Boaz. He is the one that we are to look at in this book of the Bible. I've often said this should be called the book of Boaz. We're at the time of the judges here. And he is not a judge of Israel. He does not rescue Israel, but he does provide in this story a better rescue and a more permanent rescue and a permanent rest. So the point of the story is that we should be looking for the character of God as seen in Boaz, who is a type of the person of Christ and is our more perfect rescuer. So what we're going to do is we're going to look at four aspects of God's work in Ruth's life and God's work in our lives. What does it mean to me as we go through chapter two? And here are the four things that we'll look at. God's hand guides, God's people protect us, God's grace draws us, and God's presence shelters us. And here we start with the first one, which is God's hand guides us. I want to back up to verse three to make this point. I first learned verse three out of the NIV, where it says, as it turned out, she found herself in the field belonging to Boaz. As it turned out, this points us to a divine appointment on the part of God in Ruth's life. Ruth went out to glean. She just needed food. She had nothing to guide her own steps. She didn't know where she was going. She just headed out into the barley field, but God was guiding her steps. And as it turned out, she entered into the field belonging to Boaz. The exact place that the Lord wanted her to be to begin this rescue in her life. In our lives, God is often working behind the scenes and guiding us to the exact place he wants us to be to do a work of rescue and or a work of rest in our lives as well. Sometimes we perceive the work that he's doing. Sometimes we don't see it until much later as we are looking back. You may be in one of these as it turned out moments right now in your life, and maybe you perceive it and maybe you don't. But I bet many of you can look back and look at an as it turned out moment in your life and say, oh, God put me right where I needed to be or with whom I needed to be. Now if you have finished your study guide for this week and gotten to the end, you know now that for the remainder of this Bible study, you will be working on your own personal story of redemption. This is a valuable nugget that you have your journey with the Lord. It is your way to share the hope that you have, the hope that you have in Christ. And it is valuable enough for you to think it through, write it down, edit it, practice it and be ready to give people an answer. So I just want to share a small part of my own journey because it contains an as it turned out moment. I got saved at the age of seven or eight years old because my family went to a concert. In fact, music is a theme for how God has worked in my life throughout my life. So my family went to a like Southern gospel men's quartet thing when I was a young girl and they were singing a song and the lyrics of the song went like this. They got to the chorus, sorry, I never knew you. Well in the story of the song, this man dies. It's a dream, but he doesn't know it at the moment. He dies. He goes to the gates of heaven. He wants entrance and they look him up and they're like, sorry, I never knew you. And of course, in the song, it all resolves. But in that moment, the Lord was just speaking to my little heart. And I thought that is never going to happen to me. I am never going to get to heaven and God doesn't know me and I don't know God. And I think that day, really, the Lord did a tremendous work in my life I went home and I talked to my sister who got my mom and I don't remember that part of it but I certainly remember the song and I remember how I felt about that and the terror that I felt at perhaps God not knowing me. Well fast-forward 10 years in my life and it was my wedding of course I was still only 17 years old and back in those days few people designed their own wedding invitations and program and all of that but I did and what I chose for the theme in my wedding program were the words wither thou goest I will go wither thou lodgest I will lodge thy people shall be my people and thy God my God of course it was Ruth's song out of the King James Version but that was my theme at my wedding I had no idea I had no concept and so we got married and five years you know we were just in a place just like Naomi was in chapter one we had created distance from the Lord we just had other things to do and so we were quite distant from the Lord the one thing about that that wedding invitation was I was true to my word thy people became my people because my husband was a rock-and-roll disc jockey and that became my world along with him and we were into the music and the concerts and you know we went to dinner with people that you would recognize from 70s rock and roll we ended up in Great Falls Montana and because we had distanced ourselves from the Lord then we created there was a distance created with each other and our lives had drifted apart and we were talking about not doing this anymore we were talking about divorce but at the same time the double-mindedness of me was flipping through a newspaper and saying well I think you should go get a lawyer but hey look here's this concert that is happening should we go to this concert yeah let's go to this concert so October 1980 CM Russell High School Auditorium in Great Falls Montana we go to the second chapter of acts concert and as it turned out the seats that were open for us in I think about the back row of the main seating auditorium there was a girl right next to me that was the sturdiest most knowledgeable and bossiest Christian girl that could have possibly been in that auditorium and so at the end of the concert Annie Herring was doing a sort of a response we're all holding hands across the aisles and she said if you need to make something right in your life with the Lord then you need to squeeze the hand of the person next to you and I wasn't gonna squeeze the hand of my husband that's for sure and so I squeezed the hand of this girl and we got done the lights came up and she sat me down she said let's talk and she wanted to know what what was going on in my life and of course I didn't even know I wasn't able to articulate it but I said yeah I've just you know I need to make some things right with the Lord well she didn't investigate she didn't try to fix me in the moment which was wise of her but you know what she did she got out a napkin piece of paper something and she sat and she wrote out the name names of three churches with addresses or cross streets at least and she said to me she said well you need to go to one of these churches on Sunday and you need to go back the next Sunday and the next Sunday you need to be in church because you need to hear the Word of God in our text in Ruth God guided Ruth right to the field of Boaz one of his people in my life God guided me right to the concert seat next to one of his people and they both gave similar advice at the time look at verse 8 Boaz said to Ruth now listen my daughter do not go glean in another field or leave this one but keep close to my young women let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them have I not charged the young men not to touch you and when you are thirsty go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn and this brings us to the second point that I want to bring out is that God's people protect us Boaz told her stay in this field this is where it's safe don't go out into other fields be careful they look similar but they are not this is where you'll find food and that's exactly what the bossy girl told me she goes go to one of these churches there's others that look like churches but they're not safe well she didn't say those words but it was her advice and she knew where our spiritual thirst would be quenched in this story I see the workers in the field as examples of us in our day Christians we're in God's kingdom we are in God's church so we are like those workers and Ruth represents to me someone who is being drawn into the kingdom or maybe drawn back into the kingdom so as we're like as we think of ourselves here like those workers when Boaz tells Ruth let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping they are we okay we are those reapers and he he told her he goes be careful don't go into the other fields my observation in life is that when people are being drawn by the Holy Spirit and they come they enter into our field or they are returning somehow they are very vulnerable and they are vulnerable to cults they are vulnerable to mistruths and I'll tell you what I see it over and over again somebody is getting saved or just got saved and it's just a minute and there's a cult at their door it's like they can just smell it and so you know remember that parable about the seeds there's a part where the birds of the air come and grab some of the seed that's what I see in in false teachings and in cults they want to come and snatch that seed so it is our privilege to be discerning and to see what's going on in somebody's life and just like channel the bossy girl just say listen you need to be back to church and you need to you know you stay there you come into this field and you stay there and look at Ruth's response verse 10 she fell on her face bowing to the ground and she said to him why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner so I love her humility and really pointing out the obvious thing she goes listen I'm Ruth the Moabite and you are a worthy Israelite how is it that you can take notice of me I have Moab in my blood don't you understand this creates a disconnect from us but Boaz did notice Ruth and he was the first one to connect with her and maybe we have felt the same thing in our lives in terms of the Lord maybe we have said God I don't know why why did you pick me like I feel dirty and you are worthy you are in heaven you are holy there's a distance between us there's something wrong between us but you know what God does the same thing as Boaz he makes the first move to connect with us he makes the first move and you know Romans 5 8 says but God demonstrates his own love toward us that what while we were yet sinners he died for us well there's still that distance okay there was it there was a problem between a Moabite and between an Israelite there's a problem between a sinner and between God but God makes the first move and he comes and demonstrates his love look at verse 11 Boaz answered her all that you've done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me and how you left your father and your mother and your native land and came to a people you did not know before the Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward be given you by the Lord the God of Israel look under whose wings you have come to take refuge such a beautiful phrase we're gonna put it on the shelf we'll circle back around to that at the end okay verse 13 and then she said or I should say I would like it if it said then she realized I have found favor in your eyes my Lord for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant though I am NOT one of your servants so that's what's transpired between them in the morning and their relationship is moving along really quickly because by lunchtime look what happens verse 14 they have their first date at mealtime Boaz says come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine so she sat beside the reapers and he passed to her the roasted grain and she ate until she was satisfied and she had some left over and when he rose to glean Boaz instructed his young men saying let her glean even among the sheaves do not reproach her also just pull out some of the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean do not rebuke her. This brings us to the third point I have of God's character toward us. God's grace draws us. Do we see the parallels here? Boaz is a type of Jesus Christ and Ruth found in her space and among, or in his space and among his people, he responds with grace and it's his grace that draws her even nearer. It says, Boaz comforted her and spoke kindly to her. In our lives, God shows his intentions toward us by taking note of us personally in some way. How many times do we say God chooses us first and then we need to choose him back? We need both sides of that equation, if you will, but he chooses us first. And then we choose him back. Once Ruth left, Boaz turned back to his own people, his workers, and he instructed them, let her glean even among the sheaves. Give her freedom. Give her grace. Remember we're like the workers, okay, so we find in this some instructions for us. He goes, do not reproach her. Don't be harsh with her. She doesn't know the rules. Don't expect that she knows the rules. And then he says, even, would you spoil her? Would you pull out some of the bundles? You're picking up the bundles, just kind of go, I'll just throw some for Ruth to find. Just go ahead and spoil her. That's his instructions. I see some instructions for us in here. I see a little bit of a handbook for us with new believers or someone who is being drawn by the Lord. Don't rebuke them. Don't expect too much. God will take care of it. They will figure it out. And so we need to, our job is to make the food easy for them to find. The church should make the food easy for them to find. Make the word of God easy for them to find. Not complicated, not too difficult for them to understand, but easy to understand. Well Ruth gleaned all day and then she took the grain back to Naomi who took one look at her in verse 19 and said, well, where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you. And so she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. And she said, the man's name with whom I work today is Boaz. And Naomi was floored. And she said to her daughter-in-law, well, may he be blessed by the Lord whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. So look at the change in perspective in Naomi's attitude. Do you remember where we left her? Yes. Last week at the end of the first chapter, she was bitter. Everything bad in her life was God's fault. And now it just took a little bit of encouragement. And she goes, well, blessed be Jehovah who has showered his kindness on us. I just love that. And Naomi also said to her, that man is a close relative of ours. He's one of our redeemers. And Ruth the Moabite said, well, beside, he also said to me, you shall keep close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, it is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted. And this is classic. I love these sentences because I do think that they turned into an inside joke with Naomi and Ruth for the rest of their lives. Somehow, as a new, I don't want to call her a new believer, but as someone who is just figuring this out, she heard Boaz say, stay close to my young men. Okay. That's not what he said. He said in verse eight, keep close to my young women. Have I not charged my young men not to touch you? You know, and it's a reminder to us that those who are being drawn from the Lord, those who are maybe coming out of the idolatry of Moab, they have selective hearing. Sometimes they don't hear things completely accurately. And so that's one reason why they are very vulnerable to false teaching and vulnerable to cults is because of this. So for us, as workers in the field, this is the place where we need to modify what we previously said about, do not reproach her. There comes a time for reproach, but let's call it speaking the truth in love. Okay. There comes a time to speak the truth in love. We must correct what young believers hear that's false. We must speak the truth. And I love how Naomi does this so delicately, so perfectly. She responds to Ruth's false estimation of what Boaz said. And she says, oh, it will be good, my daughter, if you go with his young women, lest you be assaulted in another field. So delicate, so generous, but so true. And so if you are an older worker in the field and you have opportunities to speak into a younger woman's life, a new believer's life, you know, all the first three, the first three episodes of this story, we said, don't be like Naomi. And now I'm saying, be like Naomi. Okay. Be delicate, speak the truth. Okay. And if you are a young or a new believer, you need a Naomi in your life and you need to listen to the Naomi in your life because she can help you with the things that you have heard. So the last verse tells us, she kept close to the young women, look it, she obeyed, of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law. And that's where we are going to leave them until next week. But I said I wanted to circle back to verse 12. And this is our fourth point for today is God's presence shelters us. I wanted to circle back to that phrase where Boaz said to her, a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. Boaz could see the determination on Ruth. Remember that determination that we talked about? I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. She was determined to take shelter, to become a part of the people and the culture and the God of Israel. And Boaz could see that determination and he said, may God actually bless you because of your determination. You have come to seek shelter under the God of Israel. Now I love that word in there, refuge, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. Let's talk about that word. The re part of it means back or again. And the other part in the Latin means safety, back to safety. Ruth was coming back to safety. That was her refuge. She was a refugee. She had come back to Bethlehem as a refugee. A refugee is someone who flees to a place of safety, a place of shelter. So we look at this verse and we say, well, what does it say? It says that Boaz commended her for choosing the God of Israel for her place of shelter. What does it mean? That there is no better place for anyone to find shelter in their life than the God of Israel. What does it mean to me? There's no better place for me to find shelter when I need shelter than the God of Israel. For some reason, when I was a little girl, my sister and I played storm a lot. And playing storm meant that we would get blankets and large cardboard boxes and we would run around in the yard and we would say, oh, look, a storm is coming. We better get to shelter. And so we would run around to the far side of the swing set and we would have our little blankets over us and we would get down into this box and we would, you know, do all the things like, oh, this is a big storm. You know, I guess only kids in Minnesota play blizzard. In the summer you play blizzard. But anyway, we, this is what children do before they have cell phones to do their, you know, and we played storm all the time. You know, and if I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would say, honey, there's going to be lots and lots of storms in your life. You should play tea party because this is a good time. This would be a good time for you to play tea party. The storms will come. Trust me. When you will have to, you will say, the storm is coming. We need to find a shelter. But the truth of it is that as Christians, this is where we want to seek our shelter. This is where we want refuge under the wings of Jehovah. So I want to to just end with a psalm, Psalm 57.1. I'll put it on the screen for you that shows us practical advice on what our determination should be when we see the storm coming or when we are in the storm from the NIV.

So this is how we answer the question, what does it mean to me? Ongoing, throughout our life, we can take that passage, that blessing that Boaz said to Ruth, and we can say, yes, this is my determination. I also am taking shelter under the wings of the Almighty, and this is where I will have a sense of peace and a sense of safety. Lord, thank you for what we see in this chapter, how we see your character through the person of Boaz, just so beautifully displayed, and we see your intentions in your work to us, Lord God. And just even that last phrase that we went over about seeking shelter under your wings. Lord, sometimes we just need a really good visual image of what that looks like so that we can say, I will take shelter, I will do that, I won't let the storm just sweep me off my feet, I will go and get my blanket and my box, and I will settle in under the shelter of your wings until the storm passes. Lord, help us have that determination, and thank you, Lord God, that you give us that shelter. Thank you so much. Pray for my sisters as they discuss this passage now, and I ask that you would be with us, in Jesus' name, amen. ---