Finding Favor

Well, thank you once again, Mr. Stewart, and thank you to Jason and Sierra for helping in so many ways with this webcast. I'm truly grateful. We do have an opportunity now to delve back into the book, the wonderful book of Ruth. The title of today's study is Finding Favor.

I invite you to open your Bibles together. Let's turn to the book of Ruth, Ruth 2. We're going to begin there in verse 1. As you turn there, let me just remind you that what we saw in chapter 1 with the incredible suffering and the incredible bereavement experienced by Naomi, that that faithful enduring of this incredibly strong woman would actually, in fact, lead to the very unfolding purpose of God for all of mankind. Because her faithful enduring did, in fact, lead to the conversion of this girl called Ruth, which actually then led to the subsequent marriage of Ruth and then her motherhood.

At the conclusion of it all, Naomi's faithful enduring sets into motion the birth and coming of King David and ultimately the birth of Jesus Christ himself. If you'd like to read that lineage, you can find it in Matthew chapter 1. But it's quite a story, then, for us to take in here in the book of Ruth and all of its richness. Last study, we ended with these final words of chapter 1, chapter 1 verse 22, where Naomi and Ruth now returned back to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. And we were left with the question, you know, what is going to happen next with the beginning of this harvest?

Now, before we get into chapter 2, let me just give you a brief review of what's transpired up to this point in the story. Let me first remind you of Naomi's faith, even in the face of severe trial. You know, anyone can espouse faith, can espouse trusting in the sovereignty of an almighty God when the sun's shining, if you will.

It's quite a different thing when we see at this point Naomi has essentially endured a famine and three funerals, that of her husband and of her two sons. And so her faith has been stretched. It has been tested. It has been tried. It has been pushed to the limits of endurance. Yet, Naomi stays faithful to God. And we noticed this reoccurring phrase, which kept coming back and back in chapter 1, where Naomi acknowledged and communicated, The Lord has done this, she says.

The Lord's hand has been on me. It's been heavy on me. The Lord is involved in all of this. He is sovereign over all, even over the tragic events in my life. So, despite it all, Naomi still believes. She is looking to God and is, in fact, drawn back to her homeland, back to Bethlehem now, as a result of God blessing Bethlehem and ending the famine.

So, she doesn't doubt that God is in control, despite the pain of her experience. That's an important reminder for us. It's interesting to see that she had faith in God, in chapter 1, despite, at that point, being blind to God's future and particular and special provision to her. She was blind to the many things as to why this was happening to her. One of the things we actually saw in chapter 1 is that Naomi was actually, at that point, missing the special provision that God was providing for her. And it was right in front of her eyes.

Because in chapter 2, we will see that God actually gives an answer to her affliction and relief to her affliction in the embodiment and in the person of Ruth. Naomi fails to see it at first, as she's urging Ruth and her other sister-in-law to go back home. Don't come with me to Bethlehem. So, she didn't get it. At least not initially, that God was providing this provision to her. And that's something that we can miss. That's something that we cannot see when we're in the middle of an affliction that is occurring to us.

With our afflictions, in our afflictions, God may be providing the very means by which of easing those afflictions. We need to look for these things. It's a danger of resisting his provision or even missing his provision. Naomi is trying to get rid of the very provision by which God is providing to her. Because, again, in the daughter-in-law of Ruth, we will see in chapter 2 that there comes the embodiment of God's faithfulness to Naomi.

So, let's begin to read. Let's delve into chapter 2 here. I want to say that right up front, that there was no advantage for Ruth in leaving the security of her home, her homeland Moab, and setting off with her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem. It's really a remarkable choice because, presumably, she could have gone back to her homeland and then received the comfort of, perhaps, siblings, received the comfort of her mom or dad.

So, she can go back to Moab and everything that represents security, or she can continue with Naomi and everything that represents the unknown to her. And, in that, we see the story of faith. There's no advantage for Ruth socially. If she returns back with her mother-in-law, here is this Moabite girl going back to Judah and, perhaps, going to receive the possibility of ridicule and prejudice as a foreigner. No financial advantage in it at all. She and her mother-in-law were flat broke, you know. No advantage for Ruth at all. So, why did she do it? It's a reminder to us that faith is a supernatural gift from God. Absolutely. Why did Orpah, the other daughter-in-law, go back and Ruth go on? Again, faith is a supernatural activity of God whereby he reaches down to the life of an individual, the man or a woman, and he opens their eyes. And he unstops their ears, where that man or woman says, I now see it. I didn't see it before. But now I do, and I'm going to trust in God. And so, in that chapter 1, we saw the amazing declaration from Ruth to Naomi, where she declares, Where you go, I go. Where you live, I live. Your people, Naomi, are going to be my people. Your God, Naomi, is going to be my God. So, amazing. So, we pick up the beginning here in the beginning of the barley harvest. Chapter 2, let's continue this incredible story as Ruth and Naomi find favor. They begin to find favor. So, let's read this together. Ruth chapter 2, verses 1 through 12, and you can follow along with me. Ruth 2, beginning in verse 1, There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. So, Ruth the Moabitis said to Naomi, Please let me go to the field and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I might find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter. Then she left and went and gleaned 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. She didn't know it at that time, of course. We will see. Now, verse 4, Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered, The Lord bless you. Then Boaz said to his servant, who was in charge of the reapers, Whose young woman is this? 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.

And she said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came and has continued from mourning until now, though she rested a little bit in the house. Verse 8, Then Boaz said to Ruth, You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go and glean from another field, Nor go from here, but stay close to my young women. 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.

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? 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 in the land of your birth, and have come to the people whom you did not know before. 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. Let's stop there. So, the events have continued here. And at the beginning here, the opening of the chapter, they are back in Bethlehem. And certainly all the uncertainties that would come from that. You know, I can imagine this morning, before she set out to the field, that as her eyes awoke, as she opened her eyes, and the sunlight came in, this new morning in Bethlehem, she might have just taken a moment to remind herself. She would have opened her eyes and said, Oh, that's right. I'm back in Bethlehem, or I am in Bethlehem, back with my mother-in-law. It had been difficult for her at these times. She'd have been going through bereavement. It's difficult for her to forget that she's now a widow, in her circumstances, or anything less than ideal.

Living with her mother-in-law, now also a widow, she must have said to herself, maybe a few times that morning, Have I done the right thing? Here I am, a foreigner, and I live in this foreign land. And she would have had to catch herself at that moment and say, Well, remind herself of that declaration she made. Now, I'm going to trust in Naomi's God.

And in coming to verse 1 here, we have the introduction here to the man Boaz. We're told in chapter 2, verse 1, He was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. So, the writer introduces us to Boaz, tells us that he was a relative of Naomi. The relationship exists on the side of her late husband, Elimelech. And we know that the kinship structure at that time was very important. One in which the wider structure of the family had obligations to help and protect and support family. As life dealt them, these kind of blows. So, for example, for someone like Naomi to find herself as a widow at this time, this point in her life, that would mean the wider structure of the family would then come and express their care and support. Naomi might expect this. So, the writer tells us that Boaz was this prosperous man, great wealth. The word can actually also be translated man of integrity, a strong man, a powerful man. It's used in all a variety of contexts. Suffice it to say, Boaz was a man of moral, financial, and social standing. A man of integrity, influence, and a man of means. It's causing the reader, us as the reader at this point, to wonder, where does he fit into this story? I wonder what part he's going to play in this. What is the particular significance of his introduction now? Verse 1 just kind of sits there for a moment. It just sits there, and we go back to the narrative here in verse 2. Verse 2 again, so Ruth and the Moabites said to Naomi, Let me go to the field, glean the heads of grain after him, in whose sight I might find favor. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.

Now, if you lived in the village life and in an agricultural community, you will know that harvesting time is quite a wonderful time. There's always a buzz in the air. There would have been a buzz in the air at this time. You would have had the smell of fresh grain. You would have had the sound of the harvesters in the fields. And so she requests from her mother-in-law that she might go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain. Now, with that, having a knowledge of the Old Testament law will help us for your homework. If you'd like to go back and look at Leviticus 19 or Deuteronomy 24, you will see in those chapters that we discover God's provision for the poor and for the needy. And he actually establishes it in laws. And it extends even to how the crops are to be harvested. The individual, the harvester, he must not reap to the corners of the field. He also must not go back then and go through a second time to pick up perhaps what might have been left over. Both were forbidden. And in this, God is expressing his love and his concern for the poor and needy in society. Those who found themselves in tragedy, perhaps. But he also said those who had been given the privilege and blessing to be in the harvesting side, successful in those endeavors, that they should display the characteristics of God and they would display the characteristics of God by extending grace to the poor and the needy so that they might then come and pick from the leftovers. In other words, God's concern about people like Naomi and Ruth.

Let me just mention in passing, you'll notice God's provision still involves work. Work on the part of the individual who's receiving the grace and the favor. By the way, as we are going through this story, make sure to be thinking spiritual connections. See if you can think of all the different spiritual connections that come from the details of this story, because it's quite rich. Maybe you can share some of those with me. So this provision that God made whereby the harvesters left the corners, that provision was for the poor and the needy. So it wasn't as if the harvester then took buckets and then delivered them to the doorsteps of the poor and the needy. No, this wasn't that kind of program where the one in need did not have to work. Rather, He makes a special provision here, but still demanded the honest efforts of the poor. The honest efforts of the poor would be rewarded. He did not want to rob those in particular need of the blessing of work. You see, so God provides for the poor, but it's in a tremendously wise way. He doesn't want the poor to suffer. We do not want to neglect the poor, but we do not want to demean the poor by leaving them out of the rewards of participating in supplying their own need. Tremendous wisdom in this. Now, there's no prestige for Ruth in this, yet her attitude is wonderful. Because I'll have you notice, she doesn't go out here on the basis of her rights. She's not going out on the basis of her rights, few as they may be. Rather, verse 2, she's going out with the hope to find favor. It makes all the difference in the world. The word favor there, verse 2, actually comes from the word that would be described as grace. It's the same word that's given to us in Genesis 6-8. Genesis 6-8, where Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, or Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. So, she says, I'm going out to the field to pick up the leftover grain, and I'll do it in the field of anyone whose eyes I manage to find favor. And so, she's teaching us, we see here, she's teaching us by attitude and by actions, that everything God gives is a gift, it's undeserved mercies to us, it's favor, it's grace. So, don't ever be preoccupied with our rights.

You know, this is my right. Now, the word of God calls us to focus on privileges. Always. Never rights. Privileges. Grace. Favor. And you'll notice that Ruth is not sitting around waiting for the miraculous to come. That's a wonderful principle to pull out here. How did she discover the will of God in her life? She discovered the will of God in her life by taking action. And then, God's provision follows. So, look at this little phrase here. This is wonderful.

Probably one of the most profound things found in the book of Ruth. Verse 3, verse 3, Then she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she, notice, happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who, by the way, was of the family of Elimelech. You remember Boaz from verse 1. Well, as it turns out, in the assorted hodgepodge of all the different fields at that time, none of them would have been marked with any identifiable markers. She just happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. Oh, and oh, by the way, he was a part of the family of Elimelech.

So, it's not that Naomi said, there's this family member, Ruth, and I want you to go and try to find his field, Boaz. You know, that might be the smartest choice for you. But, no. The point that the writer's making here is, at this moment, unbeknown to either of these women, there's this individual Boaz who's a kinsman through marriage of Naomi's late husband, Elimelech. And so, the best contemporary translation, or paraphrase here, is perhaps, as luck would have it, you know. She worked and found the field of Boaz. In other words, as far as she was concerned, she was walking down the field, and she said, this looks like a great field. And she asked permission, and she says, this looks like a good field. The permission was granted, and so she began to work. She began to pick up all the items in the field. And as it turned out, apparently, accidentally, without any instruction, you know, she didn't hear the Word of God that come down to her. Well, she found the will of God. As it happened, she was in the field of Boaz. So, what was sheer coincidence in an unplanned set of circumstances was actually, as it becomes apparent later, a display of God's gracious, providential care. It is, if you like, Ephesians 1.11. We won't turn there, but this is Ephesians 1.11. Where he, God, is working out everything according to the counsel of his will. Let's get this.

Even in the way in which Ruth steps out in the morning, even in the way she exercises her free choice, he, God, is working out everything according to the counsel and the purpose of his will. In other words, here we're introduced to a mystery where we have God's sovereign overruling of everything here. Where all of this is being ushered into the unfolding plan by which God is conforming everything according to his will. Because, again, as I mentioned at the beginning, remember, Naomi's faithful enduring did, in fact, lead to the beginning of all these events. The conversion of this girl Ruth, her subsequent marriage, her motherhood, leading to her faithful enduring of Naomi puts into motion the birth and coming of David. And, ultimately, in Bethlehem, the same Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus Christ, some 1,100 or more years later.

And this is all what Naomi was acknowledging to us in chapter 1. Naomi wouldn't be surprised by any of this. As she said, God's hand is in all of this. I'm blind to it all at the moment, but I know God's hand is in this. So, let me state this very clearly.

That a belief in the sovereignty and the providential care of God is not a belief in determinism. Whereby, determinism, where we would view ourselves as pawns being moved around on the great divine chess board, let's say. Or that we view ourselves as puppets on these strings, moved around without any reference to our freedom of choice or responsibility, only to be moved on the part of a divine puppeteer. No. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach such a thing. Rather, it is the belief which introduces us to this mystery and it leaves us to wrestle with the juxtaposition of the fact that we have real choice and we have real responsibility, but we also have God's providential care.

That we are free moral beings, we have free choices, real responsibilities, and that the providential care of God while present in the life of one of his children, as we walk with him and as we fulfill our free choice and obedience, He is then fulfilling His will in our lives.

Yet, it does not override human decision or human action. Well, you say, God certainly couldn't leave it up to human choice. What if Ruth would have chosen the wrong field? Well, I'll leave it to you to make some coffee later on today and stay up and think these things out. Take your loved one and discuss this further. But just recognize that she didn't go to this particular field as a command by God. She looked at the field, it looked like a good field.

I think I'll go there. But as she walks in obedience to God, as she fulfills that devotion, that commitment that she made in chapter 1, as she fulfills her obedience through her free will, God is working out all things according to the counsel of His will. You may start the coffee pot at this time. What a glorious mystery, of course. Continuing with the story here, verse 4. Now Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, Lord be with you.

And they answered him, Lord bless you. So this is Boaz. He shows up and he says, Lord be with you. The reapers respond in this way. Lord bless you. Why? He lives. He lives in the presence of God here. You could do a whole series on Boaz leadership skills. And as you watch Boaz interact with those who were under him, it gives us a wonderful example of leadership. A leader should get down into the circumstances of those to whom he's leading. Christ gave this example. We're seeing it through Boaz here.

Who knows? I need to make a note of that. That might be a good leadership lesson for later. And in this greeting, it leads him to the encounter of Ruth. So the fact that Boaz takes personal interest, intimate interest, in his workers is obvious. And so he would be aware of any new face that showed up. Seeing this new face, perhaps a pretty face. He says to his servant, whose young woman is this? The servant replies, second part of verse 6 and 7. It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.

And she said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. And so she came and continued from morning till now, though she rested for a little in the house. Let's stop there. So notice, although this was her right, this was in the law. A foreigner, a stranger in poverty could glean among the sheaves here. Although it was her right, she came and said, Please let me glean. There's a humility here.

Her focus is not on rights. It's on privileges. Privileges. And her focus is on discovering favor in these privileges and discovering grace. So she works steadily till the morning there. So Boaz, after hearing this, is moved by her efforts. And she's moved to intervene in her life. He is moved. So verse 8, then Boaz said to Ruth, verse 8, You will listen, my daughter, will you not?

Do not go and glean in another field. He's protective, possessive. Nor go from here, but stay close to my young women. 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 to go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn?

Let's stop there. There's lots here if you want to make spiritual connections. Here's a passage to do so. His concern for her is protection. He has a desire to protect her, to care for her. It's a lovely picture. I will bring your awareness to the fact you've already made this connection. There's a foreshadowing here. The activity of Boaz is foreshadowing the one who looks upon us in his possessive and his jealous, a proper jealousy.

It looks upon us in the totality of grace and favor, the foreshadowing of the one who protects us, who makes provision, the foreshadowing of the one who, when we're thirsty, provides us vessels of water to which we can drink. That drink in which we'll never be thirsty again. Throughout this story, look for the foreshadowing of the one through Boaz as an example of the one, Jesus Christ. Notice Ruth's response here in verse 10.

Once again, I want to keep bringing you back to this. She did not say, well, you know, I expected this. I'm a hard worker. Of course, obviously, I was noticed by the boss. No. There's none of herself in this. She fell, verse 10, on her face and bowed down to the ground.

She left that morning. She said to her mother-in-law, I'm going to the fields to see if I can find favor in him, whoever that is, in someone's eyes. And now she found the favor. And instead of turning in the spotlight onto herself, they're suggesting that she had some part in this. She's awestruck. Why, verse second part of verse 10, why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I'm a foreigner?

Why have I found favor in your eyes that you would notice me? Who am I? Who am I that you would notice me, Boaz? That you would come and extend these gracious provisions to me? You know, I'm just a foreigner. I had been in Moab in a dark, evil society, strange gods all around, lower-gee gods. And I wonder if in her mind she began to play this back. If, if, if a limelak on the account of the famine had not said to his wife Naomi, we will let's go from Bethlehem, let's go into Moab to find food.

And that action under his free will was used in order to bring, in part, if not totally, this girl Ruth to the knowledge of the one true God Himself. And if that family, if Naomi's family had not made their way to Moab and had not spoken to her of God, she would have never then come to know him in this way, in this way. And therefore, this is incredible.

And I know you can think about circumstances in your life where it just so happened, you know, you spoke to this person, or you found this magazine, or you just happened to log on to this website. And then, and there, you begin to see things in a different way. And you think back, and you think, boy, all these circumstances just, just so happen to line up perfectly for me to be sitting here today, you know. Maybe use today to think back on those circumstances and just, just enjoy and revel and let God's grace in His favor and His providential care just to wash over you today.

In this question, this is the question that should be on our lips today. By the way, the reason Ruth is, is read during the time of the firstfruits, the time of Pentecost, is because it shows God's care and His provision and how He works in the lives of men and women in a very intimate way. This is why we read this book prior to the day of Pentecost coming. We have a real God, and He's truly interested in us, and He's guiding us, and He's leading us as we walk in obedience. And even as we don't walk in obedience, He's very patient and waits for us and corrects us and gets us back, all the while unfolding His providential care. Look at this. This should be on our lips today. This question in verse 10, Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner? Pray that today. What is this? I'll tell you what this is.

We won't take the time to turn there, but Ephesians 2, 12, and 13. That's what this is. Listen to these words. Ephesians 2, 12, and 13. You want to know what this is? This is this. That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have now been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ruth had no hope. No hope. She was a stranger, a foreigner, all of her protections, all the security of this world taken from her. Ah, things are changing for her, aren't they? That's what this is. In Boaz's response, here in verses 11 through 13, with regards to the favor, you know, why am I receiving this favor, she asked. Here's his answer. This is the answer to us spiritually. And Boaz answered her, verse 11, and said to her, It has been fully reported to me that you have done what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother in the land of your birth, and you have come to the people whom you did not know before. And the Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whom's wings you have now come for refuge. And 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. Let's stop there. The typology here. Boaz pointed us to Jesus Christ. You know, our works matter.

Committing to God, walking in His way, committing to His law. Obedience matters. Our works will be known. In the last day.

And there's this man, Boaz, a man of standing. And he comes to this one who has no standing. And he's watching her efforts, and he's watching her works, and he moves. It moves him.

And what does she need? She needs to be put under the protective custody of the One who is in good standing. She needs to be placed under the One in the care and the grace of Him.

She wasn't looking for entitlement. Therefore, she regarded the intervention of Boaz as unmerited goodness. And so for us, we have no standing. We have no standing. We're without hope. And therefore, we need the One who is in good standing to come and place us under His grace and care. Ruth went out to find favor on that day. We go out each day to find favor. And the true favor that we find on a daily basis is expressed in the provision made for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Well, we'll pick up here and move swiftly. Continue in verse 14. Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come here and eat of this bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar. And she set beside the reapers and passed parched grain to her. She ate and was satisfied and even kept some back. There's so many analogies, so many different roads we can go on. I'm sure you can find many examples of how this points to Jesus Christ and how He cared for us. And just His gracious invitation. There's so many. I know you have time to go into today. But really think about this, and maybe you'll think of some that I haven't. Boaz comes down into their circumstances, sits with them, shares with them this meal. These words here in verse 14, He says, Come, come here, eat of this bread. I know you're making the connection spiritually. She sits, she eats, she's satisfied. And not only is she satisfied, but she keeps some back. She even gets more than what she needs here. I wonder why she was able to keep some back. But we'll see. There's a spiritual principle here.

Boaz is a wonderful example of God's grace. In the obedience to the law, in the obedience to the Old Testament law, in caring for the poor and the needy, Boaz then is able to display the character of God. How does the 21st century society meet God today? How do they meet Him? Well, a primary role is that the individual God, the invisible God, becomes visible through the love and caring acts of His children, you and I. The men and women who are carrying out these laws, then they're able to see who God is. Continuing, verse 15 through 18. Verse 15. And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean, even among the sheaves, Do not reproach her, and let grain fall from the bundles, but let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her. Leave it that she may glean, do not rebuke her. So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an epa of barley. Verse 18. And she took it up and went to the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back, after she had been satisfied. So let's stop there. So the command was to Boaz, from Boaz, if she gathers the sheaves, don't embarrass her. Give her her dignity. Don't reproach her in this way. Very important spiritual principle. Allow the poor in need to keep their honor, respect for themselves. You may be in that position and probably will be soon, or have been. I know I've been in that position. Put some stalks for her in bundles, it says, purposely for her. In other words, the law just commanded Boaz just to not glean the corners or go back again. But look at this. The love of God fills his heart, so it's not sufficient for Boaz just to keep the letter of the law, is it? No. He's so filled. He has a desire to do more than just keep the letter of the law. His desire is to do more. That's a higher level of righteousness that we're to achieve.

I love this. Allow bundles to fall purposely for her. He gives her stalks from the very heart of it all, the good stuff. Such love. So Jesus Christ does this for us, you know. Gives us more. And she carries it back into town to her mother-in-law, and Naomi would have seen her, what she had gleaned, and now we see the purpose as to why she was given leftover. What are we supposed to do with the blessings God gives us? Share it! Share it!

Share it.

You can imagine Naomi's eyes must have been big as saucers.

Gigantic. Ruth's coming with these gigantic bundles on her back, pounds and pounds of it, you know. So God's just so prepared to open the windows of heaven to you and I and just pour out his choices of blessings. Verse 19, Naomi's full of questions, you know. I love this exchange that we're about to read here. Overjoyed in the heart.

She starts peppering Ruth with questions. Verse 19, and her mother-in-law said to her, verse 19, Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you. And she took her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, This man's name to whom I worked today was Boaz. So Naomi's firing these questions to her. I'm sure Ruth has not even had a chance to get settled in. She then explains that she worked with a man named Boaz. And then look at this wonderful back and forth between these two women who loved each other. They were so close to each other. She said, verse 23. 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. Naomi said to her, This man is a relation of ours, Ruth, one of our closest relatives. And Ruth, the Moabiteh said, He also said to me, You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest. And then Naomi said to Ruth, the daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you should go out with the young women, or excuse me, women, yeah, and that the people do not meet you in any other field. Verse 23, So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she dwelt with her mother-in-law. Let's stop there. So we finished the chapter here. You just again, you see the closeness of these two women. It's wonderful to be able to share in something like this. Often our closest, those who are closest to her, are ones who shared in trial with us, in tragedy. And so they have this real bond here. And what an exchange here. Naomi says, Boaz, Ruth, blessed is he who has not forsaken his kindness of the living and the dead. And Ruth, I've got to tell you, he's a close relative. He's one of our closest relatives. And she's beginning to explain that Boaz is a kinsman. And we're going to see next time, one of the roles of the kinsman, of course, and we mentioned it briefly, is there's a responsibility. And in fact, there is a responsibility of redeeming a family member of this kind. Who's in this situation. So we'll see that Boaz is now going to begin to step in the role of kinsman, Redeemer.

And verse 22, Naomi says, you know, stay close, stay with his girls, you know.

You see the motherly instincts coming out here. Perhaps she saw, you know, there's a little bit of opportunity here. Ruth, stay with them.

Giving her guidance. And there in verse 23, Ruth did exactly what she was told. She stays close to the servant girls of Boaz. She gleaned until the barley and wheat harvest were finished. Amazing. Making, once again, the reader, you and I, to say to ourselves, as chapter 2 closes, well, I wonder what's going to happen next. Now the harvesters are over. We begin the chapter with the harvest just beginning. Now the harvesters are over. Another cliffhanger to leave you on today. So how good it is that Ruth and Naomi loved one another. How good it is they found themselves in the company of one another. How wonderful it is to live in the shadow of God's wings and the companionship of those who also take refuge in Him. And what a lovely story of grace and favor. And I began, we're beginning to see this lovely story, this man Boaz, as he points us forward to the one who says, Jesus Christ, who comes down into our circumstances, the bread of life, the one to whom we eat, in which we will never hunger again. He points us to the one whoever drinks of this water, that I give him or her, shall never thirst again. I'll give you the fountain of the water springing to eternal life. So, the harvest here in this chapter may be ending here at the end of chapter 2, but it's only the beginning for these two obedient, wonderful examples, Ruth and Naomi, as they continue now to discover the wonderful grace and favor of God. Well, until next time, I hope all of you have a good week, and I look forward to joining you here next Sabbath.