Ruth and Pentecost

So again, we've mentioned that today is part of Pentecost weekend. Very special time. We know in heaven it's being celebrated far more than here on earth. Just very few people are doing it, but God with His holy angels knows how important these feast days are because they are steps in His plan of salvation. And so it's interesting that if you look at the Old Testament Bible, as it was written and ordered, there's one book that is read during this Pentecost weekend. How many know which one it is? A few. Okay. It's the book of Ruth.

So we're going to talk about one of the two women in the Bible that has a book dedicated to her. Actually has the life of these two women that were heroes of the faith, true heroines. And it's comforting to know that the Bible is not this masculine book about just men. No, it's about women, too. And here's an example that God inspired this Bible to include a book about this particular woman. She wasn't special. She didn't have a special position. She wasn't famous at all. She was actually what would be called a foreigner that had nothing to do with Israel. And yet she became part of God's people. Not only that, but one of those people that we read about in the Bible that is very special before God and His people. And so why is it that we don't have this book in the right order in the Old Testament? We have it after the book of Judges. And it just seems like it's another book that follows chronologically in the time of Judges. But actually in the original order in the Hebrew Bible, it comes as part of a section of five books that are five scrolls. They're all together. They're called the megalot, which means collection of scrolls. And these are called the festival scrolls. So if anybody, and I know some people have more of the Hebrew Bible, you would find these five books listed together. The first one is the Song of Songs by Solomon that was to be read during Passover. Then the second of these books, actually scrolls, of course, at that time, was the book of Ruth that was read during Pentecost. The third one is another book in the Bible, Lamentations of Jeremiah, which has to do with the destruction of Solomon's temple, which is a time of weeping, and it is a reminder. It's a national feast day. It's not one of the holy feast days, but it's a national feast. The fourth is Ecclesiastes, which was read during Tabernacles.

And I've touched on the significance of Tabernacles and this book of Ecclesiastes before, and the fifth one is the book of Esther that was read during the day of Purim when the Jews were protected and liberated. You can read about that in the book of Esther, and that's a national holiday as well. National feast. And it seems like it's a diabolical plot to mix the books in the Bible in this way. From their proper order, because it conceals the knowledge of God's plan of salvation through keeping some of these feasts. So you look at commentators, they can talk about Esther, but they don't talk about Pentecost as such, the connection, because it's lost. And yet, we have an understanding. We know how God inspired the Bible, and He inspired these five books very special times of the year to be read.

And so we're going to go through this account, and at the end, we're going to make the connection with the meaning of Pentecost and Jesus Christ. How the book of Ruth is connected to Pentecost and Jesus Christ.

The first thing to remember about this is that the names of the people that we're going to read are important.

It gives us clues about what God is trying to get across. So let's go to the book of Ruth after Judges, chapter 1.

It starts. Now, it came to pass in the days when the Judges ruled. So it gives us that this was before the kings of Israel, like Saul and David. The Judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah.

Now, Judah is the region. Bethlehem is one of the small towns in that area. Went to dwell in the country of Moab. He and his wife and his two sons. So here's an Israelite from Bethlehem, which is high above the mountains there of Judah, Judea. And right across from the Dead Sea, which you could look across from Bethlehem, you could see the area of Moab, which is on the other side of this salt sea that they have. And what did this man see? Everything was dry. Bethlehem, which means house of bread. It's supposed to have a lot of barley and wheat, but because of this drought, they couldn't grow crops. And he looked across that big lake, and he saw green land. And he saw, well, they're not going through a drought. So he decided to go and be there with his family.

Tells us now the names of some of these people. Says the name of the man was Elimelech. Now the term Elimelech means, my God is king. So it's a name where he's supposed to say, God is my guide, he is my king.

And the name of his wife was Naomi. Naomi means pleasant.

Pleasant and nice. And the names of his two sons were Malon and Elimelech. Kileon.

Ephrathites of Bethlehem. Ephrathites means that they descended from the tribe of Ephraim. So although they were in Judea, this was the tribe they had belonged.

He says, and they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Verse 3, then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died. And she was left and her two sons. So here we have the first head of the male family, supposed to be guiding them religiously, all of a sudden, disappears. And now it's only the mother and the two sons that are left. Verse 4, after Elimelech died, now they took wives of the women of Moab. So they decided to marry Moabites instead of Israelite women.

The name of one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. Orpah means Israel. Orpah means mane or neck. And Ruth, the name, it means friend. So it's a name of a person that has a friendliness around her. And they dwelt there about 10 years. Then both Malon and Killian also died. So the women survived her two sons and her husband. So this is about as bad as they can get. Because usually the men were the ones that provided. They took care of the home. And now there's no source of real income anymore. Of course, this was not what Naomi hoped for. And she really was distraught, as it says in verse 6. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. For she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. So the famine was over, drought was over. So the crops started coming back up.

Verse 7, therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah. So at the beginning, the two daughters-in-law said, we'll accompany you. We'll go to Israel. And as they were going along the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. So she said, it's no use to go back to a land that you're not really welcome. The Moabites weren't supposed to be able to associate because the Moabites were pagan people. They had false religious teachings, and they worshiped idols. And so she said, don't come back. You're going to have a much more difficult time. Why don't you go back to your place and you have your relatives. You can have a comfortable life here in Moab.

She says, The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband. So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, surely we will return with you to your people. So, no, they didn't want to leave her alone.

But Naomi said, turn back my daughters. Why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? No, she was too old for that. Turn back my daughters. Go, for I am too old to have a husband.

If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? You had to wait many years. Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? You can wait, what, 20 years? Maybe? Even if she was able to have children? No, my daughters, for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me. So, yes, she said, what happened? Here I am. I'm following God, and look what has happened here. And so, she says, I lost three men in my family. I was hoping to have a family, children, nothing like that happened.

So again, you can see how she feels. And certainly when things go wrong, you start feeling, well, what's happened? Where is God? How's he going to intervene? Verse 14, then they lifted up their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law. So she basically said, you're right. I'm going back to Moab. But Ruth clung to her. So, nope, Ruth said, I've committed myself to following you. Whatever it is, I believe in the God of Israel. And she said, look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods, see, the false Moabite gods, return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth said, entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you, for wherever you go, I will go. And wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. So she had seen Naomi's example. She had remembered a limitelet, and she had decided, no, you have the real God. You are the one that has the truth, and I'm not going to give it up, no matter what I have to go through in life. She said, where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you in me. So here's this commitment. Doesn't make much sense. She was still young. She could have stayed in Moab. That was her hometown. That's her area. She had everything to profit, but yet she saw something from these Israelites that she said, no, you have the real God, and I'm not going to give it up. It also happens to us. Because she knew where the real God was. Ruth was a true friend of Naomi. She was going to go through thick and thin over the trials. Now, here we've had in our lives the moment when we say, this is going to be our God. And wherever we go, whether we go through the ups and downs of life, that is our God. He's the real God, and I'm not going to forsake him. And so, at 17, I knew where the real God was. And I just said, I'm not going back to that other church that I was going to. I know it deceived me. I know that's not where the truth is. I don't want to be there. And I know where the real God is, and it's in this church, as 57 years ago. And I haven't doubted one minute about following God, and he is the real God. So Ruth shows an incredible display of dedication, loyalty, and self-sacrifice.

She could have stayed in Moab with her pagan family and friends and lived comfortably, but she chose the true religion. In no doubt, in large part, by Naomi's example of faith. Even though it meant virtually accepting a life of poverty and prejudice. So when you go out and make your decision, don't think it's going to be easy, because you're going to choose that narrow way. It's not popular. You're not going to have many people back you, but it is the real God. Or do you want to follow a fake God? The God of this world.

So then it goes on to say, verse 18, chapter 1, when she talked about Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her. She stopped speaking to her. Ruth's decision was made. That's the type of decision we should not ever go back on. Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was excited because of them. And the women said, is this Naomi? I mean, it's been over 10 years. She was probably older, some gray hairs. Is she Naomi? But she said to them, do not call me Naomi or pleasant. Call me Mera, which means bitter, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. And so she was downcast. She had been hit in the worst trials where you lose not only one beloved person, but three in her family, the only ones she had. She said, I went out full, had a family, and the Lord has brought me home again, empty. Why do you call me Naomi? Since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me. So you go through life. Sometimes you can get down on yourself. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabites, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of Barley's harvest. So this was a time when you were counting toward Pentecost. Remember, at the beginning of the Sabbath, during the days of Unleavened Bread, you began the count of 50 days. Tomorrow is the 50th day. So it was this time where they were harvesting the barley.

Chapter 2. There was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, the family of Alemilek. His name was Boaz. So here she thinks I've hit bottom. How am I going to get out of this? And God is slowly working. And I'd like to show you right there, you have in the TV screen. Life sometimes looks like that. All these threads can't make much sense out of them. And you wonder, well, here you got all these mixtures of joys and pain and all of these things. What's going on? That's what Naomi was saying. So we'll have another slide, but later I'll notify you. That's just the one that we want to look at because that's the way Naomi felt. But you know Ruth, she had faith.

And sometimes you have to wait for God to move. You can't do it yourself too much. You have to wait. And here God has great plans for Naomi. He didn't say anything to her about it, but he's working in the background through circumstances.

So his name was Boaz.

Verse 2, So Ruth the Moabite 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.

Naomi couldn't do it. She was too old now to do it because that takes a whole day's work to see if some of these workers will drop some of these shafts of barley. And then they go forward. And according to what it tells us in, let's see, Leviticus 19, 9 through 10. I'm not going to read it, but it says that they were supposed to leave the sprigs that fell on the ground. They weren't supposed to pick it up so that the poor would be able to pick it up. And that's what Ruth was doing. But after a hard day's work under the hot sun, you could sometimes have just a very small amount of grain because grain was like gold in those days.

Because people didn't have bank accounts. What you had was what you harvested. And so here's this time of the year where every grain is so valuable because you store it for your family. And this was like nuggets of gold. So very few people would say, well, just leave those sprigs. Now, most of them, you pick them up. Maybe just leave a few behind because you put yourself, they'd gone through a famine. People did not want to suffer hunger anymore. So it would have been slim pickings for Ruth. And so, verse 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 a limite. So how she got there, the Bible sort of says, well, somehow circumstances, God guided her to go to that field of all the other fields to go to the one of Boaz. Now, verse 4, Now, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, the Lord be with you.

So this was a man that loved God, blessed them, and they answered him, the Lord bless you. Then Boaz said to his servants, 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. Of course, Boaz knew Naomi. You know, Limelak was part of the family. Verse 7, 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 in the house. So during the hottest part, she had a little roof under her for a while. 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 closed by 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?

So they're protected because at that time women could be very vulnerable to all kinds of approaches and abuse. And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn. So you have access to this water that's very valuable. So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground and said, Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I'm a foreigner? So she knew she was going to be looked down upon and mow a bite.

And most of the people didn't want anything to do with her. She's saying, Well, why are you so gracious? So here she showed that attitude of humility. Verse 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.

So again, that young lady's decision, maybe others didn't know anything about it, but even Boaz said, You know, people are very impressed that you're willing to sacrifice your own welfare to help this widow that she can't go out in the fields. She can't take care of herself.

She can't take care of herself. Verse 12, he says, 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. So again, he's telling Ruth, there's a God that sees and he will reward everything you do in his name for his glory. 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. She didn't deserve it. Verse 14, Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, Come here and eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread into vinegar.

So she sat beside the reapers and he passed parts grain to her and she ate and was satisfied. Probably the first good meal she had had, who knows how long, and kept some back. She didn't eat at all. She said, No, I'm going to keep some of this for Naomi. That's the type of woman she was. Just like in the first message, she wasn't thinking about herself. She was putting Naomi's welfare first. And boy, did that impress Boaz.

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. So he said, Not just what falls on the ground. No, let her go ahead and harvest as well. And don't complain. This is liquid gold. And Boaz is giving some of the most precious food items to her.

Also, let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her. Leave it that she may glean and do not rebuke her. And so here we see again a Christ-like attitude in Boaz that has the mercy, extends it, although this is a Moabiteh's person that isn't part of Israel. But her heart, she's adopted God, and she is doing what God expects of her. She's following God's religion. She's doing it God's way. And so she gleaned in the field until evening and beat out what she had gleaned. And it was about an ephah of barley, which is about six pounds. Not just a couple of gleanings here or there. It would have been a couple ounces. No, this was about six pounds. 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. So the extra food. 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. This is probably the first time that Naomi felt happy in a very long time. Wow! Things are changing for me just when I'd lost hope.

So she told her mother-in-law whom she had worked and said, the man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz. 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. So what a change. So you see the circumstances, they can go up and down in life, but you're going to find God's going to open up doors that you didn't expect. Just be patient, continue doing what you should. God will open doors that we cannot. This man is a relation or a relative of yours, one of our close relatives. Ruth the Moabites, so the Bible again emphasizes she didn't deserve it. She was, it says there in Deuteronomy about not having Moabites be part of Israel. But you see, God makes exceptions because of the heart of the person. And by the way, Boaz ate with Ruth, and the Bible mentioned about not having those types of relationships, and yet here we see the difference. So some people confuse. The difference here is God condemns inter-religious relationships. Just like a pagan with a person of the way of God. That's what God condemns. He doesn't condemn interracial marriages. And we have there in Numbers 12.1 where Moses married an Ethiopian. And so one thing is interreligious. Another thing is interracial. If a person is of the faith, they want to follow this way of life, I don't care, you know, what color, what creed, what nationality it is. And so it goes on to say in verse 21, Ruth and Moabite said, he also said to me, you shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest. So she said, we're gonna have so much food. We can start a bakery now because of all this food coming in.

And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, it is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women and that the people do not meet you in any other field. So God is working things out. So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. Notice the barley harvest started and then later the wheat harvest and she dwelt with her mother-in-law. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? So who's Naomi thinking of? Not about herself, she's thinking about Ruth. Now Boaz, whose young women you are with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore, wash yourself and anoint yourself. Put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the men until he has finished eating and drinking. So they're happy and finally they start getting sleepy.

Then it shall be when he lies down that you shall notice the place where he lies and you shall go in, uncover his feet and lie down and he will tell you what you should do. And she said to her, all that you say to me I will do. So Ruth trusted Naomi. So she went down to the threshing hold and did according to all her mother-in-law instructed her. After Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was cheerful, drunk and his heart had eaten and drunk and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain and she came softly, uncovered his feet and laid down. That happened at midnight that the man was startled. All of a sudden he says, what is this at my feet? That's not a rock! That's flesh! And there a woman was lying at his feet and he said, who are you? So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing for you are a close relative. So she's saying you are part of what God says. You can redeem me and Naomi because of the death when it happened according to the law of God that then a near relative could take the place of the dead relative and continue that lineage of a limelik and his sons. Then he said, blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning in that you did not go after young men who were the poor rich. And now my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. So again, it doesn't matter what color you are, it doesn't matter what nationality, it doesn't matter what age. It's being a virtuous person. What's inside of you is more important than what is on the outside. And the outside is secondary. It's not going to last through time, but the inside will. Now, it is true that I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I. Stay this night and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good. Let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you as the Lord lives. So he basically here promises, lie down until morning. And so then before anybody would say, oh, what's Ruth doing here? She left before anybody else knew about it. And so then in chapter four, Boaz redeems Ruth. This is the story that there was a closer relative that could have paid to redeem Naomi and Ruth. And the property that had belonged to a limalek would then be part of his property. So I'm just going to abbreviate for lack of time. And the man says, oh yeah, well, I could use another property. Because remember in Israel, you never lost your family property. You could rent it out. But every 50th year, year of Jubilee, it went back to the original family. And then when he says, yes, I can do it, then Boaz says yes, but you have to accept also Ruth as one of your wives. And if you have children by Ruth, it's going to be a limalek's family. It's not going to be under your name.

So he says in verse six, and the close relative said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. In other words, the other, the wife and others he has are not going to want to have another competitor. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it. And so that's what happens. Boaz then says, I will take the responsibility.

And so then verse 13, it says, so Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And when he went into her, the Lord gave her a conception and she bore a son. So apparently Ruth had not had any children, even if she had lived with her previous husband 10 years. Nothing happened. And it seemed like she was sterile. But here, as soon as the honeymoon's over, why she's pregnant, the Lord gave her a conception and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, and Naomi can now say, you know, you can call me pleasant again. And we go through life, sometimes like that, too. Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel, which it will be. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. And Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him. She became another son of Naomi. Also, the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, there is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, and the father of David. So actually, Obed became the grandfather of King David.

And King David had, as his great-grandmother, a Moabite, a Moabiteus named Ruth. And she is in the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1 verse 5, where it talks about Obed. And it's interesting, who was the mother of Boaz? It had been the Canaanite woman that was a harlot.

So we have in Matthew chapter 1, let's read it, in verse 5, it says, Psalm 1 begot Boaz by Rahab. Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. And through David the king came Jesus Christ the Messiah.

Maybe because of Boaz's background, he knew what it was to have a mother who had not been of the faith, who came into the faith, didn't have the best reputation, but she, once she started, she turned out to be a great example in Israel, and the genealogy of Jesus Christ mentions it. So the connection with Pentecost is that this is the time when we receive God's Holy Spirit. And it doesn't matter what race, what background, depends your heart before God, just like Ruth's heart. And as it mentions in Acts chapter 10, verse 34 and 35, Peter said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness, in other words, a way of obedience, you keep the Pentecost because that's part of God's commandments, is accepted by him. And so Pentecost is the symbol of receiving God's Holy Spirit, but it's only the first phase of it. We know the last phase is when we are going to be transformed into spirit beings. For eternity, we're never going to have pain and all these earthly problems and difficulties. No, it's going to be that Holy Spirit that right now is just this little seed in us that is guiding us. It's a little power, but one day it's going to transform us to become similar to Jesus Christ as part of the family of God. It all begins with a heart in the right place where you decide where the real God exists, and then you decide to follow the rest of your life. And you'll have ups and downs, but God will be there, just like he did with Ruth and just like he did with Naomi. He is there. He knows what's best, and we have a wonderful kingdom ahead of us. Even if our lives turn into a moment of death, well, God's promises are still there. God's kingdom. That's what I'm looking forward to. I don't know how much more time God has given me, but that's not what I'm banking on, because I'm looking forward to that coming kingdom to be there with King David, with Jesus Christ, and with that young Moabites at that time, Ruth, who said, my God will be your God, and your God will be my God. And so it's a wonderful example of Pentecost and why God put it there to remind us that God is not a respecter of persons, and he can give us his Holy Spirit, and we can start on our way toward that wonderful kingdom of God.