Ruth the Moabitess

Good afternoon. It's good to be here with you. I've been greeting you from many different places. As international advisor, I kind of represent most of the world now in some way or another, specifically doing a lot of work in Africa. I was over in the Philippines a few months ago trying to help out with some things I needed done there. In the world, as you travel, you find out how much they need what we know and what God offers. And so it's special to meet God's people wherever they are. No matter where in the world you go, it's a kinship that comes with God's Holy Spirit. And it's the appreciation. It's always good to go back to Cincinnati, go home. Texas was home for 20 years. California was home for another 20 or 30. So I don't really know where home actually is. I guess it's New Jerusalem. I guess all of us can call that our home. But all the people up there always send greetings to all the brethren that they know. And of course, most of you have been in many different places. Man with the feasts and things. We're a small work, but a church that Christ called people to and gave us His Spirit so we could be family. Today I want to talk a bit about family, and I'm going to go through the book of Ruth. But it was interesting because we often wonder why God called us. And I've asked that question. It's interesting because when I was a young man, I grew up in the church my whole life. Except for my first year of life, we had my only Christmas. I didn't know anything about it except I have a picture of the tree. So I know I was a pagan for at least one year. But other than that, all my life has been with the church and the feasts, the Holy Days. And at that time, we didn't understand 1 Corinthians 7 like we later came to understand it. And I would always hear the stories of the old-timers in the church about how they heard the broadcast at 3am in the morning driving a truck, or how they picked out a plain truth out of the garbage can, or how they came to the church miraculously. And I always wanted one of those stories. And I always wondered how would I know that God was calling me. Then we understood that 1 Corinthians 7 talks about the children of parents that are in the church being sanctified, set apart, being able to choose. Yet there are other people who still have stories.

It's interesting, my wife, she wasn't born in the church. In fact, she didn't know anything about the church until she came to Ambassador College. And what was fascinating is that she grew up a Lutheran. And Lutherans are basically just rebellious Catholics who don't really know a whole lot about the Bible. And she had a problem with the Trinity. And she kept asking the minister to explain 3-in-1. And he couldn't do it.

And finally got frustrated with her and told her just take it on faith. And that's not the kind of faith we heard about in the sermonette. And she didn't take it on faith. So then she went and visited a Baptist church with some of her friends, which is very emotional and fun and a lot of teens and things. And she got moved up with the emotion and did an altar call. Came up to the altar. And the next day she was supposed to get baptized by the Baptist minister. And when she went home that night and the emotion subsided, she figured out that I have no idea what I'm doing.

She called the minister and said, I'm not coming. So she didn't get baptized. But it was interesting, right about that time in her senior year of high school, her dad lost his job. He worked for Bendicks Corporation. Had a real good job. And he'd worked there for 19 and almost a half years. And another six months he'd be able to retire, except for the fact that it was either lay him off or pay him retirement.

And they decided to lay him off. So he didn't have any money or anything. And Michelle was 18, going to go to college. And so without money, you're limited in your selection of colleges that you have. And so what was fascinating was that her family never came into the church, except her grandmother had just come into the church and didn't really talk to the family about much of anything, but did happen to bring an envoy.

And that was the school yearbook for Ambassador College. And in it, she gave it to the family and they looked at it. And here's all these beautiful young people and smiling and happy and to the Christian school. And they had a work program. She could work and pay her way through college. And they had a farm and they were very health conscious people and fresh milk and all this stuff.

And so they decided to let her go to Big Sandy for college. Well, her dad flew down with her when they got there. They wondered what those little booze were out there in Booth City. And then Michelle or Defferle, I think you're going to live in one of those things. And then her dad actually met Mr. Armstrong there. And Ted Armstrong, his son, was there as well. And he knew Mr. Armstrong was a chancellor. So he gave Ted Armstrong the camera and asked to take a picture of him and his father, which kind of surprised everybody. Because he had never seen the telecaster or anything.

Didn't know anything about who the players were in the church at that time. Then her father went home. And then on Friday night, everybody disappeared. And Michelle wondered where they went. Because she didn't know they kept the Sabbath. Her grandmother had left that part out. And then her mom called her and asked her, well, are you going to come home for Christmas? And she said, well, they don't celebrate Christmas here.

And well, what about those people that do celebrate Christmas? And Michelle said, well, I'll see you in January. And so she was there all by herself. And of course, September came and the feast came. She called home and said, we get two weeks off for this feast. What feast? Feast of Tabernacles. Well, what's that? Well, I don't know, but they have church every day. And well, what are you going to eat? Because the dining hall is closed. Well, they gave me twenty dollars and told me to go out and beg for food in the piney woods.

So that's how she survived her feast. Now, I was a sophomore. She was a freshman. And I started liking her. And it was really easy to take advantage of her because she didn't know anything. But it was interesting because she had an interesting story of coming into the church.

She knew God was calling her because all these events in her life that were happening, as such. And so her story was special. Mine was different than that. But it's interesting when we think about God's calling, who He calls and why He calls them. It's interesting. And the reason I'm going to the book of Ruth today is traditionally around Pentecost time is when they read the book of Ruth because of the kinsmen Redeemer and the various aspects of Ruth.

And so I want to go there today. But first I want to go to Leviticus 23 because God knows who He calls and why He calls them. If you turn to Leviticus 23 in verse 15, we'll start there. Of course, this is the chapter that has all of God's feast days. Not the Jewish feast days, but God's feast days.

And it's called the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Fresh Fruits or in the Greek Pentecost. And we celebrate that a week ago. It says, you shall count from you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the chief of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days, you shall offer a new-beed offering to the Lord.

Notice in verse 22, He ends this section, and when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not make clean riddance of the corners of your field when you reap. Neither shall you gather any glaining of your harvest. You shall leave them unto the poor and to the stranger. I am the Lord your God. So as you went around the field, you left those corners for the poor and for the stranger so they'd be able to eat. And it was tied to the Feast of Harvest and Ruth was a gleaner. And therefore, she's tied to the Feast of Pentecost. And it was interesting to look at her and to look at what she did in her life, which we'll do shortly. God's people are called the First Fruits. Several places in the New Testament, it talks about the First Fruits. Christ, of course, is the first of the First Fruits.

And it's fitting that God would give His Holy Spirit on a day of Pentecost, because that's what makes us His First Fruits, His Holy Spirit. Without that, we wouldn't be First Fruits. We wouldn't be a family like we are today. So Ruth has often read the piece of Pentecost, and it's a book about love and about kindness and about redemption. And it's about many of the laws of the Old Testament and the Old Covenant. And those laws actually truly describe a New Covenant with us, if we look at it carefully. Even though it shows those Old Testament laws, it describes the New Covenant. Ruth is about being redeemed just as Christ is our Redeemer and dying for us. And as you read this book, you should see God's hand in Ruth's life. Just as much as you should look at your own life and see God's hand in what He did for you in different aspects of your life. And realize that the things you think are bad may be good, and the things you think are good may be bad, because we look at it differently. And if you look at it how God's dealing with you, it should bring encouragement in your life. And special blessings in spite of any hardships that you may be going through.

Historically, the book of Ruth is set around 1100 BC toward the end of the period of the judges. It was interesting because during those period of time, they would end up disobeying God. Then they would pray to God, and God would send a Redeemer, a Samson, a Gideon, or Delilah, whoever. And he would have these men, and these women. Deborah was there. And they'd return to God, and then they'd go off again, be taken captive. And that would just up and down, that they would continually do, which was sad. But it's interesting because they never could stay close to God for any period of time. And when it came time for the time of Ruth, it's interesting. What is most peculiar about the book of Ruth is the fact that she was a Moabites.

Now, it's special because she ends up being part of the genealogy of God. Genesis 19, I'm not going to turn there, but it shows where the Moabites came from. They came from Lot. Now, if you want to talk about someone who had a bad start in life, Lot, of course, chose to live in Sodom and Gomorrah. The city is destroyed by God. His wife and his two daughters left with him, and his wife looked back longingly and turned into a pillar of salt. And so he flees to this small town, and his daughters, I don't know if they thought there were any men left on earth or what, but they wanted to bear a seat for their father. And so they got him drunk. And the first night, the older daughter slept with him, and she got pregnant. And the second night, the younger did, and she got pregnant. Turn to Genesis 19, if you would, because this isn't the way you'd want to start a family, and especially a nation, you'd think. But that's what his children did. Genesis 19, verse 36, we'll start there to show where they were. And again, Lot was Abraham's nephew. So both of the daughters of Lot were a child by their father. And the firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. Verse 38, the younger also bore a son and called his name Ben Ami, and he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.

So that's where the Moabites came from. Now, why is this special in Ruth's case? Let's look in Numbers, chapter 25.

A little bit more about Moab and how they dealt with Israel.

In Numbers, chapter 25, verse 1, it says, Israel lived in Shittim, and the people began to fornicate with the daughter of Moab. Now, this is not a good thing. You're conceived through incest, and now the children are committing fornication. And they called the people to the sacrifice of their God. And the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So now they're disobeying the Ten Commandments directly, having other gods. And Israel joined himself to Baal-Pior, and the anger of God was kindled against Israel because of the Moabites. Now, if you want to start with an unlikely person that you would think God would not be working with, it'd be someone of Moab. Because Ruth didn't grow up worshiping the God of Israel. Ruth grew up worshiping the gods of Moab. And she had a very tough genealogical history to overcome. So here it was. Also, the setting of the story is Bethlehem, where Christ the Redeemer would be born a thousand years, a little over a thousand years later. But it's interesting that Ruth was a foreigner. She was a Moabites. Her name is mentioned 12 times in the book. Five times it's not just Ruth, but Ruth the Moabites. And it's very specific about her non-Israelites heritage. And it's constantly stressed in the book. Her status was that of an alien. She was a stranger. She was not one of the covenant people. So we get this setting. And throughout the entire, especially chapter 2, we're constantly being reminded that this woman is not an Israelite. She does not come under the covenant. And why? Well, let's look at what the Moabites, what God said about them in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 23, if you turn there, there was a certain group of people that was totally excluded to be part of Israel at all. Deuteronomy 23 in verse 3, it says, "...an Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord." "...even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever." Why? Verse 4, "...because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor from Petor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all of your days forever." So how did Ruth end up in the congregation of Israel?

She shouldn't have, you'd think, because of what God said there. But God looks at things differently, like my wife, who was interested because she knew nothing about the church when she came to college. She almost failed out of college because she had no understanding of the Bible at all. And all the other classes she got A's in, but Bible classes were tough for her. It took a couple years to figure it out. But it was interesting because Dr. Torres, the dean of students, let her look at her file one day. And she looked at her file and she found out she was half gentile.

And she didn't know what that meant. So she came and asked me, she said, which half of him is gentile? And does that mean that I have to marry somebody who is half gentile? And I assured her it didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have her for a wife. But she didn't even know it was an insult, actually, that you were being a gentile from the standpoint of the way it was said at the time. But it was interesting because here's Ruth, the Moabites, definitely gentile. Deuteronomy, God said, don't let them in your camp forever. Don't let them prosper. Don't do anything. So how did Ruth get there? It's interesting because God accepted Ruth. And by the end of the book, she's lauded and praised as the great-grandmother of King David and in the genealogy of Christ, our Savior as well. And she's very fondly mentioned in Christ genealogy in Matthew, where she's specifically mentioned by name, along with Rahab the harlot, Ruth the Moabites, and it says, the wife of Uriah the Itite. The one Israelite in there didn't even get by name. It's interesting. So let's turn to Ruth chapter 1 and look at some of the things about Ruth and understand how God looks at people. It's interesting that there's a word in English we have for unkind people called Ruthless. Works in English, doesn't work in other languages, but Ruth is a kind person. Ruth 1 verse 1, it says, it came to pass in the days from the judges' rule, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Why was there a famine in the land? In the times of the judges, there were so many things that Israel did that simply turned from God that God removed his blessings. This is a famine caused by God. He allowed famines and other disasters to bring the people back to him. It would appear that he may have caused this to happen just so the story could unfold. Verse 2, the name of the man was a limalek. Limalek means the God king. And the name of his wife Naomi, which means prosperity or sweetness. And the name is two sons, Malon and Chileon, Epithites of Bethlehem Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and they continued there. And a limalek, Naomi's husband, died and she was left, her with her two sons. I can relate to that because my dad died when I was three, if my mom had two sons. Verse 4, it says, they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth, and they dwelled there about 10 years. So they were there for quite a while in this land of Moab, where probably they shouldn't have gone. But God was working out a plan. And it says, Malon and Chileon died, both of them. And the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

She probably thought, wow, is this the curse of Moab that God put on me? Verse 6, she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab. She had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord Yahweh, the covenant God, had visited His people and gave them bread. The famine was over. God seemed to have caused the famine, and now He's later caused prosperity to return to the land. And He's going to make Naomi and her family move back to Bethlehem without any of the men, without her husband or out her two sons.

That would leave Bo as a type of Christ to redeem her later in the story. God seemed to work all this out, just like He works out things in your life, just like He may have sent that envoy to Michelle's parents. So she would end up at the college learning about God.

So in verse 7, it says, she went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. And they went on their way and returned to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each of you to your mother's house. May God deal kindly with you. As you have dealt with the dead and with me. Her daughters had been kind to her. And she was going to ask God, the covenant God, to bless them, because these two Moabite women were still with her, trying to help her, in spite of their husbands being dead and their dead father-in-law. And so she did what was right. They had done what was right, and she wanted to bless them. And she says in verse 9, May God grant you that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband. You'd marry someone else that'd be kind to you. And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, Surely we'll return with you to your people. And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Are there yet sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? You know the law that firstborn died, the second would take the wife. And if she died, then had no seed. Or if he died, then another. So you'd have the generation. So the Jubilee would go back in the family. The land would go back. It was part of the laws. And she's telling them, Are you going to wait? Obviously, they're probably in their late 20s by now, because they've been living there 10 years. They married the sons. And so they're young women. Are they going to wait for her to have a baby if she could? And she says, Are there yet sons in my womb that can be your husbands? And yet, will you wait even? She says, I'm too old to have a husband. If I should say and have hope, should I have a husband tonight? Should there be bare sons? Would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you shut yourselves up and not have a husband? No, my daughters, it makes me sad for your sakes that the hand of God has gone against me. Curse of Moab. God's against me. He's punished us. That's her thoughts. It's often our thoughts sometimes when things go wrong.

And maybe it's not. And they lifted up their voices and wept again. Verse 14, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Ruth still isn't going to go. She's going to do her duty. And she said to Naomi, Your sister-in-law has gone to her daughter Ruth. Your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. Look at the example we have here of Ruth's conversion in verse 16. Ruth says to her, Entreat me not to leave you. Do not ask me to do this or to turn back from following after you, for wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God my God. And where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried. And listen to this strong oath she makes. The Lord God do so to me, and more also if anything but death, part you and me. Strong oath. Naomi, when she saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, quit speaking to her. Didn't bring it up again. After that oath, she knew Ruth wasn't going to go. It's interesting because Ruth was a woman, not only a woman. She couldn't become part of Israel by circumcision, which is what the men could do. She couldn't enter the congregation of Israel, but what she did do is make a solemn oath.

An oath to Naomi. She renounced her gods and she renounced her people. And she said that she would follow Naomi wherever she went. Remember, Naomi is the type of the church. Your people and all the members of your church, your country, will be my people. I've left my people. I've taken your people as my people. And most importantly, I have taken your God to be my God. A very strong statement on Ruth, the Moabites. Verse 19, we continue the story. Both of them went until they came to Bethlehem, where she was from. And it happened when they'd come to Bethlehem, all the city was moved about them. And they said, is this Naomi who left 10 years before? And she said to them, do not call me Naomi, which is pleasant or sweetness. Call me Mara, which means bitter. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. God didn't like me. I went the wrong way. And I've been hurt. I went out full, verse 21, and God has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi? Since God has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.

Sometimes we go through trials, we feel the same way. Affliction from God.

Verse 22, so Naomi returned. And here we go, and Ruth the Moabites, her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. It's the barley harvest that begins right after the wave sheaf offering is made. So she's returning right after Pentecost. The day after the Sabbath, during 11 bread, or after 11 bread, in the beginning of the count of Pentecost. Excuse me on that one. Remember, they cut the wave sheaf offering and offered it to God on the Sunday after the Sabbath, during 11 bread. It was only after the barley harvest in the field that they could harvest a new grain. It starts that season. So now Ruth and Naomi have returned to Israel, just as the barley harvest season has begun. And now we're going to be introduced to Boaz. A type of Christ, the Redeemer. Our Redeemer.

Verse 1, there was a relative of Naomi's husband, a man of great wealth, and of the family of Alimelech. Alimelech means God as king. And his name is Boaz. Boaz means in him his strength. Interesting the names of these people. Verse 2, so Ruth the Moabites said to Naomi, Please let me go to the field and glean the heads of grain after him and whose side I might find favor. She doesn't know where she's going to go, but she knows she's going to go glean somewhere and get some food for her and Naomi so that they'd have something to eat. And try to find someone's favor to help her and her mother-in-law.

Verse 2, Naomi says to her, Go, my daughter. She left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come upon a part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was the family of Alimelech. Now it says she happened upon this, but I often wonder, does she really just chance upon Boaz's field? Or did God lead her there? God's like that. He doesn't tell you what he's doing. He tends to work in those strange ways like that. Was he working with her because he wanted to bring these two together? Did he recognize the qualities in Ruth? Did Boaz a type of Christ? He all wants us to learn something from all the things that happened to us. Did he want his son to come from this line of people, these two people? It's interesting because we know that no man can come to God except the Father draws him. Was God drawing these people together? When God calls you, I don't know anybody that God has just come down and said, Hi, there. I'm God. I want you to come into my church. Go this way. It doesn't happen that way. You hear something, usually you're arguing with it. Usually you're trying to prove something's wrong.

We don't really hear voices, and if you hear voices, people will think there's something wrong with you. But these are not random acts in Ruth's life, I don't believe. Just like I don't believe the things that happened in my life or my wife's are random acts. I don't necessarily think the envoy that she got was a random act in that. But this was meant to be, and God was working with these people. Let's notice all the things that Boaz does for Ruth in meeting her. Verse 4, Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, The Lord be with you. Interesting, the word, Immanuel, means God with us, and he wants God to be with them. And Boaz said to his servants, who were in charge of the reapers, Whose young woman is this? Reaping in the field.

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.

This is interesting, too. The servant who was in charge of the reapers. Boaz has people in charge of his reapers.

Leaders are necessary to reap, to harvest, even for the spiritual health of the church, while we have physicians, deacons, and elders in the church.

In verse 7, she says, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.

What she did here is ask for the lowest position in Israel. Remember, for the poor and for the stranger. They were the gleaners. And she was saying, Please may I glean behind your reapers. According to the law, they had to leave the corners of the field for gleaning. And she knew that.

But Boaz is letting her glean. Not only glean there, but among the sheaves. Can I glean among your reapers?

There's nothing that says the people had to allow them to glean among the sheaves.

But she asked for the lowest seat. Let me be a gleaner. So she came and continued from morning until now. He goes on, though she rested a little while in the house.

Boaz, in verse 8, says to Ruth, Do you not hear my daughter? Do not go glean in another field, neither go away from here. Stay close to my maidens. So Boaz is asking her, Stay in this field. Stay near my people. And Boaz says, Listen to me, hear me.

Just like Christ says, My sheep will hear my voice.

In Ruth 2, verse 9, Boaz says, Let your eyes be on the fields that they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men that they should not touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Stay here, Boaz is saying. Don't go to glean in other fields, but stay by my servants and my young women. When you are thirsty, drink from the vessels that my men have drawn. I am going to give you water.

It is interesting, the parallel between the two, verse 9, you can keep your hand there and go to John 7, verse 37. We'll go back to where we were. John 7, verse 37. Jesus stood and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, and those believing in him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. God wants us to drink freely of his spirit. He wants us to drink freely of his spirit. He wants us to drink freely of his spirit. He wants us to drink freely of his spirit. God wants us to drink freely of his water, his spirit.

How does this water benefit Ruth? Natalie gives her refreshment. It gives her encouragement. It gives her strength. It enables her to do more gleaning than she might other do, if she had to go draw the water herself and do those things. And it also enabled her to have constant contact with Boaz.

She did not have to go back to town to get drinks. It was right there in the field. She did not have to go away from Boaz to get water. She was able to stay right there among the other reapers, blaners, and the young men. Be refreshed and strengthened and helped. This is where refreshment is strengthened by God's Holy Spirit. It was given in the day of Pentecost and given to you of baptism. She would stay right there and have everything she needed. Boaz supplied the food. He supplied the drink. He supplied the work. He supplied himself. Just as Christ did for us.

Go back to Ruth, verse 10 of chapter 2.

After hearing Boaz, Ruth falls on her face, bows down to the ground, and says to him, Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?

We say that to Christ sometimes. Why did you notice me? She knew Boaz did not have to do this for her. He gave her all these additional blessings. Is that not a type of Christ and what he's given us?

Verse 11, Boaz answers her and says, Listen to this, It has been fully shown to me all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. And you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people who you did not know before now. And he saw the works of Ruth. Remember what Naomi had said? You have done all these things, these good things for the living and the dead? And Boaz was saying that. May God deal kindly with you, Naomi had said. And Boaz says, It has been fully shown, fully shown to me all the kind things you have done for your family. And this is his answer to why he blessed her. Even though she was a foreigner, a people you did not know. Yet she had been doing her obligation to God. An obligation many people in Israel, that supposedly knew God, hadn't done for their parents, their in-laws.

But she was doing it. Verse 12, The Lord would pay you for your work, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. You came to seek God.

And then Ruth says, verse 13, 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. Again, she's a foreigner. She's a Moabite, not of the Lamb. And she was also a woman, which didn't help in that society either. Verse 14, Boaz says to her, At mealtime, come here and eat of the bread, and dip your bit in the vinegar, and sit beside the reapers. And he handed her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and left.

It's interesting now. She's sitting with the reapers. She's not a gleaner now. She's up with the reapers. Boaz has brought her up. He passed grain directly to her, and she ate and was satisfied. Her Master is serving her, just as Christ serves us, and gives us spiritual food. In verse 15, And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded these young men, saying, Let her glean, even among the sheaves. Don't rebuke her. Don't stop her. And also, let fall with the handfuls on purpose for her. Drop some grain. Make it easier for her. Help her out.

And it's interesting. Verse 17, So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephile barley. So now she's going to go back to Naomi, and is going to tell her what happened in that field that she went out to look at by chance, to find favor somewhere. Verse 21, Ruth the Moabite has said, He said also to me, You shall stay close to my young men, until they have finished my harvest.

So she did not say, not only did he say, Stay in my field and glean among my reapers, but also stay here for the entire harvest. Not just one day, one week, but the entire season.

God wants us through our entire season, our entire life. He wants to harvest us. You may have begun gleaning, but He wants to harvest us. Verse 22, Naomi says to her daughter-in-law, Good my daughter, go out with his maidens, so that they do not fall upon you in any other field. You have to wonder, was it unsafe somewhere else? As a Moabite is what she had been taken advantage of, belittled.

But Ruth listened to her mother-in-law. Ruth is a type of the Christian, staying with her mother-in-law, a type of the church, and looking to Boaz, a type of Christ, for her sustenance.

God has called us. He has given us permission to glean in His fields, to partake of His Spirit. And our future in His family.

He admonishes her not to stray from His field, meaning to stay in the church, stay with the people, do not leave the house of God.

He says to stay among His young women, meaning fellowship is very important. Stay by there. They'll help you. They'll protect you. They might correct you and admonish you. But it's for your good. It's the best place to be. With God's people.

Notice Hebrews 10, verse 25.

Boaz is saying, Stay with my people. In Hebrews 10, verse 25, it states, Not forsaking the assembly of yourselves together, us is the manner of some. But enduring one another, and so much the more, as we see the day approaching. We're supposed to assemble. We're supposed to be here. I feel sorry for those who have chosen to stay at home alone. It's sad. I know there's some that have to, because of health and various reasons, but there's so many people who have gotten discouraged, because, sadly, the things that have happened in the Church, some of the hypocrisy, some of the people that wanted power, various things that happened, that I've seen in my 60 years and read for 2,000 years since the Church began. There have always been people like that, sadly. But He wants us to assemble.

Malachi 3.16, another place where God talks about those who feared the Lord, spoke one to another. And the Lord listened and heard them, so a book of remembrance is written. It says there, for those who fear Him, and those who meditate on His name. It's time for Ruth to stay with those reapers, assembling and speaking and working together with them. Just as we need to stay in the Church, to have the encouragement and support of each other to help one another.

Now, the wheat harvest usually ended about Pentecost time, and it was during this 50-day period that He harvested the barley, and then the wheat. And Ruth is staying in Boaz's field all this time. And we look at everything that Boaz is doing for Ruth, without telling her. He didn't tell her, well, I'm going to have the men drop all this extra grain for you. Christ doesn't always tell us what He's doing for us.

That there's extra grain here and there. A job, perhaps. A house that you get unexpectedly, at a good price. It's interesting, without telling her, He set it up so she can succeed. Does God do that for us? How much do we actually do, I wonder, sometimes in our life? How much has God done because of His love and His grace toward us?

Let's go to chapter 3 of Ruth.

Naomi again says to Ruth, her daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, so it may be well with you?

You need to have a family. In verse 2, is not Boaz of our kindred, who he is with, the maidens your worth? Behold, he winnows barley tonight in the threshing floor. Therefore, wash yourself, anoint yourself, and put your clothing upon you, and go down to the floor.

Again, we should clean up as we go before God and progress toward Him. And she says to him, do not make yourself known to the man until he's finished eating and drinking. And when he lies down, mark the place where he lies, and you shall go in and uncover his feet and lie down, and then he'll tell you what to do. Now, if my wife would have done that in college, we'd have both gotten kicked out.

But, and I can't imagine my mother-in-law telling my wife to do something like that, too. But she did. She listened to her mother-in-law. And I can imagine he was really married, because if you don't know a woman, she's lying at your feet, and you probably were pretty happy with the drinking and the harvesting.

And verse 6, it says, she went down to the grain floor and did, according to their mother-in-law, what she had told her. She did it. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was merry, and very merry, I may add, he went to lie down at the end of the heap, and she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. And as it happened at midnight, the man trembled and turned himself, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. Now that was a shock. And he said, Who are you?

And she answered, I am your handmaid, Ruth. You shall spread your skirt over your handmaid, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.

Remember the law in Israel said that someone of the family had to redeem someone without children.

And then he, Boaz, in verse 10, 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 do not go after young men, whether poor or rich.

She probably was a pretty lady, and young, but she was taking care of her mother-in-law. She was not trying to take care of herself.

And Boaz saw that.

Boaz is saying, Ruth, a foreigner, had fulfilled the law about love, God's law of love, love your neighbor as yourself. She had asked him to redeem her. She had done what the law stated, even though she was a foreigner. And Boaz had shown abundant kindness along the way, and so Boaz answers her in verse 11. Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do all that you ask, for all the city of my people know that you are a woman of virtue.

You keep the laws better than the Israelites that should be keeping it. Better than the men and women of Judah. And all the world, the people there know that.

And it's true, I am a kinsman redeemer, but there is also a kinsman nearer than I am. Stay tonight, and it shall be in the morning. If he will redeem you, well, if he redeems it, but if he does not delight to redeem you, as God lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.

And she laid his feet until morning, and rose up before anyone would know one another, so it was still dark. No one would know she was there.

And he tells her, do not let it be known that the woman came to the floor.

In verse 15, also he said, bring the veil on you and hold it. And she held it, the scarf out there, and he measured out six measures of barley and laid it on her. And she went into the city. He had filled the scarf so she could take food back to Naomi. When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, who are you, my daughter?

It must have still been pretty dark. And Ruth told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, these six measures of barley he gave to me. For he said to me, do not go empty to your mother-in-law.

Verse 18, Naomi said, sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall. For the man will not rest until he has finished this thing today.

She knew the law. Is that not like Christ? When he said, I'm not going to drink of the vine until this is fulfilled. Until I get it done and I'll drink it new in my father's kingdom. The same Christ, who we can be comforted by, knowing that he's going to complete the work in us. That's what we're told in Philippians.

Ruth was a beautiful woman in character.

Boaz thought it a great honor that she had come to ask him to redeem her. Ruth, the Moabites, the foreigner.

She'd gone above and beyond. Like Boaz said, you've done more now than when you came in. The end is more than the beginning. In her desire to follow God, to be the same people, Christ would love to see us go above and beyond to show more of God's fruit at the end than we did at the beginning. And often he talks about our first love being greater than it wears off. He doesn't want it to wear off. He wants us to grow and zeal. That first love that Ruth continued all the time she was there.

Boaz is feeding her. Jesus says, I'm the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger. When Ruth went to Boaz, she never hungered.

Chapter 4 shows the redemption of Naomi and Ruth. Now the Redeemer, the near kinsmen. It's interesting, because Israel became God's by redemption as well. God redeemed them out of Egypt. And they could trust Him to deliver them. And we can count on God to deliver us from whatever we think might be wrong. Don't call me pleasant. Call me bitter. I've been cursed. No. God's working out something to make your life the way He wants you to be. To test you. See if you truly trust Him. Or you're going to run after others. Chapter 4, verse 1. Boaz went up to the gate and sat down. And behold, the kinsmen of whom Boaz spoke came by. And he said, Such are one. Turn aside. Sit down here. And the man turned and sat down.

And then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Come, sit down here. And they sat down. He was bringing witnesses to see this together. And he said to the kinsmen, Naomi, who has come again out of the country of Moab, is selling a parcel land, which was our brother, Elimelechs. She's going to sell it. And I said, I will tell it in your ear, saying, buy it before those who live here. Before the elders of my people. And if you will redeem it, then redeem it. You can buy it. Cheers. But if you will not redeem it, tell me that I may know. For there is none to redeem besides you, and I'm after you. And so this man says, I'll redeem it. Land is very valuable. I want that land. Hey, I'm the first one on land. I can buy this land. I can get it from Naomi. I want the land. Yes, oh, goody, goody.

And Boaz, in verse 5, then says, wait a minute.

Boaz says, in the day that you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy also the hand of Ruth of Moab, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. Ooh, I hadn't thought of that.

And the kinsman-redeemer said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. This Moabites and my family? You've got to be kidding.

You redeemed the right to yourself because I cannot redeem it.

He rejected her. Christ wants us. He doesn't reject us. He wants us. Verse 7, and this was the custom in former times in Israel, concerning redeeming and concerning changing, to confirm everything. A man plucked off his sandal and gave it to his neighbor, and this was a testimony in Israel.

Therefore, the kinsman said to Boaz, buy it for yourself. So he took off his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, your witnesses this day that I have bought all that was a limilex and all that was chileans and malons from the hand of Naomi. And also Ruth of Moab, the wife of Malon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, so the name of the dead may not be cut off for among his brothers and from the gate of this place. You are witnesses this day.

We are dead without Jesus Christ.

We're witnesses. And all the people in the gate and the elders said, we are witnesses. May God make this woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah for those who built the house of Israel, those two. And may you be blessed in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.

Keep your hand there. We'll go to Luke chapter 24.

Luke chapter 24 and verse 45. It says, Christ opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And He said to them, So it is written, and so it bethou Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. The repentance and remission of sin should be proclaimed in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Verse 48, And you are witnesses of these things. When you're redeeming, there's a witness involved. Christ had witnesses. They witnessed it. And behold, I send the promise of my Father to you. But you sit in the city of Jerusalem until your clothed with power from on a high, until the Spirit comes, until you're being fed. And He led them out as far as Bethany and lifted up His hands, and He blessed them. And as it happened, as He blessed them, He withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.

And worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with a great joy and continued in the temple, praising and blessing God. Their Redeemer had redeemed them by His death and by His resurrection.

To be a near kinsman, Boed had acted out exactly what the Old Testament kinsman Redeemer was about. His actions were based on the literate law. You can write down Deuteronomy 25 if you want to read it for yourself. Because the near kinsman had to be a blood relative to redeem. Christ became our brother physically by the virgin birth to become a human being.

The kinsman had to have money to purchase the forefoot inheritance.

Christ and God own everything. God gave His Son His life for our redemption. It's interesting, and we're witnesses. There are witnesses there, and we witness today.

God is often portrayed in the role of a kinsman because He's the Creator, the Redeemer, the Savior of His people. This is Boaz, the Savior of Ruth. The redemption from Egypt was not only an act of purchase, but also the action of a kinsman Redeemer, taking them out of slavery, whom the Egyptians kept in bondage. What did God say? Moses, I remembered my people and my covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I'll redeem you without stretched arms, and He did, and through the plagues on Egypt. God brings us out from under the bondage in our redemption. God accepted Ruth.

I'm sure there was talk about Ruth when she came there of this Moabites and how dare she be here, kind of like the Pharisees and the Sadducees talked against Christ when He did things. I'm sure she faced some talk. Even though people recognize that she was virtuous, she was still a Moabites. The nearest kinsman wouldn't take her.

It's not surprising that they would be skeptical, looking at foreigners coming to God, just like in the New Testament church. They were skeptical when Cornelius was brought into the church. Because this is Israel's God, the covenant people. But you see, God's covenant really is for everyone. He wants all mankind.

It's interesting the law of the old covenant forbades certain people to come worship, to assemble with God. Yet God accepted Ruth and accepts all the Moabites, quote-unquote, all mankind if they truly repent. They truly seek Him as their God and seek His people. God accepts those who fear Him and do what's right regardless. In Acts 10, verse 34, we read where Cornelius was there. What does Peter say after Cornelius? The tongues of fire and the flames go and the Holy Spirit's there. And Peter says, "...of a truth I perceive God is no respecter or persons, but in every nation that fears Him and works righteousness, those people are accepted by Him." That's Acts 10, verse 34. God's Spirit has been available to us from the first Pentecost after Christ's resurrection, after His redeeming us, to all who truly repent and are baptized.

That's why Ruth is read at Pentecost. It's an annual reminder that God poured out His Spirit to establish His Church.

He redeemed us. He saves us.

Turn to Ephesians 2.

It's Ephesians 2, verse 11. It says what we all are in reality until God calls us. Ephesians 2, verse 11. Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, Paul writing to the Ephesians, who are called uncircumcision by that which is circumcision, was made in the flesh by hands. At that time, you were without Christ. You didn't have a Boaz. You didn't have a Redeemer. Being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the cabinets of promise, your Moabites, Ammonites, people who shouldn't be there. Having no hope and without God in this world.

Before Ruth met Naomi, she had no clue about Israel. Or Israel's God. She was a Gentile. She was a foreigner. She was an alien from the Covenant. She was on the outs altogether.

She was like Michelle. She didn't know anything about the true God and His people. Verse 13, But now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, paid the price, redeeming us.

Drop earlier in the chapter to verse 4. The God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with why He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved. We have been saved by grace and raised up us together, making us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace.

Think of all those things that Boaz heaped on Ruth, without her even knowing it. And think of the things that God gives toward us. In His kindness. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us and Christ Jesus. We were like Ruth, undeserving of becoming one of God's children. We were estranged from the covenant. We weren't His people. But He took us in His mercy and put us into His church.

Remember that God called the Gentiles. Who was called here in Israel to be part of Christ's lineage? Ruth, the Moabites, was joined to His church. Church in the wilderness, Israel.

And then she strived to strongly fulfill the terms of the covenant, to do what the law demanded. It was right. And she married an Israelite. And Boaz, the type of Christ, we do the same thing.

We make a solemn baptism. We become betrothed to Christ. We claim God. We claim that redemption. It wipes away our past.

And it clears us. And we become part of His family, part of the congregation. And we're at one with the rest of the body, meeting together the Israel of God, part of the God family, the God who is King, Helemalak, family, family of Boaz. Ruth was an Israelite because of her character.

That's what she was. Her character made her special.

She was more Israelite in her character than many of the rest of Israel were.

And it's interesting. God saw that. When did He see it? Did He see it in her as a little girl? I don't know. It doesn't really say. I'm turning back to Ruth, verse 12.

Or, Ruth 4.

Verse 13, let's start there. Boaz took Ruth. She was his wife. And when he went into her, God made her conceive. And she bore a son.

And the woman said to Naomi, the woman who said, Call me Mara. I've been cursed by God. Bitter.

The woman said to Naomi, Blessed be God who has not left you this day without a Redeemer, so that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be to you as a restorer of life, as one who cheers your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, has borne him she who is better to you than seven sons.

I've read that scripture to my daughter. Those who prized sons over daughters.

Naomi took the child and laid in her bosom and became a nurse to it. And the women or neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed. He's the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The line of Christ. Ruth. The Moabites. Boaz, who had no problem taking her to his wife, just as Christ had no problem in calling you and taking you and making you part of his family. In those events that we often think are a curse, are often a blessing. Because God knows what he's building in you, the character he's making. Christ has no problem making us his bride when we repent and we receive his Spirit. The past is forgotten. Ruth actually shows that in God's sight, conversion to God's true religion is incomparably more important than your genealogy, than your race, whether you're black or white or brown or yellow.

It's irrelevant because God is going to save the whole world, not just Israel.

But those Gentiles who have been physically not part of the covenant, they had the door open to them. If they truly turn toward God, they would be the only ones who were in the covenant. We have hope as long as we're in God's church, as long as we don't turn like Orpah, back to her gods and her people.

By sin, we forfeit our inheritance, but Christ laid down his life of his own free will. Boaz had to do this of his own free will. He didn't have to do it. The first kinsman didn't. Christ did it, to redeem us.

The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, nearly 2,000 years ago.

And he made us a family, the body of Christ. It doesn't matter what race or gender we are, that everyone who receives God's Holy Spirit is a member of that family. You and I are brothers and sisters. We're family. Because he redeemed us and made us that. Ruth made herself ready.

She gave up her people. She purified herself. She accepted God as her God. And she accepted Israel as her brothers and sisters in her family. Let's use God's Holy Spirit today to make ourselves have the love of God for each other. And to respect and honor our Redeemer. Our Redeemer.