There is a Redeemer (Ruth 3)

Many of you have heard the story of the monk who became a

reformer, Martin Luther. But have you heard the story of

how he married a runaway nun? It was the 16th century.

At that time, it was extremely dangerous to disavow the

monastic life. But after hearing Martin

Luther's teachings, 12 nuns requested help to escape their

monastery. So Luther orchestrated their

escape and tried to return them to their families.

These nuns, or you could say fugitives, tried to return to

their families because they were entirely dependent on their

family's willingness to help them.

But if they couldn't return to their families, they tried to

get married. And one nun couldn't return to

her family, nor could she find a husband.

That one nun was Katarina von Bora.

So no support from her family. Can't find a husband.

She had two failed proposals, so she wrote and informed Martin

Luther and his friend Nicholas von Amsdorf.

She said that she would only marry one of them.

That's a bold proposal even for standards today, especially for

the 16th century. But Luther, who helped her

escape, felt responsible to care for her.

And on May 4th, 1525, Luther wrote in a letter to his

brother-in-law. If I can manage it before I die,

I will marry my Katie to spite the devil.

Luther said challenge accepted, let's get married.

And they were married. A former monk and a former nun.

Married June 13th, 1525. Today in the book of Ruth, we

hear an even bolder proposal. Turn in your Bible to Ruth

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. If you didn't bring a Bible,

just raise your hand. It'd be helpful to follow along.

Somebody will bring you a Bible right now.

Raise your hand and you can follow along in God's Word.

And if you don't own a copy, let that be our gift to you.

Ruth chapter 3. We've been considering a small

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

town story of the little town of Bethlehem.

There one family face, bitter Providence, famine, 3 funerals,

infertility, and yet we've seen that God was subtly working

behind the scenes. He was working for their good,

providing them food, bringing them barley.

He was working for the nation's good, providing the nation of

Israel, eventually a king in David.

We've even seen that he's working in the book of Ruth for

our good, providing us what we need, a Redeemer.

As I read Ruth chapter 3, hear the word of the Lord.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should

I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?

Is not Boaz our relative with whose young woman you were?

See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

Wash therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your cloak

and go down to the threshing floor.

But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished

eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe

the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and

lie down, and he will tell you what to do.

And she replied, All that you say I will do.

So she went down to the threshing floor, and did just as

her mother-in-law had commanded her.

And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry,

he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.

Then she came softly and uncovered his feet, and lay

down. At midnight the man was startled

and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet.

He said, Who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth your

servant. Spread your wings over your

servant, for you are of Redeemer.

And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord.

My daughter, you have made this last kindness greater than the

first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or

rich. And now, my daughter, do not

fear, I will do for you all that you ask for.

All my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

And now it is true that I am a Redeemer.

Yet there is a Redeemer nearer than I remain tonight and in the

morning. If He will redeem you, good, let

him do it. But if not, but if he is not

willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem

you. Lie down until the morning.

So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one

could recognize another. And he said, Let it not be known

that the woman came to the threshing floor.

And he said, Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.

So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and

put it on her. Then she went into the city, and

when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, How did

you fare, my daughter? Then she told her all that the

man had done for her, saying these six measures of barley he

gave to me. For he said to me, you must not

go back empty handed to your mother-in-law.

She replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter

turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter

today. If you read chapter 3 before

this morning, maybe you've been meditating on it this week.

You might have wondered a few questions, like what exactly

does Naomi ask her daughter Lauder to do in verses 1 to 5?

Is she asking her to do what it seems like she's asking her to

do? Or what exactly goes down at the

threshing floor between Ruth and Boaz in verses 6 to 13?

These are important questions. I intend to answer them, but I

don't want you to miss the message of chapter 3.

Church, there is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son.

Rest in your Redeemer. That's where we're going.

Rest in your Redeemer and help us get there.

Here's three points. First point 1A, Bold act of

faith, verses 1 to 5, Chapter 3 begins with Naomi's bold

initiative. Look at verse one.

Naomi asked Ruth, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you,

that it may be well with you? Naomi seeks rest for Ruth, that

is, she seeks a husband and a home.

She seeks provision and protection and after how God's

supernatural and subtle Providence provided in chapter

2, who do you think comes first to Naomi's mind?

Ruth just happened to come to the field of Boaz in chapter 2.

Boaz just happened to come from Bethlehem, and Boaz just

happened to be one of their redeemers.

In verse 2, Naomi naturally asks, is not Boaz our relative

with whose young women you were? And next Naomi makes a plan.

But before we look at her plan, do you remember from chapter 1

her prayer flip back to chapter 1 quickly.

Verse 9, see Naomi's prayer for Ruth.

The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you, in the House

of her husband. Naomi previously prayed for the

Lord to provide rest for Ruth, and now Naomi plans to help

answer her own prayer tonight. For tonight, Boaz is winnowing

barley. During the harvest, barley was

tossed into the breeze with a winnowing fork.

The wind would separate the stalk from the chaff and all

this would happen at the threshing floor.

So Naomi commands Ruth to act. Listen to how the verbs Dr. the

narrative. Verse 3 Wash, anoint yourself,

put on your cloak, go down to the threshing floor.

Don't make yourself known. Verse 4 observe.

Go uncover his feet, lie down. Naomi's saying, Ruth, tonight I

don't want you to take a shower. Put on some good perfume.

Get dressed. Go to the threshing floor.

Remain secret. Wait till Boaz is asleep.

Uncover his feet. Lie down next to him.

Now is a good time to answer that question, That lingering

question. What exactly does Naomi ask her

daughter-in-law to do? Is she asking her to do what it

seems like she's asking her to do?

And to understand, we need to make sense of a few facts,

because this is a tricky text. The fact, first fact, fact #1

the author explicitly states Boaz and Ruth's godly character.

That's been explicit. Boaz is a worthy man.

Chapter 2. He's a man of moral courage, a

man who protects and provides meaning you can go to his fields

and not fear for your safety. He's godly.

And Ruth, Ruth's godliness was the talk of the town in chapter

2. Everybody was talking about the

fact that she's from Moab, but that she's taking refuge in the

God of Israel. You could say, as we just read,

she's a Proverbs 31 woman. She's godly.

They're both godly people. That's what the author

explicitly states. But fact 2, the author

implicitly presents Naomi's heart change.

Remember chapter 1, Naomi did leave the Lord.

She departed the promised land for Moab, but after bitter

Providence, she returned. She repented.

The author made that explicit 12 times in chapter 1, saying

return, return, return. And remember.

She did lament in chapter 1, but her lament turned to praise in

chapter 2 as she began to see the kindness of God who is

providentially providing barley through Boaz.

She physically returned to the Lord in chapter 1, and now it

seems she's trusting him even more in chapter 3.

In other words, I think the Naomi of chapter 3 right now is

different from the Naomi of chapter 1.

She's had a heart change. But there's a third fact, and

this is what makes this text tricky.

Fact 3 The author uses words that can imply sexual activity

in some contexts. The word no in verse 3 and the

words uncover and feet and lie down in verse 4 can refer to

sexual activity. Also the harvest and the

threshing floor were often associated with fertility.

And honestly, if you just read it, it just takes a little bit

of common sense to see what could happen here.

Here's the recipe. Midnight.

Two people alone after someone's been drinking, lying down next

to each other. That's a recipe for disaster.

So how do we put all this together?

I could be wrong here, but based on Naomi's current faith in the

Lord, I don't think she's being reckless or foolish or risque in

her request to Ruth. In other words, I don't think

Naomi falls into ungodly pragmatism where the ends

justify the means. Naomi knows Boaz's character.

She knows Ruth's character. If Naomi were even asking Ruth

to sin based on Ruth's godliness, I don't think Ruth

would have responded the way she does in verse 5.

Verse 5, All that you say I will do.

Remember Chapter 1? Ruth was not afraid to go

against her mother-in-law. She did it three times in

chapter 1. So what then is Naomi asking?

She's boldly asking Ruth to take a risk after all.

Remember the context, Ruth. Chapter one, verse one.

These are the days when the judges ruled midnight on the

threshing floor after eating and drinking was ordinarily not the

place for a young woman. This plan was not normal

practice in Israel. Most of you, I presume, shower

or take a bath every day or every week at the least.

I hope that was not normal practice in daily Israel.

Some of you wear perfume or you wear deodorant at least.

That also was not normal practice in ancient Israel.

It wasn't normal practice, but it was a bold plan.

A plan for Ruth to propose, to signal to Boaz that she wanted

to get married. It was a plan for Ruth to find

rest, rest in a Redeemer. It was a bold act of faith.

Ruth is a book about God's Providence.

Providence, that wonderful doctrine that God himself

constantly cares for creation. God, who is most holy and wise

and powerful, is absolutely sovereign over everything.

He's in charge of every matter. He's the orchestrator of all

things. He's the director behind the

scenes. So you may wonder why, if that's

the case, should I do anything? Perhaps you've thought, if God's

going to do everything he wants either way, what difference does

it make if I do anything? Or perhaps you've not thought

that, but if you look back on your life, when you've learned

about the Providence of God, it's actually produced

passivity. Sitting back, relaxing.

Brothers and sisters, don't let the sovereignty of God be an

excuse for your inaction. Divine sovereignty and human

responsibility are compatible. We should not separate friends

Providence. That's God's job.

Prayer and planning, those are our jobs.

In fact, divine Providence doesn't preclude prayer or

planning. Now, as you think about God's

Providence and prayer and planning, first read God's Word.

We're going to see in the second point that Naomi's actually

acting based on the law of Israel.

Read God's Word and then pray and plan accordingly.

Plan boldly by faith. Like Katarina proposing to

Martin Luther to marry her. That's bold.

Like the Apostle Paul scheming to get the gospel to people in

Spain who've never heard the name of Jesus Christ.

Like so many of you who strategize and scheme about how

to share the gospel with your family and with your friends,

plan boldly. Pray boldly by faith.

Like the widow who persisted in prayer over and over again,

crying out for justice. Or like Paul's friend Epaphras,

who Paul said he always struggles on behalf of you in

his prayers, like so many of you who have been persevering in

prayer for weeks, months, years for the salvation of that family

member or that friend. When you rightly understand God

and his Providence, you shouldn't be passive.

God will actually use His Providence to encourage you to

produce bold faith, a faith that plans and praise and and Naomi's

a good example of that here. Verses one to five, she has bold

faith point #2A godly Redeemer. Verses 6 to 13, a godly

Redeemer. Starting in verse 6, Ruth obeys

Naomi. She stealthily goes to the

threshing floor. She watches Boaz eat and drink.

She observes where he lies down. Then she softly uncovers his

feet and lays down next to him. And look what happens in verse

8. At midnight, the man was

startled and turned over. And behold, a woman lay at his

feet. Parents, you know what this is

like. You're asleep.

Maybe you hear the door open, Sir.

You're wondering what is there someone in the room staring at

me? You open your eyes and there's a

child. Behold, with a request.

And how do you respond? How would Boaz respond?

What happens next takes place between two individuals in the

dead of night with no witnesses. Ruth takes a risk, and perhaps

you're wondering what exactly goes down at the threshing floor

between Ruth and Boaz. Remember the godly character of

Boaz and Ruth? Naomi's plan only works if both

participants fear the Lord, and we're relieved to find that Boaz

and Ruth are the same in the dead of night as they were in

broad daylight. They're the same in public as

they are here in private. In other words, Ruth does not

seduce Boaz. To be clear, no sexual

immorality takes place at the threshing floor.

So why then, you may wonder, does the author suggest the

possibility of sexual immorality?

Why is there this narrative tension?

Why use these certain words leading up to this point?

I think one reason is because Moabites had a reputation for

seducing Israelites. In fact, the last time an

Israelite man encountered A Moabite woman in the Bible is

Numbers 25, Numbers 25. The Moabite women seduced the

Israelite men and 24,000 drop dead because of God's judgment.

We the readers are left wondering here.

Will tonight be the same? But another reason the author

suggests the possibility of sexual morality is because of

Israel's own dark history of deception.

In Genesis 19, Lot's own daughters seduce him under the

cover of darkness. That's how the Moabites become a

people through that seduction. Then in Genesis 38, Tamar tricks

her father-in-law, Judah. She covers herself with a veil.

She waits for him to pass by before presenting herself to him

as a prostitute. When Ruth arrives at the

threshing floor, the author suggests the possibility of

sexual morality. And so we the readers are left

wondering, will Ruth follow in the footsteps of her ancestors?

But look what happens in verse 9.

Boaz wakes up and he asks, who are you?

And Ruth responds with her request.

I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your

servant, for you are a Redeemer. Before we consider Ruth's

request, do you remember Boaz's prayer from chapter 2?

Look back briefly at chapter 2, verse 12.

A full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel,

under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

In Boaz's prayer, the wings of the Lord depicted God as this

mother hen who's protecting and providing for his people.

Now Ruth turns to Boaz, and she requests that he spread his

wings here, meaning the corner of his garment over her to

protect her. In other words, Ruth requests

that Boaz be the answer to his own prayer.

You prayed for my blessing, Would you bless me?

You prayed for my refuge, Would you be my refuge?

Essentially, Ruth is asking Boaz, will you marry me?

That's a bold proposal. It was a surprise proposal. 11

years ago. I asked Hannah that very

question, not will you spread your wings over me?

I asked her, will you marry me? Just be clear.

And it was a surprise. But you know how it works

nowadays. It's a surprise.

But they they know it's coming. Like you've already talked about

it. That she knew I was going to ask

her to marry her, but the date was a surprise.

You know, when's it going to happen?

And you have to coordinate an engagement party and all that

stuff. You know, the basis of my

proposal was our mutual affection for one another.

I love you, you love me. We love the Lord.

We want to serve the Lord together.

Brothers, if you're married, many of you ask your wife that

very question, will you marry me?

And I'm sure you had a similar basis for your proposal.

Notice the basis of Ruth's appeal.

For you are a Redeemer. Not their love for one another,

not their affection for one another.

A covenant obligation. According to the law in

Leviticus 25, if a family member found themselves in debt and

sold into slavery or if their land was lost because they fell

on hard times, a Redeemer in the family was responsible for

paying for the price of their redemption.

The closer the family relationship, the larger the

obligation. By appealing to Boaz's covenant

obligation, Ruth not only proposes marriage.

Will you marry me? She's also making a request to

Boaz that he purchased a Limilex land, which includes caring for

Ruth's mother-in-law for Naomi. And so that's why in verse 10,

when Boaz responds, he says may you be blessed by the Lord.

And he tells her that this last kindness is greater than the

first. What's the first act of

kindness? It was Ruth's loyalty to her

mother-in-law. She clung to her mother-in-law.

She followed her, left behind her family and followed her all

the way to Bethlehem. And here it's a greater kindness

because Ruth is seeking marriage to provide for Naomi, and Boaz

knows that. In verse 11, Boaz comforts Ruth.

My daughter, do not fear. She took a risk.

Boaz says she'll be rewarded because everyone in Bethlehem

knows that she's a worthy woman. Here in the days of judges, A

worthy man has met a worthy woman.

But there's one complication. Verse 12 There is a Redeemer

nearer. Yet this isn't a big deal

because Boaz instructs Ruth to remain till the morning.

He says, if that brother won't redeem you, Boaz swears, as the

Lord lives. Verse 12 I will redeem you, He

assures her. In the Old Testament, the laws

of redemption were built on a foundational act of redemption

at the Exodus, when God rescued his people from slavery to

Egypt. So the Israelites, in light of

that salvation, were instructed how they were to treat one

another, to be kind, to be generous, to redeem one another

if they ever needed it. But even that great act of

redemption and the Israelites acts of redemption among one

another just pointed forward to a final act of redemption, a

greater exodus, the cross where God rescues sinners from their

slavery to sin. Friends, there is a Redeemer.

There is only one Redeemer. Everyone of us in this room

needs a Redeemer. We need redemption.

We need someone to save us from our sin, someone to buy us back

from the debt that we owe, someone to protect us from

death. The devil and from death itself.

And friends, there is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son.

Jesus, our Redeemer died on the cross for our redemption.

He rose from the grave and he'll return and we can call upon him

to fulfill his covenant obligations to sinners.

Flee from your sin. Seek rest that's only found in

Jesus. Believe in him.

He will not hesitate. He will gladly act, which is

what we see him do over and over again in the New Testament.

The unclean leper in Mark 1 asks Jesus, if you're willing, you

can make me clean and moves with pity.

Jesus responds, I am willing. The Canaanite woman in Matthew

15 comes to Jesus in great need. Have mercy on me.

She seeks rest for her daughter. She's content just to eat from

Israel's leftovers. She throws herself at Jesus feet

and Jesus blesses her. A woman great is your faith.

Let it be done for you as you desire.

Friend, Will not Jesus respond to you the same way if you

repent of your sins and boldly request your redemption?

Church, there is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son.

Praise the Lord, we have a Redeemer.

And if Jesus is our Redeemer, how should we then live?

What should mark us as a people? Well, there's two things from

this chapter that we see. One is godly character.

The second is mutual care. Godly character, mutual care.

We're going to park here for just a minute and reflect on

these two. Now.

First, I'm sorry to say that despite many sermons, Ruth has

nothing to teach us about dating.

Just want to clear the air. I would not commend any ladies

in the church who are looking for a spouse to follow Ruth's

example. Do not approach a man at

midnight. Do not go by yourself, do not

uncover his feet or lie down next to him.

No different contexts. But Ruth does have something to

teach us about godly character. And perhaps then I can make one

or two suggestions about dating if you're seeking a spouse, One,

be a godly person. 2 be attracted to godliness, godly

character. One of the amazing features of

the book of Ruth is the ordinary godliness of each individual.

These are the days when the judges ruled, when everyone did

what was right in their own eyes.

These are days of moral decline. And yet every character in the

book of Ruth reflects the kindness and the love of God.

Boaz and Ruth are the same in private as they are in public.

We should ask ourselves, is, is that true of us?

Boaz and Ruth are the same in the night as they are in the

day. We should ask of ourselves, is

that true of us? We cannot hide what we believe

about God. God sends us bitter Providence's

which are trials and troubles and tribulations, and they

reveal our theology. They reveal what we believe

about God, which is seen in our character.

Friends, you may not receive any applause for ordinary godliness.

Nobody's going to clap for you. Nobody will celebrate you.

Nobody's going to care even that you work hard when no one's

watching. Nobody might notice that you

privately check up on other members in the church who are

facing difficulties, or notice that you lead and care for your

family well, or that you read the Word with your kids, or that

you carefully hold every thought captive.

Nobody's going to notice even how you repent of sinful

desires, or that you're marked by private prayer.

You may not receive any applause for any of that in this world,

but in the eyes of God, your ordinary godliness is of great

value. The book of Ruth also also shows

us the great blessing of mutual care.

Think about the book of Ruth. Chapter 1.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

Ruth clings to Naomi to care for her.

Chapter 2, Ruth brings back her leftovers for Naomi.

Chapter 3, Naomi seeks rest for Ruth.

Ruth 3 · chapter mention

Chapter 3 Also, Ruth in return returns that kindness and seeks

provision for Naomi. The local church, God's people,

should be marked by mutual care. Let each of you, Paul says, look

not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of

others. Let no one seek his own good,

but the good of his neighbor. Bless others and let others

bless you. Serve others and let others

serve you. Now, is this simply kind of a,

hey, you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back.

Is this a I'll pray for you? Are you?

You're praying for me, or I'll bring you a meal because last

time you brought me a meal. Is that what's happening here?

Of course not. It's seeking the good of others

without guarantee of good in return.

It's treating others how you want to be treated even when

they don't treat you how you want to be treated.

It's pouring yourself out for the sake of others in this

church and trusting that God will use others to fill you up.

Brothers and sisters, when we do this faithfully, when we

ourselves are marked by godly character and we as a church are

marked by mutual care, we show the world that Jesus is our

Redeemer. Point #3 A call to wait.

Verses 14 to 18, A call to wait. Ruth returns home to Naomi, but

not before leaving with a blessing.

What's the blessing? Look at verse 15.

Boaz says bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.

So she held it out, and he measured out six measures of

barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city.

The blessing is barley. Now you probably don't care much

about barley, but Naomi who had lived through a famine, loved

barley. When Naomi, when Ruth returns to

Naomi, Naomi asks her verse 16, How'd you fare my daughter?

Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying

these six measures of barley he gave to me.

For he said to me, you must not go back empty handed to your

mother-in-law. Did you hear with the barley

came a blessing? You must not go back empty.

Empty. It's as if Boaz overheard

Naomi's bitter lament from chapter 1.

Do you remember her lament? The Lord has brought me back

empty. Of course, Boaz never heard that

prayer, but the Lord did. And the Lord fills Naomi's

emptiness with barley from Boaz once again.

Have you ever wondered reading the book of Ruth, why do each of

the first 3 chapters of Ruth end with barley?

Barley, barley, barley, barley. Why all the barley?

Chapter 1 ends with the beginning of barley harvest.

Chapter 2, an ephah of barley. Chapter 3-6 Measures of barley.

It's so much barley in Chapter 3 that Boaz has to place it on

Ruth. Why all the barley?

Maybe you're wondering that little bread.

To us it might seem insignificant, but to those in

need it's a lifeline. Barley's an indication, a little

one, that God's not forgotten his people, that though they

faced A bitter Providence he was providing for them.

Barley was an assurance from the Lord that he would not let Naomi

run on empty any longer. Naomi's empty days are over, and

Naomi is assured when she sees the barley and hears Boaz's

blessing. Naomi, who gave a smattering of

commands in verses 3 and 4, ends the chapter with just one.

It's a call to wait. Verse 18, Naomi says Wait my

daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out.

For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter.

Today all it takes to assure Naomi is a down payment of

barley that makes her trust this Redeemer.

So she says, wait, Brothers and sisters, we too are called to

wait. We're waiting for our Redeemer

to settle the matter. Saints in the Old Testament

waited 400 years. There's 400 years of silence

between the Testaments. They waited for redemption, the

coming of Jesus Christ, and he came to redeem.

But redemption's not yet complete.

We're waiting for the day when Christ will return.

Christian, you are right now sitting in a waiting room.

Are you waiting well, you're waiting for your Redeemer.

Are you waiting faithfully? Are you at rest in him?

Christ's final words to his bride?

Surely I am coming soon. Christ has given his church a

down payment, a sign that he'll keep his promise.

He's given us the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who helps us wait by

producing patience in His people, The Spirit who helps us

wait by bringing to remembrance to our minds God's promises to

us. The Spirit who helps us wait by

even interceding for us when we don't even know or can't even

think of what to pray. Are you, brothers and sisters,

waiting for redemption, for sin to cease, for suffering to end,

for relationships to be reconciled, for conflicts to be

resolved, for good desires to be satisfied, and for wrongs to be

made right? For faith to become sight, for

that day when he's promised that he'll make all things new?

If you're waiting, then wait with bold hope, because you can

rest in the character of your Redeemer.

He will settle the matter soon. Let's pray.

Father, You know our needs before we ask, and You have

provided abundantly for our greatest need, redemption, the

salvation we need from our sins. Lord, help us be a people who

reflect the great Redeemer we serve.

Help us be a people who wait patiently for the return of our

Redeemer. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.