God's People Reflect God's Character, Pt 2

work our way through it

and draw conclusions

that your spirit would

be at work in our hearts

learning who you are

and worshipping you as a result.

I pray that you would bless our time together now

in your name. Amen.

Children, you are dismissed

to your class.

We are in the middle of a

short mini-series

on the book of Ruth

in three parts.

Last week we looked at

Ruth chapter 1.

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

This week we are looking at Ruth chapter 2.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

And next week we will conclude

with a look at

Ruth 3 and 4 together.

Listen to the beginning

of this article from a

magazine called Psychology Today.

I ran across this a couple of years ago.

This is an article from Psychology Today.

It says this,

In 2007, a construction worker

named Wesley Autry

was standing on a subway platform

in New York

when a young man nearby

had an epileptic seizure

and rolled onto the track.

Hearing the approach of a train,

Wesley Autry

impulsively jumped down

to try to save the young man

only to realize

that the train

was approaching too fast.

Instead,

he jumped on top

of the young man's body

and pushed him down

into a drainage ditch

between the tracks.

The train operator saw them

but it was too late to stop.

Five cars of the train

passed over their bodies

but miraculously

both of them

were uninjured.

Asked later by the New York Times

why he had done it,

Autry said,

I just saw someone

who needed help.

I did what I felt was right.

So then the author

of this article

goes on

and says,

The question of why

human beings

are sometimes prepared

to risk their own lives

to save others

has puzzled philosophers

and scientists

for centuries.

From an evolutionary

point of view,

altruism doesn't seem

to make sense.

According to the modern

neo-Darwinian view,

human beings

are basically selfish.

After all,

we are only really carriers

of thousands of genes

whose only aim

is to survive

and replicate themselves.

We shouldn't be interested

in sacrificing ourselves

for others

or even in helping others

at all.

We all want there

to be good in the world.

We want other people

to be good

and we want to be good

and we want people

to treat each other well,

especially in the hard times

because sometimes

it's in the hard times

when our true character

really comes out.

But the author

of this article

asks a good question here.

Why should we be

any better than our genes?

Other than this,

basic instinct

and impulse

to get for ourselves

and to sort of shore up

our own lives

and our own circumstances,

why should we be

any better than that?

Why should we be

any better

than our own self-interest?

And that's really

the issue

in the book of Ruth.

That's the question

that we're looking

to the book of Ruth

to answer.

Today we're going to look

at Ruth chapter 2.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

So I invite you

to turn there

in your Bibles

with me.

We're going to read it

and we're going to talk

about a couple

of key issues

and then we're going

to draw some conclusions

about the meaning

of the whole.

As we turn

to Ruth chapter 2,

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

let's review

where we are

in the story.

It's the period

of the book of Judges.

It's a very dark time

in Israel's history.

God's people

have forgotten

what God did

to redeem them

in the promised land

and what God had done

to redeem them

from slavery

to take them

into the promised land

and they are

worshipping other gods

and abusing

and mistreating

each other.

We have these little

vignettes through

the book of Judges.

These little stories

which sort of

encapsulate the period

which illustrate

what Israel was like

at that time.

We have a man

who kills his own daughter.

We have a wife

who is burned alive.

We have the leader

of Israel

who visits prostitutes

and engages

in all these petty

little squabbles

and fights

and kind of

dilly-dallies

with the enemy

instead of fighting them.

We have a man

who makes

homemade idols

in order to worship them

and he hires a Levite

to be his own

personal priest

but then another

tribe of Israel

steals the gods

and worships them

themselves.

We have a man

and a woman

who are traveling

through the southern

part of Israel

and it's time

to spend the night

but they don't want

to stay in

Canaanite territory

because maybe

that would be

too dangerous

so they decide

to go just a little

further to Israelite

territory

will it be safer

and during the night

men surround the house

and they try and drag

the man out

and rape him

and in order

to protect himself

he shoves his

concubine outside

where she is

ferociously raped

and killed

and as a result

the man cuts her

into 12 pieces

and starts a civil war.

I mean these are

the little vignettes

that describe Israel

at that time

in the book of Judges.

It is a very dark time

filled with faithlessness

and immorality

taking advantage

of anyone

who was vulnerable

or who could be exploited.

It was especially

a dangerous time

for women

and the book of Judges

says everyone did

what was right

in their own eyes.

They just do

whatever is best

for themselves.

It's survival

of the fittest.

In fact,

they're doing exactly

what the author

of that article

in Psychology Today

assumed they probably

should do.

whatever is best

for them

and it's just

a disaster.

And so during this time

there's a famine

and a woman named Naomi

and her husband

and her two sons

travel to Moab.

Moab is an enemy territory.

It's known for idolatry

and sexual immorality

and they have a history

of scandal with Israel

and so as a result

the book of Deuteronomy

says that no Moabite

will ever enter

the assembly of the Lord.

Naomi's husband dies.

The sons marry

Moabite women

even though

they probably shouldn't.

Neither couple

has any children

for ten years.

Then the sons die

and what all of that

means is that

we now have

not one

but three

desperate

poor widows

with no one

to take care of them.

Naomi decides

to go back to Israel

because there's food there.

But once they set off

and they're on the way

then she begins

to have second thoughts

and she realizes

that her daughters-in-law

won't have any hope

in Israel.

There's no hope

for them there.

There's only a life there

of hard poverty

and probably death.

And of course

the only way in that time

that a young widow

could possibly have

any kind of a future

is if she would remarry

but no one in Israel

is going to marry

these Moabite girls.

And so at her own expense

she urges them

to go back

to their other families

in Moab.

And Orpah sees

that her mother-in-law

is right

and so she does return

and Ruth knows

that Naomi's right as well.

Ruth knows

that there is no future

for her in Israel.

But she is sacrificing herself

and she follows Naomi back

and sacrifices her future for her.

And when they get back

to Bethlehem

Naomi is angry.

She blames God

for her struggles

and her situation

and she tells the women

of the town

don't call me pleasant.

I have a new name now.

My name is bitter.

Call me that.

For the Lord

has made me bitter.

That's what people say

when they don't have any hope.

And now our story continues

in Ruth chapter 2.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

Let's read that together.

Now Naomi had a relative

of her husband's

a worthy man

of the clan of Elimelech.

Sorry.

Let's look at Ruth chapter

Oh that is Ruth chapter 2.

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

Sorry.

A worthy man

of the clan of Elimelech

whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabite

said to Naomi

Let me go to the field

and glean among the ears

of grain after him

in whose sight

I shall find favor.

And she said to her

Go my daughter.

So she set out

and went and gleaned

in the field

after the reapers

and she happened to come

to the part of the field

belonging to Boaz

who was of the clan

of Elimelech.

And behold Boaz

came from Bethlehem

and he said to the reapers

The Lord be with you.

And they answered

The Lord bless you.

Then Boaz said

to his young man

who was in charge

of the reapers

Whose young woman

is this?

And the servant

who was in charge

of the reapers

answered

She is the young

Moabite woman

who came back

with Naomi

from the country

of Moab.

She said

Please let me glean

and gather among

the sheaves

after the reapers.

So she came

and she has continued

from the early morning

until now

except for a short rest.

Then Boaz said to Ruth

Now listen my daughter

do not go to glean

in another field

or leave this one

but keep close

to my young women.

Let your eyes

be on the field

that they are reaping

and go after them.

Have I not charged

the young man

not to touch you?

And when you are thirsty

go to the vessels

and drink what the young man

have drawn.

Then she fell on her face

bowing to the ground

and said to him

Why have I found favor

in your eyes

that you should take notice

of me

since I am a foreigner?

But Boaz answered her

All that you have done

for your mother-in-law

since the death

of your husband

has been fully told to me

and how you left

your father and mother

and your native land

and came to a people

that you did not know before.

The Lord repay you

for what you have done

and a full reward

be given you

by the Lord

the God of Israel

under whose wings

you have come

to take refuge.

Then she said

I have found favor

in your eyes my Lord

for you have comforted me

and spoken kindly

to your servant

even though I am not

one of your servants.

And at mealtime

Boaz said to her

Come here

and eat some of the bread

and dip your morsel

in the wine

so she sat beside

the reapers

and he passed to her

roasted grain

and she ate

until she was satisfied

and she had some left over

and when she rose to glean

Boaz instructed

his young men saying

Let her glean

even among the sheaves

and do not reproach her

and also pull out some

from the bundles for her

and leave it for her

to glean

and do not rebuke her.

So she gleaned

in the field

until evening

then she beat out

what she had gleaned

and it was about

an ephah of barley

and she took it up

and went into the city.

Her mother-in-law

saw what she had gleaned

she also brought out

and gave her

what food she had left over

after being satisfied

and her mother-in-law

said to her

Where did you glean today

and where have you worked?

Blessed be the man

who took notice of you.

So she told her mother-in-law

with whom she had worked

and said

The man's name

with whom I work today

is Boaz.

And Naomi said

to her daughter-in-law

May he be blessed

by the Lord

whose kindness

has not forsaken

the living or the dead.

Naomi also said to her

The man is a close relative

of ours

one of our redeemers

and Ruth the Moabite

said

Besides

he said to me

you shall keep close

by my young men

until they have finished

all my harvest

and Naomi said to Ruth

her daughter-in-law

It is good my daughter

that you go out

with his young women

lest in another field

you be assaulted.

So she kept close

to the young women

of Boaz

gleaning until the end

of the barley and wheat harvest

and she lived

with her mother-in-law.

This is a great story

and it's also history

but it's more than history

it's theological history

it's written to tell us

something about God

and God's relationship

with his people.

It begins in verse 1

by saying that

Naomi had a relative

of her husband's

a worthy man

of the clan of Elimelech

whose name was Boaz.

He's a worthy man.

The NIV says

that he's a man

of standing.

The King James Version

says he's a mighty man

of wealth.

He's a relative

of Naomi.

And it's difficult

to know

which sense

the author means

by saying

that he's a worthy man.

Sometimes that word

is used

to refer to

men in battle

great military heroes.

Sometimes it's used

to refer to

physical wealth.

Sometimes it's used

to refer to

someone of great character.

I think we'll find out

a little later

which one

the author

primarily means here

when we get to

chapter 3.

But he's a man

of standing

in the community.

He has influence.

He's a man about town.

He's wealthy.

He has land

and many servants.

And we are going

to find out

very soon

that he is good.

What's interesting

is that in this verse

the narrator

is telling us

about Boaz.

Ruth doesn't

know about it.

This is a word

from the narrator

to us the reader.

Naomi apparently

hasn't told Ruth

about this.

But what this

allows us to do

as readers

is that as we

get into the story

we are able

to watch the events

unfold

and we get to see

Ruth's reaction

to discovering Boaz

and finding out

what he will do

for her.

Naomi and Ruth

need someone

to help them

and we are going

to watch

all of these

pieces fall

into place.

Ruth the Moabite

said to Naomi

in verse 2

let me go

to the field

and glean.

Now in the ancient world

there weren't any

government programs

like food stamps

or Medicaid

but one way

that God

provided for the poor

was through something

called gleaning.

It says in Leviticus 19

when you reap

the harvest

of your land

you shall not

reap your field

right up to its edge

neither shall you

gather the gleanings

after your harvest.

In other words

don't go back

through a second time

and do a better job.

You shall not

strip your vineyard

bare

neither shall you

gather the fallen

grapes of your vineyard

you shall leave them

for the poor

and for the sojourner

I am the Lord

your God.

So when farmers

would harvest

their field

they would intentionally

leave the edges there

so that when the poor

came through

looking for some

kind of food

they could find it.

Deuteronomy 24 19

says when you reap

your harvest

in your field

and forget a sheaf

don't go back

and get it.

It shall be

for the sojourner

the fatherless

and the widow

that the Lord

your God

may bless you

in all the work

of your hands.

It's a mentality.

It's a mentality

that the Mosaic Law

is teaching.

Don't be

so efficient

and so careful

that there is

nothing left

for the poor person

who wanders

through the field

looking for food.

Make sure that

there's something

that they have

to eat.

Now Ruth is hoping

that since it's

harvest time

she can go out

and glean.

She can go out

into the field

and find some

leftover grains

some scraps

maybe that people

have left behind.

Notice in verse 2

that the narrator

calls her

the Moabite.

We know this.

We've read chapter 1

but he keeps

bringing this up

because it's significant

that she's not

an Israelite

she's a Moabite

and all of the associations

that come along

with that.

This does not sound

like a good plan.

She,

a Moabite,

is going to go

to the field

where all the other

Israelite workers are.

She's alone

and she's going to

try and get free food

from them

in the time

of the judges.

Notice she says

in whose sight

I find favor.

See,

I think that she

suspects

that there could

be trouble.

So she's hoping

that she'll find

someone there

who will look

well on her,

who will give her

favor and not

mistreat her

because she recognizes

that she's in a

vulnerable

and risky situation

here.

So she set out

and went and gleaned

in the field

after the reapers.

Now when we think

of fields,

we think of Wisconsin

which have

these huge farms,

sometimes as large

as the eye can see.

In 2012,

the average

Wisconsin farm

was 195 acres.

But in ancient Israel,

the fields were

very small.

There was no fertilizer

or modern equipment.

The land did not

produce well.

The harvests

were small.

It was just

subsistence farming.

People were basically

trying to get enough

food to get by.

And often,

there was just

one big field

and then parts

of the field

were separated

by these boundary stones.

So kind of as you went

from one part

of the field

to the next,

you didn't really

have a clear sense

that you were moving

from one person's

property to another one.

And as she's working

through the field,

she's looking for leftovers

and she comes

to the part of the field

belonging to Boaz.

But she didn't just

come to that part.

It says in verse 3,

she happened

to come to the part

of the field

belonging to Boaz.

I think that's significant

that he says that.

It sounds like

it was a coincidence.

But then why say it?

In Proverbs 16.33,

it says,

the lot,

you know,

like dice,

the lot is cast

into the lap

but its every decision

is from the Lord.

In other words,

God directs things

that even those

that look like chance.

By saying that she

just so happened

to come to the part

of the field

belonging to Boaz,

I think the author

means exactly the opposite.

It's sort of

tongue-in-cheek.

It's a way of saying

it was not just chance,

that God is at work here

and he was directing Ruth

to just that part

of the field.

So Boaz comes from town

in verse 4

and he says to his workers,

the Lord be with you

and they answer,

the Lord bless you.

I mean,

look at his interaction

with them.

We haven't been told

anything about Boaz's character,

just the fact that he's rich

and that he's related

to Naomi.

But now by his actions,

we are getting

to know him here.

And we notice some things

right off the bat.

He has a good relationship

with his workers.

And he is a follower

of the Lord

and just look at how

he and his employees

are blessing each other,

talking about the Lord

as they meet each other

for the first time that day.

blessing is one of the themes

of this book.

It's this subtle reminder

that even as people

are kind to each other,

they are reflecting

God's kindness

and as they are blessing

each other,

God is blessing them.

It's a small village

and everyone is out there

working at the harvest time

and Boaz looks out

and he sees this woman

he doesn't know.

It's a small town

of Bethlehem.

So he says to his foreman,

whose is that young woman?

He doesn't say,

who is that young woman?

He says,

whose is that young woman?

In other words,

what is her relationship

to someone else

that I know?

Who does she belong to?

Now one reason

he might be asking that

is because she's a foreigner,

but it's also maybe

because she's all alone

out there.

She's not working

with anybody else.

She doesn't apparently

belong to anyone.

But it also anticipates

that she does belong

to Naomi,

who is his relative.

Look what the servant

says in verse 6.

He says,

she is the young Moabite woman

who came back with Naomi

from the country of Moab.

See how he says that twice?

Moab?

It's like he's saying,

she's from Moab.

You can just imagine

the thoughts going

through his head.

Like, what is Boaz

going to say about this?

Right?

We've got this Moabite.

She's really sketchy.

She had asked for permission

to glean and worked

all morning.

And the end of verse 7

is a little bit difficult

to understand.

No one really knows

what it means,

but I think what it means

is that she had been

working hard in the field

all morning,

and just now,

just before Boaz arrived,

she had taken a brief rest.

Now look at how Boaz

responds to Ruth

once he realizes

that she's in need.

He does nine things

for her.

He doesn't toss her

a little bit of money

and send her on her way.

He does nine substantial things

for her,

each one kinder

than the one before.

First, in verse 8,

he calls her,

my daughter.

He's a rich,

Israelite man,

and she's a poor

Moabite woman,

but he makes her feel

comfortable and accepted.

He could say to her,

what are you doing here?

But he doesn't.

He calls her,

my daughter.

It's kind.

It's a family term.

It's a term of acceptance.

Second,

at the end of verse 8,

he asks her

to stay in his field.

It's not just

that he's going

to tolerate her.

It's not just

that he's going

to overlook her presence

even though he wishes

that she weren't there.

He wants her there.

He wants to make

her feel comfortable.

There may not be

that much food

to go around.

There may not be

that much grain

on the edges of the field

or that's left over

in the field.

What about all

the Israelite poor people?

Shouldn't the Israelites

have first dibs

on this food?

It's Israelite territory

after all.

Is it right

that some of it

would go to a Moabite girl?

Yes.

The third thing he does

is also in verse 8.

He tells her

to stay close

to his young women.

Not only will this

keep her safe,

but it also gives her

a sense of identity.

Instead of working

in the field all alone,

she's with someone.

She's not a lonely

foreign girl

in a sea of strangers.

She belongs to that group

with those harvesters.

She's with Boaz's

female workers.

See, he's going

above and beyond here.

All he has to do

in order to obey

the Mosaic law

is just leave her alone.

That's all he has to do.

All he has to do

is allow her

to just stick

on the edges

of the field

and be one of those

poor people

that comes

to see what she can find.

But he is taking

a particular interest

in her welfare.

Fourth,

verse 9,

he specifically

instructs the young men

not to touch her.

You can imagine

in some work environments

what women

have to put up with

as far as men

hassling them.

This word touch

in Hebrew

often has a sexual

connotation to it.

So we don't know here

if Boaz is concerned

about guys

pushing her around

or if he's

concerned about

something more serious

than that.

Remember,

we're in the time

of the judges here.

It's a particularly

dangerous time

for women.

The Levite

and his concubine

who were raped

and murdered,

that took place

seven miles

from this spot.

Seven miles.

And it was this town

that they were

leaving from

when they tried

to get back

to their home.

Here is Ruth,

a foreign girl,

right,

with no one

to protect her.

She's a prime

target,

but Boaz

explicitly

calls his guys

over and says,

you leave her

alone.

Fifth,

in verse 9,

he says that

if she's thirsty,

she can drink water

from what the male

servants have drawn.

That's a little bit

unusual because

in ancient Israel,

it was the foreigners

who were supposed

to do the manual labor

and draw water

for the Israelites.

Not only that,

but in that culture,

it was the women

who were supposed

to draw the water

for the men.

Now Boaz

is starting to get

a little carried away

because he's saying

that his men

are going to draw

water for her.

He has so far

just shown

basic human decency,

but now

he's giving her

his stuff.

And she can't

believe her ears.

It's shocking

generosity,

and she doesn't know

what to make of it.

And so she says

in verse 10,

I'm a foreigner.

Why are you

treating me like this?

She expected

to be treated

like an outsider.

Here's this

close-knit community

of Bethlehem.

This isn't the way

they treat Moabites

and outsiders.

And Boaz answers

that he has heard

how good she has been

to Naomi.

It's interesting.

Even though Naomi

was so bitter,

she evidently

had told people

how her daughter-in-law

had forsaken her life

in Moab

and come back

with her

to take care of her.

So in verse 12,

Boaz blesses her

and he says

something very

significant.

He says,

May a full reward

be given you

by the Lord,

the God of Israel,

under whose wings

you have come

to take refuge.

See,

whatever Ruth

thought she would

find when she

came to Israel,

and we know

she thought

she was coming

to starvation

and death,

she has actually

come,

Boaz says,

to find refuge

under the wings

of God.

She has given up

the gods of Moab

and committed herself

to the Lord,

the God of Israel,

and whether she knew

it or not,

she was coming

to Israel

to find refuge

under the wings

of God.

And what do the wings

of God look like?

They look like Boaz.

Do you see the link?

This is Boaz

saying this.

He has just done

all of these things

for her,

and he's not done yet.

And he is saying,

when I do these

things for you,

when I show this

kindness for you,

when I welcome you

and protect you

and give you water

that my young men

have drawn,

this is the wings

of the Lord,

the God of Israel.

He says,

I am doing these

things on behalf

of God,

and when you

come under

my protection,

you come under

God's protection.

My goodness toward you

is done on behalf

of God.

That is incredibly

significant.

And she cannot believe

Boaz's kindness.

Look what she says

in verse 13.

She says,

you have comforted me

and you have spoken

kindly to your servant

even though I am not

one of your servants.

Now in Hebrew,

there are a number

of different words

for servant.

And the word

that she uses here

when she says,

I am not even

one of your servants

and you are being

so nice to me.

The word that she uses

for servant

is the lowest word.

It is the bottom rung.

It is the lowest

position of society.

This kind of servant

is so low

in social status

that they were not

even able

to become a wife.

They could be

a concubine

like a mistress.

They were the ones

who,

you know,

like with Abraham

and Hagar,

if your wife

couldn't conceive,

you could go

into your servant

and have a child

through her.

They were the ones

who did the manual labor

grinding grain

and washing people's feet,

all the dirty jobs

that nobody else wanted.

She says,

look,

I am not even there.

I am not even

like one of your

lowest servants.

And yet,

you are being

so good to me.

It's incredible

that Boaz

would treat her

this way.

But Boaz

is not done yet.

He's already done

five things for her.

Look at number six

in verse 14.

He invites her

to the noon meal.

Now,

the meal

wasn't just

a time to eat.

It communicated

something socially

about who belonged.

And Boaz

is there

eating with his workers

and he says to Ruth,

come over here.

She may have been

keeping her distance

because she didn't

really belong with them.

She's just,

you know,

she's just one

of the other poor people.

But he says,

come here,

come.

Come join our meal.

And he passes her food

and it says

that there's

a dipping sauce.

And that means

that he's not just

kind of giving her

the leftover scraps,

but she is fully

invited into this meal.

And that means

she probably

didn't have her own lunch.

What was she

going to eat that day?

But she not only

had plenty

to satisfy her,

but she had

some left over.

Seventh,

at the end

of verse 15,

he says that she

can glean

even among

the sheaves.

Now,

the way that

the gleaning

normally worked

is that the harvesters

would go through

the field

and as they picked up,

they would cut

the grain,

the stalks of grain

and they would tie it

into bundles

and some of them

would accidentally

be dropped

and then you could

go through after

and you could see

what you could find.

But what they're doing

is,

Boaz is telling her

that she's allowed

to glean

even among the grain

that was already

harvested.

That's not gleaning.

He's saying,

don't make her

go through the field

looking for scraps.

Just let her go over

to the piles

that you've already cut

and she can just

kind of get the grain

from there.

Eighth,

he protects her dignity.

Look at the end

of verse 15,

and do not reproach her.

Not only were the young men

not allowed to forbid her

for doing this,

but they were not allowed

to humiliate or tease her.

No snide comments.

No remarks

about her ethnicity.

The workers

are supposed

to accept her

and treat her

with kindness.

And finally,

ninth,

here is where Boaz

just really goes overboard.

He tells his workers,

you know what,

just pull out the grain

and leave it lying

on the ground

for her to pick up.

I mean,

now they're purposefully

dropping bundles

on the ground

and saying,

you know,

over there.

So,

it's no surprise

that at the end

of the day,

when she beat out

what she had gleaned

in verse 17,

it was about

an ephah of barley.

Now,

an ephah is

one-tenth of a homer,

and a homer

is how much

a donkey can carry.

So,

scholars

guess

that an ephah

is something

about 30 to 50 pounds

of grain.

So,

she didn't go home

that night

with a little bag,

you know,

oh,

look,

I got enough

for a couple

of days.

She is hoisting

a massive bag

of grain

on her back

and going back

to Bethlehem

to her mother-in-law,

probably about

two weeks worth

of work.

It was so much

grain that she got.

When she gets home,

she does two things.

First,

she shows Naomi

what she had gleaned,

and,

it says at the end

of verse 18,

she gave her

what food

she had left over

after being satisfied.

This is the same wording

that we saw

at the lunch

in verse 14.

This isn't the grain

that she gleaned

in the field.

This is the lunch

that Boaz

had given her.

And I think

that means

that Naomi

had not eaten

anything all day.

But now,

Ruth is providing

for her

out of what

Boaz

had given

to her.

and Naomi

doesn't have

to be hungry.

Ruth comes home,

not just with

a gigantic bag

of groceries,

but with dinner.

And her mother-in-law

said to her,

where did you

glean today?

Blessed be the man

who took notice

of you.

See,

Naomi knows

something is up here.

You don't go to glean

and bring home

that much food.

And Ruth tells her

that it was Boaz

who had helped her

and in 2.20,

Naomi now says

something very

significant.

She says,

May he be blessed

by the Lord

whose kindness

has not forsaken

the living

or the dead.

Kindness.

May Boaz

be blessed

by the Lord

whose kindness

has not forsaken

us or our

dead husbands.

Naomi interprets

Boaz's kindness

to Ruth

as the way

that the Lord

has shown

his kindness.

When she hears

what Boaz

has done for Ruth,

she gives the credit

to the Lord.

Now there's

a little crack

in the hard shell

of Naomi's bitterness.

Maybe

the Lord

has not abandoned

them after all.

In verse 21,

Ruth says,

Well,

besides,

Boaz said to me,

You keep close

by my young men

until they have

finished all the harvest.

Boaz.

But that's not

what Boaz said

back in verse 8.

He had told her

to stay with the young women.

But see,

now Ruth says,

Well,

he told me to stay

with his young men.

I wonder.

Maybe she has

young men

on the mind.

Maybe she longs

for a young man

because she knows

that in the end

that's the only real hope

she has for a future.

But Naomi gently

corrects her

in verse 22

and says,

Yeah,

you stay with

his young women.

Then you'll be safe.

In other words,

I think she's saying,

Ruth,

don't get your hopes up.

You stay with

his young women.

So,

verse 23,

She kept close

to the young women

until the end

of the barley

and wheat harvest

and she lived

with her mother-in-law.

So,

let's make a few

overall observations

and we'll kind of

put this together

and talk about

the main point.

First of all,

the word kindness,

chesed in Hebrew,

is a very important word

in the Old Testament.

It's the word

that we talked about

last week.

It's sometimes

translated in our Bibles

as faithful

or loyal,

good,

merciful.

It describes

God's actions

toward his people

because he is connected

to them in relationship.

God acts

for the benefit

of his people

not because they deserve it

and not because

it's going to benefit

him in any way

but because it is

in his nature

to do so.

And throughout

the Old Testament,

because God shows

his kindness

to his people,

he expects his people

to show the same

kindness toward each other.

In 2 Samuel 9,

David says,

is there not still

someone of the house

of Saul

that I may show

the kindness

of God to him?

In Micah 6, 8,

this is what the Lord

requires of you

to do justice

and to love kindness

and to walk humbly

with God.

In Hosea chapter 4,

Hosea 4 · chapter mention

God is angry

with Israel

because there is

no faithfulness

or kindness

or knowledge

of God

in the land.

This key word,

this key word

kindness occurs

exactly three times

in the book of Ruth.

We saw it last week

in chapter 1

and 1, 8,

when Naomi tells

her daughter-in-law,

may the Lord

deal kindly with you

as you have dealt

with the dead

and with me.

Naomi is linking

God's character

with good character.

Ruth has sacrificed

her future for Naomi.

That's something

that God would do

because God

is sacrificial

and kindness

comes from Ruth

ultimately

because God

is kind.

And the second time

we see this word

kindness

is here in this chapter

in 2.20

when Naomi says,

may Boaz

be blessed

by the Lord

whose kindness

has not forsaken

the living

or the dead.

What does Naomi mean

when she says

that God

has shown

his kindness

to them?

Well,

first of all,

one of the things

that's obviously

going in this story

is God's providence.

In 1.6,

Naomi hears

that God

has sent food

to his people.

In 1.22,

Naomi and Ruth

happen to arrive

just at the beginning

of the barley harvest.

Well,

that's very fortunate.

If they had arrived

any earlier,

they would have starved.

And if they had arrived

any later,

they would have missed

their chance to glean.

In 2.3,

Ruth just so

happened

to come to the part

of the field

belonging to Boaz.

She didn't even realize

that she was coming

to the one person

who would be willing

to help her.

She's gleaning

and kind of working

through the field

and all of a sudden

here's this guy

being nice to her.

And it isn't until

she gets home later

that evening

that she finds out

that he is

from her father-in-law's

family.

Boaz was just

the right man

for Ruth to meet.

If he had been kind

but not a kinsman,

he could not have

helped her long term

as we'll see.

But if he had been

a kinsman

but not kind,

then what good

would that have done?

The second way

that God has shown

his kindness

to Ruth

is not just

through his

prevailing providence

but through Boaz.

When Boaz

accepted Ruth

and protected her

and gave her food,

Naomi interprets

that as the kindness

of God.

And through Boaz,

God was kind

to Ruth

and kind to Naomi

and to their dead

husbands too.

God has not

forsaken them

after all.

The Lord has been

working behind the scenes

in his providence

in invisible ways

but he has been

also working

in very visible

and physical ways

through Boaz.

And Boaz

recognizes that

as well.

He does this

intentionally.

He takes it seriously

because in 2.12

he says to Ruth,

may you be rewarded

by God

under whose wings

you have come

to take refuge.

God does not

have physical wings

that Ruth

could come

to hide under.

But he has Boaz.

Those

are his boots

on the ground

to care for Ruth

on his behalf.

So here I think

is the main point

of Ruth 2.

And we're just

taking snippets

of the book

as we work

toward the conclusion

in chapter 3 and 4

but here I think

is the contribution

of this chapter.

God's people

provide for the needy

because God

cares for the needy.

His values

are reflected

in the actions

of Boaz

and like a mirror

Boaz's actions

tell us something

about God.

It's trickle down

kindness.

This isn't

survival of the fittest.

The only explanation

for Boaz

to act

against his own

self-interest

to care for someone

beside himself

to act this way

toward Ruth

is that his values

have been shaped

by God.

God cares

for the needy

and he wants us

to care for them

as well.

And we see this

throughout the Old Testament.

In the book of Exodus

it says

you shall not

pervert the justice

due the poor.

And it says