Ruth 05: Under His Wings

Transcription

1 Ruth 05: Under His Wings Ruth 2: Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? 11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. 13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. We left the story, last week, during Ruth s o first day as a gleaner in the fields. We learned that she went to the fields that morning, o hoping to find favor in the eyes of a landowner and we learned that when Boaz came out to check on his fields, o indeed, she caught his eye and immediately gained his favor. Last week we covered the first words o that Boaz said to Ruth. There were four significant things that Boaz told Ruth in that initial exchange. First, he asked her to stay in his fields, o not to go glean anywhere else. Secondly he asked her to stay close to his handmaids, o this was because Ruth may not know which fields belonged to him but his handmaids surely would. If, each day when she went to glean, o she sought out his handmaids, then she would always be in his field. Third, he promised to extend his protection to her, o telling her that as long as she was in his field she didn t have to worry about anyone mistreating her. o There were benefits to gleaning in his field. But those benefits went beyond protection.

2 The fourth thing that he told her was that o as long as she was working in his field, she could drink from the water that he provided for his laborers. o This was a luxury that gleaners didn t normally have. They had to provide their own food and drink. o The landowner was gracious to even allow them to glean his field nd he owed them nothing else. Here we get the first glimpse of the favor o that Boaz has shown to Ruth. Something special was taking place in that field on that day. o This Moabite young woman who had forsaken her home, her family and her family s idol gods o to follow Naomi to Bethlehem o and pledge herself to the God of Abraham was discovering, first hand, o the abundant mercy of the God that she trusted her life to. This morning we pick up the story o with Ruth s response to Boaz s acts of kindness. 10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? Ruth could not believe the incredible favor o that Boaz had extended to her. She literally fell on her face In the same posture as a worshipper. The verse actually uses the Hebrew word for worship o And it demonstrates for us the biblical understanding of worship. o The fact that she fell on her face denotes the physical gesture of prostration, that is, falling to one s knees o and bowing with the face/nose to the ground before royalty or deity. o It is a gesture of worship and a gesture of submission.

3 o Ruth did it, to honor Boaz for his kindness. It was an external evidence of the internal thankfulness o that flooded her heart. This was not just pomp and circumstance. o Ruth was literally expressing the deep thanks that she felt when she prostrated herself o before this man who had shown her such favor. Ruth s physical gesture o of submission and gratitude was accompanied by a verbal expression of amazement that Boaz had been so gracious to her that he had even taken notice of her. After all, she is a foreigner! o Ruth was a Moabite and, because of that, she had no rights to claim o the blessings of the God that belonged to Israel. But Boaz has dignified this o destitute widow from a foreign land and treated her as if she mattered. o He has shown her kindness that, in her own eyes, she did not deserve. So she demonstrated her thankfulness o both in her posture and in her praise! The overflow of the gratitude in her heart o expressed itself in her actions. This tells us something important about worship. o Worship is always an external evidence of what is happening in the inner man. o When the inner man reverences God, the physical man worships him. When the heart is truly thankful, o it always expresses itself in acts of worship. o The converse could also be said to be true, when we fail to worship,

4 we reveal the condition of our heart. o How can we stand in the presence of the one who has been so gracious and merciful to us o and not worship him? We don t deserve his goodness o any more than Ruth did. Boaz favored Ruth regardless of everything o that was against her. He showed her uncommon mercy, o amazing grace. o You and I have received that same measure of grace and mercy. How much more should we worship o the One who has loved us so? 11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. Boaz continues to dignify Ruth o in his answer to her question. He begins by explaining why he has shown her such favor: o he has heard all about her. o Although his foreman had not identified Ruth by name, as soon as he had o identified her by status (a Moabitess) o and affiliation (the daughter-in-law of Naomi) the lights went on. So this is the woman everyone in Bethlehem was talking about! o The reports that he has heard have emphasized two details about her in particular: o her extraordinary kindness to her mother-in-law o and her extraordinary courage in accompanying Naomi back

5 to Bethlehem. Boaz goes on to explain that o what has particularly impressed him is her treatment of Naomi after the death of her husband. o Naomi had released both Ruth and Orpah of all legal and moral obligation toward her. o Orpah s response was natural and rational. She accepted the release Naomi offered and returned to that o which was familiar and secure: her own land, her own people, and her own gods. o By contrast, Ruth s response was radical and irrational. Preferring the unknown world o of her mother-in-law, like Abraham centuries before, o she abandoned her own father and mother and her native land o and cast her lot with a people whom she had not previously known. Like Abraham, she had left the security of the familiar o and committed herself to the unknown, trusting in God. Ruth may be a stranger, o but she had shown great care for Naomi. Ruth did not come to Bethlehem with Naomi to have an adventure o and see the sights. This wasn t a vacation. o Rather, one reason she came to Bethlehem was to assist Naomi in her needs in life. o And right at that time Ruth was assisting Naomi by gleaning in the harvest fields o so that Naomi might have some food for her bare cupboards.

6 o Such care merited blessing. And so this care helped to inspire Boaz to give special favor to Ruth. Listen: You reap what you sow o and, in one way of looking at it, it was Ruth s kindness to Naomi that resulted in the kindness o that she received from Boaz and the favor that she found before the Lord. o The grace and mercy she found in Boaz s field was given to her in the same measure that she had shown grace and mercy to Naomi. This truth was not lost on Boaz. 12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Boaz now prays for God o to intervene on her behalf. You would think it is enough that Boaz is providing for her, o but he understands that the greater provision, o and the blessing that Ruth really needs, is going to come from the Lord. Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; And that which he hath given will he pay him again. This Proverb expresses an eternal truth. o To be compassionate to the poor is like putting God in your debt. That is a good place to be o Because, God always pays his debts. Boaz recognizes that Ruth, o by her act of kindness has indebted not only Naomi to her but also, in some important sense, o she has obligated God. o It is God that rewards those who help the poor. Listen, what you do matters.

7 It matters how you conduct yourself o From day to day. God sees the littlest of things And now, the law of sowing and reaping o is working in Ruth s favor. So Boaz prays for God o to reward Ruth with blessings because of what she has done. o No one blesses like God blesses and Boaz realizes that the most significant thing o that he can do for Ruth is to call down the blessings of God o upon her. It is likely that Boaz had no idea, o as he was praying this prayer, that God was getting ready to pour out his blessings on Ruth, o through Boaz. He probably had no idea o that God was going to use him to answer the prayer he prayed for Ruth. o When you recognize a need And pray for someone to be blessed by God, o you put yourself at the disposal of the master. Don t be surprised if He uses you to bring that blessing to fruition! o When you start to say, Someone should help them o Get ready, because God May very well call on you to be that someone. The main emphasis in this verse o is on the word full. Boaz prayed that Ruth would be given all the reward due her. He prayed that her cup would be filled to overflowing, o that God would fully repay her kindness.

8 o That s the way God works. You will never out give him. He will never be long in your debt. And when he repays, he always does it in abundance. o David said, My cup runneth over! Next Boaz specifies o that it is the Lord God of Israel who will repay Ruth. o It is significant that Boaz invokes the name of the Lord. Ruth is a Moabite, o but because of her acts of kindness to Naomi, an Israelite, o she, who was an outsider, has obligated the God of Israel to repay Naomi s debt to her. Indeed, Boaz recognizes o the significance of Ruth s confession to Naomi. She has placed her trust fully in God. This is why God will repay o Naomi s debt to Ruth. Ruth has placed herself under the protection of God. To express this notion o Boaz introduces one of the most beautiful pictures of divine care in all of Scripture. o He imagines God as a mother bird who offers her wings for the protection of her defenseless young. It is a familiar image to those in the ancient Middle East and it is used often in Biblical imagery o to describe how God would extend his gracious protection over those who put o their trust in him. o Boaz describes Ruth as the little chick who has come to the Lord o to seek refuge under his mighty wings. o And refuge is what she has found. The imagery of the bird

9 nestled beneath the mother hen s wings o gives a vivid picture of trust and security. One cannot help but consider o the contrast with Elimelech, who in a time of crisis sought refuge in Moab. o When he sought shelter from a famine in the land of the Maob he was, essentially, transferring his trust o from the God of Abraham to the idol gods of the Moabites. o But now Ruth, a lowly Moabite, has forsaken the land of her kindred o and their idol gods to seek refuge and shelter o from the one true God of Israel. o What a poor decision Elimelech made But, what a tremendous choice that Ruth has made! 13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. The Hebrew phrase o that the KJV translates as a request for favor is more of an expression of gratitude o than a request for further blessings. o Ruth is not imploring Boaz to be kind. She is saying how glad she is that he has been so kind. o Her words are almost equivalent to simply saying Thank you. She thanks him for two things. o First, he has comforted her. The actual words used here convey the sense of o being able to breath deeply. It carries the sense of relieving tension or stress. Ruth is telling Boaz that, by his kindness, o he has brought great relief to her.

10 He has put her troubled mind at ease. Finally, she can breath deeply, o with peace and contentment knowing that her future is looking much better. o Secondly, she thanks him for speaking kindly to her. The phrase here is a Hebrew idiom o that literally means: you have spoken to my heart. It is a graphic way of expressing the kindness of Boaz s words o and the way that they have connected with her heart. o Ruth is amazed that Boaz, one of the children of God, would show such kindness o to someone like her, a refugee from Moab. Ruth s expression of amazement at Boaz s kindness o was based on the fact that he had paid attention to her even though she was a foreigner. This is better expressed in the Hebrew o than in the English translation. The word handmaid appears twice in this verse, once as a reference to Ruth o and once as a reference to Boaz s regular handmaids. o The words used in the Hebrew, though they are both translated as handmaid in English, o are actually different words. There is a class difference between them. The word that Ruth uses to describe herself o denotes that she is of a lower class than the other handmaids of Boaz. She describes herself as a female servant of the lowest rank o and she describes them as honorable servants of a much higher rank.

11 She expresses this by saying, o I am not like them. In other words, there is no reason for your kindness. o I don t deserve it. o Ruth is completely amazed that her social classification as a stranger in a strange land o has not stopped Boaz s kindness. o After all, she is a Moabite, a daughter of a nation that is the professed enemy o of the people of God. o But this has not stopped Boaz from showing her mercy and grace. How many times o have you felt the same way in the presence of the Lord. o I struggled greatly, as a teenager, with all of my failures. I would argue with God, o even as he was dealing with my heart, trying to pour out his mercy and grace on my life. o I would remind him, I don t deserve this. I ve messed up too many times. o I ve gone too far, I ve done too much But God never listened. None of that ever stopped o his hand of mercy. I m thankful, today, that he never gave me o what I deserved! Instead he gave me mercy That I never deserved! There is some irony o in Ruth s final words in this verse. When she says o that she is not like the other handmaids she is unwittingly touching

12 on the very thing o that initially caught Boaz s attention. She was different than the others. o No doubt, in the eyes of Boaz, she is far more beautiful, far more gracious, o and far more attractive, in every way, than the other handmaids. Indeed, it is her difference o that has brought her and Boaz together. Sometimes we bemoan the fact o that we are different. Like Ruth we may see it as a liability. o But I want you to stop for a moment and consider this morning, that the things that make you different o are the very things that make you the apple of his eye! o No. We don t live like everyone else. There are some clothes we don t wear, some places we don t go, o some things that we won t partake of, some words that we don t say. o Those things may make us different. But I want you to remember this morning That it was the difference o that caught the eye of Boaz. The very things that make you different from everyone else around you o are the things that endear you to God. Close It is obvious that Boaz s kindness o means a great deal to Ruth. His actions represent the first good thing that has happened to her o since the death of her husband in Moab. o She had had to learn what it meant to become a widow, to be exiled from her own people o because she married a foreigner, she also endured the great poverty that had accompanied her o from Moab to Bethlehem.

13 o The kindness that Boaz now shows her represents a monumental change. o It was a landmark moment, one of those moments that you later look back on o as the moment when everything in your life shifted. In a moment of startling clarity Ruth must have realized o that her past would not define her future. Just because so much has gone wrong in Ruth s life o doesn t mean it will always be that way. This is a turning point for Ruth. o Finally, she has found the favor and grace of God in the person of Boaz. o This, as much as anything, is the reason for her expression of thankfulness. Listen to this preacher this morning. o Learn to celebrate the landmarks along the way that remind you that God is watching over you, that he is providing for you! o Stop and thank God for the little bird that is eating a french fry! o It matters that you take the time to worship the Lord, from a grateful heart, o when he shows you that he has not forgotten you, even in the smallest of ways. I know some of you are walking through a valley o and you are looking for the deliverance of the Lord, you are waiting for him to step in and change the course of things. o But I want to remind you, this morning, to be thankful in even the small things. Learn to see the landmarks. o Learn to recognize the evidence That God is with you. That He is watching over you. That He is your great provider.

14 o Listen, he sent ravens to feed his prophet in the wilderness. Just because he hasn t brought you o out of the valley yet, doesn t mean that He has forgotten you. o If you would survey your life this morning, even in the midst of the valley, you would find those landmarks o that remind you that God is taking care of you. You have a reason, this morning, to worship him, his goodness and his mercy o surrounds you. Even on your worst day, o His blessings are enough to sustain you!