Ruth 2016 2B We re turning back t the hidden stry f End Times fund in the bk f Ruth Last time we studied vs.1-13 in chapter 2...let s reread them Ruth 2:1 Nw Nami had a kinsman f her husband, a man f great wealth, f the family f Elimelech, whse name was Baz. Ruth 2:2 And Ruth the Mabitess said t Nami, Please let me g t the field and glean amng the ears f grain after ne in whse sight I may find favr. And she said t her, G, my daughter. Ruth 2:3 S she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened t cme t the prtin f the field belnging t Baz, wh was f the family f Elimelech. Ruth 2:4 Nw behld, Baz came frm Bethlehem and said t the reapers, May the Lrd be with yu. And they said t him, May the Lrd bless yu. Ruth 2:5 Then Baz said t his servant wh was in charge f the reapers, Whse yung wman is this? Ruth 2:6 The servant in charge f the reapers replied, She is the yung Mabite wman wh returned with Nami frm the land f Mab. Ruth 2:7 And she said, Please let me glean and gather after the reapers amng the sheaves. Thus she came and has remained frm the mrning until nw; she has been sitting in the huse fr a little while. Ruth 2:8 Then Baz said t Ruth, Listen carefully, my daughter. D nt g t glean in anther field; furthermre, d nt g n frm this ne, but stay here with my maids. Ruth 2:9 Let yur eyes be n the field which they reap, and g after them. Indeed, I have cmmanded the servants nt t tuch yu. When yu are thirsty, g t the water jars and drink frm what the servants draw. Ruth 2:10 Then she fell n her face, bwing t the grund and said t him, Why have I fund favr in yur sight that yu shuld take ntice f me, since I am a freigner? Ruth 2:11 Baz replied t her, All that yu have dne fr yur mther-in-law after the death f yur husband has been fully reprted t me, and hw yu left yur father and yur mther and the land f yur birth, and came t a peple that yu did nt previusly knw. Ruth 2:12 May the Lrd reward yur wrk, and yur wages be full frm the Lrd, the Gd f Israel, under whse wings yu have cme t seek refuge. Ruth 2:13 Then she said, I have fund favr in yur sight, my lrd, fr yu have cmfrted me and indeed have spken kindly t yur maidservant, thugh I am nt like ne f yur maidservants. 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 2 f 12 Nami and Ruth returned t the land in a time f harvest This will be a time f testimny in cntrast t the prir years f judgment After they arrived, Ruth began t seek supprt fr herself and Nami by wrking in a field cllecting leftver grain She happens t land in the field f Baz, a kinsman f Nami After spending all day gathering the leftver grain fr herself and Nami, Ruth meets Baz He extends her great kindnesses And cmmits himself t prtecting Ruth as she gathers We ve already studied hw Ruth pictures the Gentiles attracted t the Gd f Israel as Gd prmised wuld happen And last lessn we saw hw Ruth s time gathering in the field reflects the time we were nce withut hpe in this wrld In fact, in Matt 13:38 Jesus refers t the wrld metaphrically as a field We sught ur prvisin wrking in that wrld but it was wrk withut hpe And by ur wn hands, we accmplished a certain degree f success Just as Ruth is wrking hard in chapter 2 But it can t give her what she true seeks: security Then Baz appears in verse 4, and with him the pprtunity fr true rest Then next majr detail is Baz and the relatinship that develps between Baz and Ruth This detail ffers us an pprtunity t draw a new parallel t Gd s plan fr Israel and the Church As yu prbably knw, Baz, the kinsman redeemer in this stry, is a type r picture f ur Lrd, Jesus Christ If this is a new thught fr yu, dn t wrry. 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 3 f 12 We will allw that picture t develp as we prceed thrugh the rest f the stry But fr nw it s enugh t recgnize that Baz is the her, the ne wh rescues bth Nami and Ruth frm their circumstances And thrugh this relatinship, we will learn smething abut the way Gd prepares a Bride fr His Sn We already nted that Ruth, the Gentile, has been drawn t Baz s field, as thugh by chance Yet we knw that chance had nthing t d with it This was the field Gd intended Ruth t wrk And then we ntice that relatinship between Ruth and Baz begins nt because Ruth tk nte f Baz Ruth had n idea whse field she was in But rather Baz takes ntice f Ruth And Baz turns t his servant seeking an intrductin t Ruth And that servant pictured the Hly Spirit, Wh intrduces us t Christ by causing us t be brn again thrugh faith S at this pint in ur secnd stry, we have Christ, pictured by Baz, having intrduced himself t his future Bride, the Gentile Church, pictured by Ruth And even befre Ruth was aware f Baz, Baz had already made plans fr Ruth Baz began his first cnversatin t Ruth by calling her my daughter He welcmed her int his husehld Secndly, he gives her access t his field indefinitely, withut cnditin Third, he makes her ne f his maids A maid was the female equivalent f a servant under his husehld And furth, Baz tells her t wrk with His ther servants wh will prtect her and care fr her needs 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 4 f 12 When we lked at this last time, we nted these were all grants f Baz s grace And they clearly picture the grace the church receives nce we enter int the New Cvenant by faith The Church enters int a relatinship with ur Redeemer n a mment and in a manner He determines Befre we knw it, we re given prvisin, prtectin and privilege But it als cmes with an expectatin f service Ntice that Baz made Ruth a servant in his huse He didn t award her a bundle f mney s she wuldn t have t wrk anymre He didn t tell her t just enjy the afternn n the cuch in the huse playing X-Bx and eating a bx f Ores He still expected her t wrk everyday as a servant in his field This is the call f every disciple f Christ...we wrk t serve the Master wh has cme t us and given us prtectin, prvisin and privilege Serving Him is easy cmpared t the wrk we knew befre Just as Ruth wrked harder fr less befre she knew Baz As Jhn said: 1Jhn 5:2 By this we knw that we lve the children f Gd, when we lve Gd and bserve His cmmandments. 1Jhn 5:3 Fr this is the lve f Gd, that we keep His cmmandments; and His cmmandments are nt burdensme. 1Jhn 5:4 Fr whatever is brn f Gd vercmes the wrld; and this is the victry that has vercme the wrld ur faith. The central errr f the prsperity gspel heresy is verlking that Gd has purpsely left us in a state f need s that we are mtivated t serve Christ assures us that ur service will be rewarding, bth nw and in eternity That wrk cmes with prmises and it will prvide us rest 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 5 f 12 We will have rest frm the wrries f eternity, f sin and judgment, f the endless rat race f seeking t please men But we must wrk nnetheless Matt. 11:28 Cme t Me, all wh are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give yu rest. Matt. 11:29 Take My yke upn yu and learn frm Me, fr I am gentle and humble in heart, and Yu will find rest fr yur suls. Matt. 11:30 Fr My yke is easy and My burden is light. Furthermre, when Baz respnded t Ruth s questins, he tld her in v.11 that he had bserved her actins Baz mentined three things abut Ruth that have parallels t the Christ and the Church First, he ntes Ruth s assciatin with Nami Nami we knw pictures Israel in this stry: widwed, under judgment, seeking rest in her land Every believer enters int a relatinship with Christ because f Israel We culd say Jesus cmes t us because f His relatinship t Israel Because f Jewish scriptures, the Jewish cvenant and the Jewish Messiah Secndly, Baz mentins Ruth s willingness t leave her family Just as it wuld have been impssible fr Ruth t knw Baz withut first leaving behind Mab, s it is fr every disciple f Jesus Our pprtunity t knw and fllw Jesus begins with a call t repent and leave behind the wrld and it s values and pririties Jhn 17:16 They are nt f the wrld, even as I am nt f the wrld. Smetimes that will mean distancing urselves frm unbelieving family members if they frce us t make that chice Matt. 10:37 He wh lves father r mther mre than Me is nt wrthy f Me; and he wh lves sn r daughter mre than Me is nt wrthy f Me. 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 6 f 12 Mre ften, it means leaving behind earthly accmplishments, earthly pursuits, earthly identities s that we may live t please Christ The Apstle Paul had much t lse by becming a disciple f Jesus Yet here s what he said abut his lss Phil. 3:7 But whatever things were gain t me, thse things I have cunted as lss fr the sake f Christ. Phil. 3:8 Mre than that, I cunt all things t be lss in view f the surpassing value f knwing Christ Jesus my Lrd, fr whm I have suffered the lss f all things, and cunt them but rubbish s that I may gain Christ, Ruth traded everything she knew t gain smething she had never seen S it must be fr disciples tday...let g f this wrld s yu can take hld f what Gd has waiting ver the hrizn Finally, Baz cmmends Ruth fr attaching herself t a peple she didn t knw Ruth threw her lt in with a despised peple, the Israelites She did s because she wanted t knw Yahweh And she pictures the Church again Every Christian has been grafted int the prmises made t Israel In a sense, we ve thrwn ur lt in with Israel We reject the false gds f ther cultures We acknwledge the ne true Gd is the One Wh revealed Himself t Abraham, Isaac and Jacb As we leave the wrld behind, we find new rewards t replace what we nce valued Ntice in vl11 Baz tld Ruth that ultimately the Lrd wuld reward Ruth fr her kindness Baz s kindness was merely a dwnpayment n that future reward 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 7 f 12 Here again we find a parallel between Christ and the Church The prmises Christ made t us are merely a dwnpayment n a heavenly reward We will have a measure f reward nw, including gifts f the Spirit, prvisin in ne way r anther, and the privilege f serving Christ Mark 10:29 Jesus said, Truly I say t yu, there is n ne wh has left huse r brthers r sisters r mther r father r children r farms, fr My sake and fr the gspel s sake, Mark 10:30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much nw in the present age, huses and brthers and sisters and mthers and children and farms, alng with persecutins; and in the age t cme, eternal life. As Jesus said, ur full reward awaits eternal living in Heaven, where the Lrd will recmpense us fr the deeds dne in the bdy, where gd r bad We never want t lse that perspective What we have nw is merely a fretaste f things t cme Dn t try t make it mre than it is, therwise yu re likely t trade smething earthly fr smething heavenly And that s always a bad trade We left ff in chapter 2 at v.13, s let s g frward a little further tday The next verse adds ne mre imprtant parallel we need t cnsider Ruth 2:14 At mealtime Baz said t her, Cme here, that yu may eat f the bread and dip yur piece f bread in the vinegar. S she sat beside the reapers; and he served her rasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had sme left. Baz ends their cnversatin with a meal Meals had greater significance in ancient eastern cultures than ur meals usually d tday It was a high hnr t hst a smene fr a meal in yur hme And meals were cmmnly used t seal slemn agreements r cvenants 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 8 f 12 Meals in ur culture are increasingly infrmal Families used t dress up fr the evening meal, and nt just n Sundays Tday we cnsider a meal t be frmal if the fd isn t served n a stick Families barely sit dwn tgether much less attach significance t a meal I knew dinner had lst its imprtance in ur culture when a friend tld me abut a practice f eating dinner at Sam s Club r Csc He said he ften had a seven curse meal at these clubs I tld him I didn t remember seeing a fine dining restaurant inside the club He said it s nt a restaurant...he visits all the fd samplers wrking the isles in the clubs He starts in the appetizer isle then mves t the sups and seafd, fllwed by BBQ and pizza He finishes ff with the dessert isle and sprts drinks He says if yu arrive at the right time in the afternn, yu can be there fr the shift change and take anther lap fr secnds Meals just dn t mean what they nce did But meals were imprtant events in this day A meal was ften an integral part f establishing cvenants r new relatinships We can see that smething imprtant is happening in this meal when we lk at the details Ntice smething interesting in verse 14 At the end f v.14, we see that the evening meal was rasted grain The meal was actually the rasted grain Ruth ate this grain and was satisfied Yet earlier it says she was given bread t dip in vinegar 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 9 f 12 The Hebrew wrd fr vinegar here is a wrd that means sur wine S befre the meal actually began, Baz instructs Ruth t take bread and dip it in wine and eat This wasn t an appetizer It was a ceremnial act befre meal itself This ceremnial mment sealed the prmises Baz has made t Ruth Baz has entered int a cvenant with Ruth A cvenant is a lifelng binding bligatin It ended nly with the death f thse wh make it Sme cvenants place bligatins n bth parties, while thers nly place requirements n ne party In this case it s clear that nly Baz has bligated himself in this cvenant Ruth had nthing t ffer Baz in any case And all the prmises have been made frm Baz t Ruth S Baz is vluntarily entering int a lifelng binding prmise t prtect Ruth Clearly, Baz is thinking well beynd this harvest seasn He has determined he will be there fr Ruth fr the rest f her life When the harvest ended and the pprtunity t glean in the field ended fr a seasn, Baz wuld still be there taking care f Ruth That s why we say Ruth has truly fund rest! Once again, in all these details Gd has placed markers t draw ur attentin t His plan fr the Gentile Church As Christ fund us, he granted us prtectin, prvisin and privilege and He sealed these prmises in a ne-way cvenant in His bld The cvenant places burdens n Christ grants us His grace 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 10 f 12 It cmes with n cnditins The certainty f ur cvenant with Christ is based entirely n His faithfulness And He wh has prmised is faithful 2Tim. 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, fr He cannt deny Himself. Which is why Paul expressed such cnfidence in ur future in Christ Phil. 1:6 Fr I am cnfident f this very thing, that He wh began a gd wrk in yu will perfect it until the day f Christ Jesus. Rm. 8:38 Fr I am cnvinced that neither death, nr life, nr angels, nr principalities, nr things present, nr things t cme, nr pwers, Rm. 8:39 nr height, nr depth, nr any ther created thing, will be able t separate us frm the lve f Gd, which is in Christ Jesus ur Lrd. Understanding that ur cvenant with Christ is based n His wrk and His faithfulness explains why we have eternal security in ur salvatin We aren t eternally secure because we have the strength Or even because we are frgiven f sin It s simply because ur cvenant with Christ is entirely a ne-way agreement Just as Ruth culd rest knwing Baz has prmised, s can we rest knwing Jesus has prmised t return and take us hme This is ur surce f rest while we wait Matt. 11:28 Cme t Me, all wh are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give yu rest. Matt. 11:29 Take My yke upn yu and learn frm Me, fr I am gentle and humble in heart, and Yu will find rest fr yur suls. Finally, as we enter int this cvenant, we cmmemrate it thrugh a ceremnial meal just as Baz did with Ruth Baz tk Ruth aside and instructed her t eat f bread and wine t signify their new relatinship, a relatinship Baz extended t Ruth 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 11 f 12 This mment pictures the Church participating in the Last Supper meal Just as Baz instructed Ruth, Jesus has instructed us And just as their partaking f bread and wine was ritual rather than a full meal S is ur cmmunin meal a ritual We eat bread and wine (r grape juice) t remember the cvenant in Christ s bdy and bld That cvenant brught us int a new relatinship as it did Ruth And it frmed a new relatinship In ur case, the cmmunin meal is a reenactment f the meal Jesus shared with His disciples Jesus culdn t put the entire Church arund that ne table, since mst had yet t be brn S He instructed the church t repeat the meal regularly until He returns But there is yet ne mre detail that cnnects these characters and ur stry with Christ Baz s relatinship with Ruth and this cvenant meal take place during the barley harvest, as we learned at the start f this chapter The barley harvest happens in the spring, in the mnths arund the Jewish Passver And f curse, Jesus death n the crss happened n Passver, since He was the Passver Lamb Therefre, n Gd s prphetic time clck, we can say that this mment between Ruth and Baz is a picture f the start f the Church age The Messiah pictured by Baz has entered int a relatinship with a Gentile wman, wh pictures the Church It begins sn after Passver And it begins with the Last Supper meal, when the Church first dipped bread int wine with Christ 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Ruth 2016 2B 12 f 12 That detail explains why Ruth is here alne withut Nami The Jewish wman pictures the natin as a whle Nami isn t in the scene at this pint, because the Jewish peple largely aren t a part f the Church They are still back in the field, the wrld, withut Baz and withut Ruth They are still desperate and hungry Meanwhile, Ruth is secure and in a cvenant relatinship with the master f the huse And this master happens t be a kinsman f Nami Just as ur Lrd is a Jewish Messiah, a Kinsman t all Israel This ne-sided relatinship will cntinue fr a while, just as the age f the Church lasts fr a time But eventually the time fr the church will give way t a time fr Israel And that s where ur stry is ging t Next time we finish chapter 2 and enter int chapter 3 Where we see hw the age begins t cme t its end in preparatin fr Nami t find her rest t 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.