Sunday, September 24, 2000   

In verses 2-17, we find that Ruth goes to the field of Boaz by the providence of God, and that he takes notice of her and tells the young men to drop "handfuls of purpose for her." Yes, as Ruth 2:1 says: "Naomi had a kinsman but Naomi had no idea that God would lead Ruth to the field of Boaz or that he would show favor to her.”

Naomi asked Ruth where she has gleaned, and Ruth gladly tells her (verse 19). In verse 20, we can hear the excitement of Naomi as she tells Ruth who this man is. As we look now at the last verses of Ruth two, we find many spiritual gems for us to glean.

I. VERSE 18, RUTH'S DILIGENCE AND DEVOTION

      A. "She took it up"-- here is a picture of appropriating the bread of life (John 1:12).

           1. "Went into the city."

                a. The city is a place of need. "God will give us special privileges to glean among the sheaves and receive handfuls on purpose to hoard for ourselves. He gives to us that we may go to the popular and distribute to those in need" (Boone 118). In the scripture, we are told to "give and it shall be given to you…”

                 b. In the city of need is Naomi; she needed food and nourishment. Without bread, she would die. Ruth had what Naomi needed, and brought it to the place where the need was.

                        1) All of us who have Jesus have what the world needs for without the bread of life folks will die (John 6:47-51).

                        2) If you do not have Jesus, you do not have spiritual life (I John 5:12, "He that hat the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son hath not life.

                 c. We are to distribute to those who are in need. If we don't distribute what we get spiritually, God will turn off the spout where the glory comes out. We need to get the seed out of the barn and share it with those in our city.

                        1) Ecclesiastes 11:1 "Cast thy bread upon the waters: and thou shalt find it after many days."

                        2) Luke 6:38: "Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together..."

      B. The church is the keeper of the seed today, and we must get the seed out of the barn (church).

           1. The command to the church is: "Go ye therefore....” There is a mighty GO in the Gospel!

            2. If we expect the Lord to bless, we must not hoard (Word of God). We must do mission work here and overseas.

      C. As we read the last part of verse 18, we see that Ruth took care of her own need before she took care of Naomi.

           1. We need not be critical here for the Lord has a great spiritual lesson for us here.

            2. Ruth could not give to Naomi until she had first satisfied her own need.

                 a. We cannot give spiritual food to others if we have not been fed spiritually first.

                 b. Paul tells the preachers at Ephesus to feed themselves spiritually, and then they will have something for the flock of God (Acts 20:28).

                        1) The preacher cannot give what he does not have.

                        2) Sunday school teacher, you can't give what you have studied.

II. VERSE 19-20, RUTH DISCERNS WHO BOAZ IS

      A. Verse 19, "Where hast thou gleaned today?" Here is the question of Naomi for Ruth had been so richly blessed that day.

            1. Naomi voices a blessing upon the owner of the field not knowing that Boaz owned it.

           2. Now Ruth tells Naomi the blessed truth: "The man's name with whom I wrought today was Boaz."

            3. The word "knowledge" in this verse is the Hebrew nakar meaning "to recognize, to regard, to make a distinction." Naomi did not realize just how true she was.

                 a. Boaz set his eye Ruth an unworthy stranger, a stranger cut off and without hope until Boaz recognized her.

                  b. The Lord Jesus has set His eye upon His sheep; He has recognized us.

      B. Verse 20, Naomi continues to express her belief in the Providential workings of a sovereign God by saying: "Blessed be he of the Lord ... of She clearly saw the hand of God in this situation.

            1. Boaz had shown kindness to Naomi and the daughter-in-law of her dead son, Ruth.

           2. The Lord Jesus shows kindness to the living and the dead in the spiritual realm.

                  a. Christ showed kindness to me when I was dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-9).

                  b. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus pass from death to life (John 5:24).

            3. "The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen." This is the man who has the right to redeem; he is the kinsman redeemer.

                 a. Boaz, is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, our greater Boaz.

                 b. Jesus is the one who paid the price of redemption to set us free (Galatians 3:13; 4:4-5; 2:14).

III. VERSES 21-23, RUTH'S DISCUSSES THE INSTRUCTIONS OF BOAZ

      A. Verse 21, Ruth had been instructed to stay close to the young men of Boaz until the harvest was over. That was about another six weeks. Each day that Ruth gleaned, the closer she came to marrying her redeemer.

           1. We are to stay close to God's men, to stay under the protective umbrella of the church.

            2. One day the harvest will be over, and the bride will be wed to her bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Redeemer (Revelations 19).

      B. Verse 22, The best place to be is in the right place. Ruth was to stay in the field of Boaz.

           1. Believers need to stay away from the world and stay in God's field.

            2. Remember the handfuls of purpose fall in God's field. If you want to be blessed, stay right. You will reap if you faint not (Galatians 6:9).

      C. Verse 23, Ruth is a picture of faithfulness. Faithful to the task and faithful to her mother-in-law.

           1. We need to be faithful to the church and to the field of evangelization.

            2. I Corinthians 4:2: "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." We are required to be faithful! (Read also Matthew 25:41).

CONCLUSION: Let us be faithful to our blessed redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.