Ruth 3

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. We're going to be on Ruth chapter 3 today. Sometimes you have to do things that are a little uncomfortable, maybe even questionable. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll see an interesting thing that happens in Ruth chapter 3.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the day that you have given us. We thank you for the opportunity we have to read your word, and we pray that you would please help us. Help us to read and understand, to believe and to live. We need your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Here we go. Ruth chapter 3. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, Is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore, wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment, and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be when he lies down that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down. And he will tell you what you should do.
And he said to her, and she said to her, all that you say to me, I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. And after Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. And she came softly, uncovered his feet and lay down.
Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled and turned himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, who are you? So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative. Then he said, blessed are you of Jehovah, my daughter. For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, and in that you did not go after young men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request. For all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.
Now, it is true that I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I. Stay this night. And in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good, let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you as Jehovah lives. Lie down until morning. So she lay down at his feet until morning and she arose before one could recognize her another. Then he said, Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. Also, he said, bring the shawl that is on you and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six ifas of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.
When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, is that you, my daughter? Then she told her all the man had done for her. And she said, these six ifas of barley he gave me. And he said to me, do not go empty handed to your mother-in-law. then she said sit still my daughter until you know the matter how the matter will turn out for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day
well that so we're going to end we have chapter four tomorrow find out how it turns out but we need to ask ourselves today a what is this about b what's the best for her to summarize this and c what are we called to do so a what is this passage about well remember ruth has found out that Boaz is a kinsman redeemer and Naomi really sees it on this at the beginning of chapter three right this is great this is wonderful so she concocts a plan you know i heard he's going to be at the the winnowing floor They're going to keep getting all that chaff out of the barley grain. It's a good year, right? They have heaps of grain this year. It's been a famine. There's not been food in the land, but the Lord has blessed the land. There's lots of food. This is wonderful. And he's going to be there all night. So he's probably just going to sleep. They're going to eat. It's a festival time. People have worked hard, so now they're going to have some wine, and they're going to drink, and they'll rest.
And she says, you wait, though. Wait until he's relaxed and then go snuggle up next to him and see if he'll take you." And so Ruth says, okay. She does it. She goes, she doesn't let herself be known and when he lies down, he's asleep. Now I don't know if he's like me, like I put my head down on the pillow and I'm out, gone. I don't know if he's the type of guy that took him a while to fall asleep, but he goes to bed, sleeping on the grain. And here comes Naomi and she uncovers his feet. Now there's been people who will say, wow, that's a euphemism for all sorts of sexual innuendos type stuff. I don't really buy it too much, But no matter what, people could say there's impropriety here. What's she doing trying to get next to Boaz at night? Is there some type of hanky-panky going on here? I don't think so.
And I don't think so because of Boaz's response to her. He wakes up shocked. Wow! Who is that? And then he's impressed. She could have gone off, tried to get one of the young bucks, one of the handsome guys. Why is she going after a middle-aged guy or an older man who, she's already a widow. She's already had a husband die. And he's impressed by her again. He says, everybody knows that you're a virtuous woman. And then I think he preserves that virtue by sending her away home early before anybody can see. It's still dark out. People can't recognize her and so he's not going to let her reputation get spoiled. So he takes her forwardness in the most charitable light. He preserves her dignity and he blesses her.
But notice he's also going to keep the law. What's this about? Also, he's saying, I'm not actually the closest redeemer. There's one closer than me. We'll see if he'll do the duty. And if he will, then I've got to live by that. But if not, then I'll do the duty. What's the duty? Well, this is that duty of redemption. And so providing, not just purchasing the land to make it and own it and to provide an income for the family, but also to provide a seed for the woman to have a child. And so this whole idea of it's the land, but it's also he's going to get married to her. He says, if he won't redeem you, then I will.
She goes home, and Naomi's like, tell me what happened. And she's like, he said he would do it. She's like, I know Boaz. He's not going to sleep until this is done. And that's where we end off. What's going to happen tomorrow in Ruth chapter 4.
So what this is about, this is Naomi concocting a plan to have Ruth try to show her intent in wanting Boaz to redeem her, redeem the family. Maybe it's not so bad if the lady's the one who asks the guy out or makes the proposal. That's essentially what she's doing here, right? I'm not going to push that too far, but this is a beautiful picture of her stepping out in faith once again, honoring her mother, showing honor to Boaz, and God's undeserved favor just flowing onto Ruth.
She's a Moabitess but she's not of the people of Israel and yet she's converted. She's come to trust and to believe and to love Naomi and Naomi's God and the Lord is truly blessing her, bringing her under the shadow of his wings like Boaz had told her in chapter 2.
So, what's the best verse to summarize this section? Well, I have just underlined, exclamation point, six ephahs of barley. She's got like 45 pounds of grain she's taking home. That's a lot of grain she's taking home. That's just my nerdy point. But, I really think verse 12 and 13 is probably the best, what I would underline in my Bible.
So, the last seat calling, what are we called to do? Sometimes we have to step out on faith. Do things that may be a little uncomfortable for us. And yet, again, not doing things that are out of propriety, but are a little bit out of our comfort zone. In faith, trusting the Lord. Ruth didn't know how this was going to turn out. Naomi didn't have any guarantees that Boaz would treat her with his kindness. And yet this is the spark of hope. And this is the beauty of redemption.
We get in this picture with Boaz as this type of Christ that he's going to keep the law He's gonna care, love, and be gracious. And this is what God has done for us. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Especially those of us who are not Jewish. We're Gentiles, like Ruth. We're the Goyim, the ethnic. And yet God, for some reason, brings us under the shadow of his wings. He's the one who came to us, extended grace, and now has continued to promise. It's a beautiful picture.
Let's pray. Father, we pray that we would trust you, that you are our Redeemer, and that you have brought us under the shadow of your wings. So Lord, we trust you because you have given us your Son and poured out your Spirit in our hearts. We pray that you would let us have joy, joy everlasting in Jesus' name. Amen.
May God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. I'll see you next time. Bye.