The Hope of Redemption - Ruth 3

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon Arby Church in Southeast Iowa. We want to thank you for listening today and we pray that you'll be blessed by both hearing God's Word as well as having it applied to your life and your heart. Please turn over in your Bibles with me to Ruth chapter 3.

Ruth chapter 3. You can find Ruth on page 242 of your Pew Bibles. And you'll remember the context of what's going on in Ruth. In Ruth chapter 2, it was Boaz who is a close relative, a kinsman redeemer to Naomi and Ruth. And he's let her lean in the fields and has cared for her. And it's in that light that we come to Ruth chapter 3. Ruth chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. 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 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 take notice of the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do. 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. 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 lied down. Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turning himself, and there a woman was lying at his feet.

And he said, who are you? 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 the Lord, my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, and that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 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 the Lord lives. Lie down until morning. So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize 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 measures 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 that the man had done for her, and she said, These six measures of barley he gave me, for he said to me, Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law. Then she said, Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out, for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day."

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Father, we pray, Lord, that you would indeed open our eyes and our ears to hear and to understand the things that you would have for us from this passage today. Father, we pray that these things which we learn would be for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sermon

Do the ends justify the means? Do the ends justify the means? A poor man steals a car to go to work. Do the ends justify the means? A woman sells her body to get out of poverty. Do the ends justify the means? It's what we look at here today in Ruth chapter 3. Do the ends justify the means? Is it right to do whatever you need to do to be able to get redemption, to find security?

Well, that's the question we look at today and it starts in a dark, shadowy, ugly place in the first four verses of Ruth. We find Naomi and we see Naomi call herself Mara, bitter, empty, an anxiousness and a sense of anxiety around her. Isn't it right, my daughter, that I should find security for you? You need to find rest. I need to do this for you." And so Naomi comes up with a plan. And the plan should make all of us squirm in our seat a little bit. The plan should make us think, what is going on here? Is this really the right means to the good end? Look with me at what it says.

Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, so Naomi, Ruth's 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 were with you, is he not our... and I'm going to take out close relative and put in kinsman-redeemer there. Is he not our kinsman redeemer?

In fact, he was winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore, wash yourself, anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to him until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be when he lies down that you shall take notice of the place where he lies, and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down and wait until he tells you what to do." What do you think is going to happen on the threshing floor? Naomi tells her daughter-in-law Ruth, go gussy yourself up. Go doll yourself up, get yourself well prepared, get nice, get perfumed, get clean. Go to the threshing floor and just wait until he's nice and happy and he lies down.

And then go lie down at his feet and he'll tell you what to do. That's how you're going to find security. This is the plan and we should, like I said earlier, should make a scream. Is this really how we find rest? Is this really how God wants us to find security? Do the ends really justify the means? Is this how we find redemption?

Ruth goes along with the plan. She agrees with her mom. She says, okay, I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I'm going to do it, and that's what she does. She goes to the winnowing floor. She goes to the threshing floor, and there's a bit of background here. The threshing floor, this is a time of harvest. This is similar to our Thanksgiving, but think of a rowdy Thanksgiving. Threshing floors, especially in the pagan world, are places where people are celebrating fertility and celebrating everything that goes along with that. This is a place of debauchery in pagan areas. And we're meant to ask, is that really what the threshing floor in Bethlehem is like?

Is this really who Boaz is going to be like? Is Ruth really going to go and find Boaz in that state, in a drunken stupor at the end of the heap? Is that really what we're going to find? She goes down to the threshing floor, and she did according to all her mother-in-law instructed her. And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was cheerful, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. And she came softly, uncovered his feet, and laid down. And we should, at first glance, we read that and we go, Really? We thought Boaz was this righteous man, and here it seems like he's fallen. Well, the English kind of betrays us a little bit here. Actually, the English sometimes actually is helpful.

There's two similar words between drinking and drunk. And if somebody says to you, I had a drink, you go, okay. But if somebody says, I got drunk, you know what they're talking about. And here it's very clear in verse 7, and after Boaz had eaten and drank, shouldn't say drunk, after he had drank, his heart was merry. This is not the idea, in Hebrew it's very clear, there's a whole extra letter added on for when someone's drunk, and that's not what Boaz is.

This is, as one of my friends likes to say, he's fat and happy. This is after Thanksgiving meal, when you've had your fixings, you've had your turkey, you've had the drinks, and you know you're saying you're going to sit down to watch the football game, but you're not going to catch a lick of the football game. That's Boaz rejoicing in the fatness that God has brought to the land again, that there's bread in the house of bread again.

And this is where we find him. He's sleeping. But we might still have the question, hold on, has he drunk too much? Is this really what's going to go on? Is there going to be some type of insidious relationship that happens here? Well, look with me at verses 8 and 9.

Now, it happened at midnight, 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.

It's midnight. It's dark out. The only light is the light of the moon, this grayish light where you can see form, but you can't see detail. And some reason, Boaz is cold, and he shivers. It's the idea that he trembles. And so he turns around, and the text is really funny in the Hebrew, it's, behold, there's a woman! What in the world is she? Hold on, what's going on here? And Boaz is startled by this. Who are you?

And she says to him, I'm Ruth, your maidservant. Take me under your wing, or some of your translations might say, and spread the corner of your garment over me. This is a specific proposal to him for marriage. But it also rings back in chapter 2 when Boaz had talked to Ruth for the first time. Boaz says to her, Ruth chapter 2 verse 12, He looks at Ruth. Boaz looks at Ruth after she said his blessing back to her. He told her, you found refuge under the wings of the Lord. And then just a few days later, she comes at night and she says, spread out your wing over me so I can find refuge there.

And he looks at her and he smiles. Okay, you missed the point, hon. I'm not the Lord. But what you've said is right and just." And he responds to her with kindness. He responds, Boaz responds to her with gentleness. And the whole next section, verses 10 through 13, we find that Boaz praises Ruth. He praises Ruth, he makes promises to Ruth, but there's a problem as well. And he praises Ruth specifically in verse 10 when he says, "'Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether rich or poor.'" Naomi had shown kindness.

This word here is the chesed. This is the type of kindness that God shows us. You have shown this loving kindness. more at the end than you did at the beginning. You showed love and kindness to your mother-in-law, and now you've even shown it to me. You didn't go after the young bucks. You didn't go after the boys in the field, but you went after the old man. You didn't go after the rich guys or the poor guys, you went after what was right by the Word of God. Blessed are you." And then he goes on, and he praises her even more. He says, 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.

This idea of a virtuous woman is Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31 verses 1 and 2 start with the virtuous woman. And in our English Bible, the book of Ruth is put between Judges and 1 Samuel, but in the Hebrew Bible, in the Tanakh, it goes Proverbs, last chapter of Proverbs, Proverbs 31, the book of Ruth, and then into the Song of Songs. Ruth, he's saying, you are the fulfillment of this virtuous woman. She's a prototype of this. You are this virtuous woman, and everybody in the town knows of it. See, he praises her and he blesses her, but he also makes her a promise. Do not fear. I will do for you all that you request.

Boaz is going to redeem her. Boaz is not going to let the family line of Elimelech die forever. But there's a problem. And Boaz unfolds this problem for us that Boaz is not going to allow any means necessary to accomplish his end, but he is going to be a righteous Redeemer. There's a problem. And he's going to address it righteously. He's not going to just surpass another person in his town, but he's going to make sure that he does things the right way as a Redeemer.

Look with me at verses 12 to 13. Now it is true that I am a close relative. However, there is a kinsman Redeemer closer than I. Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative to you as a kinsman Redeemer, Okay, that's fine.

That's fine. If there's another kinsman redeemer closer than myself, he has the rightful obligation to purchase the land that your family owns and to marry you. That's the way the Lord designed it. That's the way he put this in place. And if he does it, great. But if not, But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you."

He makes this promise, but he seals his loving promise to Ruth, as the Lord lives. Boaz makes a promise to Ruth as a righteous Redeemer, saying that as long as the Lord lives, which all of us know is forever, I will keep this promise to you. Ruth, I will follow through on giving you rest and security. I will be a righteous redeemer for you. I will care for you. I will love you. I will give you what you need. But he's going to go about it righteously.

None of this secret stuff in the dark, in plain air for everyone to see in the full light of day, but he's got a problem on his hands, doesn't he? Ruth is there in the middle of the night. What do you do with a girl who is on the threshing floor in the middle of the night? You can't send her home. Drunk people are walking around the street. Have you ever thought to yourself, oh, you know, I think I'll go to St. Louis this weekend and I'll walk down the street at midnight. Any of you women want to volunteer?

No, and Boaz knows this. He's not just going to let her leave and go to the hands of thieves and drunkards along the way. And so it's very clear here what he does. He doesn't use a normal word that can be ambiguous. All the ambiguity about is this going to be some type of clandestine liaison, that's gone now. And the word is very clear. Put your head down here. Lie down. Lie down and go to sleep till the morning.

And as Ruth goes to sleep, you can imagine her heart being warmed by this promise. She didn't just get the barley last time, she has a promise from a Redeemer that she will not go hungry ever again. Whether it's by him or whether it's by another man, he is going to ensure that she is cared for for the rest of her life. This is the promise and you can imagine Ruth for the first time getting to lay down her head with a piece of security. A type of security she hasn't known since Mahalone died in Moab. And now she has security.

But Boaz, you can imagine, he's got a lot of thinking to do. He's got a lot of thinking to do and he needs to figure out how to get Ruth home without tarnishing her reputation. You have to imagine what all the talk of the town would be if people saw Ruth coming from the threshing floor. What was she doing with the boys at the threshing floor? Did she go to the frat party? What happened there? But Boaz is concerned about Ruth's reputation and about her standing in the society.

And he says to himself in verse 14, Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. If this was Chalk and Talk, I'd go into the Hebrew about why we know that this is Boaz talking to himself. But he's telling himself, we can't let everybody know that she came to the threshing floor because it's going to hurt her reputation. So while it's still dark, while it's still four o'clock in the morning and you can see forms and you can see shadows but you can't see detail, she rises up while it's early.

And he gives her six measures of barley, and he sends her back into the city. He sends her back home. And you can imagine, this is a wonderful way for Boaz both to show kindness to Ruth and to Naomi, as well as to preserve her moral integrity in the community. Because as Ruth is walking home to Naomi, and people see her in the dark walking home with this barley, that's not unusual.

Again, she's the Proverbs 31 woman. She wakes up while it's yet still night and gathers food for her family. Oh, there's that good Moabite girl who loves Naomi so much. Man, have you seen that girl work? She is an industrious woman. She's out in the field getting barley that's left over and thrashing it, apparently, before it's even dawn. Boaz protects Ruth.

Let's read it together, verse 14 through 15. So she lay at his feet until morning, and she rose before one could recognize 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 measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city."

And as Ruth goes into the city, it's still the wee hours of the morning. It's still dark enough that her mother-in-law, Naomi, can't recognize her. And Naomi waits eagerly at the door for Ruth to come. And as Ruth comes, as this figure starts walking to the door in the darkness, she asks, is that you, my daughter?

She's been waiting all night to find out. Did my plan work? Matchmaker, matchmaker, did it work? Naomi's kind of like a Jacob of the book of Ruth. She's a schemer here. Is that you, my daughter? She still lovingly calls her her daughter. And Ruth comes in and she tells her everything that the man did for her. Everything that he said. But she adds something to it. She gives us a bit of the conversation that we didn't have earlier. Look with me at verses 16 and 17. When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, is that you, my daughter? Then she told her all that the man had done for her. And she said, these six measures of barley he gave me. For he said to me, do not go empty handed to your mother-in-law."

Think back to Ruth chapter 1, verse 21. When Naomi comes back into the town, they say, can this be Naomi? Has she returned? She says, don't call me Naomi, don't call me pleasant, call me Mara, call me bitter, because I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.

And here Boaz, the righteous redeemer, sends Ruth back home not empty-handed. The Lord has not left Naomi empty-handed. He has not left her bitter. He has not forsaken the widow. The Lord himself, indeed, in the book of Proverbs is clear that it is the Lord who is the Redeemer for the widow and for the orphan.

It is Boaz, we see, who is the righteous Redeemer. The ends did not justify the means, but Boaz is going to get to the end by righteous means. And how much more so our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Did He come in some type of scheming way, in dark, secret places, somehow, to accomplish your redemption? No. No, but the Lord Jesus Christ came, as Boaz shows us, as a righteous redeemer. As one who loves the orphan, one who loves the widow, one who cares for the needy, one who is gentle and loving and kind and does all of his works in openness and the full light of day. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer, the only Redeemer of God's elect. And it is Jesus Christ who has looked upon you with compassion, even though you might not understand how He is bringing about your redemption.

Some of you have stories of redemption that we would look at and we would go, really you had to go through that to be a Christian? You had to move through that religion to be able to become a Christian? Some of you young people, the world is going to try to convince you that there is another pathway to redemption, another way to be right with God, outside of Jesus Christ. Don't fall for it.

There's a righteous Redeemer. For some of you who are older and have been Christians for a long time, there is a temptation that we have. And that's as we have walked in the reality of our redemption for year after year, we can become callous. to our righteous Redeemer. We can start thinking that it's what we've done. Well, I go to church. Well, I do the right things. Well, I don't get drunk. I don't do this sin. I don't do that sin. But it's my righteousness. I know that I'm redeemed because I'm not that bad of a person.

Don't take your eyes off the Redeemer. You are the one who has been redeemed. You are the one who has been bought back At a great price, it costs the very blood, the righteous blood of Jesus Christ, to buy us, to be his own. Cling to your righteous Redeemer. He has brought the end about by righteous means.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we pray, Lord, that you would work in our hearts, Father, that we would not be quick to forget your redemption. Father, please apply your Holy Spirit's reminder and comfort to our hearts that it is you alone who saves, who redeems, who treats us kindly. Thank you for Jesus Christ and for our redemption. In his name we pray. Amen.