The entire book of Ruth complete with personal application, the doctrine of redemption, and the sovereignty of God in 23 minutes.
Sermon Transcript/Article: The Book of Ruth - Tragedies
Can Change to Miracles
Introduction
The book of Ruth, in the Bible, shows us that God can
replace the tragedies of ordinary people with miracles and blessings. As Ruth
went about living her challenging life, her perspective was very limited, yet
she faithfully continued trusting God. She had no idea that the day by day leading
of God would result in one of the greatest events in all of history. This true
story took place in the period of the Judges, after the Israelites rebelled against
God. The story provides a sharp contrast with the disobedient actions of the
Israelites, because Ruth chose to obey God and therefore she prospered. I’m going to read the story from the
Message version of the Bible. My hope is that you will be able to relate to
Ruth, an ordinary person that had extraordinary experiences that provided by God.
And then I will follow it up with some practical application points.
The Text , Ruth 1-4 (The Message
Version)
1 1-2 Once upon
a time—it was back in the days when judges led Israel— there was a famine in
the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah left home to live in the country of
Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The man’s name was Elimelech; his
wife’s name was Naomi; his sons were named Mahlon and Kilion—all Ephrathites
from Bethlehem in Judah. They all went to the country of Moab and settled
there.
3-5 (but) Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two
sons. (So) the sons took Moabite wives; the name of the first was Orpah, (and) the
second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next ten years. But then the two
brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left without either her
(sons) or her husband.
6-7 One day she got herself together, she and her two
daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home; she had
heard that God had been pleased to visit his people (in Bethlehem) and give
them food. And so she started out from the place she had been living, she and
her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah.
8-9 After a short while on the road, Naomi told her two
daughters-in-law, “Go back. Go home and live with your mothers. And may God treat you as graciously as you treated
your deceased husbands and me. May God give each of you a new home and a new
husband!” She kissed them and they cried openly.
10 (but) they said, “No, we’re going on with you to your
people.”
11-13 But Naomi was firm: “Go back, my dear daughters. Why would
you come with me? Do you suppose I still have sons in my womb who can become
your future husbands? Go back, dear daughters—on your way, please! I’m too old
to get a husband. Why, even if I said, ‘There’s still hope!’ and this very
night got a man and had sons, can you imagine being satisfied to wait until
they were grown? Would you wait that long to get married again? No, dear
daughters; this is a bitter pill for me to swallow—more bitter for me than for
you. (sigh)God has dealt me a hard blow.”
14 Again they cried openly. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law
good-bye; but Ruth embraced her and held on.
15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is going back home to
live with her own people and gods; go with her.”
16-17 But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me
go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my
people, your God is my god; where you die, I’ll die, and that’s where I’ll be
buried, help me God (if I don’t keep this promise) - not even death itself is going to come between us!”
18-19 When Naomi saw that Ruth had her heart set on going with
her, she gave in. And so the two of them traveled on together to Bethlehem.
When they arrived in Bethlehem the
whole town was soon buzzing: “Is this really our Naomi? And after all this
time!”
20-21 But she said, “Don’t call me Naomi; call me Bitter. The
Strong One has dealt me a bitter blow. I left here full of life, and God has
brought me back with nothing but the clothes on my back. Why would you call me
Naomi (which means Happy)? God certainly doesn’t. (sigh)The Strong One ruined
me.”
22 And so Naomi was back, and Ruth the foreigner with her, back
from the country of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the
barley harvest.
2 It so happened that Naomi had
a relative by marriage, a man prominent and rich, connected with Elimelech’s
family. His name was Boaz.
2 One day Ruth, the Moabite foreigner, said to Naomi, “I’m
going to work; I’m going out to glean among the sheaves, following after some
harvester who will treat me kindly.”
Naomi said, “Go ahead, dear
daughter.”
3-4 And so she set out. She went and started gleaning in a
field, following in the wake of the harvesters. Eventually she ended up in the
part of the field owned by Boaz, her father-in-law Elimelech’s relative. A
little later Boaz came out from Bethlehem, greeting his harvesters (with), “God
be with you!” They replied, “And God bless you!”
5 Boaz asked his young servant who was foreman over the farm
hands, “Who is this young woman? Where did she come from?”
6-7 The foreman said, “Why, that’s the Moabite girl, the one who
came with Naomi from the country of Moab. She asked permission. ‘Let me glean,’
she said, ‘and gather among the sheaves following after your harvesters.’ She’s
been at it steady ever since, from early morning until now, without so much as
a break.”
8-9 Then Boaz spoke to Ruth: “Listen, my daughter. From now on
don’t go to any other field to glean—stay right here in this one. And stay
close to my young women. Watch where they are harvesting and follow them. And
don’t worry about a thing; I’ve given orders to my servants not to harass you.
When you get thirsty, feel free to go and drink from the water buckets that the
servants have filled.”
10 She dropped to her knees, then bowed her face to the ground.
“How does this happen that you should pick me out and treat me so kindly—me,
a foreigner?”
11-12 Boaz answered her, “I’ve heard all about you—heard about the
way you treated your mother-in-law after the death of her husband, and how you
left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to live
among a bunch of total strangers. God
reward you well for what you’ve done—and with a generous bonus besides from God, to whom you’ve come seeking
protection under his wings.”
13 She said, “Oh sir, such grace, such kindness—I don’t deserve
it. You’ve touched my heart, treated me like one of your own. And I don’t even
belong here!”
14 At the lunch break, Boaz said to her, “Come over here; eat
some bread. Dip it in the wine.”
So she joined the harvesters. Boaz
passed the roasted grain to her. She ate her fill and even had some left over.
15-16 When she got up to go back to work, Boaz ordered his
servants: “Let her glean where there’s still plenty of grain on the ground—make
it easy for her. Better yet, pull some of the good stuff out and leave it for
her to glean. Give her special treatment.”
17-18 Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. When she threshed
out what she had gathered, she ended up with nearly a full sack of barley! She
gathered up her gleanings, went back to town, and showed her mother-in-law the
results of her day’s work; she also gave her the leftovers from her lunch.
19 Naomi asked her, “So where did you glean today? Whose field?
God bless whoever it was who took such good care of you!”
Ruth told her mother-in-law, “The
man with whom I worked today? His name is Boaz.”
20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Why, God bless that man!
God hasn’t quite walked out on us after all! He still loves us, in bad times as
well as good!”
Naomi went on, “That man, Ruth, is
one of our circle of covenant (kinsman) redeemers, (or protectors), a close
relative of ours!”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “Well, listen to this: He also told
me, ‘Stick with my workers until my harvesting is finished.’”
22 Naomi said to Ruth, “That’s wonderful, dear daughter! Do
that! You’ll be safe in the company of his young women; no danger now of being
raped in some stranger’s field.”
23 So Ruth did it—she stuck close to Boaz’s young women,
gleaning in the fields daily until both the barley and wheat harvesting were
finished. And she continued living with her mother-in-law.
3 1-2 One day
her mother-in-law Naomi said to Ruth, “My dear daughter, isn’t it about time I
arranged a good home for you so you can have a happy life? And isn’t Boaz our
close relative, the one with whose young women you’ve been working? Maybe it’s
time to make our move. Tonight is the night of Boaz’s barley harvest at the
threshing floor.
3-4 “Take a bath. Put on some perfume. Get all dressed up and go
to the threshing floor. But don’t let him know you’re there until the party is
well under way and he’s had plenty of food and drink. When you see him slipping
off to sleep, watch where he lies down and then go there. Lie at his feet to
let him know that you are available to him for marriage. Then wait and see what
he says. He’ll tell you what to do.”
5 Ruth said, “If you say so, I’ll do it, just as you’ve told
me.”
6 She went down to the threshing floor and put her
mother-in-law’s plan into action.
7 Boaz had a good time, eating and drinking his fill—he felt
great. Then he went off to get some sleep, lying down at the end of a stack of
barley. Ruth quietly followed; she lay down (at his feet) to signal her
availability for marriage.
8 In the middle of the night the man was suddenly startled and
sat up. (I’m) surprised! This woman asleep at (my) feet!
9 He said, “And who are you?”
She said, “I am Ruth, your maiden;
take me under your protecting wing. You’re my close relative, you know, in the
circle of covenant (kinsman) redeemers—you do have the right to marry me.”
10-13 He said, “God
bless you, my dear daughter! What a splendid expression of love! And when you
could have had your pick of any of the young men around. And now, my dear
daughter, don’t you worry about a thing; I will do all you could want or ask.
Everybody in town knows what a courageous woman you are—a real prize! You’re
right, I am a close relative to you, but - there is one even closer than I am.
So stay the rest of the night. In the morning, if he wants to exercise his
customary rights and responsibilities as the closest covenant (kinsman) redeemer,
he’ll have his chance; but if he isn’t interested, as God lives, I’ll do it.
Now go back to sleep until morning.”
14 Ruth slept at his feet until dawn, but she got up while it
was still dark (so she) wouldn’t be recognized. Then Boaz said to himself, (Hmmm)“No
one must know that Ruth came to the threshing floor.”
15 So Boaz said, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and spread it
out.”
She spread it out and he poured it
full of barley, six measures, and put it on her shoulders. Then she went back
to town.
16-17 When she came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “And … how
did things go, my dear daughter?”
Ruth told her everything that the
man had done for her, adding, “And he gave me all this barley besides—six
quarts! He told me, ‘You can’t go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law!’”
18 Naomi said, “Sit back and relax, my dear daughter, until we
find out how things turn out; that man isn’t going to fool around. Mark my
words, he’s going to get everything wrapped up today.”
4 Boaz went straight to the
public square and took his place there. Before long the “closer relative,” the
one mentioned earlier by Boaz, strolled by.
“Step aside, old friend,” said Boaz.
“Take a seat.” The man sat down.
2 Boaz then gathered ten of the town elders together and said,
“Sit down here with us; we’ve got some business to take care of.” And they sat
down.
3-4 Boaz then said to his relative, “The piece of property that
belonged to our relative Elimelech is being sold by his widow Naomi, who has
just returned from the country of Moab. I thought you ought to know about it.
Buy it back if you want it—you can make it official in the presence of those
sitting here and before the town elders. You have first redeemer rights. If you
don’t want it, tell me so I’ll know where I stand. You’re first in line to do
this and I’m next after you.”
He said, “I’ll buy it.”
5 Then Boaz added, “You realize, don’t you, that when you buy
the field from Naomi, you also get Ruth the Moabite, the widow of our dead
relative, along with the redeemer responsibility to have children with her to
carry on the family inheritance.”
6 Then the relative said, “Oh, I can’t do that—I’d jeopardize
my own family’s inheritance. You go ahead and buy it—you can have my rights—I
can’t do it.”
7 In the olden times in Israel, this is how they handled
official business regarding matters of property and inheritance: a man would
take off his shoe and give it to the other person. This was the same as an
official seal or personal signature in Israel.
8 So when Boaz’s “redeemer” relative said, “Go ahead and buy
it,” he signed the deal by pulling off his shoe.
9-10 Boaz then addressed the elders and all the people in the
town square that day: “You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi
everything that belonged to Elimelech and Kilion and Mahlon, including
responsibility for Ruth the foreigner, the widow of Mahlon—I will take her as
my wife and keep the name of the deceased alive along with his inheritance. The
memory and reputation of the deceased is not going to disappear out of this
family or from his hometown. To all this you are witnesses this very day.”
11-12 All the people in the town square that day, backing up the
elders, said, “Yes, we are witnesses. May God make this woman who is coming
into your household like Rachel and Leah, the two women who built the family of
Israel. May God make you a pillar in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem! With
the children God gives you from this young woman, may your family rival the
family of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah.”
13 (And so) Boaz married Ruth. She became his wife. By God’s
gracious gift she conceived and had a son.
14-15 The town women said to Naomi, “Blessed be God! He didn’t
leave you without family to carry on your life. May this baby grow up to be
famous in Israel! He’ll make you young again! He’ll take care of you in (your) old
age. And this daughter-in-law who has brought him into the world and loves you
so much, why, she’s worth more to you than seven sons!”
16 Naomi took the baby and held him in her arms, cuddling him,
cooing over him, waiting on him hand and foot.
17 The neighborhood women started calling him “Naomi’s baby
boy!” (because a son had been born for Naomi). But his real name was Obed. Obed
was the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of (King) David who was the
ancestor of the future Jesus, the long awaited for Messiah.
Conclusion
and Application
This story showed the commitment and faithfulness of
Ruth. It showed the redeeming character of Boaz, and the sovereignty of God.
Early on in the story, Ruth made a decision to join with Naomi and to follow
the God of Israel. This foreshadowed the future when other non-Jewish people would
become part of spiritual Israel, which we know as the church. Boaz was Ruth’s
kinsman-redeemer, which means that he paid the price to rescue a relative from
her circumstances and to care for her. His example was a foreshadowing of Jesus
who redeemed us from our circumstance of sin. Like Boaz, Jesus was our
Kinsman-redeemer when He paid the price of dying on the cross, to redeem us
from the guilt of sin, so that we can have an eternal inheritance with of God.
Ruth had some big challenges in her life – the death of
her husband, having to leave her homeland and family behind, and experiencing the
poverty of being a widow. However, Ruth dedicated herself to caring for her
mother-in-law and relying on God. We get to see the sovereignty of our great God as He intervened and
guided Ruth to glean in Boaz’s field which eventually led her to become an
ancestor of Jesus. The sovereignty of God means that He can exercise His holy
will or supremacy. God has unlimited power and the ability to do whatever He
has resolved to do. So God has complete control over everything that happens.
We may not see God working in our lives. However, like in Ruth’s life, God
directs the events in our lives also to accomplish His will. Our daily
experiences and even our difficult times can be used by God for His divine
purposes. It’s such an honor that God uses ordinary people like us. We need to
just keep doing what we’re supposed to be doing: trusting God through faith,
obeying Him by making godly decisions, and dedicating ourselves to serving Him
and following His will. Ruth probably never realized how significant her life
really was. And we don’t realize how significant our lives are either. But
someday we will get to see the
extraordinary things that God has been doing through us.
