Good morning. We are continuing our love story through the book of Ruth and we're living in interesting times. And, but life goes on. And when we think about this love story, we're thinking about the idea that God is working his plan out. He's desiring to reach us and our response to him. And so we see Ruth here making steps of faith and trusting the Lord with the help of her mother-in-law, Naomi. And so I want to pray as we're starting this time off and look into the word together. So let's pray. Father, thank you for your goodness and grace. Thank you for how you've taken care of us through the good times and the bad. And I ask you now that as we're looking into your word, that you'd use this to challenge us, to encourage us, to do exactly what is needed in each of our lives. And we praise you for your goodness and grace. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, I want to go back to last time we were together. And I've got a section from J. Vernon McGee's commentary looking at Ruth 2. And I think it really is appropriate for what we're dealing with these days. He says this, he says, one of the glorious things as we go through this world today is to know that our times are in his hands, to know that he is ordering the events of this universe and to know that God has said that nothing can come to a child of his without his permission. You must remember that there was a hedge around Job and even Satan could touch him until God gave permission. God will not give permission unless it serves some lofty and worthy purpose. It did serve a lofty and worthy purpose in the life of Job. And I'm sure that Ruth did not realize the significance of the decision she was making. She just went in and I think she prayed and had a reasonable basis for it. For the child of God today who is frustrated because he's looking for some sign, some experience, some light, some voice, some vision, some dream, he must realize that God is not speaking to us in that way today. God today is speaking to us through his word and the child of God who walks in fellowship with God with no unconfessed sin in his life and has not grieved the Holy Spirit can commit his life to God. And when he gets to a place where he isn't clear just what God's will is for him, he can make a decision and move into that situation. Now, maybe I look back on my life, there's one instance where I expected God to open up a door for me, and he didn't open up that door. In fact, he slammed the door, as it were, in my face, and I felt very bad about it. But I thank God that he did it, because now I look back and see that it was best. It's like what Joseph said to his brethren when they came to him after the death of old Jacob, their father. He said in Genesis 50, 20, but as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good. How wonderful that is and may it be an encouragement to you today. Perhaps you are actually biting your fingernails and are wondering why you don't get clear leading. You know, Christians who act like that have a hotline to heaven. They act like they have a hotline to heaven. Now it's wonderful that all of us have access to God, but I'm not sure that he always talks right back to us. So let's be careful today about the way we banter about the statement, I know this is the Lord's will. We just can't always be sure, but we can commit our way to him. And so even if you get into some predicament that Joseph did, or even that Job did, say with him, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Job 13, 15. My friend, that's the glorious truth that brings a joy and an expectancy to life. The providence of God makes every day a thrill for the child of God. I'm glad that he didn't give me a blueprint, because frankly, I'd like to take a trip over a new road, going into an area I've never seen before. I did that one autumn, when we were in the Ozarks. My, how that road twisted and turned, and every twist and turn was a thrill. The autumn leaves were a riot of color. Nature seemed lavish, covering every hillside with polychrome pictures. And I'm so sure, I'm so glad that God did send me pictures of it ahead of time. What a thrill life can become for us. And so you think about this story here of Ruth, she doesn't know the end of the story. And God is orchestrating things. And he said earlier in the passage, he says, it just so happened. But we know that these things just don't happen. For the Christian, there are no coincidences. God's in charge. And so we come to this section of scripture today, Ruth chapter three, and let's just work through it together. Point number one, if you want to take notes, here's the plan. Look at the first verse of Ruth chapter three. It says, then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, my daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor." So right now, she's got a plan going. She's a wise woman. And so when Naomi realized that Ruth had found grace in the eyes of Boaz, because you see the response of Boaz. Remember when she was in the field, he was trying to protect her. And then he even told his workers, don't take all of the wheat. lay some in their path. And so we saw last week how they didn't have welfare, this was workfare. And so they would work to have dignity and do the job. And so what would happen is if there was a sojourner, a person that was visiting the area, a poor person, the people that were working in the field, that were getting paid to work in the field, they would do their work. If they didn't pick up something, The Bible said, leave it. Leave it there. And the person would come alongside behind them and pick up the loose scraps. And so that's what Ruth did. Well, Boaz, out of grace, says, even leave basically chunks of wheat for her to be able to pick up even more. And so she came back with like a 30 pound, 40 pound bag of all of this, and Naomi knew something's up. This guy has shown favor toward her because she's getting all of this, and it's just a blessing. And so then she finds out, Naomi finds out, oh, Boaz? Oh, he's a kinsman. He's a kinsman. And so the plot starts to thicken here. And so we see that this comes late in the evening, and he's winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. So taking advantage of night breezes, what would happen is the men would harvest in the daytime. and winnow the harvest at night. That is, they would throw the grain in the air and the chaff, the waste, would blow away, leaving the barley to fall to the ground to be gathered. And when their work was done, they would sleep on the threshing floor to protect the harvest. So what would happen is, They would have this whole amount of work being done. And it would be very difficult for thieves to come in and steal the big stocks and things like that. It wouldn't even be worth their while. But they would like to, after all the work's done. gather up that stuff and steal it. And so these guys had done hard work. And so they go, no, we're not gonna, we're not gonna let it just sit there. We're going to stay with what we have worked with. And so they keep it that way. Then we move to verse three, wash therefore. So this is Naomi talking to Ruth, wash therefore and anoint yourself. and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor. So we see that this new day is dawning. Naomi is so excited. She's telling Ruth, you need to prepare for something good here. And we see a picture of Christ here. We see Boaz being a picture of Christ. And Ruth is coming into fruition as a picture of the bride of Christ, that being the church, that being you and me. And Paul says, we're washed by the water of the word. He says that in Ephesians chapter five. And then there's, there's this idea that we could wash over the word and allow that to clean us up. And so that's why I'm constantly encouraging you to get into a plan where you at least work through the Bible in a year, reading it because there's something about the word washing over us and God using that in our lives. So Ruth is told by Naomi to wash herself. Then anointing, anointing has always been a picture of the spirit of God. And so you see that with the Christian life, we're washed with the word and then allow the Spirit of God because as you get saved, you are anointed, you are sealed, you are bought, all those things by the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. You know, going into this, that there's a picture here of salvation. And then Ruth is to put on her cloak and wear it called to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this verse in Romans chapter 13. I'm sorry, Roman, yes, Romans chapter 13, verse 14. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. And so God calls on us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So you see that picture there. And then the last part of verse three, you see this. He says, let me read the verse again. Wash therefore, anoint yourself Put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. So Ruth is to go to the place where Boaz is sleeping. And so this is like a really interesting story as it's coming together. And I want you to understand that as we think about the Book of Ruth, sometimes we use this story as a picture of the romance and wedding, and we bring in our eyesight of our 21st century look at things. And the reality is there's going to be more to this as we go through it. So we've got this picture of the bride and groom, and this is working toward this, and that's nice. And if we're not careful, these were things that were used to be at the top of cakes. There was a funny one that I found here where she's dragging him to the altar. And I guess if somebody would put that on the top of their cake, I'd get in trouble if I did that. You see here that she's dragging him and looking at this scripture, you wanna be careful that you're not looking at it with our 21st century eyes because you could see, man, this is so manipulative what is going on. We have to understand this is a certain culture. This is how they approached one another. This is how they went into contracts. And so Naomi knows all this stuff like you and I would know how life is in America at this time. for the most part, and even different sections of the country have different cultures, how we address one another, what we think of as acceptable and not acceptable. And so we come to this passage of scripture, and she's said by her mother-in-law, she's saying to her, I want you to take these steps, because this will benefit you in the long run. So point number two, point number two in your outline, here's the proposal. Here's the proposal. And let's keep going here. So she says, well, let's finish the verses, he says, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, "'Observe the place where he lies, "'then go and uncover his feet and lie down, "'and he will tell you what to do.' And she replied, "'All that you say, I will do.'" Now, you gotta think that Moabite culture is different than Hebrew culture. And so going into this, Ruth is trusting Naomi each step of the way. And I think that's the case for us as believers. When we think about approaching God, we know things because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, because we've gotten saved. We know things about the word that people that don't, that haven't received Christ, that are basically strangers on the outside coming in and we're sharing Christ with them. We're sharing with how they could know Christ. We're explaining some things to them that they're completely trusting us as they go into this. They're hearing, some of them for the very first time, they're hearing these truths about God. And it's a beautiful thing, but it's an important thing as we do this. And so she's saying to her, to do something that is kind of, it would be like, wow, you're asking me to do this? So what you're saying to me, Naomi, is this. I go in there, it's dark, it's late at night, he's eaten, he's drank, he's happy because all of these workers have made it possible for him to gather up all of this grain and he's going to make some money and he's very satisfied and he's even to the point where he can guard this. He's feeling very confident and you want me to go in there and go lay at his feet and cover myself with his robe in the dark here. You're asking me to do that. And yet Ruth is trusting her. And she says to her, all that you say I will do. That's pretty bold. So we come to this part there. Here's the proposal now, verse six. So she went down to the threshing floor and she did as her mother-in-law had commanded her. Now, remember why he's at the threshing floor. This is a time when the reapers would have taken the grain, they've thrown it in the air, they have allowed the nighttime breeze to sift it. And this thing is a complete sacrifice. Its work has been done. And when you think about that, God's called us to sacrifice. Look at this in Romans 12, verse one, I appeal, to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship and so we see that God has called us to a place of worship and we're humbling ourselves and we're saying God, I'm committing my life to you. I'm giving my body to you. And so Ruth is doing that. She is trusting that this situation is going to play out okay, because she's in a foreign land. She's taking steps that may not make sense to others. And so what she does is she lays at his feet. And so you see. So we continue on looking at verse seven. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain." Okay, so he's laying down, he's done the work, he's been able to celebrate. And now there's some time where he's finally gonna get some rest and he lays down. And we see then, then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. So she lays at his feet. It's kind of a beautiful picture there. You think about how we have to put ourselves at the feet of Jesus, the foot of the cross and those feet that were pierced for us. And so Boaz is laying there. and she uncovers his feet and she lays down. Look at verse eight with me. At midnight, the man was startled and turned over and behold, a woman lay at his feet. So he's, it startles him. I mean, he just, he was resting and he was comfortable. And then what's going on here? And, but there's nothing immoral going on. She's declaring to Boaz that she desired him to be a covering for her. And he's doing some research in that whole idea of the Jewish wedding, what went on. And there's actually a thing called a chupat, which is a covering over the bride and groom. And so look at verse nine, he goes on. And it says, he said, who are you? Cause he, he needs an answer there. It's dark. He's, he's scared and, uh, he's startled. And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. And so he's, she's, he's, she's making him aware of who, who it is there. Um, I'm the one I'm the one, don't do anything. I'm the one who, um, you took care of. I'm the Moabitess and I'm your servant." So she's putting herself under, she's acknowledging that, please don't do anything that would hurt me. And then she says, spread your wings over your servant for you are a redeemer. that word wings there my translation if you go farther down says it could also mean the corners of a garment and so that idea of a covering there and she's pointing out his role in her life you are a near kinsman You're my Redeemer, my Goel, my only hope. Please cover me. And the question she's putting out there, the question is, would Boaz do it? Would this wealthy, strong individual stretch his rope to cover this Moabitess woman? One who she's got no credibility. She's got no credentials. She's got nothing to offer him. What's he going to do? Would he be the Goel? Would he be the Redeemer? And that's actually our question too, because we're bankrupt. I'm bankrupt. I'm from Moab. Would the Lord spread his garment over me? That Redeemer word, Redeemer is a word that speaks of a continual work. of redemption. When the Lord says, I'm a redeemer, it means he's continually redeeming, not only in relation to our salvation that could have happened years ago, but he remains constantly and continually willing to cover us, to cloak us, to redeem us, to claim us no matter where we've been, no matter how far into Moab we have gone. And so let me ask you today, where are you at with him? because he can be... Point number three, here's the problem. Look at verse 10. And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone out after young men, whether poor or rich. So she's showing her loyalty to Naomi and Boaz sees this. He sees that he being an older man, this Moabitess who comes from an idolatrous country, and yet she's taking steps that are unselfish. She's taking steps that are proving that she's not just, this is not just some emotional thing. She's literally trying to do the best thing for her mother-in-law. And he's blessed by it. And then he calls it her last kindness that's greater than the first. Her first kindness was the fact that she's been taking care of her mother-in-law. This last kindness is she's even caring for her for those later years. And she's taking steps that show that. Verse 11, and now my daughter, so he's using words that are still communicating. I know I'm an older gentleman. And I know that as we head into this relationship, if there's going to be something here, that this lever-right relationship is going to be one where It's not the typical 21st century romance. It's not Hallmark Channel. This is serious stuff here. And he says, and now my daughter, do not fear. So he's putting her at ease. He says, I will do for you all that you ask. Look at this. For all my fellow townsmen, know that you are a worthy woman. So her reputation is good. Ruth knows that she's a Gentile. She knows she's a stranger, but Boaz is calling her a virtuous woman. It harkens back to Proverbs 31, actually harkens forward to that. And then look at verses 12 and 13. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. So he's acknowledging, yes, yes I am. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight and in the morning. If he will redeem you, good, let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning." And so. He's saying, I am that kinsman. And it's kind of like Jesus. Jesus is our kinsman. He took on flesh. He became like me and you. And he was tempted yet in every way, yet without sin. And so we see Boaz giving her instruction that just so you know, you're safe with me. I'm going to pursue this, but there's one that's closer right now. And I've got to do what I need to do so that this could possibly happen. Point number four, here's the precaution. Look at verse 14. So she lay at his feet until the morning. So you notice nothing immoral is going on. She's laying at his feet, but arose before one could recognize another. And so it's early enough that if she went out, nobody would know who it is there. And he said, let it not be, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. And so he's at her, she's at his feet. She rises up before the break of day. Nothing immoral has happened, and yet it is important that her reputation stays clean. Isn't it interesting that even in these days, it mattered. how it appeared. And we're living in a time where people sidestep this. We're living in a time where people rationalize this away. We'll live together. A lot of times they use finances as the excuse for it. And God isn't honored in that way. I want you to know that you can trust the Lord by taking steps to be what you need to be with integrity and with purity. And if a person of either gender is asking you, you're a guy, girl's asking you, or vice versa, to take steps that you know in your heart are not right. God cannot be honored in that. And so sometimes, yes, it might cost a little bit of money. Sometimes it might cost some inconvenience. But I'm telling you, it is so important. Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. your reputation, what people think of you is important. And some people, even Christians today will say, it's nobody's business. Actually, it's everybody's business. It becomes everybody's business. And so I want to encourage you, be pure as best you can, try to honor God in your relationship. Point number five, here's the provision. Look at verse 15. And he said, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out. So she held it and he measured out six meshes of barley and put that in on her. Then she went into the city. And so this Hebrew text gives us a standard of measurement. It's most reasonable to be 60, as we're about 60 to 80 pounds, which would have been twice the amount that Ruth had previously gleaned. And so he fills that up. and she takes it home. And I want you to notice that he picked six measures, okay? Some people think, some commentaries believe that it's a way that he was actually sending a message to Naomi. How many days did it take for God to create the world, create all of everything? Six days. And on the seventh, he rested. And you see that this word rest keeps coming up, that God wants us to work. work toward rest someday. And six days, even in the Hebrew calendar, six days you shall work, and on the seventh there's going to be rest. There's going to be Sabbath. God modeled it. He didn't need rest. And so we see a picture here of something going on that could be a message that's being sent of, I'm going to take care of this. Remember, for us, when it comes to the gospel, we are not saved by works, okay? Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, okay? For by grace have you been saved through faith, and not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, so that no one can brag about it. But after somebody gets saved, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works that God has beforehand ordained. So we don't get saved by works, okay? But after we get saved, we're saved for good works. And so we see a picture here of God and what he did for us. And so Boaz is communicating, I'm going to be doing this. And so she goes into the city, verse 16, and when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, how did you fare my daughter? Then she told her all the man had done for her. And so she's basically saying, well, how'd it go? You know, tell, tell me how it went. And we see here that he even cares about Naomi. Look at verse 17, saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, you must not go back empty handed to your mother-in-law. And so we see that the hand of God is taking care of Naomi also. This woman that said when she got back to Bethlehem, call me Mara. She's just bitter. But now pleasantness is starting to come. And I want you to notice something too. When somebody enters into a relationship, it affects those that are around us. This ultimately will end up in marriage. When you marry someone, you are marrying their family also. It's not just this individual love story. It's a beautiful thing, but who you marry, it has ramifications for extended family. And so we see here that Naomi is being taken care of. And then point number six, here's the persistence. Look at verse 18. She replied, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out for the man will not rest, but we'll settle the matter today. And so I love that. The man will not rest. Naomi understood Boaz's message. Just sit still, Ruth. Rest and watch and see what he'll do. And so when you and I think about the whole thing of the gospel, what God has done, he's the one that has done the work. We look to him for our salvation and we rest in him. So in these days of confused situations, when there's hard situations going on all over, what are we resting in? We're resting in the government. We're praying for them. We want the best for our country. But how are we looking at the situation that is before us? Let's be people that trust the Lord and see his hand in these things. Let's pray. Father, I ask you, God, to help us as a people to be people that trust you. that obey you, that look to you. Help us in these really, really difficult times, that we would be people that would shine the light of truth, because we don't know the end of the story. We're kind of like Ruth right now. How is this thing gonna play out? But we're looking to you, we're trusting you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray this, amen.