invite you to turn in your Bibles this evening to the book of Ruth, the book of Ruth. We continue there this evening, chapter 3. I hope you have been blessed and benefited by this sermon series. I know that I have received much instruction even in my studies and sat each and every week in awe of the mercy and kindness of God displayed even in the character primarily of Ruth and Boaz. And we see that character on display tonight in Ruth chapter 3. So I would invite you to listen as I read from God's Word. I'll read the entirety of chapter 3. And 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 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 to her, 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 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 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 laid His feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then she 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 ephahs 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 ephahs of barley he gave me. For he said to me, Do not go home 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." Thus far the reading of God's Word. Let me pray for the blessing of the preaching of it. Lord, we come to you tonight. And our hope, our longing, our expectation, as You have promised us from Your Word, is that You will bless us by Your Spirit even as we sit under the preaching of it. Lord, that You would bless me and grant to me wisdom and unction and strength that all of us here might be blessed by the preaching of Your Word. O Lord, You have brought light in the midst of darkness, in the midst of night, and You Yourself have wed Yourself to us. And so we can truly say this evening that we meet as a people beloved of God, chosen before the foundations of the world for love and good deeds. Lord, that You would be pleased with us, Your servants, we ask in Your name. Amen. This evening, we come to that occasion in which Ruth expresses her desire to seek help in a most intimate and blessed of ways. In fact, the title of the sermon this evening is taken from Boaz's benediction of sorts, or expression of how she is blessed of the Lord because of her virtue and righteousness, her sacrificial interest In a marriage with a man who is the kinsman redeemer, even of her dead husband, even of her dead father-in-law, Elimelech, Ruth seeks to serve Naomi by restoring the fortunes of this bitter woman through her faithfulness to that family. Ruth is living according to her profession, given in chapter 1, entreat me not to leave you, this is verse 16, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge, and your people shall be my people. and your God my God. And where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also. If anything, but death parts you and me." It is a glorious testimony of God's work of converting grace in the life of Ruth, and then that conversion is fleshed out. It is evidenced by her actions. We see those things tonight, and I want to cover this chapter under these two headings. The first, a virtuous proposal. A virtuous proposal, and then second, sacrifice and the dawning of restoration. Sacrifice and the dawning of restoration. Let's take up the first point. A virtuous, a virtuous proposal. Now it begins with a plan. I've read twice now, Naomi's benediction and blessing, verse 20 of chapter 2, blessed be he of the Lord who has not forsaken his kindness to the living and the dead. She is speaking of herself, and she is speaking of her dead husband and dead sons. And then Naomi says to Ruth, this man, Boaz, is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives, a kinsman, redeemer. Now, it is Boaz's obligation to assist his family. It is not Ruth's. But Ruth takes it upon herself as one who has living within her the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit here is kindness. And so Naomi says, it is good. And then she hatches a plan. Now the heart of that plan is seen in verse 4 where we read, you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down. And He will tell you what to do. Now, already I've said, in light of Naomi's confession, she sees a way in which God may restore the fortunes of her family. And this hard-hearted, embittered woman begins in some fashion to thaw. She sees the blessing that God is showing to her through the kindness of Boaz. Now Naomi wants security for Ruth. We see that where she says, then Naomi, her mother-in-law said to her, said to her, my daughter, shall I not seek security, security for you? And so we see here at the outset of chapter three, Ruth seeking security for Naomi and Naomi seeking security for Ruth. It's a good match. It's not necessarily a romantic match. And we'll get to more of that later. But it is a means by which both women see a way to blessing. And not just, I want what's good for me, but divine, righteous blessing. Now the point of the lever at all was just this. Real, divine blessing that would take the form of the continuation of the name of the deceased. And this plan would only be a way in which Naomi, in the name of Amalemelek, might continue, but also of Ruth's dead husband. And here's the plan. The plan is that Ruth would, well, wash and put on her best garment, that she would anoint herself with something that smells good, and that she would wait until Boaz was finished threshing and celebrating the harvest, and then go in after he had eaten and drunk and been happy, which is what happens after you eat a good meal and drink good drink, happy of heart. and to go and uncover his feet. This was the plan. This plan had an end, and that end was Ruth's expression and intention that she was available. Now, there's more to it than that. We'll get to it. And that brings me then to Ruth's righteous, virtuous proposal or offer. We see that in verses 6 through 9. After she agrees that she would do whatever Naomi tells her, she goes down, verse 6, to the threshing floor. The threshing floor is that floor where all of the grain that has been harvested is sitting. And there's Boaz. Well, he gets there in a moment. He will be lying at the end of this heap, and it is a moment of rejoicing that God has brought in the harvest. It is God blessing His people with food. It is a sign of His covenant blessing. Have you ever rejoiced at the end of a hard day's work? You know what that's like. There's a good meal on the table this time of year. It's a hearty stew. Maybe it's something that's got big chunks of beef in it, and you sit down and you enjoy a nice glass of wine with it. And by the end of the meal, you're kind of going, whew, I feel good. And you think, God is good. God is good. And the food that we eat, all these blessings are the product of His hand. It is important to realize that what Boaz is experiencing as one who has been faithful to God is the reaping of God's covenant reward and blessing to Boaz. Boaz did not flee Israel. He did not flee the land of Judah. He remained. He remained and was faithful to the Lord, not only to work in the fields, but also to provide for his family as a kinsman redeemer. And so, Boaz celebrates. And then he goes to the threshing floor. He is most likely not alone. But Ruth steals in in the dark. She lays down at his feet and uncovers them. Now, what is the significance of this? It could be euphemistic for a sexual act, but I do not think that flows with Ruth's character. In fact, she is in contrast to the Moabitess women that we find earlier in Israel's history when they are sent in in order to pervert the Israelite men and to lie with them as prostitutes. This is not Ruth. Ruth is a faithful Israelite. She has converted and is keeping covenant with God as she has said. This act of uncovering the feet does indicate something, not an illicit act where she could pull His garment off. It could mean that. And elsewhere in Scripture, when You know, it could be conveyed as an illicit act. Here, it is really just an uncovering of the feat to express Ruth's desire to marry Boaz. She's popping the question, as it were. She is saying to Boaz, do you want to get married? In response to Ruth's virtuous offer, and the reason why it is virtuous here, is because Ruth is not marrying for love. She is marrying out of covenantal obligation to her mother-in-law. Now, lest you think obligation is a dirty word, and we live in a day in which duty and obligation can be seen as dirty words. Perhaps you in your heyday when you were younger and were out looking for a suitable mate to marry, what is the one thing that you often considered? Compatibility. Let me tell you, a male and a female are compatible just by right of God's design. The question is, in which way beyond that are a man and woman suited? Here we have a perfect match. We have a man who fears God, who is willing to do what is necessary in order to help his family. And we have a woman who fears God and is willing to do what will help her family. She goes to great lengths, not for the preservation of her own name, but for the preservation of the name of her mother-in-law, of the family that she married into. even as Naomi was the only one left. And so, when she goes in and uncovers his feet, she is saying, this is what we need to do. I am yours if you will have me. Now, Boaz has a gracious, righteous, and wise response. It's summarized in verse 10. Then he said, 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 poor or rich." Now, her offer is summed up in what way? Verse 9, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing. This was symbolized in the taking of the shawl. She would uncover his feet and put her shawl over his feet. We need to be under this shawl together. You are my protector. Will you be my protector?" And Boaz says, blessed are you of the Lord. In short, yes, I am willing to do this. And here is what he says of her. You are kind. You have shown more kindness at the end, that is at this offer, found in verse 9, than at the beginning. What is the beginning? when Ruth pledged herself to Naomi. He heard about all of this because they're family. It's a small tribe, you know, the small fishbowl that was this area of Israel. And Boaz says, the kindness here is even greater than the kindness that was at the beginning. In that, here it is, you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. Now, Boaz is not speaking of himself. He's not saying, I'm flattered because I'm an old man. He said, I'm impressed that you did not abandon your mother-in-law either for love or money, but you stuck close to her. Ruth was a faithful, Christ-like Israelite. Boaz had seen and here acknowledged and blessed her piety and loyalty to her family. She could have gone after a younger man. She could have gone after a richer man, but she went after the kinsman redeemer. In this, Ruth is a picture of a true Israelite. As I've said time and time again, she understands the nature of redemption and reconciliation. But Boaz observes and acknowledges the virtue of Ruth. Proverbs 12 verse 4, an excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. Proverbs 31 10-14 reads, Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. Boaz and Ruth are both the kinds of people personified in the Proverbs. Now, Boaz does have the duty of redemption, to help his family, to lift them up out of poverty, and he was already doing that. He had fulfilled his obligations as a kinsman redeemer. It was not his obligation, as I said last week, to engage in leverite marriage, and yet he is willing Not only is He willing to marry her, not only does He praise her for her virtue and kindness, but He also seeks to protect her reputation amongst those in Israel. Now, this is what He says. Now, verse 12, it is true that I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I. There is a kinsman-redeemer that is of closer relationship to Ruth and to Naomi. And so, this is what He says, "'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.'" There is inherently something beautiful here in this marriage proposal and in the response that goes far beyond even that of romance. All right, if this were penned by a modern-day screenwriter, who knows what it would look like. Maybe they would cohabitate for six months to make sure they were really a good fit. I don't know. We don't know? Well, I do know. We are a culture that delights in vice. Here we have, however, a glorious relationship in which two persons are concerned chiefly with the glory of God and each other's reputations. And so he says to her, stay here so that you may leave later. when no one will recognize you. When all the men have gone to sleep, leave early in the morning while the shadows have not yet begun to crept upon the earth and the sun is not shining, and go home." She does that. She stays until morning, and then she rises, but she does not go empty-handed. He sends her with six. My Bible says, Ephah, what does your Bible say? Don't say it. Do you see in your Scriptures that it's italicized? That's because that word is not there. That is a translation guess. It just says 6. But what it indicates is that Boaz will not send her home empty-handed. He is still performing the role of kinsman redeemer. It's glorious. It is a glorious study. of what God expects and what God produces by His Holy Spirit in terms of righteousness in the hearts of those who are jealous, not only for the glory of God, but are concerned with the covenant promise that a seed will come and take the throne, that He will come of the line of Judah, and that the Messiah will be born to those who long for His birth. Now, Ruth goes home. When Ruth returns to her mother-in-law, Naomi says, Is that you, my daughter? Now, Naomi's not blind. She knows that it's Ruth. This question isn't, Who are you? It's, Which name do you now bear? Because what could have happened that night, if Boaz had wished, is they could have consummated the relationship and they would have been married. There was no ceremony required whatsoever. It would have been a legitimate, legal, covenantally binding, righteous marriage. But Boaz again does the right thing. He defers to the closer kinsman redeemer. Now, we'll see in chapter 4 that Boaz truly does desire Ruth, and he makes it such that he gets the object of his affections. My point in saying that this is not first a romance is to show that when it comes to the affections of the righteous, our affections must first be controlled and governed by our allegiance to the God of heaven and earth. to the God of heaven and earth. He is our chief love. And when we function righteously, when we obey His will, when we do things in accordance with His plan, He blesses those plans. And He gives us healthy, life-giving, God-honoring marriages. This is what God desires. He desires a people who will marry for the sake of righteousness, not merely for the sake of self-interest, either for lust or for wealth. And so that leads me then to my second point, sacrifice and the dawning of restoration. There is an element here of Ruth's sacrifice. Ruth could have gone home, but she doesn't. Instead, she sacrifices the life that she knew for the life that she desired as one who was made whole by God. And there is a principle that sort of floats to the surface, a theme, as we go through the book of Ruth, and that is this, that there is no sacrifice done in service of the Messiah that He will not bless. It may not come in the way we expect, but it will come. And so virtue is exhibited throughout this interchange. Ruth is not coming immodestly. She is not illicit in her behavior. It is a courtship ritual that Boaz understood. As Boaz celebrated the threshing of the barley and experiencing the covenant blessing of God, it is not an accident that he finds this woman lying at his feet, wakened by the smell of her perfume. This marriage is itself not unlike the bringing in of the harvest of God's blessing. In fact, that is what the primary purpose of marriage is. And this is why later in the Gospels when Christ is asked, if a woman is married to all these men because of leverant marriage, who is she married to in heaven, in the new heavens, in the new earth? And what does Christ say? To none of them. There will be no marriage or giving in marriage. Why? Because the purpose of marriage will have reached its fulfillment. Now I would imagine that the quality of all of our relationships together will even outshine even the greatest of all marriages. But the central purposes of marriage are first holiness and happiness. wherein a couple comes together, and they earnestly seek to pursue the things of the kingdom together, and in relationship to that holy and happiness, if God so wills, out of the abundance of His grace, the giving of what we call a holy seed of covenant children. Our confession uses the language of a holy seed. What does that mean? That the children born to believing parents are His. They do not belong to the world. They are much like the wheat or here the barley that grows up in the field. They are to be gathered in. They are born in the field of God's covenant faithfulness and condescension. And that is what Ruth and Boaz will eventually experience. is the life-giving presence of God, and so we find virtue and the blessing of virtue expressed. We find, as I've said already, it's not centrally about love for one another and romance, but about love for God as the center of both of their affections. Naomi is ready, right? She's ready to hear the news. How'd it go? And Ruth presents the situation, and this is what Naomi says, "'Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out. For the man that is Boaz will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.'" You see even here in Ruth chapter 3, the contrast between night and day, night and day. It follows in many respects in this short story, in the life of Ruth and Boaz and Naomi, the entire theme of light and day, I'm sorry, of night and day in the Scriptures. We speak of the Old Testament as the covenant of God concealed. There are many elements that are revealed in the New Testament that are concealed in the Old. There is a kind of darkness of night, not darkness as wickedness, But like the night before the dawning of the day, Christ Himself is referred to as the sun that dawns. Ruth is a story in microcosm of how God will bring out of the midst of darkness, some of it is covenant judgment in the family of Elimelech, some of it is just the plan of God's redemption in history. God will bring about light from night. The proposal was at night. But the wedding will be in the day, and that is what Naomi is reflecting upon. The day is the time for assuring covenant fidelity, covenant relationship, covenant security. Hope comes in the morning, and we have seen that hope, haven't we? We have seen the sun that has dawned, Christ Himself come, Emmanuel, and He has revealed the plans and purposes of God in their fullness. Christ is the dawning light. Night leaves one empty, waiting, expecting, but fullness comes in the morning. God's overall purpose then, as we see even in the book of Ruth, is to bring the dawning of His redeeming grace. Now, two Sundays from now, we'll get there. We'll see not only a marriage, but we will see a birth. And in verse 13 of chapter 4, Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and when he went into her, the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son. Again, Samuel is clear that it is God who gave her a son. And then the women said to Naomi, blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a close relative, and may His name be famous in Israel. Who was the close relative? It's the son. It's not Boaz. What we find at the end of the book of Ruth is God restoring even Israel who has been cut off by His judgment. God will not remain angry forever. And so it is Nomi that becomes His nurse. She is the one who takes care of him because this son, in essence, becomes the offspring of a family that had once endured God's judgment. And that son, born of Ruth and Boaz, is the father of Jesse, who is the father of David, who is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, some generations removed. Ruth is God's...it's just a glorious story of God's covenant faithfulness with the people who are sinful, and how He can restore even to, well, the years, as Joel says, the years the locusts have eaten.