Ruth chapter 3. Let us hear God's word. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winneth barley tonight in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee. and put my raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor. But make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.' And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do, And she went down into the floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn. And she came softly and uncovered his feet and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid and turned himself, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, insomuch as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich. At now, my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou requirest. For all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tell him this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well, let him do the part, the kinsman's part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee. As the Lord liveth, lie down until the morning. And she lay at his feet until the morning, and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. Also he said, Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her, and she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me, for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother-in-law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not be in rest until he have finished the thing this day. Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Now this morning we come to chapter 3 of the book of Ruth. We've learned about this woman, this Moabite woman who married the son of a Limelech, a Jewish man, and his wife Naomi. Her father-in-law has died, her husband has died, and now she has gone with her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem. She's come to trust in the living God She's placed her trust in Him. She's under His wings. She has remained working diligently in the fields during the barley harvest and that of the wheat harvest, and now as this harvest has completed, we come to this new period, a period approximately a month or a month and a half, maybe two, after she had arrived. in Bethlehem. And we come to this section of the Scriptures, and we want to see this morning Naomi's imprudence. Then we want to see Ruth's submission. Then we'll look at Boaz's prudence and integrity. And then we'll see Ruth's welcome by Naomi in this chapter. Let us first look at Naomi's imprudence. in verses 1 through 4 of this chapter. Note in verse 1, her commendable interest, and then let us see in verses 2 through 4, her imprudent plan. Her commendable interest, but her imprudent plan. She had a right desire, but she carried it out or sought to carry it out in a manner that was not pleasing. to the Lord. Look at verse 1. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? You see, Naomi had given off any thought of her being remarried. In verse 12 of chapter 1, she said, I am too old to have a husband. But she desired her daughter-in-law, which here she calls her daughter, She desired her to be married. She was seeking rest for her. She didn't want her to spend the rest of her life having to labor in those fields to provide for herself. She wanted her to come under the protection of a good and godly husband. And so she sought rest for her. She says that it might be well with her. You see, just as God had said at the creation that it's not good that a man be alone, so it's true that it's not good for a woman to be alone. Remember what Paul says in 1 Timothy 4, verse 14, as he contemplates the reality that existed in the apostolic church, that exists in our churches today, that men generally die younger than their wives. And so there are more widows than widowers generally in our congregations. And so Paul in chapter 4 of 1 Timothy says, if a woman's older than 60, well then maybe she shouldn't remarry. Maybe she should give herself to service in the church, and the church should renumerate her and provide for her. But he says to those that are younger, he says, I will therefore that the younger women, those under 60, marry. and keep house, and rule the house, and love their husbands, and serve the Lord in that context. Because that is the context that ordinarily women are called to serve the Lord. And so, Naomi rightly desires that situation for her daughter-in-law. She has a commendable interest, a commendable concern But then notice her imprudent plan in verses 2-4, And knowest not thou as of our kindred, and whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth broadly tonight in the threshing-floor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor. But make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking, and it shall be when he lieth down. But thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet and lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do." You see, at the end of the barley harvest and at the end of the general harvest, which would have included the wheat harvest, there was a celebration dinner. And it's not spelled out here, but it's implied that there was a dinner. And Ruth was to dress herself in her raiment, in her best clothes. She was to anoint herself. She was to go to this party. But Naomi says, you're not to make yourself known. It doesn't mean she was to hide in the darkness, but she was not to make her purpose known. She was not to reveal in public what her plan was, to request Boaz to marry Naomi. You see, Naomi had encouraged her to seek this request in the darkness. And in this situation, it would bring temptation to Boaz and to Ruth. You see, Naomi had been in Moab too long. You see, there was a nearer kinsman. Moaz was a near kinsman, but he wasn't the nearest kinsman. It wasn't his right. And I think it's pretty clear that Naomi must have known of that man's existence. But she wanted Ruth to marry this man. And so she makes up this plan. She has a good motive, but we have to remember that the ends don't justify the means. She had a right end. She wanted the right thing, but she was willing to suggest to her daughter-in-law a plan that could potentially compromise her chastity. Now, you see, it was appropriate in Deuteronomy chapter 25, we see that in the Levirate principle, it was appropriate for the woman who had lost her husband to ask the near kinsman to marry her. It was appropriate for her to ask in this situation. But as we look in Deuteronomy 25, we see that she was to ask in the presence of others. It was to be in the open, it was to be in the light, not in the darkness. The Westminster annotations on this passage suggest that it was, quote, immodest, and not altogether free from scandal and the danger of ill. It was immodest, and it opened itself to many, many potential problems. So we see Naomi's imprudence. She had a right end in view. She had a commendable interest in the welfare of her daughter-in-law Ruth, but she sought to attempt it by an evil means, by a sinful means, or by a means that at least we could promote and tempt Ruth and Boaz. to spin. But let us look in verses 5 and 8 at Ruth's submission. Look at her resolve in verse 5, and she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me, I will do. That's commendable, isn't it? She commits herself to her mother-in-law's word. But there's something that's not commendable in it as well, and that is that children must obey their parents, but children must only obey their parents in the Lord. And so we must only obey those in authority in the Lord, and when they aren't, commanding us to do something that's sinful. Now it's difficult to know whether Naomi was actually commanding Ruth to do something sinful or not. It's really hard to detect. but for her to have her lay at his feet and then ask him in the dark after he's eaten and apparently drank wine, not to drunkenness but feeling good, to ask him to marry her in that situation seems to be bringing her into a place that she should have thought twice about. But we have to at the same time recognize that Ruth was a young believer. She had grown up in Moab. She didn't know all the ways of Israel. She was young in the faith, and so her naivety ought to be understood. We ought to understand it. Certainly Boaz did. Boaz does not rebuke her. But he commends her for what's good. He covers over these imperfections in her. We see her resolve, we see her obedience in verse 6. And she went down onto the floor, onto the threshing floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her, or told her. She did everything. She followed implicitly what her mother-in-law told her to do. And then we see this situation. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and apparently Ruth and all the other reapers and those that were servants of Boaz had had a party, that his heart was merry, and he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn." You see, they enjoyed what God had given them. And he was a gracious man. He not only enjoyed it, but he allowed those that worked under him to enjoy the fruits of their labor. His heart was merry, and literally it means it was made good. And it certainly implies that he also partook of the fruit of the vine. In verse Psalm 104, Verse 15, we read this, about wine that maketh glad the heart of men. Wine is dangerous. It can lead men to drunkenness and into many temptations and sins. And yet, wine has been given to God to make glad the heart of men. It appears that he had drank a little. He had eaten well. So had everyone. But you notice, Thoraz doesn't go back to his palace. He's a wealthy man, he's a man of power, but he's a simple man. He's willing to sleep there by the corn because he wants to get up early in the morning and begin threshing again. He's a hard-working man. He may not need to work that hard, but in God's eyes, he will be a hard worker. He's a wealthy man, but he's a simple man. I'm sure he knew how to deck himself up when he was in his regalia, when he was serving in the military, and yet he knew how to dress himself at a feast, and yet he knew that he could also sleep by the corn. He could sleep on the threshing floor. He wasn't too good to sleep on the threshing floor so he could get working early in the morning. But he also partook of what God had given him. Remember the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 4.4, For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word and prayer. For every creature, for every created thing that God has made, everything is good. You see, if we ever fall into this view that God has made something that's bad, then we impugn God's wisdom. Everything's good. It's not to be refused in all cases. Everything that God has created has its purpose. But, it's to be received with thanksgiving. We're to thank God for giving it to us so that we might use it for good, not for evil. And Paul goes on to say, for it is sanctified, for it is set apart by the word in prayer. It's set apart because God in his word has said it's good, and it's set apart when we thank God for its use. When we're thankful for all that God's given us, and all the various things he's given us in the creation for our good, as we have opportunity to use it, and need to use it. So he lies down at the end of the heap of corn. And it says, then she came softly. Apparently he had thought she had gone home for the evening, but she stays around. She hasn't let her plan or her mother-in-law's plan be known to anyone that evening. She's enjoyed eating and drinking, but now she comes and she lays herself, it says, at his feet. And it came to pass at midnight that the man was afraid. He was startled at something and turns himself, and behold, he sees a woman laying at his feet. Here's a man that's been single for a while. Here's a man that has drunk some wine that evening, and here he has this lovely young woman at his feet. She submits to her mother-in-law in doing this. We see Boaz's prudence or integrity here in verses 9 through 15. We've already looked at Boaz's prudence, we've looked at Ruth's prudence, we've seen here in this chapter Naomi's imprudence in this plan. We see how Boaz wisely handles this thing and we see, don't we, his integrity of heart. Look at his inquiry, and he said, who art thou? It's so dark there. It's not well lit. He doesn't have lights that he can turn on there. It's pitch dark. He's not sure who's there at his feet. Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. She tells him who she is. And then she says, spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. She says, spread your skirt over me. It's a Hebrew idiom that means, be my defense. Put your wings, put your skirt, cover me up, protect me. In other words, take me to be your wife. Now, if we look at the Levirate principle in the Mosaic law in Deuteronomy chapter 25, we find that this law only specifically applies to brothers. only to brothers, not to cousins and other kinsmen, but apparently in the practice of the Jews, they had applied this principle a little bit broader than even Moses required. They were taking the principle and seeking to promote the welfare of those that were without, women that were widowed, and also to keep the name of that plot of land that God had given to that family as they came into the promised land under Joshua's leadership. And so it was fine for them to do it, but they weren't obligated to do it. But notice, she says, spread that skirt over thy handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman. She doesn't say thou art the nearest kinsman. It seems like she knows herself, or she's been told that there is a kinsman that's closer, that has a legitimate right to her first. But she asks him, you're a near kinsman. Will you marry me? You see, this thought of spreading your skirt is even spoken of in relation to God and his people. God has spread his skirt over us. Listen. The prophecy of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 16.8. This is God speaking. Now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. I looked at you, Israel, and the time was a time of love. It was a time of courtship between me and thee, and I spread my skirt over thee. I loved you, and I married you, and I covered your nakedness, yea, I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, said the Lord God, and thou becamest mine." I looked over you, I loved you, I covered your nakedness, I swore to you, and now you're mine. And you see how the picture that God has given us in marriage is such a beautiful picture of what He has done to us in bringing us out of darkness and into light. He's brought us out of the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, but he's also brought us into a marriage relationship with his Son. We see, don't we, this beauty? Spread your skirt. This beautiful picture of what marriage means. It's rest. It's a place of wellness for the woman. when she comes under a man who spreads his skirt over her, who protects her, who takes a covenant vow and keeps that covenant vow like God does, and thus she is his, and thou becamest mine. But as we've said, this should have been done in the light and in public with witnesses. It shouldn't have been done at midnight, behind a heap of corn. But she had a right to ask. But she should have asked the right kinsmen. And she should have done it in the open. So we see his inquiry. We then see his commendation again. He doesn't reprove her. He's sensitive to her naivety. And he says, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. In so much as thou followest not young men, whether rich or poor. Hear this word, kindness. As we saw last week, could be interpreted beautiful piety or virtue. She was a woman of virtue, it says. He's already said, you're a virtuous woman. And here he says, now you've shown more virtue, more kindness. You would be a crown to your husband. I would love to have this kind of woman, is the implication, as my wife. It would be a crown to me. He commends her. He overlooks her foibles, her naivety in proceeding in this path. And then we see his commitment in verse 11 through 13, And now, my daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. And thou, it is true, that I am thy near kinsman, albeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning. that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman well, let him do the kinsman part. But if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth. Lie down until the morning. Boaz commits himself to get her married. He doesn't commit himself to marry her, necessarily. He commits to get her married one way or the other, but he says, I cannot marry you unless this near kinsman forfeits his right. You see, he says, if he wants to marry you, well, I think it's pretty clear that Boaz wanted to marry Ruth. And yet he could say, I'm going to ask this near kinsman, and if he wants to exercise his right, well, I'll have to find a way. to be content with God's will. Though as knew her to be a virtuous woman, he clearly held her in high esteem. He must have desired this young woman to be his wife. But he wasn't going to compromise his integrity for her to be his wife. He wanted her, but he'd be content if he couldn't have her. What a man of God. And he takes a note, as the Lord liveth. He says, this is a serious enough thing that I'm making a promise to you that I'm going to take a note. As the Lord liveth. I'm promising you in His sight, I will get you married. Either to Him or to me. I'm next in line. If He won't marry you, I will. To a 21st century American, this does not seem to be very romantic, does it? And yet, it is. It is biblical romanticism. What kind of man, young girl, would you rather marry than a man that was committed to the law of God and loved God more than you? What better husband could you find than that kind of man? And men, what better husbands could you be? than a man that's willing to give up whatever emotional commitment he has to a young woman if it was not in accordance with God's Word that he marry her. You see, Boaz was following that principle that Paul spoke of in Philippians 2.4 that we've learned about just recently. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Bellas was concerned about the things, the interests of that other kinsman. That man had a right, and he wasn't going to usurp that right. George Lawson said this in his commentary, a good wife is a good thing, but a good conscience is better. A good wife is a good thing, but a good conscience is better. If you could obtain the best wife in the world by injustice, you make a very foolish bargain. If you could obtain the best wife in the world by injustice, you make a very foolish bargain. It would have been so easy for Boaz to usurp the right of this kinsman, and yet he does. A good conscience, to him, is more important than this woman to be his wife. We see then his concern in verse 14, And she lay at his feet until the morning, and she rose up before one could recognize or know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. You see, here we learn that this plan was not right. Boaz commends Ruth for her virtue, and he overlooks her naivety in entering into this plan, but he clearly doesn't want this thing to be known. He's concerned for his and her good name. He desired to have a good conscience before God and man. He wanted, as Paul says, to provide for things honest not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of man. He was concerned for her good name. I suspect he was also concerned that knowledge of her being there with him alone in the evening could potentially prejudice the decision of this nearer kinsman. And he knew that wouldn't be right. He couldn't use, and you could imagine how easy it would be, couldn't you, if you wanted to marry this woman? to just let it leak that she was with you. You didn't sin, but it just gets leaked so that the next morning, later in the morning, when the near kinsman is considering this, he finds out that she was with someone else the night before, potentially. You see, so he doesn't want to prejudice his decision. He's not seeking any form of trickery. He's concerned for her good name, he's concerned for this kinsman above and beyond all things. He's concerned about other people's interests before his own. But then he gives her a gift in verse 15. And he said, bring the veil, and that's the cloak, that's her dress, her garment, that thou hast upon thee, whatever her coat was, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. and she went into the city. You see, he gave her a gift to show that he was overall happy and pleased with the way that she was seeking to have a husband. It wasn't sinless, it wasn't faultless, but it was done with a right heart. Not a flawless or perfect heart, but with a sincere heart. And that's the way our works as believers are. They're never perfect, but they're sincere if we're true believers seeking to honor our God. And so, then in verses 16 and 18, we have her return and Naomi's welcome. In verse 16a, Naomi welcomes her. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? In other words, are you his or not? Has he made you his? Are you Baraz's now, or are you still single? How did things go, in other words? You see, in Isaiah 4.1, we learn that there would be a time when the men of Israel were killed in large numbers in battle by their enemies because of their sin. And it says that there would be a number of women that would say to one man, let us be called by thy name. to take away our reproach. He says, there will be a day when there's so many more women than men, that seven women will come to one man and say, let us be called by your name. That's all we want. But you see there this principle that when a man takes a woman, she becomes his. You also see this principle that still is carried out predominantly in Western culture because of its Christian influence, that a woman takes the man's name. This isn't just culture, this is Bible culture. There's a reason for it. Because woman was created for the man. Eve was created for man. So she asks her, who art thou? Are you your own or are you now Boaz's? And then Ruth gives her a response in verse 16-17. And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, these six measures of barley gave he me, for he said to me, go not empty unto thy mother-in-law. You see, he's giving them a gift. You see Ruth's response. She's excited about the fact that he shows this concern, this approbation upon what they've done. And then we have Naomi's comfort. Naomi, who entered in and schemed this plan that was imprudent and dangerous, then has a good word to her daughter-in-law. Then she said, sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall, for the man will not be in rest until he have finished the thing this day. Again, she shows her affection. She calls her my daughter. She gives her an exhortation, sit still. In other words, don't be anxious. You've done what you can do, now you have to let the man do what it's his job to do. You've done your part, now let him do his part. Be anxious for nothing, but in all things by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God. In Isaiah we learn about this. In Isaiah 30 verse 7 we read, their strength is to sit still. It takes spiritual strength and courage to just sit still, to know what your responsibility is, to carry it out, and then to leave it to God regarding other people's responsibility. You see, she didn't know who she was going to be married to. She didn't know by the end of the day who would be her husband. But she was to trust in God. And she was also to have confidence in Boaz. She says, for the man will not be in rest. The man told you he would do it. The man's an honest and faithful man, a man of virtue and character and integrity. He's going to do what he said. One way or the other, you're going to be married soon. To him or to this other kinsman that's left on me. But she says, continue to rest. in God. Have confidence in Boaz, that Boaz will do what he says, but have confidence in God. Sit still. Don't take it into your own hands. Don't fret yourself. God will work all things together for your good, Ruth. Sit still. Don't be anxious. So we learn much here in this chapter, don't we, about Christian integrity. particularly in the life of Boaz, but also in Ruth, and we also see, don't we, the sins, the foibles of Naomi, and yet a good heart in the main, a sincere heart desiring the welfare of her daughter-in-law, but still affected by the culture, by the world, as too often we are, influenced by the ungodly culture of our nation. In application, in closing, Let us consider Boaz as a type of Christ. Christ is our kinsman redeemer. He is our elder brother. He has come and taken flesh upon himself that he might be our advocate before the Father. He's come to be us, to be Emmanuel, God with us. that He might plead for us at the right hand of God. So we as Ruth need to make application to Him. We need to be in a right relationship to Him. So you must ask yourself, have you applied yourself to the only kinsman redeemer there is? There is only one. There are not many options. Christ in Christ alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father but through Him. Have you come to the Father through the kinsman-redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you applied to Him for forgiveness of sins? We all must ask ourselves that in God's sight. A believer, you that have already closed with Christ and have applied yourself to Christ as your kinsman, Do you continue to do so? Do you continue to go to Him in confession and find forgiveness in Him a fresh day by day? We sing daily in word, thought and deed. The Scriptures are clear. Do we find forgiveness daily? We must continually apply ourselves to our kinsmen That perfect one, Boaz wasn't perfect, but he was a picture of Christ who took on flesh, who became man, who kept the law that Adam did, kept the covenant pure so that his righteousness would avail before the Father, that the Father would be satisfied with his sacrifice, that the Father would make him to be the covenant curse when He was the only one that deserved the covenant blessing for us, His people, so that the covenant blessings might be to us who come to Him in faith. Let us, believers, apply afresh to our kinsmen Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let any that know Him not, that are in the covenant, that come before Him in worship, but who are yet connected vitally to Him, apply to Christ. Flee to Him while He may be found. Let us pray.