men Ruth chapter number two the Bible reads in verse number one and Naomi had
a kinsman of her husband's a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech and
his name was Boaz and if you remember Elimelech is the late husband of Naomi
remember from last week that Naomi and Elimelech and their two sons Malon and
Kileon had gone to sojourn in the land of Moab the men of the family died and
they've come back and this man Boaz is a relative of Naomi's dead husband now
this is just telling us that at the beginning in verse number one because
Ruth when she goes out to glean in the field she doesn't necessarily know that
she is going to Boaz's field she doesn't head there on purpose that's just where
she ends up happening to go so remember that Ruth has chosen to stay with her
mother-in-law even though there aren't any good financial prospects there
aren't any good prospects for her getting married but she has made this
decision to follow the Lord and to stay with her mother-in-law and so it says in
verse number two Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi let me now go to the field
and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace and she
said unto her go my daughter first thing I want to point out here is the
initiative that Ruth is taking she's the type of woman who wants to get out and
do something and accomplish something she's not lazy by any stretch of the
imagination and that's one of the things that's gonna come through clearly in
this chapter her mother-in-law doesn't have to tell her hey look we all are
gonna have to pitch in we're poor we don't have a breadwinner around here we
need to figure something out you see her stepping up to the plate even in a
foreign country even in a place where she might be a little bit uncomfortable
as a Moabitess she says let me go out in the field let me go out and work hard
and do something for this family let me provide here and so her mother-in-law
says yeah go for it and what exactly is she doing she's going to glean ears of
corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace so whoever will allow her to
glean ears of corn because remember at this time it's the barley harvest time
and so when it says corn here we're not talking about yellow corn on the cobs
okay now when I was a kid and I read the Bible whenever I read corn that's what
I always pictured right a big old ear of yellow sweet corn the problem with that
is that that's actually a new world food right so corn is not something that
people in the Bible would have ever seen what we think of as corn in America
because what we call corn what we think of as corn in America is something that
was discovered here when the Spaniards came over here and you know started to
settle they then brought it back to Europe and exposed the Europeans to corn
also potatoes and and lots of other things that we kind of take for granted
you know people in Europe and Asia they didn't have those things until they
discovered America and so when the Bible says corn it's just talking about any
kind of grain okay for example like when you go to Germany the word for whole
grain is full corn that's how you say a whole grain in German am I right about
that Anselm where is he can I get a witness ah oh he's counting the offering
all right but anyway he if he were here he would verify that what I said is true
I'm 99% so the point is you know corn is just referring to actual ears of barley
grain so when the disciples pluck the ears of corn and eat again it's not a
corn on the cob it's something much smaller that they're plucking and eating
so here we see that she is going to glean after the barley is harvested she
is going to glean that which is left behind because when the harvesters come
through they're trying to be efficient and productive with the amount of time
that they have so they're not getting every little piece of that grain or corn
so gleaners could come afterward and just find everything that they missed
because they're inevitably going to miss something now this was actually God's
plan for feeding the poor in the Old Testament he said that when they
harvested their fields they should not go over it a second time when they picked
the fruit from the trees they should not go over it a second time but that they
would leave those gleanings for the poor and the fatherless and the widows people
like Ruth and Naomi to eat they were only supposed to take in the main
harvest leave the gleanings for everyone else and so that's exactly what Ruth is
going to go benefit from she's gonna go and glean she doesn't have a field
planted with barley that she can just harvest so she has to just go rely on
charity from someone else by gleaning and you know what this is a lot better
charity program than just giving people free money you know today in America
there are a lot of people that just refuse to work because they would just
rather stand on the street corner and just receive handouts even though
they're able-bodied and have all kinds of opportunities they'd rather just have
people hand them free money or there are all kinds of people who just purposely
stay on unemployment or just get on some kind of a welfare program just because
they would just rather pick up money for free than to work and then a lot of
people they'll just sit on unemployment for months and months and months and
then as soon as it runs out all of a sudden they go out and find a job okay
so the problem with these type of programs is that they could incentivize
laziness right whereas God's plan was you know obviously the poor and the
widow and the fatherless who don't have any land they don't have any possessions
or livelihood they need a way to subsist and so one of the ways was that he
allowed them to glean the fields and they could get out and work for it but
also have the ability to feed themselves and take care of themselves
without any means and so that's what we see here that Ruth is a hard worker
because obviously gleaning is not gonna be an easy job it's gonna be physical
labor but Ruth is volunteering to do it she's taking initiative she's the one
bringing it up to her mother-in-law and she's gonna go out and do it it says in
verse 3 she went and came and gleaned in the field after the Reapers and her hap
was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz so it's saying she
just happened to come upon a part of the field that was owned by Boaz so all the
fields are probably just contiguous and it might not be obvious to an observer
where one field ends and another begins and so part of the fields owned by Boaz
other people own different parts but it's all just kind of connected a lot of
the same workers might work some of the same land and so she just happens to
come upon a part of the field that's owned by Boaz who we met in verse number
one it says in verse 4 and behold Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the
Reapers the Lord be with you and they answered the Lord bless thee then said
Boaz unto his servant that was said over the Reapers whose damsel is this and the
servant that was said over the Reapers answered and said it is the Moabites
damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab so he's there just
overseeing his business he's going out to greet the Reapers and to make sure
that everything's going well he blesses them in the name of the Lord they bless
him and he notices a woman that he hasn't seen before it's a small town
Bethlehem was not a big city by any means and so it's a small town there's
someone new he asks whose is this damsel who is this now some people might try to
imagine some kind of a romantic interest on the part of Boaz but I think if you
actually read the story it's crystal clear that that is not on his mind
because when Ruth eventually does you know spoiler alert when Ruth does
eventually approach Boaz about marriage he's pretty surprised and it's not what
he expected it's not what he had in mind at all because he is much older
than Ruth and he actually it calls her in this passage my daughter which is
kind of just emphasizing the age difference in this passage and so he's
not thinking about oh wow look at this you know beautiful young girl you know
what hey what's her name maybe I could get her number that's not what's going
on here two things are going on number one it's just a small town and he sees
someone new and asked about her but number two I believe that he is
impressed by how hard she is working because that comes out a little bit in
this passage it he asked who she is and they tell him you know this is the
Moabites damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Noah and
look what it says in verse number seven and she said I pray you let me glean and
gather after the Reapers among the sheaves so she came and watch what the
worker says about her and hath continued even from the morning until
now that she tarried a little in the house so he's saying man she has been
at it all day he seems to be impressed and saying like man she started out at
the beginning of the day she's been going all day until now and he even
brings up the fact that she only spent very little time taking a break in the
house you know because probably other people are spending maybe a little more
time around that proverbial water cooler and taking breaks and relaxing because
it's hard physical labor but I mean she is just going after it she's starting
early she's taking initiative she's polite she's working hard she's not
taking a lot of breaks and that seems to impress both Boaz and the man that he's
asking here and so the guy who's set over the Reapers the supervisor and so
it says in verse number eight then said Boaz unto Ruth here is thou not my
daughter I guess that's how they got people's attention in those days hey do
you hear me or what but that was obviously just a saying at that time
here's how not my daughter go not to glean in another field neither go from
hence but abide here fast by my mains he said look don't worry about over staying
you're welcome I don't want you to feel like you need to glean a little bit over
here a little bit over there just go ahead and clean keep on gleaning in my
field no need to go anywhere else and abide here fast by my maidens let thine
eyes be on the field that they do reap and go thou after them have I not
charged the young men that they shall not touch thee and when thou are to
thirst go into the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn now
there's a there's a lot going on here in this passage obviously just right on the
surface Boaz is being kind he is impressed with her he wants to be a
blessing to her he wants to help her but also this is kind of similar to some
other passages in the Bible that involve marriage or people meeting their spouse
and there's kind of this theme in the Bible of drawing water from a well being
related to finding a spouse or getting married like for example let me put you
this way think about how Isaac's wife is found by the servant when she's drawing
water at the well and and she's really proactive and she's drawing water for
the camels also and that's where Isaac's wife is found at the well right then we
go forward to the story of Jacob and Rachel and Jacob encounters Rachel at
the well Jacob takes the stone off the well he draws water on behalf of Rachel
they end up getting married right just like Isaac and Rebecca end up getting
married and then you've got Jacob and Rachel and then also you go into the
book of Exodus and you've got Moses who goes out to the well and he draws water
for the seven sons or the seven daughters of Jethro and then he ends up
marrying one of those women that he drew water for at the well so you know there's
at least three stories just right there that you can think of right away in
Genesis and Exodus where people meet at a well either their spouse or someone
who's standing in for their spouse and then marriage ensues what's interesting
here is that it's a little bit different because they're not actually at a well
necessarily although it's probably a well but there's this idea of water
being drawn for her but it's not Boaz himself drawing water for her and it's
not her drawing water for Boaz but rather Boaz says that you will drink of
the water that the young men have drawn and what's interesting as you read
chapter two here is that he keeps bringing up the young men he tells her
hey I commanded the young men not to touch you and then he says that you're
gonna drink of the water which the young men have drawn which again like from a
literary viewpoint kind of connects it to other stories in the Bible where
water is drawn from a well before people get married and then also later on it
said when she's recounting all this to her mother look at verse number 21 it
says in Ruth the Moabites said he said unto me also thou shalt keep fast by my
young men until they have ended all my harvest so three times in this passage
he says something along the hey you're gonna drink you know the young men
aren't gonna touch you don't worry they're gonna be a gentleman with you
you know be easy on that score and then he says hey you're gonna drink the water
that the young men have drawn and then a third time he said hey you know stay
fast by my young men now this is significant also because in chapter 3
when Ruth approaches him about marriage he actually says that he's surprised I'm
paraphrasing we'll get there next week but he basically says that he's
surprised or he's flattered that she didn't go after the young men so really
four different times he's bringing up the young man he seems to have it in his
mind that maybe it would be nice for Ruth to to marry one of these young men
right because she she needs a husband and so he keeps sticking her with the
young man it seems like in chapter two three different times he wants to put
her by the young men and then in chapter three he's like oh you didn't go for the
young men wow you actually want to marry me oh okay you know and then that's
surprising to him okay again kind of emphasizing the fact that he doesn't
have a romantic interest in Ruth at this point we're in chapter three it's
crystal clear that that's not what he had in mind and he doesn't exactly jump
at the opportunity either he ends up you know hesitating a little bit so let's
keep going here in chapter two he says you're gonna drink of the water which
the young men have drawn which is again symbolic of a setup for marriage if we
think about all the times that that theme comes up in the Bible in fact the
Bible even compares a wife to a well in Proverbs where he talks about you know
drinking water out of your own cistern as opposed to going after the strange
woman and so it says here in verse 10 after he tells her hey stay here it's
gonna be great stay by my maidens stay by the young men they're gonna treat
you right drink the water that they've drawn she fell on her face verse 10 and
bowed herself to the ground and said at him why have I found grace in thine eyes
that thou shouldest take knowledge of me seeing I'm a stranger she's like wow why
are you being so nice to me I'm a foreigner I'm from Moab and you're
treating me so well and Boaz answered and said to her so he's gonna tell her
that he's not like well you know when you look the way you do honey you write
your own ticket in life that's not what he says he says well it had fully been
showed me all that thou has done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of
thine husband and how thou has left thy father and thy mother and the land of
the Nativity and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore the
Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of
Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust he's saying look two things
number one I want God to bless your work you're a hard worker the supervisor told
me what a hard worker you are but number two I've heard about what you've done
for Naomi and how you've taken care of your mother-in-law and how you've left
everything you left your mother your father your home country and you've come
to this foreign country and you've come to trust in the Lord God of Israel and
he says man I want God to bless you I think it's great what you're doing and
so again you can see that the reason why he's being nice to her is because he
admires her not necessarily a romantic love interest if you actually read the
story I'm not trying to you know burst anybody's bubble if they thought this
was a romance novella but it just isn't okay and so he gives her that blessing
and she says in response to this then she said verse 13 let me find favor in
thy sight my Lord for that thou has comforted me and for that thou has
spoken friendly unto thine handmaid though I be not like unto one of thine
handmaidens she's saying look you've got servant girls handmaidens whatever the
hired help these these these women that are just the lowly workers in your field
and she's saying you know I'm not even worthy to be among them I'm not even
like one of your handmaidens and yet you're being so nice to me thank you so
much kind of reminds me of what the prodigal son says where he says I'm no
longer worthy to be called thy son make me as one of the hired servants right
and he's just saying man I would just love to be one of the hired servants of
my father is better than the life of sin that I've chosen I'd rather be the
bottom guy in the kingdom of God and I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of
God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness and so he's saying make me as
one of the hired servants and Ruth is saying man you know I'm not even worthy
to be one of your hired help or to be one of your handmaidens and so she gives
a very humble response and says hey thank you so much for treating me this
way even though I'm not even on par with your maids and Boa has said it to her
now he's gonna up the ante a little bit you know he was already being nice to
her but he liked that answer he likes that humility and Boa said to her at
mealtime come now hither you know hey why don't you have lunch with us come
now hither and eat the bread and dip thy morsel in the vinegar and she sat
beside the Reapers and she and he reached her parched so he's basically
passing her the food at the table right he reached her parched corn and she did
eat and was sufficed and left so this made me think of macaroni grill because
you know a lot of restaurants you go there and you have the bread and you
have the little thing of olive oil and you dip your bread in the olive oil but
a macaroni grill it was like they mixed olive oil and vinegar together and they
swirled them together as like this little vinegar olives all those spiral
and I have to say I'm sorry but I prefer just the oil not a big dip my morsel in
the vinegar kind of guy but this was a macaroni grill style meal and so they're
dipping their morsel in the vinegar and it says that he reached her parched corn
so he's actually passing food to her he's actually serving her at the lunch
okay and she ate and was sufficed meaning she was full and she left
meaning that she couldn't even clean her plate like he keeps reaching her the
corn and it's an all-you-can-eat buffet so she has plenty to eat and she even
has to leave some she can't even finish it now obviously and we'll get into this
more as you know the next couple of weeks go on as we're in Ruth but
obviously Boaz in the story pictures Jesus and Ruth pictures us right being
saved and so you know while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and and
Christ has taken knowledge of us in our poor sinful wretched condition and you
know even when we were enemies Christ died for us right and so this is
pictured by Boaz taking knowledge of Ruth and and feeding her and and you
know one of one of my favorite parts of the New Testament is when it is when
Jesus talks about how at the second coming in the kingdom of God you know he
is actually going to serve Christians at that meal I mean what what a what a
crazy thought to actually go to heaven and be served food by Jesus right you
know we spend our lives serving Christ but you don't really think of going to
heaven and having him serve you but it's going to happen my friend and so what an
amazing thought what what a mind-blowing concept that Christ will actually serve
us someday in heaven obviously we're gonna serve him forever and ever but
he's actually gonna serve food to us you know just like he did with his disciples
at the Last Supper where he washes their feet and so forth and so this this
picture of Boaz serving Ruth and handing her the food is a foreshadowing of one
day Christ is going to actually feed us and serve us in heaven as well and so
she ate she was sufficed and left here's the idea that we get from Psalm 23 my
cup runneth over right of the blessings of God are sufficient for us and more
than enough God gives us exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask
or wish and so if we follow the Lord our cup runneth over we will eat we will be
sufficed and we will even leave something on the plate verse 15 and when
she was risen up to glean Boaz commanded his young men saying let her
glean even among the sheaves and reproach her not right because there
could be a thing where maybe those who are gleaning might get a little too
close to the main harvest you know they need to hang back and get the leftovers
but he says you know let her glean even closer than she normally would let her
glean even among the sheaves and reproach her not basically just saying
just let her do whatever she wants whatever she picks up is fair game and
let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose fur he's saying drop stuff on
purpose so normally when you'd reap you want to do a pretty thorough job and
there's you're always gonna miss something so there's gonna be something
for the gleaners but he's saying spill handfuls drop handfuls on purpose so
that she can really clean up and really get a lot and so that's what he tells
them to do leave them and that she may glean them and rebuke her not so she
gleaned in the field until even and beat out that she had gleaned and it was
about an Ephah I mean so she of barley so she's there first thing in the
morning I mean this is like a pretty long day right Sun up to Sun down she's
out there gleaning and then when she's done gleaning then she processes what
she's taken in right she beats out that which she has gleaned and she had an
Ephah of barley so she's got this huge amount of barley and she took it up and
went into the city and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned and she brought
forth and gave to her that she had reserved after she was suffice so she
got to eat the free lunch with Boaz and then she's got this Ephah of barley she
takes the part that's for her and then she gives the rest of the mother-in-law
and says okay I've got enough for me I'm giving you the rest here you go and so
her mother-in-law is super impressed in verse 19 where has thou gleaned today
and where wrought is thou blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee now
right away the mother here the mother-in-law identifies that someone
helped her out you know obviously roots a hard worker and she put in a super
long workday but come on you know a full Ephah of barley she's thinking wow
somebody was really taking care of you somebody really took knowledge of you
somebody really allowed you to glean hard in order to have that kind of an
output I mean that's just incredible and so she said blessed be he that
did take knowledge of thee and you know again thinking about Boaz picturing
Christ and ourselves picturing Ruth in our lives God is constantly blessing us
taking knowledge of us the hairs of our head are numbered and he leaves
handfuls of purpose for us if we love him if we trust in him if we serve him
he will leave us handfuls of purpose we will receive extra blessings and
windfalls that we didn't expect and if we're smart we'll be like Naomi where we
realize that where we recognize that and say hey wait a minute somebody's looking
out for me somebody took knowledge of me God's blessing me we don't want to go
through life every time we have an unexpected success or some kind of a
boon that we receive we don't want to say like oh wow I'm the greatest you
know like oh wow I'm just such a great worker I'm just so smart or wow I'm just
such a hard worker all these other losers over here can't get their act
together no what we want to say is God's blessing me God's really blessing me
right now you know God's been really looking out for me because it is God who
gives you the power to get wealth according to Bible but not only that a
lot of our success in life is based upon chance it's not based upon necessarily
how smart we are how hard we work now some people are probably bristling at
that like what are you talking about you know I pulled myself up by my own
bootstraps but you know what obviously intelligence and hard work definitely
play a role in your success don't get me wrong those are factors but you know
there's also just a chance factor because you'll see some people who
aren't that smart and aren't that great of worker who do really well by chance
it's really about getting that great opportunity sometimes just about knowing
the right person getting hired at the right job and you know what everybody's
got hidden talents and abilities and some people are in a job where they're
really reaching their potential and their abilities are really able to shine
other people are working in a job where it's not really suited for them maybe
their talents and abilities are in another field and they're doing that job
and they're struggling and it's not that they're not working hard it's not that
they don't have talent they just have a different talent and a lot of success in
life is just getting plugged into the right opportunity now I'll bet you a lot
of you out there listening to me right now could think to yourself and say you
know what there was a time earlier in life where I was in a job where I wasn't
really succeeding or I wasn't really making a lot of money and I was working
my tail off but I just wasn't really getting ahead but then now I've gotten
into such a better opportunity I'm making way more money I enjoy my job
now I finally found my place but in the past man I was working hard and it was
just who would say like yeah I'm thinking about that right now folks I
could say that's how I feel about my life I mean I remember I when I was
first married I had a couple of alarm jobs doing low voltage electrical work
and man I worked my tail off and I just I just could barely make any money I
just wasn't doing well my wife and I are just barely scraping by paycheck to
paycheck we didn't have extra money we struggled financially for years and I
was working so hard and it was just so frustrating and I worked and worked and
worked and was just barely able to scrape by but then when I moved off to
Chicago to go to Bible College out there I ended up looking around at fire alarm
jobs and you know the jobs were paying even less than California I was like
man this is gonna stink me I made an appointment to go like donate blood or
something because I was just like struggling to get by then all of a
sudden I got just the perfect opportunity for me I got this job and
here's the funny thing is that this job would probably not be considered a good
opportunity by literally anyone else because we kind of went through
employees every week but for me this job was perfect okay I got this job and
right away I was making more money than California even though the cost of
living was a little bit lower in Northwest Indiana where I was living
than it was in California but I you know God provided me with this job and it was
just like boom right away I was making more money than I was making in
California and all these raises are forthcoming and the boss just wanted me
to work as many hours as I wanted I could make my own schedule so I could
work it around my college classes and everything and I mean this job was in
many ways a nightmare but I loved it because it was what I needed because I
needed to work my butt off and make a lot of money and this job gave me the
opportunity to do that and it was a lot of crazy things that I had to do and a
lot of really wild things that I had to do and work super I mean I could spend
hours telling you the stories of all the crazy things and the boss would
would cuss me out at least once a week usually more than that just because he
was just like that but I'm telling you it was awesome it was like a match made
in heaven he loved me I loved him I didn't mind getting cussed out all the
time because you know I'm just like hey if your money's green you can call me
whatever you want as many times as you want but you know it's funny because
none of the other employees felt that way because we literally probably went
through about 40 other employees in the time that I was there but man I loved
working for him because he paid me you know what I was worth and and I and like
and you know that his kind of avant-garde style of doing things really suited me
too because I I'm a think outside the box kind of a guy too and so it was a
weird job but I made a lot of money I loved it in fact when I moved to
Arizona to start the church I kept working for him and I started a branch
of his company out here I did that for the first few years but anyway that's a
whole nother story the point is though that God provided me that opportunity
where all of a sudden even though it's not like I started becoming a different
kind of worker or got a different brain or different work ethic it was just a
different opportunity where I where I was just suddenly making time and a half
what I was making and soon I was making double what I was making in California
why because I finally got that right opportunity okay and you know what I'm
glad that God allowed me to struggle early in life because you know what I
feel like would have happened if I'd never gone through that phase where I'm
working hard and struggling and and and barely getting by I think I could have
gotten a prideful attitude that just said oh well everybody's who's
struggling financially is just lazy or everybody who's struggling financially
is just stupid or lazy or both you know and look I've met a lot of people who
have that attitude they just think anybody who has financial problems is
their fault but you know what I don't think that and part of the reason is
because God allowed me to go through it and to feel that so now I know how you
feel you know if you're going through financial problems because I've been
there and sometimes you are working really hard and giving it your best and
it's just not the right opportunity and so here's my point God is the one who
opens one door closes another God is the one who can leave the handfuls of
purpose God can either work against you or for you and I'm telling you life is
about that right opportunity and being in that right job and I've talked to so
many people similar all the hands went up I've been there where you know you're
doing the same work over here then you get a new opportunity boom you're making
twice as much or enjoying it twice as much or whatever it's just a better fit
for you personally and again one man's trash another man's treasure like I
don't this job a lot of people wouldn't have liked it I absolutely loved it I
mean the well I mean in a way I also hate I I had a love-hate relationship
with it I just remember for the first year things were just chaos things were
just out of control because I I inherited all these problems that and so
I remember my first day I walked in just for the job interview I was hired on the
spot I had my arms out like a forklift and the boss just stacking all this
paper you got to go to this place you got to go to this job you gotta do this
you gotta do and I'm just like trying to remember everything he's saying and I
don't even know what he's talking about and he's just stacking it up and just
sends me out there to go do it and the first few weeks man I just worked all
day all night all I did was work because I was like I have to make this
job work like if this job doesn't work I'm sunk so I was just that's all I did
was that job just and and for the first like year at least once a week I had the
thought like this job will not last like this can't go on I can't go on like this
this job can't go on like this is not sustainable but I just need to just get
through one more week of this and just get paid you know because I'm making a
lot of money and whatever but but you know it but then it just kept going on
and after like a year I'd actually like fix everything and then and and then I
no longer got yelled at or cussed out anymore and it was just everything was
just great after that you know but but I'm telling you I could have easily in
another life just kept struggling at those jobs that I was working in
California I'm the same person same same brain same work ethic and just been
struggling and barely getting by and barely able to pay my bills and you know
going into debt and whatever so what I'm saying is don't you know number one
don't be too hard on people who are the working poor who are struggling because
sometimes they really are working hard and they really are doing their best it's
just you know they just haven't found that right opportunity yet and number
two always remember that God controls your destiny God can give you a great
job that's a good fit or he can make sure that you get stuck in crummy
dead-end jobs if you don't want to seek him first then he's not gonna take care
of you in many cases right so you know but God's good and he wants to leave
those handfuls of purpose just like Boaz he wants you to get the bonuses he wants
you to get those windfalls if you seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness all these things will be added unto you and so you've got to put
the Lord first because he can really help you out with things I get and by
the way you know it was really when I went to Northwest Indiana there were a
lot of jobs that would cause me to miss Bible College or miss church and that's
why I was there was to go to Bible College and and I also was not willing
to sacrifice any church services although the school allowed you to miss
Wednesday night the school said you just have to be there on Sundays you know I
decided going in like I'm gonna be there on Wednesday nights I made that
decision like I'm gonna be there on Wednesday nights and it was like no job
was willing to work around that because I'm at school in the mornings and then I
want Wednesday night off like how's that gonna work but it worked God worked it
out and I was able to make way more money than at the jobs I turned down and
so you know God is the one who ultimately takes knowledge of us and if
we're gonna beat out that Ephah it's because he took care of us and so if you
are succeeding in life right now let's say you're thriving you're doing well
financially and and you love your job man you should thank God every day for
your job because God's the one who gave you that job God's the one who gave you
that opportunity to thrive in that position God's the reason you're
succeeding it's not well I'm just a harder worker I'm just smarter I'm just
built different you know what that's the stupidest thing you could say because
you know what God will hear you saying that I'll be like oh okay we'll see
about that and he might show you the hard way that that's not why and even if
it is because you were built different you know God can God can basically harm
you and take away your skill take away your physical prowess I mean you know
how many people do you know that have gotten hurt and had to switch careers
because you know they're a piano player and they hurt their hand or something no
I'm just kidding but you know I you know I've known a lot of people like that you
know you get injured or something and it all changes right so you better be
thankful every day and you better give glory to God for every success that you
have in life because he's the one taking knowledge of you and leaving the
handfuls of purpose and Naomi recognizes that she was shown mercy look at the end
of verse 19 she showed her mother-in-law with whom she had wrought and said the
man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz and Naomi said unto her daughter-in-
law blessed be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness to the living
and to the dead he's you know he's being nice to us and he's also honoring the
memory of his relative that has died and Naomi said unto her the man is near of
kin unto us one of our next kinsmen Ruth wasn't even aware of that she just
happened to go in his field turns out the guy is one of their closest possible
relatives it turns out they only have one relative who's closer he's the
second closest relative and Ruth the Moabite has said well he said also unto
me thou shalt keep fast by my young men until they've ended all my harvest and
Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter-in-law it is good my daughter that thou go out
with his maidens that they meet thee not in any other field now look remember we
said Boaz represents Christ right you know what God doesn't want to share his
glory with someone else does he and you know we don't want to be met in someone
else in some other field right we need to be loyal to Christ alone now first of
all for salvation it's essential that we only believe on Christ as our Savior you
can't just add Christ to some other religion like Buddhism Hinduism Roman
Catholicism where you're worshipping Mary and the Saints and going through
all these sacraments to be saved that's not biblical Christianity you know you
can't just add Jesus to whatever the pagan religion or or you know Native
American traditional religion sometimes you'll find those who say well I'm
traditional and Christian you know well you know be traditional with your
cooking you know be traditional with you know whatever you do for fun just
living that res life but you better not be traditional when it comes to religion
and by the way the so-called traditional Native American religion is not
traditional at all it goes back to the late 1800s okay they try to make it out
like oh this is our ancient religion the super old but actually it's from the
late 1800s and what it is is a mixture it's a it's a religious syncretism of
Christianity and the original pagan religions of the Native Americans so
it's it's whatever their ancient religion is that nobody really knows
anymore what it was like you know hundreds and hundreds of years of mixing
with Roman Catholicism or evangelical Christianity or Protestantism you know
all those things have mixed and that's why there are so many things in the
so-called traditional Native American religion that remind you of Christianity
they'll use a lot of words terms about being born again and baptism and instead
of God the Father it's sometimes his great-grandfather and and all these
different things there are a lot of echoes of Christianity because
Christianity okay it's a it's a mixture and the native usually when you go to
the Navajo Reservation and they say the part of Native American Church is that
usually when they're traditional it's Native American Church which is also
known as peyote religion which is something that started in the late 1800s
and peyote doesn't even grow in Arizona like now it does because they they
planted it but peyote is not indigenous to this region and so peyote did not
come into this region until the late 1800s with the founding of the Native
American Church which comes out of Oklahoma the peyote itself comes out of
Mexico and it's grown in maybe some far reaches of Texas but mainly it's
indigenous to Mexico and so you know can you just add Christ to changing woman or
to all these other different you know it's so funny how you know one of the
important deities for the Navajos is changing woman and then think about God
he says I change not so changing woman is a little different than the God of
the Bible you know change her order at the drive-thru woman you know versus
God the Father who says I change not you know once I've ordered that's it you
know I've opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back so we have an
unchanging God and so you can't just say well I believe in changing woman and the
unchanging God no it's got to be the Lord alone thou shalt have no other gods
before me and when it comes to salvation we have to believe on Christ with all
our heart we can't have part of our heart in Buddhism part of our heart in
Hinduism part of our heart in something else our own deeds our own works our own
philosophies it's got to be all Christ but you know after we are saved and
we're living the Christian life we also want to seek God with all of our heart
just in our daily lives and so we obviously don't want to participate in
false religion that kind of goes without saying but also just the Bible says
things like well you can't serve God and mammon right so you've got to choose
between going after everything that this world has to offer financially and
otherwise and seeking the Lord you know God wants you to be exclusive to him and
so Naomi's saying look if Boaz is blessing you like this don't let him
catch you being in another field be in his field he wants you in his field be
in his field because remember Boaz has repeatedly said hey stay close to my
maidens hey stay close with my young man hey if you need water get the water from
them stay here don't go to another field so if he says don't go to another field
then don't go to another field and so if God's saying look I'm blessing you
I'm giving you what you need I'm giving you handfuls of purpose you know then
don't spend your life and time and energy out somewhere else spend your
time and energy in life serving God and even when you're working your secular
job and even when you're spending time with your family and even when you're
doing recreation whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do do it
for the glory of God and make sure that you're loyal to him all the time and
you're not trying to have it both ways one foot in the world and one for one
foot in the things of God no that's like Ruth you know well sometimes I'm
gleaning in Boaz's field but other times I just glean wherever now here's the
thing about that it'd be pretty stupid for her to glean somewhere else because
she's not gonna find a better deal than this you think other fields are gonna
let her just pick up everything that they're spilling on purpose they're
practically just giving it to her that's not gonna happen that's super rare this
is well here's the thing serving God is so much better than what the world has
to offer you know you want to be in the world's field and you want to be over
there it's great you know getting the devil's leftovers what the devil leaves
for you which is garbage or you can get the handfuls of purpose from God
blessing you above all that you can ask or think where you're you sufficed and
you leave your cup runneth over and he pours you out a blessing that there's
not even room to receive over in God's field serving God being loyal to him
seeking first his kingdom his righteousness versus being enamored by
this world where the grass is greener on the other side of the fence folks you're
never gonna get the deal from the devil that God's got for you and so you should
stay in that field stay in Boaz's field
it's good my daughter verse 22 that thou go out with his maidens that they meet
thee not in any other field you say well you know I just I'm just sick of barley
I'd you know I'd rather just have something a little different a stay with
the Lord's field stay with church stay with God's people stay with what God has
provided because it's way better than what the world has to offer so she kept
fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean under the end of barley harvest and of
wheat harvest so not only does he honor this deal through barley harvest but
then next comes the wheat harvest and she gets to do the same thing through
the wheat harvest she's living with her mother-in-law she's providing for the
whole family and let me just close on this you know Ruth is a catch for Boaz
you know Boaz really fortunate to ultimately marry Ruth it's not just
because she's so young okay that he's just he's just getting to marry this
this young woman but you know what I noticed is that the you know the Bible
is not sitting here and and saying how Naomi's so or excuse me the Bible is not
sitting here saying how gorgeous Ruth is or how how she's so beautiful and and
and it's all about her looks or something like that you know we don't
know what she looked like right the Bible typically does not describe
people's physical appearance because God isn't really that concerned with
people's physical appearance right the only time God typically describes
anyone's appearance in the Bible is when it's relevant to the story you know when
the Bible tells you that Absalom has really long hair you better know
something's gonna happen with that hair and he ends up getting stuck in a tree
and hanging by his hair that's the only reason God even told you that he had
that long hair right when you hear about Samson's hair there's a reason it's it's
super plot relevant right all throughout the Bible when the Bible says that a
certain woman is beautiful or that she's fair it's because that's relevant to the
story there's there's a reason why that comes up the Bible doesn't just stop and
say like like if you're reading a modern novel or something it'll tell you the
shape of their face and the color of their hair and the color of their eyes
and the way they're built and the clothes that they wear the Bible doesn't
give those kind of descriptions the Bible is very economical in what it
tells us it only gives us the information that either develops the
characters or drives the plot forward nothing is wasted nothing's extra
nothing is incidental coincidental or accidental you know it's all in the
story for a reason every time that's why I even brought up the fact that he's
telling her to go drink the water that they draw it's all relevant everything's
relevant you know you could say hey it's following that that type scene of you
know the the woman girl meets boy at well scene in Genesis Exodus but not
only that how about well as representative of salvation you know hey
you're drinking the water that someone else drew you know you don't have to
work for salvation the works already been done right Jesus Christ paid for
our salvation he did the work and we get the water of life freely you know you
could you could you'd go on and on all the different meanings and layers of
meaning in this passage and other passages everything in the Bible is
there for a reason look the Bible is not emphasizing Ruth's looks but it is
emphasizing her attitude her spiritual outlook of serving the Lord trusting the
Lord and just that she's a hard worker is a big thing think about Proverbs 31
woman the virtuous woman what's the big thing about the Proverbs 31 woman I mean
it's almost all about the work that she's doing you know what I mean it just
goes on and on just it's all how busy she is how industrious she is how she's
a good worker how she's effective at getting things done around the house
and then it just says well favor is deceitful and beauty is vain but a woman
that fear at the Lord she shall be praised so it's all praising her work
ethic and her spiritual quality so you young men if you're smart you know these
are the kind of things you want to look for you want to look for a woman who
loves the Lord spiritual side and you want to look for a woman who gets things
done a woman who's effective a woman who is industrious or a good worker or
productive and so you young ladies you know you're spending a lot of time on
your appearance but how much time do you spend on just being effective and just
getting things done learning how to be a good worker learning how to be efficient
because you know running the household is hard work even if you're not working
outside the home which you know ideally you've obviously got a man doing that
the you know Ruth and Naomi they don't have a man to do that so Ruth is the one
who has to be the breadwinner but if you think about it take my wife for
example right she's got ten kids living at home to deal with she's got to run
that household that's hard work right and so it's a good thing she's a hard
worker it's a good thing that she's efficient effective productive works
hard you know those are the kind of qualities that are gonna matter to you
when you've been married for 23 years right that becomes very relevant to you
right because you know guess what obviously looks are something that
attract us when we're young but at the end of the day we also want that
productivity we want that efficiency I mean think about what what if what if
you just had a beautiful wife and she just doesn't get anything done what if
she's just not good at running the house I mean you're gonna you're gonna get a
little bit sick of the way she looks if that's how she's acting you know and by
the way here's what I've noticed people that have good character get better
looking the longer you know them you know I've known people that when I first
met them I thought like you know they were maybe a little homely but as I got
to know them as a person the beauty came out and I and and then I looked at my
thought I wonder why I ever thought of this person as being a little bit homely
you know this person is actually nice looking you know because because they
have a good soul because they have a good personality and so they look better
to you because you know them and I've noticed other people who when you first
meet them are good-looking and then as you get to know the rottenness of their
personality they just get uglier and uglier to you no matter how physically
beautiful someone is if they are not a virtuous person you know you don't want
to be married to them because you know eventually that beauty is gonna fade you
know what it's like it's like a really good-looking car that gets horrible gas
mileage and constantly needs repairs would you rather have that or would you
rather have a reliable just basic-looking car Hyundai Sonata that
just never breaks down great gas mileage and just always is there for you you
know so you can have the Hyundai Sonata over here or you can have you know the I
don't know what's what's a what's a really cool car but that probably needs
a lot of maintenance and probably isn't that reliable BMW anything else or is
that do we all agree on that Ferrari I don't know but but I you know here's the
thing I bet if we ask the teenagers you know what the teenagers are gonna want
they're gonna want the BMW the Ferrari the you know whatever is the the high
maintenance expensive fancy impractical or they're gonna want to drive the the
Mazda you know rx-7 that's like a two-seater or so is that is that a car
is that right they get that right what am I mixing a few cars what is it
rx-7 okay why is everybody oh that's not a cool thing anymore hey you know you
know the newest 2023 rx-7 that you young people are all excited about you know
you know you know that Mustang Shelby GT no I'm just kidding now I'm going way
back you know the Cobra jet you know but anyway the GTO you know little GTO but
you know here's the thing if you ask teenagers they probably go for that yeah
one person got my reference down yeah got one older guy but the thing is like
you know teenagers they probably would you know maybe turn their nose up at a
really sensible car just because it doesn't look that cool and they want
something fancy but you know what you get a little bit older you've had the
car for a while and you're glad it's a Hyundai Sonata at that point or so you
know or something like that that's just a car that I've had good luck with and
so or the blessings of God really you know but I think God blessed me by
allowing that wonderful Korean car company to come into existence that
would create these amazing Hyundai's for everyone but the point is as you get
older and get more much and by the way this message was brought to you in part
by Hyundai as you get older you start to value more the practical things well
guess what it's the same way with marriage you know you're gonna be glad
that your wife knows how to cook you're gonna be glad that your wife knows how
to get good deals on things you want to be paying full price for everything for
the rest of your life uh-huh because that you're just got to work way more
and have less money because your wife just buys everything for top dollar she
doesn't understand what it means to be on sale she doesn't understand how to
get freebies she doesn't understand how to you know shop the thrift store and
how to get the expired food and stuff like that you know you got it you got to
have a woman that works the system I mean you know my wife's taking a trip
she got all the she got all the suitcases for free online you know she's
she's hustling those suitcases instead of just go you know but some people's
wife they would just get in the car and just drive down to the Samsonite dealer
and just buy all the newest fanciest you you think that's happening every day
right now somewhere in the world a woman's walking into some Samsonite
store and just wasting all her husband's money on just really expensive fancy
suitcase without even looking at the price you know and or you know you got
the virtuous woman who the heart of her husband does safely trust the credit
card with her so that he shall have no need of spoil okay so you know priorities
my friend the Bible is showing how Ruth is gonna be a good wife because she is
hustling and getting things done and working hard and productive and also
spiritually right she is the virtuous woman in so many ways and so we'll
continue the story next week in chapter 3 let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer
father we thank you so much for this chapter Lord please help us to be like
Ruth help us to work hard help the women out there to be virtuous women and help
us as men also to to emulate Ruth by being self starters hard workers
spiritually seeking you Lord and help us to always realize that you control our
destiny so that we always give thanks for all the blessings and give you the
glory and not try to take credit for things ourselves but to always realize
that ultimately you are taking care of us and in Jesus name we pray amen