I wrote this letter to my Bible Study group and I wanted to share it with you guys in the Internets. - Ed.

I truly hope that this week is a week that is good for you all. Spend time with family, eat good food and drink good drink, celebrate and give your time, energy and money away to those we love and should love.

I know you are going to be constantly reminded by every single pastor but just remember what we are celebrating.

We are not celebrating that some mere heroic, kick butt, awesome, epic warrior that would rile up a bunch of soldiers and go overthrow the oppressive reign of whomever ruled the little world some 2000 years ago. This is a Divine Being, whom existed before time began and all things were made through Him. He decided in that moment, that now was the time to begin the true kingdom. The one kingdom that transcended boundaries, walls, rulers, kings, political offices, wars, treaties and weapons. The only kingdom that was ruled by a King that would rule forever and thus, this kingdom would last forever

That King is the same as our Lord and is the same as our Saviour and He was to be called Emmanuel that declared “God is with us” and the man, God in the flesh, was named, Jesus Christ.

In order for his kingdom to begin, He had to overthrow Death and Hell so that we might live. In order to do that, He had to die, descend into hell, take the power away from Death and Satan and ascend back to the Father.

In order to do all of that, He had to live like a human. Learning how to walk, talk, eat, toilet train, speak, write, read just like any other child that grows into an adult.

In order to do that, He must first be born like a human. He started the entire process of making everything right standing with Himself by being just a little bitty baby, born to a virgin teenage girl for a mom and a holy man of God for a stepdad.

We celebrate Christmas because God made good on His promises. We celebrate because the kingdom of God is now and we are so blessed to live in it.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Not a couple days in Bethlehem and Ruth’s light from within her heart shines forth. Her heart is clearly shone in her love for her mother-in-law and wants to take care of her, if nothing else (1 Timothy 5:8).

Ruth Meets Boaz

1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

She gets back home and suddenly remembers Boaz. KJV calls Boaz and “mighty man of wealth”. The Hebrew adjectives to describe Boaz means “champion, warrior, strong, protector of the weak, valiant, trained” and “rich, wealthy”. From this verse, he is a man of great reputation and quite well known.

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Naomi spoke of Boaz to Ruth and Ruth sees this as a way to provide for her family. Understand that it wasn’t just for her to get a job. “Gleaning” is essentially Jewish social services. The corners of the field were to be reserved for the poor, widows, orphans and immigrants to gather leftover standing grains as well as anything that was left behind in the working field.

glean - The term “glean” appears 12 times in this chapter. It is weird that God has made mention of helping the poor, immigrant, widows and orphans more times than I can count. He might be serious about it. He might have a special place in his heart for those people. He just might…

in whose sight I shall find favor - Ruth knows that she cannot do anything without the owner’s permission (Genesis 34:11, Numbers 32:5). Jesus said in John 8:28 “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.

Did she? Did she really come upon the field of Boaz? Granted, she knew of Boaz and was looking for his fields but God has infinite + one ways of communicated with us whether it be through His word, gut feeling, images, words, whispers, scenes or in Ruth’s case, a nudging. She is a foreigner in this land but the Holy Spirit was there to guide her.

4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.”

Again, every blessing was given to others and not for themselves.

Already, we see that Boaz is not only a man of worth, wealth, valiant and might but we see here that he comes into the office and immediately greets his workers by blessing them. His workers immediately respond with blessing as well.

It is why God calls us to honor our leaders and employers even despite them being Christian. Your work ethic and giving honor to your boss is the seed that starts to soften their hearts and turns towards God. God does all the work. All you got to do is be obedient to Him.

5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.

Unnamed servant - None of my commentaries mention this but I heard it suggested that this is unnamed servant just might be the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke of the Spirit in John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

As we start to put the pieces of the story together, take a moment and consider the following parallels to the characters in Ruth:
Boaz - Jesus Christ
Naomi - Israel
Ruth - Gentile
servant - Holy Spirit

These parallels will reveal themselves a bit more as we progress. But think about it as we pertain to this verse. How appropriate is it that it is the servant that brings together Ruth and Jesus Christ or… the Holy Spirit that brings together the Gentiles to Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12 states that is only by the Spirit of God is when we can understand the things are freely given to us by God. By His Spirit, we know of the gift of salvation that is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”

The unnamed servants speaks well of Ruth’s work ethic.

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.

my daughter - Boaz address Ruth as though she is much younger than Boaz. We can gather that Boaz could be 20 years or more her senior

Boaz instructs her not to go to another field to glean. Stay here and I will provide for you. Jesus said in John 6:35 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Boaz tells Ruth not to go to other fields is just when God tells us not to go to other rivers and streams in Jeremiah 2 where God is our living water.

We spoke of the importance of having good fellowship and community which Elimelech and his family were denied by moving to Moab. Not a day or two after Ruth arrives in Israel, Boaz provides Ruth a community and fellowship with young women who will look after her and make sure she is okay.

9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”

Boaz has already prepped the young men not to take advantage of her. He drives this point forward by having the men draw her water whereas it would have been custom for Ruth (being a Gentile woman) to draw water for the men.

10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.

Boaz is still human and cannot simply look at one’s heart and know it is true. However, it is quite evident by Ruth’s works that her heart is true. James 2:14-26 speaks of faith without works is dead. Let me make it clear as the word of God does is that it is not because of what we do produce faith but it is faith in God and

12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

The Lord repay you - Again, blessing of others

whose wings you have come to take refuge - Psalm 36:7, Psalm 57:1, Psalm 91:4 are all “take refuge under your wings and shadow of your wings”. Jesus takes this step further and prophecies the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!

13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit who, among other things, comforts us and gives us peace.

14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.

Noticed how Boaz doesn’t address her not being a servant. When we are servant of Christ Jesus, He comforts us and provide for us.

15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

Again, Boaz provides for her and gives her protection.

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

ephah is about 29lbs.

18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.”

Again, with the blessings

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth continued to work until the end of the harvest in order to support herself and her mother-in-law.

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Lord,

Christ above all.

Save them.

I don’t mean just their lives.

Save them.

Because You once saved me.

Amen.

Originally posted on the blogsite for our BIble Study, Only The Broken, I decided to repost my full teaching notes over the lessons that I taught that evening. - Ed.

We have one of the most beautiful short stories of all the bible if not of all literature. Beyond a classic and heroic love story, this is a testament to the sovereignty and grace of an Almighty God, who is the author and perfector of our faith.

Ruth 1

1 In the days when the judges ruled

This story occurs during age of the Judges from the death of Joshua to the crowning of Saul as king of Israel.   This is was a desperately wicked time where God would pick certain people or judges to rise up and protect or free the people if Israel.  This is where we get most of the good kid’s Sunday School class.  Judges is a highly recommended read.

there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah

Note the city and the tribe.  Who in the Bible was born in Bethlehem (meaning House of Bread)?  Who in the Bible was from the tribe of Judah?

went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

Moabites are descendants as a result of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters.  The eldest daughter brought forth a son named Moab and thus, is the father of the Moabites.  The younger daughter brought forth a son and named him Ammon.  He is the father of the Ammonites.

2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah.  They went into the country of Moab and remained there.

• Elimelech - God his King
• Naomi - Pleasant
• Mahlon - Sickness
• Chilion - Suffering

Ephrathites - clan within the tribe of Judah

3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.

So lets review the facts:

A famine hits the land: If this is during the time of Judges, during mass disobedience, we can determine that this famine is a result of God’s divine judgment upon the land (Deuteronomy 11:14).  (Some famines were divinely appointed by God in order to bring about His will and purpose.  See Genesis 42:5, Genesis 45:5-8.  As we read on, this famine might be both God’s judgement and to advance His will.)

Since there was a famine that hits the area, that means there is no food.

Elimelech thought it will be a good idea to go into a country where there are no believers… into a country that did not worship the One True God but some demon.

Elimelech dies.  The Bible is not clear on whether or not this is His sovereign judgement.  But from this we can take that Elimelech was going to depend upon himself to provide for his family rather than depend on God (despite Elimelech means God is King).  He left Israel to escape God’s judgement. He ends up dead in a foreign land leaving behind his Christian wife and two sons (whether they believed or not, Bible never says.)

4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years,

One to note: if you raise your children in a foreign land and they become of age, guess who they might marry?  Are you moving to an area where there are no Christians to fellowship with?

I am not calling for a Christian sub-culture.  Far from it.  Jesus called us to be the “light of the world, salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13-14).  However, if you are called into mission fields and you have a wife and a family to take care of, there are many important factors to consider.  Prayerfully seek out God in His calling upon your life and in all things.

5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Husband dies.  Sons die.  Widow in a foreign land with the only family is her Moabite daughters-in-law.

Ruth’s Loyalty to Naomi

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.

God gives and takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.

7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

One of the most beautiful things I can truly appreciate about Ruth is that every single time somebody prayed or blessed, they were always praying for the other person and never for themselves.   When leaders blessed their flock, God instructed them to “Lord, bless them and keep them.  Shine Your glory upon them.  Be ever so gracious.  Smile upon them.  Give them peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)  At the times when I am at my most desperate, I quickly grow tired of praying for God to help me.  I feel so selfish in doing so.  One of the very things that restores my joy is when I start to fast and pray for others.  That God would take care of them.  God bless them.  God saves them.  Just like He saved me.

10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

Naomi says, “I HAVE NOTHING FOR YOU.  I have no more sons.  I have no kin that I can recall.  Where I am going, you don’t want to go.  Like I am stranger in this land, you will become a stranger in my land.  There is nothing for you.  Turn back.”

I call Naomi the Anti-Evangelist.  “This Christian life…  God… there is nothing.  Nothing to look forward to.  No hope.  No faith.  No love.  Turn back.”

14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

There are some who think living the Christian life is attractive.  That it is something that will make you be good and something that will please God enough.  Orpah turned back because she didn’t believe in God.  Her life for God didn’t sound really appealing and she made up her mind that her old life wasn’t that bad.

Ruth, on the other hand, clearly and simply believed on the name of the Lord. Despite a strange land and a rapidly turning bitter old woman for a mom-in-law who is telling her otherwise, God has gotten a hold of Ruth’s heart and she clings to the only thing she can: a life with God is not worth living.  She compares God and His goodness to her upbringing and her way of life in Moab.  There is no way she can go back into the pit of despair.  She will not and cannot go back into emptyness.  She will not and cannot go back into death when she has tasted and felt life from the Living God on High.

Psalm 63:8 My soul clings to you. In John 20:16-17, Mary cries out “Teacher!” but Jesus steps away and tells her “Don’t cling to me… I need to go to my Father so that He will now be Your Father.  He will now be Your God.”

My argument for this moment that Ruth truly believes that upon the Lord our God.  It is in this moment, she is truly saved because she knows God as her Lord and as her Saviour.

15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”

More Naomi bitterness seeping in.  Hebrews 12:15 says “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” In Deuteronomy 29:18, God warns of bitterness in just one person infecting an entire village or even the land when bitterness has seeped into someone’s heart.  Take Deutsdonomy 32:32 into example where the Holy Spirit called all fruit from Sodom and Gomorrah “poison and their grape clusters bitter.”  Despite the American Evangelical’s perspective on God’s judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah, God makes it quite clear that their sin was simply beyond lust but pride rooted in bitterness.

16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Out of Ruth’s love for God and possessing the of love of God for her mother-in-law, she absolutely clings to Naomi gives her solemn vow to never leave.  Naomi’s God, the Israelite’s God is her God.  There is no turning back.

Naomi and Ruth Return

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

Mara - Bitter

Naomi comes back into the arms of her fellow believers and a community of like-minded Christians.  Almost immediately she pours her heart out.   It is more than okay to think that God has turned His back on you.  David felt the same way in Psalm 22:1-2 where he cries out. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 6:7 “Don’t let your prayers be in vain, just empty words said over and over again.” There is something to be said about authentic prayers to God.

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Naomi is finally home.  God has provided for all.

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It is not anything that we have done or could have done, but everything that is good in us comes from Jesus Christ.

Is that your faith? Or did Jesus put that faith in you and continues to work on that faith until it is made perfect (Hebrews 12:2)

Is that your joy? or is did God put that joy in your heart (Psalm 4:7)

Is that your love? Without God, do you really love? (1 John 4:7-12)

Righteousness? Forgiveness? Made Whole? Healed? Truth? Holiness? Goodness?

We are none of these things.

God is all of these things.

By His mercy, goodness and love, God alone makes us these things and put these things into our hearts so that we can be with Him. How? By sending His only begotten son, Lord Jesus Christ, to die upon the cross.

Like Jesus told Mary, “Don’t touch me right now. I need to go to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father. To my God and your God.” (John 20:17)

Until Jesus died on the cross, there was no way for us be with the Father. Jesus is that way. Now, God fulfills His desire by calling us, His people, and for us to call Him, Our God:

Hosea 2:18-23 (ESV) And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

“And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,
and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,
and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”