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[0:00] As we seek God's help, we'll turn back to the book of Ruth this evening and to chapter 2, and we'll reflect on the events that take place in this chapter.

[0:12] But let's just read again the words of Naomi in verses 19 and 20. Her mother-in-law, Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, asked her, Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.

[0:34] Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz, she said.

[0:44] The Lord bless him, Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead. She added, That man is our close relative.

[0:58] He is one of our kinsmen, redeemers. Last evening, we followed Naomi as she left Bethlehem, and we watched as her providences and her circumstances led her to return to Bethlehem.

[1:18] She came back with a very different companion to the ones with whom she had set out. She left Bethlehem at the beginning of our story with her husband and her two sons, because there was a famine in the land and there was no famine in Moab.

[1:37] And in spite of everything God had ever said to his people about not mingling with Moabites and recognizing his voice in famine as a summons to repentance, Elimelech takes his family to Moab and belies his own name.

[1:59] His name means, My God is King. But this is no act of obedience to God the King. This is actually an act of disobedience.

[2:12] And off they go into Moab. And in Moab, far from getting plenty, they are emptied of everything that they had. And at last, Naomi finds herself standing over the graves of her husband and her sons.

[2:29] And she is left with her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, both of whom set off with her when she returns to Bethlehem, but only one of whom completes the journey.

[2:41] And at the end of chapter 1, Naomi comes with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, just as barley harvest was beginning.

[2:53] Chapter 2 takes us to the point when barley harvest was finished. And during the time of harvest, some remarkable things happened in the fields of Bethlehem.

[3:08] And Naomi, in these words that we read in verses 19 and 20, really sheds some glorious light on everything that took place in the fields of Bethlehem.

[3:22] That's where I want to go this evening, as we come to worship God and to listen to His Word and to prepare for His day and for His table. I want to come to the fields where Ruth gleaned.

[3:35] Where did you glean today is the question that Naomi asked Ruth when she came home at the end of her day's work. And Ruth told her, Well, I gleaned in a field belonging to a man called Boaz.

[3:53] And Naomi says, The Lord bless him. This, she recognizes, is God's work. It's God's doing for reasons which I hope we'll see this evening.

[4:07] Why was Naomi so ready to trace a connection between where Ruth gleaned and Boaz in whose field she did glean?

[4:19] Why does the news that Ruth gleaned in Boaz's field lead Naomi to utter this glorious benediction on the man who took notice of Ruth?

[4:33] Well, I think it's because of things of which Naomi herself took notice. I think, first of all, Naomi noticed God's preparation for Ruth.

[4:44] This chapter opens by introducing us to a man called Boaz. We haven't heard of him up until now. He just appears on the story.

[4:57] He appears in the narrative, a close relative from the clan of Elimelech, someone related to Naomi's late husband, whose name was Boaz.

[5:08] We don't know it yet, but this man is going to play the most pivotal role in Ruth's circumstances and therefore in Naomi's circumstances also.

[5:24] He's a man of standing. He's a man of wealth. He's a man of repute and a man of name and of prestige in Bethlehem.

[5:35] And he's the man upon whom all of Ruth's future and all of Ruth's hopes will depend. And what the Bible says is that it so happened, or as the NIV puts it in verse 3, as it turned out, Ruth found herself in a field belonging to Boaz.

[6:00] And I think there is something that we need to take with us there between these lines. And it's simply this fact that here was Ruth coming to Bethlehem where she had never been before, but it was her heart's desire, as she expressed it, on the road from Moab to be with Naomi among her people and worshiping and serving her God.

[6:25] And the Bible is reminding us at this point that for all that this future was unknown to Ruth, God was constantly going ahead of her on this journey.

[6:39] Before Ruth came into Bethlehem, the God to whom she was committing herself was ahead of her there. And she was coming among a people she didn't know, but a people that she desired for her own.

[6:56] And the God of that people was ahead of her in the way. Boaz was in Bethlehem, and Ruth didn't know it. He had a field in Bethlehem, and Ruth didn't know it.

[7:10] But the hand that took her out of Moab was the hand that kept her along the road, and the hand that took her into Bethlehem, and the hand that guided her to the field belonging to Boaz, where Boaz himself came and saw her there and asked who she was.

[7:31] It's a great thing to know that God is with you, that He's with you in this present moment, just as He has been with you in all of your past.

[7:44] You remember that great moment in the Old Testament where a memorial stone was set up called Ebenezer. Up to this point, the Lord has helped us.

[7:58] It's good to be able to look back over your life and to read your past, your own personal history, and to recognize the hand of God in it.

[8:09] And it's good to know that the same God who was with you in the past is with you in the present, and according to His own promise and His own commitment, that is exactly where He will always be.

[8:24] So that at every moment in your present, you can say, He is at my right hand, and therefore I will not be moved. He is with me.

[8:35] Emmanuel, that is His name. God with us. He is always with His people, but He is also always going before His people.

[8:48] And that's an equally glorious fact that faith loves to lean on. The future is all unknown to me just as surely as it was unknown to Ruth.

[9:03] You know, when you're booking your travel on a train, you have the choice sometimes of choosing a forward-facing seat or a backward-facing seat.

[9:16] I don't know how you make up your mind which seat you prefer, but I tell you this, in this life, we are all sitting in backward-facing seats.

[9:28] All we can see is what has gone behind us. We can see the road we've traveled. What the future holds, we do not know.

[9:41] We're traveling at high speed sometimes into the future, and we're traveling backwards. But God has gone ahead way down the line.

[9:55] He knows every part of the route. He knows every part and station that we will stop at, and He knows it all right up to the destination. He's gone before us, constantly making preparation for us.

[10:09] And tonight, my Christian friend, whatever may be in your future, immediate or far away, you can be sure of this, that as God has been with you up until now, and as God is with you tonight, He's already gone ahead, and He's already made preparation.

[10:26] He knows you're sitting down, and you're rising up before you sit or stand. Everything, everything is in His hands. Bless, bless the Lord for this man, says Naomi, because in the provision of this man, Naomi recognizes that God has been going ahead of Ruth all the time, and she's come into the unknown.

[10:54] But God has already come into this unknown for her, and will be in this unknown with her.

[11:06] You can be absolutely sure of that tonight. Maybe there are many things about being a Christian that you can't readily understand. All you know tonight is that you love this new life of faith into which God has brought you.

[11:23] And I tell you tonight that this Jesus that has saved your soul has saved your future too. That's why He says to you in His great sermon, Do not worry about tomorrow.

[11:45] All your tomorrows are as surely in His hand as all your yesterdays. And He's going before you all the way.

[11:58] So Naomi recognized God's preparation. And she also recognized God's provision. They came to Bethlehem just as the barley harvest was beginning.

[12:14] And I suppose one of their immediate concerns was the concern of where they were going to live, but the accommodation is settled, and Ruth now lives with her mother-in-law.

[12:25] But there is a problem. There is a problem. It's a problem that's accentuated in the way in which Ruth is named in this book.

[12:40] She is Ruth the Moabites. It's inescapable. When Boaz asks who she is, the foreman doesn't even call her Ruth.

[12:58] She is the Moabites who came from Moab with Naomi. And she can't shake that off.

[13:11] Here is something that is true of her and can never not be true of her. This is her origin. This is where she came from. Moab is in her blood.

[13:23] This is her history. She is the Moabites. And that's the problem. And it's a problem for one simple reason.

[13:37] The same God who had said to His people, don't you mingle with the Moabites, also said in His law, don't let the Moabites mingle with you.

[13:50] No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord even down to the tenth generation.

[14:07] That's what God said in Deuteronomy chapter 23. No Moabite can enter the assembly of the Lord. Why not? Because they didn't come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt.

[14:21] They hired Balaam, the son of Baar, to pronounce a curse on you. However, the Lord turned the curse into a blessing because the Lord loves you. Don't seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.

[14:35] So there it was. Here was a Moabite coming to Bethlehem longing to be part of this people and all the time the law of God said no Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

[14:53] There is something the law cannot do because it is weakened by Ruth's flesh. The law cannot admit her into the company of the very people that she would desire to be part of.

[15:11] That's the language Paul uses in Romans chapter 8. That remarkable glorious chapter of the New Testament reminds us that there is something the law cannot do not because of any weakness in the law.

[15:28] The law is strong. The law does what it can do very well. when a man breaks the law the law can throw him into prison and the law can keep him there very very well.

[15:44] But the law can't let him out. Not because of any fault in the law but because of the situation of the man who's broken it. That says Paul is our universal condition.

[15:58] What the law cannot do says Paul in Romans 8 because it has been weakened by our flesh. We've broken the law. God forbids us entry into his assembly.

[16:11] That's our position as we come into this world. And the very best of fallen men and the very best of sinful women in this world find it impossible to cross the threshold into the assembly of the Lord because the law of God says no entry.

[16:32] The law can condemn us but it cannot save us because we have broken it. And just as surely as Ruth is a Moabites we are sinners.

[16:49] That's our condition. That's our description. And we are shut out from the assembly of the Lord. Ruth needs something more than law.

[17:06] She needs what the Bible calls grace. And the grace that she finds is actually in the law. In Deuteronomy chapter 23 the law says no Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

[17:25] But then in the following chapter there is an interesting law about harvest. This is what God said. When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf cutting down all the sheaves of corn with your scythe or with your sickle and you miss a piece.

[17:51] God says don't go back to get it. Just you keep going keep harvesting keep cutting down the sheaves don't go back for that one leave it for the alien for the stranger for the fatherless and the widow so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

[18:13] When you beat the olives from your trees don't go over the branches a second time leave what remains for the alien when you harvest the grapes in your vineyard don't go over the vines again leave what remains for the alien the fatherless and the widow remember you were slaves in the land of Egypt isn't that glorious remember you were slaves and I came in grace and I did for you in Egypt what you could not do for yourselves I set you free I came and I redeemed you this was the doing of the Lord this was nothing but sheer glorious grace amazing grace that saved a people and brought them out of the land of Egypt not for anything they had done or anything they had been but simply because of everything that there is in

[19:14] God you know there is a reason tonight why God saved me but it's not anything that's to be found in me every possible reason why God should save me is found in him and so my salvation tonight is all together outside of myself it's not on the basis of what I am it's not dependent on what I do it's not helped by anything I can offer the reason why I'm saved is because of the glorious grace of a glorious God who in love steps down into Egypt and into the slavery and bondage of his people and says let my people go and brings them out with a strong hand so that at last they sing who is a

[20:25] God like unto you glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders God we sang in Psalm 68 God is the widow's judge from his place of holiness and here in this kindly law of the Old Testament he says to his people you remember what I did to you so you do the same don't go back for these uncut sheaves or these overlooked grapes just leave them let the stranger come and pick them up well Ruth was a stranger and the law of gleaning applied to her and Ruth was fatherless she had no one she was all alone destitute in the fields of

[21:34] Bethlehem but the law said let the fatherless glean and she was a widow she had buried her husband the son of Naomi in Moab but now in Bethlehem the God of Bethlehem says let the widow gleam that's who the law was for the stranger the fatherless and the widow and Ruth qualifies on all three counts and in her need and in her poverty in her estrangement in her loneliness in her fatherlessness there is a door opened for her by the grace of God so that she can come in to these fields that are full and she can pick up what is there isn't that glorious what the law could not do because it was weak through the flesh

[22:39] God did by sending Boaz and by making sure that a door was opened for her to come in and to eat of the fullness of God's provision finest wheat will fill your fields by his sustaining hand that's what the people of God experienced and in she comes do you see my dear friend tonight there is something that the law can't do for us but grace has done it for us we've broken God's law there is nothing we can do that will satisfy God or bring us to heaven I think there are far too many people who expect that somehow at last at the end of a decent life God is going to owe it to them to bring them into glory and they believe in some kind of doctrine of justification by death you want to get to heaven and have your sins forgiven then just die and

[23:46] God will bring you into his heaven that's not the statement of scripture the Bible is much more glorious than that God says tonight that if we die the way we are born then we are lost absolutely and the law of God says no sinner will enter the assembly but the gospel comes to us with all the glory and richness of God's grace and opens a door and who may go into that door who can come into the provision of God's bread he's filled the gospel table with wheat by his sustaining hand who may come to it the stranger and the fatherless and the widow and the person who has no place else to go and no one else to turn to may come and enjoy the fullness of what God has provided isn't it the very essence of the gospel tonight my

[24:48] Christian friend we have nothing but the glorious grace that bids sinners welcome to the gospel feast and I come not because I deserve it not because of what I can bring this isn't a come and bring supper that God sets before us this is a come and take supper and the only qualification you need is that you're a sinner because the invitation is to sin I love and I've quoted often what John Newton said about John 3 16 that great gospel verse God so loved the world oh says Newton I'm so glad it doesn't say God so loved John Newton that he gave his only begotten son that if

[25:48] John Newton should believe John Newton will not perish but have everlasting life I'm so glad he said it doesn't say that I would always be afraid some other John Newton was meant it just says whosoever that means it's for me and because it's for whosoever it means tonight that my future does not depend on my past Ruth's future does not depend on her past my future tonight as a Christian does not depend on my past but on the glorious grace of Jesus Christ in the gospel the provision is made the door is open and he bids sinners welcome so when she comes to the field and Boaz speaks to her and says to her don't glean anywhere else it's a beautiful touch in the narrative don't glean in another field don't go away from here to you the word of

[27:19] God comes tonight and says don't glean in any other field you stay with the gospel stick with the gospel and enjoy the provision that God makes in his grace don't glean in any other field let your soul say this is my rest this is enough for me that I should live of this bread and feed of this bread every day of my life don't glean in any other field and Boaz says to Ruth I've told them not to touch you I've made provision for you he tells her all of these things but what's remarkable is what he doesn't tell her Boaz says something to his workers that's going to have a profound impact on

[28:22] Ruth and she doesn't know it you see the law just said if you miss a sheaf of corn leave it don't go back for it if you drop one don't pick it up just leave it for the widows and the strangers and the fatherless to glean but Boaz actually says to his servants in verse 16 drop some on purpose drop some on purpose pull out a few stocks from your bundle and just drop them she doesn't need to know I've told you that let her just go let her think that they've been forgotten and neglected I wonder if Ruth was amazed by just how much the workers of Boaz overlooked in the field everywhere she went there was wheat for her to pick up it was just so remarkable sloppy workmanship not at all great hearted redeemer that's the reason for it says to his workers leave some on purpose so she's picking it up because that's what the law allows her to do and she goes back to

[29:43] Naomi little wonder Naomi says to her where did you glean today in the fields of Boaz there was bread enough and to spare God did for her exceeding abundantly above all that she was able to ask or even think it's good when God does for you all that you think and all that you ask and maybe even above that but my God the God of this Bible goes beyond what I ask and beyond what I think more exceeding abundantly Paul runs out of superlatives to describe how far God is willing to go to drop handfuls on purpose of gospel blessing and gospel provision for poor sinners like you and like me to pick up along the way to take home in the folds of our garments and turn it into bread that will sustain us day by day and moment by moment oh yes

[31:09] Naomi recognized that this was remarkable extravagant provision no other worker in any other field could come home with what Ruth had hasn't it been the case you would be content with a crumb from his table but it's almost as if he's left you the entire field out of his fullness hearts theirsю are

[32:09] I may be struck by a sense of my great unworthiness. Are these a reason for me to stay away?

[32:22] Not at all. I come in spite of what I am and because of what He is. And out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

[32:46] And there is no failing with Him. He comes to me tonight and He says, My grace is enough. My grace is enough.

[32:57] There were people in Paul's day who boasted of experiences and revelations and what they hadn't experienced.

[33:09] Paul says, I could do that too. I could boast about things that happened to me. Experiences I had, but no, I don't want to do that.

[33:22] I'll just boast of how weak I am. To give all the glory to Jesus. That's how you must come to the Lord's table.

[33:38] Not boasting in yourself. Or your achievements. Or your experiences. Or your accomplishments. But boasting of Him.

[33:49] And saying like the bride in the song of Solomon. Of Jesus. This is my beloved.

[34:02] And this is my friend. You know tonight it's good to have a friend. That you're proud to introduce to others.

[34:14] He's my friend. And that's all I have as a poor sinner coming to the Lord's table. I look away to the Christ of Calvary.

[34:28] To the Savior of Golgotha. To the risen, exalted Jesus. And I just say, This is my friend.

[34:38] And I've come into the table because of my friend. And all that he's done. And all that he means.

[34:49] And all that he gives. So Naomi recognized God's preparation and God's provision. And then she recognized God's protection. Of Ruth.

[35:02] Boaz had said it too. I've given the command. You're not to be touched. And you've come to take refuge.

[35:14] Under the wings. Of Jehovah. Beautiful. Naomi says this.

[35:27] In anyone else's field. You might be harmed. It's good to stay. With the maidens of Boaz. They're protected.

[35:40] They're guarded. The wings of God are over them. And nothing is going to separate them from him.

[35:54] Under the shadow of his wings. It's the safest place in the world. Under his protection.

[36:05] Under his protection. And care. Every maternal instinct. In God for his people. Expressed in the way in which he places his wings over them.

[36:21] And says, No one is going to touch them. Keeps them like the apple of his eye. Watches over them. Isn't that how Isaiah expresses it in the song about the vineyard?

[36:34] God says, My vineyard of wine. I water it night and day. Lest any hurt it. That's his people. That's his church.

[36:48] Looking after them every moment. Lest any hurt them. No one shall pluck them out of my hand. Says Jesus. They're safe.

[36:59] And secure there. They're protected. There wasn't a protected species in the whole world like this people. That have found the fields of Boaz.

[37:14] To be their place. Of happy labor. Do you see my friend tonight? There is a redeemer greater than Boaz.

[37:30] Set before us in the gospel. He invites us into his field. And he opens up the riches of his grace to everyone who comes.

[37:43] And he promises all who are there his own special care. I'm persuaded, says the apostle, that not death or life or angels, principalities or powers, height or depth, or anything else in all creation can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

[38:13] This is remarkable. And it's glorious. In someone else's field, says Naomi, you might be harmed, but in the field of the redeemer, you are protected from harm.

[38:31] And you can go on your way rejoicing in the knowledge that his presence is with you to keep you and to sustain you.

[38:42] I wonder where you're at tonight. If you're not a Christian, then I bid you welcome to the fields of Jesus.

[39:01] They're full of good things. Of life and of peace and of blessing. Of hope and of salvation.

[39:12] Come. Join us. We're just poor sinners picking up what he drops for us. And if you've come into these fields, then continue to rejoice in his provision, in his sustaining, in his preparation, in his going before, in his being with, in his guarding over you every step of the way.

[39:40] Don't go into any other field. This is your rest. Let the word, let the sacrament, let the blessings of the gospel through his church fill you with the bread of life.

[39:56] Don't you love how the psalmist describes the experience of the children of Israel when they gathered manna on their journey in the wilderness and the psalmist says they ate the bread of heaven.

[40:09] The bread of angels. That's what they ate. They fed on the bread of angels. You can do the same. All the responsibilities you have in this world, all the circumstances and all the providences that take such a toll.

[40:29] And yet, in them all, you can eat the bread of angels and feast on Jesus and be strengthened by him until the harvest is finished.

[40:45] Then he'll gather in the harvest, separate the wheat from the chaff, and take his people to be with himself forever. If you're Ruth, I commend your Boaz, Jesus, to you.

[41:11] Fall in love with him all over again for all that he is and all that he has done. Let's bow our heads in prayer.