Discovering Hope in the Midst of God's Providence - Ruth 3

2:17They were ruined lives and they returned. So chapter two is about restoration. We dug into that last week. Chapter three is about romance. That's where we are now. Boy, doesn't that sound exciting. You come to church to hear about romance. All right. Well, chapter four is about redemption. Redemption. So in Ruth 1, we looked at finding hope in the midst of ruin. We think about what happened in this chapter. These were lives that were torn about. And the idea that we got here from this chapter was that when you're faced with difficult circumstances in life, what do you do? You have to recognize ultimately that God is in control. He has a handle on it. He knows what you're going through. And he has a. Way to bring you through it, even when you think that he's nowhere to be found. Trust me, he's there. All right, so chapter one, we saw a family in crisis. We noticed that the book starts out with a man, Elimelech, and his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, and they're in Bethlehem, Bethlehem. You know what Bethlehem means, house of bread or house of food, as I've said up here. It was the bread basket of the Middle East. They were in a famine in a place where there was plenty of food. And so Elimelech looks at his wife, he looks at his two dear sons, and he says, We've got to leave. We've got to go to enemy territory, to Moab, and find food. And so the family packs up. They leave God's gift to them, this land that He'd given them, and they make their way to Moab. Now, this isn't some easy trek or trail to walk, mind you. This is from Bethlehem to the northern shores of the Dead Sea is about a 4,000-foot drop.

3:59Gradually, they didn't just fly down. Then there was another two, if they went all the way down to the shore, then from the shore up to the plains of Moab is about another 2,000 feet. So while it's only 30 miles, this isn't some little Boy Scout, Cub Scout trip. No Girl Scout trip, mind you. No brownies are going to take this trip. This is a trip that is difficult. And so they make their way to Moab. What happens? Elimelech dies. Her husband is gone. And she looks around and she says, I'm Left without my husband, but at least I still have my boys. Time goes by, the sons get married. Who do they marry? They marry Moabite women. That's not so bad. That's okay to marry Moabite women if they're walking with Yahweh, but Scripture is very clear that Israelites were not supposed to marry people who would take their hearts away from God, and then they would give their hearts to foreign gods, in this case, possibly Kimosh, which was their god in Moab. And so what happens? The sons die. Now you got Ruth. She's a widow. She's in a foreign land, 30 miles from home. And she has two other widows to take care of. What is she going to do? She hears that there's food. Again, God has provided food to Bethlehem, so she picks up, starts walking her 30-mile journey back, and in tow are her two daughters-in-law that she's trying to take care of. And she tries along the way to talk them into going back to their families because, after all, how is she going to provide for herself as a widow, much less two foreign widows back in her own country? And so we see a widow's desperation. She's trying to do the right thing. And then we see in chapter one a response. Again, this is a history book. The writer is telling us the response that Naomi, that these women had to their suffering. And so finally, Ruth sticks with Naomi.

6:00Naomi doesn't want her to stay, but she finally talks her into it. Naomi had to talk her into it. She said, I'm not going anywhere. I am expressing my love for you. She says, Where you stay, I'll stay. Your people, my people. Your God, my God. Where you die, I will die. She's going to Bethlehem, and there's nothing that this mother-in-law, Naomi, can do about it. That's love. That's an unyielding, gripping kind of love that we need to see in our lives. She did it. And so the response, they get into Bethlehem, and all the women, the text says in chapter one, all the women are looking at her. Is that Naomi?

6:43Ten years she's been gone. She lost her husband. She lost her sons. She was a beaten-down, worn-out woman. They don't know. Is that Naomi? She says, Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. Call me bitter. Why? Well, from her perspective, she was afflicted by who? Twice she says it, by God. God has afflicted me. That's her testimony. Well, so we get to chapter two, and we find in chapter two that there is a discovery of hope, a discovery of hope and restoration. God begins to restore this family, only not in a way that you would envision. So, chapter two was something that we made our way through. God uses these two women to bring them back. God used Boaz to bless them with food. And safety and with hesid, with unfailing loving kindness toward these women. We considered four components to God's restoration process in chapter two. If you weren't here, go back and listen to the tape. But if you were here, you'll remember this. Ruth took personal responsibility to care for her family. She was up before the sun, just after hiking 30 miles up 4,000 feet. She's up before the sunshine. She has a family to take care of, and she asks permission to go get food. Well, Naomi grants permission. And we saw the value in all this of appreciating people. Ruth listens to the advice of her mother-in-law. She listens to the advice of Boaz. God takes care of her, and she appreciates God for what he's doing. She appreciates God's people for taking care of her. We also saw the importance of retelling how God moves in our lives. This is God's testimony in your life. She is sharing what God did through her and through other people. Do you tell people what God is doing in your life when you're living and walking through the ragged edge of life and looking back at those days? You know, if we could give a title to chapter three, it would be something like this: Romancing Redemption. I thought about that, and it's not quite good enough. It's not exactly what's going on. We see that from a human perspective. Romancing redemption appears to be the right. Thing, but we have to step back, step back, and look at it from God's perspective. God is doing something with this family. Fast forward to the last word in the book, David. God is building a kingly line for King David. He's building a kingly line that brings us to the point of the Messiah, King Jesus. That's the book of Ruth. That's the purpose to build this godly line.

9:32Naomi and Ruth and Boaz were strategizing a marriage, a wedding. But you need to see something further here. Unbeknownst to them, God has determined that they, Ruth and Boaz, are David's great-grandparents. This is a book of providence. This is a book that reveals how God works in the lives of people who are struggling to understand. Where are you, God? Naomi's answer is, He afflicted me. She says it twice. Think about it. Without Ruth and Boaz, there's no King David.

10:11Without Ruth and Boaz and King David, there is no King Jesus. And without King Jesus, there is no hope. There's no resurrection. Paul spells it out this way in 1 Corinthians 15. This is the critical reason why we understand the book of Ruth. He says, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, and you're still in your transgressions and your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Without Jesus' resurrection, there's no hope. Without God working in this family, there would be no King David. There would be no Messiah. When you're going through life's struggle, what is it that God is perceiving in your life? Try to get that perspective. This is something that Naomi and Ruth are just learning.

11:10This is a book, this book of Ruth, as a march toward Messiah. That's what this is. God's sovereignty works through human actions. Here's what Ruth teaches us. If you're a note-taker, this is what you want to jot down. This is what Ruth 3 teaches us. When you honor the Lord by trusting in Him, you must recognize His providence. Here's why. So that you can move toward His purposes for your life. Don't focus on your own when you're living on life's ragged edge. Focus on His purposes.

11:43So, I've broken this down to three steps for us. Three steps toward pursuing hope in the midst of providence. Number one, construct a plan. Yeah, that's important. Construct a plan, but trust in God for the results. All of them end with trusting God. For the results. Number two, implement the plan, but trust in God for the results. That's verses 6 through 13. Third, patiently wait for God to bring about his plan to fruition and trust in him for the results. Verses 14 through 18. One thing I need to make very clear again about the book of Ruth, I'm repetitious on this, because if I'm not repetitious and we try to apply things that they do in this book, we're in trouble. One thing we need to keep clear is that this is a history book. It means that the writer of this book is describing events that took place about 1,100 years before Jesus was born. He's writing events. He's writing about how people acted. He's telling us what people did. He's not telling us go do the same actions that they did. That's not his purpose. You need to remember this is a book that is descriptive, not prescriptive. Right? He's describing things that happened. Moms, this is not a book about courtship. It's not a courtship model.

13:04This book is, we need to understand that Ruth, the book of Ruth, is not a matchmaker's guide on how mother-in-laws or moms should go out and rope up a husband for their daughter. Don't do what happened in chapter 3 here. Let me just say that right up front. Now let's watch how God works through human strategies in verse 3 to bring about his results. Let's consider the first stage of pursuing hope in the midst of God's providence. You know what? Probably the best thing to do is just to open this up and just read the entire chapter. There's only 18 verses. As I said, the last couple of weeks, we're trying to make it through a book that has four chapters, and we're not scraping the surface. We're getting a little lower than that, but we can't cover everything. So if I read it, it puts it in context. Here it is: Ruth 3, verse 1. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now, is not Boaz our kinsman, whose maids you were, who you worked with? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. Wash yourself, therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down. Yikes. Okay.

14:33Rest of verse 4. Then he will tell you what to do. She said to her, All that you say, I will do. So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk, his heart was merry, and he went down to lie down at the end of the heap of the grain. And she came secretly and uncovered his feet and lay down. And it happened in the middle of the night that the man was still. Startled and bent forward, and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. He said, Who are you? And she answered, I'm Ruth, your maid, so spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative. Then he said, May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last loving kindness to be better than the first by not going after rich men or young men, or whether poor or rich. Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask. For my people and the city know that you are a woman of excellence.

15:37Now it's true, I am a close relative. However, there is a relative closer than I. Remember or remain this night. And when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you. As the Lord lives, lie down until morning. So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another and said, Let it be done, or let it be known that the woman, or not be known, that the woman came to the threshing floor. Again he said, Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it. So she held it out, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, How did it go, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done for her. She said, These six measures of barley he gave to me. For he said, Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed. Then she said, Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest until it is settled today.

16:43Well, let's consider the first stage of pursuing hope in the midst of Providence. Here it is. If you didn't get it the first time, here's your second chance. Construct a plan. This is the part we don't want to forget, but trust in God for the results. Verses one through five. Right there in the starting line in verse one. Naomi sees that it's important for family to take care of family and to take care of the vulnerable members of the family. And just like we observed in Ruth chapter 2, Ruth's up before it's dark, and she wants to go work. She arrives in the field before the sun comes up. Well, Naomi has the idea she's got to take care of her daughter-in-law, and she wants to set something in order to help her.

17:30She's taking personal responsibility. Naomi sees the problem. She sees the problem, and she builds a four-part strategy to solve it. I love it. She is a strategic woman. She's a thinker. Little does she know that Yahweh is working out his plan and what she's doing. When I worked in the corporate world and we had problems we had to solve, we used a method we called fade. Maybe you've heard of it, fade. Focus, analyze, develop, and execute. You focus on the problem. Problem, you take a look at what's going on, you kind of analyze it, you develop a solution, and then you make it happen. Fade. This is a perfect example of fade, and she didn't even know she got this from FedEx years ago. All right, that's where I worked. First, Naomi focuses on the problem. There's a problem. Ruth's been working in the field with Boaz for several weeks and with Boaz's maids. And the harvest season is coming to an end. We know that because it's the reaping season. So she probably arrives somewhere in April, and she's leaving, or barley harvest would end sometime in June. So there's a problem. She's not going to have any work to do. She's not getting paid for it. She's just getting food for her family. She recognizes that she's got to get this woman married off. That's what she's realizing. She needs rest. She needs security. She recognizes the problem.

18:52Problem is, the problem is Ruth. She's a foreigner. How are you going to marry off a widow, much less a foreigner, in Israel? So she focuses on the problem. She takes it upon herself to secure a place of rest for Ruth, a home where she could lay her head and have security. Who wouldn't want that? She's looking for a place for her rest, like King David, who said in Psalm 23, 2, a place to lay his head next to quiet waters. We saw, if you weren't here, we saw that quiet and rest are the same Hebrew word. She's looking. For rest and security for her daughter.

19:34She prayed for rest and security for Ruth, didn't she? Remember back in chapter 1, verse 9? Chapter 1, verse 9, she prayed that Yahweh would grant rest to Ruth and also her sister-in-law, Orpah. This wasn't some flippant prayer. This was a serious prayer. She was asking God to grant rest. She pled with the Lord for security in her life. God is answering her prayer because he's preparing for King David's arrival. So he is answering Naomi's prayer here in chapter 3 so that it may go well with Ruth. Now, Naomi's got a second part of her strategy, the A part of the fade strategy here. It's the analysis. She analyzes the situation. Clearly, Naomi has been mulling over the exceeding extravagant kind of love that Boaz has expressed toward this foreign woman, Ruth, an over-the-top kind of love, a care and a loving kindness that exceeds our comprehension.

20:43Think about it. What did he do in this foreign woman's life? Chapter 2, Boaz brought her protection and warned her to stay in the field. He said, stay here. Work with my maidservants. Stick to them. Cling to them was the idea. Told her to drink water out of the male servants' water, told the male servants not to insult her, told the male servants to pick more food out of the ground for her that she could take home.

21:15She ate his lunch. Boaz prayed for God to reward her with full wages. Naomi's thinking about this as she analyzes: how do I overcome this problem that Ruth needs security? She prayed for God to cover her with his wings of refuge. God takes prayer serious, and he's answering prayer here. And he takes your prayers serious. It may be a no, it may be a yes, it may be a later, but he takes them serious. Ruth tells Naomi what Boaz did. Naomi's blown away because we saw in the chat in chapter 2 that Boaz is a close relative. And that means something in the Old Testament because close relatives were responsible to take care of their relatives. Do you see God's providence in this? Not in the lives of these women and this man, Boaz. He's taking care of establishing the kingly line for King David and ultimately the Messiah.

22:24Now, for Naomi's third strategy to solve Ruth's problem: fade, focus. Analyze, develop. She's developing a solution. Analysis, paralysis is over. She's got it figured out. Who else but Boaz could be her Redeemer? That's the idea. She develops the plan to get Ruth married off. And this man is the man who does right in the sight of God. Single ladies. It's appropriate. You're looking for a man who does right in the sight of God. This is an area that was living, people that were living in an area that everybody was doing right in their own sight because there was no king in the land. That's the United States. Everybody does right in their own eyes. We got freedom here. Ladies, look for a man. And men, be the man who does right in God's sight. That's Boaz. That's Boaz. Look for that kind of characteristic. Look at verse 2.

23:27She's got a question here. Who or what is the solution to the problem? And I say, are you kidding me? We've done our focus on the problem. We've done our analysis. It's got to be Boaz. It's screaming off the page. Boaz is the answer. Of course, right there in verse 2. She says, Now, I love this. Now, is not Boaz our kinsman? With whose maids you were, whose maids you've been working with all these past few weeks? It's a fourth strategy. She focused on it. She analyzed it. She developed it. Now she's got to execute it. Boy, good luck with that one. She executes the solution. Since Boaz is clearly the solution to the problem, Naomi persuades Ruth to meet him in the middle of the night on the threshing floor. Excuse me.

24:16Meet him in the middle of the night on the threshing floor. You're going to see that Naomi gives Ruth, count them, five risky pieces of advice, right? Very risky. Five-part, risky assignment to convince Boaz to become her husband. That's what's going on here. Verse 3. Here it is. Wash yourself. Clean yourself up. That's what she tells her. Put on some deodorant. Okay, the word deodorant's not there. It says, anoint yourself. It's talking about olive oil. I mean, she's been out in the hot desert. She probably, you know, walked a long way to get there. She's dirty. You know, clean yourself up. Put some perfume on. It'd probably only been a few weeks since her husband died, several weeks, so she's probably still in mourning clothes. She didn't look that attractive, probably. That's the idea. Go put something else on. Make yourself look a little better.

25:14The word clothes there in verse 3. You'll see the word best if you're using the numeric and standard, and that's in italics. The word best is not there in the original, but it helps us to understand what's going on. She's changing her clothes into something better than what she was wearing. So it indicates an outer garment. That word garment is an outer garment. It's used as a blanket. This is the kind of garment, it's a cloak. It's a wrapper that went from her neck and covered her toes. This was a sturdy garment. This is the kind of garment, a blanket, that had to be able to carry 60 to 80 pounds worth of food because at the end of this chapter, Boaz says, Give me your cloak. We're going to load it up with food. So she's not coming in with something seductive, right? She's wearing a blanket, really.

26:04Fourth part of Ruth's assignment was to go to the threshing floor without letting Boaz know she's there. Be quiet, you know? She tells Ruth to uncover Boaz's feet while he's sleeping and then to lie down. So I've got a question for you. How uncomfortable are you with this right now? Right? I mean, how does a pastor come before the church and go, okay, now here's how you principalize this text. This is what you're supposed to do based on what's written. Okay, I'm off the hook. It's a history book. This is just what happened. Okay, let's move on. It's a description of how Ruth proposes to Boaz. These instructions are from a woman living in an oasis of righteousness, Bethlehem, surrounded by nations of people doing that which is right in their own eyes. Again, think descriptive, not prescriptive. It gets me off the point. Hook. When someone points to Ruth chapter 3 and says, Look, you know, look what they did. It's okay if you have intimacy outside of marriage, isn't it? I mean, they did that.

27:14Here's what you're going to say. Here's what it is. I'm looking at my notes. I get it right. Naomi's actions are described here. Her advice is described. And they don't serve as examples for us to follow. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Keep your finger here in Ruth. We won't be in 1 Corinthians 6 for very long. So when somebody says, look at Ruth 3, it's okay to behave this way as a Christian, you're going to pull up 1 Corinthians 6, you're going to look at verse 9. Here's what Paul writes: Or, do you not know that the unrighteous will not, that's an emphatic, will not inherit the kingdom of God? Question. Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetousness, or covetous, drunkards, or revilers, nor swindlers will enter or inherit the kingdom of God. I love this in verse 11 because it speaks to forgiveness.

28:27Grace. I love God's grace. And he says, Such were some of you. Who is he talking to here? Christians. Such were some of you. He says, you acted like those people, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the name of the Spirit of our Lord. The author of Ruth, turn back to Ruth. He doesn't condemn this advice. He doesn't condemn their actions. He's just telling us what happened. His purpose is to demonstrate that despite human sinfulness, God's purposes are much greater. And his purpose is to bring about the kingly line of David. And he's doing it.

29:14His purposes will not be thwarted. Perhaps you're thinking to yourself, wow, this is really something to understand. I give myself to a guy or a girl, and God's purposes will still be fulfilled. Really? That's not what's going on here in chapter 3 in terms of instructing us. If this is your thinking, that you can step outside of God's plan for marriage, intimacy before marriage, be admonished by Paul's words in Romans 6, 1. He says this, Romans 6, 1. He says, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? He says, may it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

30:06Ruth chapter 3 is not a prescription, it's a description. If you've surrounded your life or surrendered your life to Christ, you have no business pursuing intimacy with someone outside a one-man, one-woman, lifelong commitment in marriage. Don't put God to the test, thinking that his grace will abound in your life because you're sinning. It was a valuable lesson. God remains sovereign despite human sin, human frailties, human actions. So here's the second stage to pursuing hope in the midst of Providence. Starting in verse 6. Here it is. Implement the plan, but trust God for his results. Verse 6. So when she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law commanded her, well, what exactly did Ruth do? Check out verse 7. Here's what she did. Notice the words: she came secretly. Think ninja, think stealth, think she snuck up on the guy while he's sleeping. I grew up in the Antelope Valley, the desert in California, and that's where they manufactured stealth. Aircraft. And if you've never been in a situation where one of those flies over your heads, your back is turned to it, and it screams over your head, you don't know it's there until it's gone. And I remember watching the B-2 bomber, and you can't see it as it's coming straight at you. It's a thin sliver in the sky. But if it tilts its wings just a little bit, it's this massive fortress in the sky.

31:56Ruth came to Boaz at night. She's stealth. Nobody knows she's coming. He doesn't know. She's there. She came secretly. She shows up, uncovers Boaz's feet, lays down, and no one knows what happens or what happened until verse 8. Take a look at verse 8. It says this: the man was startled and bent forward. The word startled can also mean shiver. Likely, he was cold. His feet weren't covered. So he was probably shivering, and he squirmed around to fix the problem. I want you to focus in on a word that oftentimes we take for granted in our Bibles here: that word behold. I love that word. Think Hebrew imagination marker. When the book of Ruth was relayed to the generations, they didn't have a story they could read. They had it memorized. And so you could see the narrator. He points to, he says, look.

32:55Right there at his feet, there's a woman. And so the first hearers of this book. Book are looking as the narrator points to the ground. And I want you to see what he wants you to see. This is here for us, the readers. Look, there's a woman lying at his feet. That's not normal. He wants us to see what Boaz sees, even with groggy eyes. Look at verse 9. Utterly shocked by her response, Boaz says, I love this. And he's groggy. Who are you?

33:30She answers the question, and I love the answer in verse 9. She answers the question, and then she gives him a command. She tells him to do something. She says, I'm Ruth, your maid, and you must spread your covering over me. This is a euphemism for, and you must marry me. Startled from his sleep, there's a woman lying at his feet. She says, I'm Ruth, your maid. You've got to marry me. And she gives Boaz the reason that he must marry. I mean, right? She had to give a reason. She didn't wait for his response. It's throwing the word for, or you could say because, because you're a kinsman redeemer. That's your reason. You're a close relative.

34:11I love it. She appeals to the Bible to tell him why he needs to marry her. Let's unpack this with four observations. Number one, first observation, she confidently identifies herself as Ruth his maid. Notice she didn't say Ruth the foreigner, Ruth the Moabitis, Ruth the Moor. The whatever. She says, I'm Ruth, your maid. Remember the commitment she made to Naomi, her mother-in-law, along the road? Your people, my people. Boaz, you're my people. And he recognizes her as his people because he does that later.

34:51Second observation. Ruth says, and you must spread your covering over me. This is the same language that Boaz used with Ruth in another setting. Do you remember it? In Ruth 2, verse 12, he prayed for Yahweh to reward her because she seeks for safety under his wings. That word wing there, it's the same Hebrew word as covering. She's reminding him, the Lord is answering your prayer, and you're the answer. You've got to marry me. Same word as covering. Third observation. In effect, here's what Ruth's saying: Boaz, God is answering your prayer. He's using you to cover me with protection. You prayed for God to reward my hope for security or with security under God's wings. And you're the answer to prayer, Boaz. Marry me so that your prayers for my security will be answered. That's what's going on here. Fourth observation we need to make. Ruth issues Boaz biblical support for accepting her proposal.

35:58He says, here it is, because. Because you're a close relative. Remember the word we looked at last time? You're a goel. You are a close relative. Goel was a term that was used in the book of Leviticus to take care of family members. You got to marry me because the Bible says so. I said last week, if we don't understand this word close relative, this Hebrew word goel, we'll never understand the book of Ruth. We have to understand what this word is talking about, and we'll develop that more even next week. In other words, family members are required to take care of family members. Deuteronomy 25 says that if a married man dies without fathering a son, then his brother, then his brother who lives with him shall marry his widow.

36:48Yikes. Little brothers. If you're an Israelite, be in the approval process of your brother's bride, okay? Because you've got to take her. Okay, back to the text for another problem. While it's true that Boaz is a close relative, the word, the keyword A, he is a close relative. He's not Malon's brother. Now, who's Malan? Remember, Malon was Ruth's husband. He's not married. Malon is Ruth's husband, but Boaz is not the brother to Malon. So Deuteronomy 25 doesn't apply here. So he could have said, you know what, Deuteronomy 25 doesn't apply. You need to be my slave, or you need to just get out of here. He doesn't do that. He doesn't do that at all. No worries. Details like these, they don't stop God's providence. He's laying a foundation for King David's great-grandparents. Carry on. Boaz doesn't focus on the legal requirements of Deuteronomy 25. He focuses in on what Jesus says, two greatest commandments: love God, love your neighbor as yourself. He's already been taking care of this woman, like he would anybody else. He's taking care of her, he's loving her as God would love her.

38:08Boaz has a fourth part or four-part response to Ruth's marriage proposal, verses 10 through 13. First, right after Boaz is jolted out of his sleep, he unexpectedly, do you see it there in the text? He blesses Ruth. It's clear that Ruth didn't force herself physically on Boaz, which is why he didn't reject her as a prostitute. Right? I mean, it's clear he could have. He blessed her with a soothing prayer. This doesn't make sense. He says, May God bless you, my daughter, not my servant.

38:52Your people, my people. She's as though, it's as though she's his daughter. Look at verse 10. Notice the reason for the blessing in the middle of verse 10. You have sworn, or you have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after rich men, or excuse me, young men, whether poor or rich. That's the reason for the blessing. She recognizes that this is an excellent woman. Boaz's second response to Ruth's proposal is a promise detached with a reason. Do you see the promise in verse 11? He says, I'll do whatever you ask. Naomi tells Ruth, do whatever he tells you.

39:50And then Boaz says, I'll do whatever you ask. Here's the reason for the promise. Because, he says, all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. He chooses his words very carefully. The word excellence can also be translated valor, noble. It means she's a strong woman. She's a virtuous woman. These are the same words that the writer of Proverbs 31 uses to describe, ladies, the virtuous woman. Ruth is the one. Ruth. Is the one. Proverbs 31 are words of a king's mother addressed to her son, the king, and this woman is telling her son what to look for in a bride.

40:42She uses the same word that Boaz used to describe Ruth. Isn't that fascinating? Jewish history tells us that in Proverbs 31, that King Lemuel in Proverbs 31 is probably none other than King Solomon. So if it's King Solomon, whose mother would be the speaker in Proverbs 31? Who's the mom? Wow, Bathsheba? She knows something about an excellent woman, right? Because she was an adulteress. She stood back in life and observed what she wants her son to have in a bride. Ruth is the great-granddaughter-in-law, or excuse me, Bathsheba is the great-granddaughter-in-law of Ruth.

41:30Notice how Bathsheba, if you turn to Proverbs 31, notice how Bathsheba tells her son how to find a wife with the words that Boaz used to describe Ruth. Proverbs 31, 10, she says this, an excellent wife, there it is. An excellent wife who can find, for her worth is far above jewels. Verse 28 through 31. Her children rise up and bless her. Her husband also, he praises her, saying, Many daughters have done nobly. It's the same word for excellent, nobly. She's an excellent woman. But you, my daughter, excel them all. She says, charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the products of her hand and let her works praise you at the gates. What's going on in Ruth? All my people, Boaz says, you're an excellent woman. They all see it. She is an excellent woman. In Ruth 3.11. Here's what we've seen so far. First, Boaz blesses Ruth. Second, he makes her a promise. And now, third, Boaz puts forth plan A. He's got two plans. Boaz puts forth plan A for Ruth's security, starting in verse 12. The good news is that Boaz admits that he's a close relative.

42:50He's an honorable man, so he admits that there's a relative closer. While Boaz would love to marry this excellent woman, of course, he's a man of honor, and he must give the first right of refusal to the man who's a closer relative. Maybe this other man was the brother to Malon. Maybe. Plan A is in verse 13. If this woman wants to marry Ruth, great. She'll be redeemed, and her security problem will be solved. Now, for Boaz's fourth response to Ruth's marriage proposal: If Plan A fails, Boaz has to employ plan B in verse 13. He says this, as the Lord lives. He's making a commitment based upon the fact that God is alive, literally, by God's life. If he won't marry you, if plan A fails, we're putting plan B into place and I'm going to marry you. That's what he's saying here. There's a third stage to pursuing hope in the midst of God's providence. Patiently wait for God to bring about his plan to fruition and trust in him for the results. We see that in verses 14 through 18. In an age of texting and instant chat and social media, we're accustomed to getting answers within seconds. They've got to spend the night and wait till morning comes before they know what's going on. From midnight to when Ruth rises to her feet in verse 14, neither of them slept, I'm quite sure of it. Their eyes were probably tightly closed, but they're thinking about what's going on. Boaz expresses his above-reproach character in two ways. He doesn't want others to know she came. He wants to be above reproach. There's no sin to hide, but he doesn't want others to know. But people draw their own conclusions, don't they? If you're appearing to do something wrong, people have made a conclusion and they've determined that you're guilty. He doesn't want that. In verse 15, we see that the shoulder-to-toe kind of cloak, kind of blanket, That she's wearing.

45:03It doesn't identify a scantily clad kind of woman in verse 16. She carries food in it, 60 to 80 pounds of food, probably. Well, in verse 16, Naomi wants to know her strategy, wants to know how it worked out, what's the results. She asked Ruth a question. You should see it there in the text, verse 16. She says, How did it go, my daughter? She's back. She arrives with all this food. How'd it go? A more literal translation or understanding of this, and maybe your translation has it, is, who are you, my daughter? In other words, are you Mrs. Boaz? Are you going to be Mrs. Boaz? She wants to know how her fade strategy worked out.

45:47Both options are good, whether it's how did it go or who are you. Remember, Naomi sent Ruth out to get a husband. And now she wants to know if Ruth is going to be, again, Mrs. Boaz. Ruth told Naomi that one way or another she's getting married, whether it's by plan A or by plan B, her needs are going to be met. She's going to be safe. In verse 18, Naomi tells her to wait because the man is on a mission and he won't rest until a solution is given that day.

46:24And then all this waiting for a whole day. The Lord is patiently laying a foundation for the birth of the Messiah, patiently laying a foundation for the birth of their great-grandson, King David. We've learned that when you honor the Lord by trusting Him, you must recognize His providence. You must see His hand working in your life for His purposes. What did we see today? We saw three steps toward pursuing hope in the midst of Providence. Construct a plan and depend on God for the results. Two, implement a plan, but trust in God for the results. Three, patiently wait for God to bring about His plan to fruition in your life and trust in Him for the results.

47:25As we pursue hope, we need to see God's providential hand in our lives. We need to look in the rearview mirror in our lives and go, look what God did, and tell other people what did He do. It's for His glory so that He gets to take credit for the actions, but we must trust in Him for the results. That is Ruth chapter 3. Come back next week. We're going to have a wedding here. They're getting married. Would you bow your head and pray with me?

48:01Father, what a magnificent book is the book of Ruth. That you're showing us that when life has fallen apart, and when it's falling apart, you restore us when we trust in you. When we return, when we repent of our sin, and we trust in God, we trust in Christ, you bring us back and you restore us to this magnificent life that you've given us to live it for your glory. And Lord, you place people in our paths. And though the people and the path is different for our lives than it was 3,100 years ago in the life of Ruth and Naomi, you have us on a path nonetheless. And we must trust in you for the results. We must look in the rearview mirror and say, God, you were faithful then, and you will continue to be faithful. I know, because you were faithful in the life of Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, King David, Jesus our Messiah, in the life of Paul, in the life of Peter, in the lives of our ancestors who trusted you even when everything was falling apart. Guide us in this way, Father, for your glory, we pray.