Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - A Strange Love Story | The Writings | Ruth 3

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Is the book of Ruth a love story? If so, it's not the one you'd expect. In today's episode, Keith shares how Ruth 3 transcends your typical romance novel, pointing us to a far greater love story - the one between Jesus and his church. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Ruth 3

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. We love a good story. Just think, what do you kids want at night? They want a bedtime story. What do you do when you're on vacation at the beach? You read an entertaining story.

How do you sell a bottle of wine for more than it's worth? Well, you tell a story about it. The most popular television shows tell the best stories. And God uses stories in the Bible to teach us about himself, about ourselves, and about his kingdom. Biblical stories teach us all the most important things in life. So God uses stories because he knows how much we love them. I don't think we appreciate the beauty and the power of the biblical stories. If the book of Ruth weren't in the Bible, I think it would be a New York Times bestseller. That brings us to Ruth chapter three. First, let's do a quick review of chapters one and two.

In chapter one, God is at work in the darkest of times. There was a famine in Bethlehem where Naomi husband Alimalec lived. In Deuteronomy, we learned that famine is about a lot more than just crop failure from bad weather. It's about God's judgment against Israel for violating their covenant with God. During the famine, the family went to Moab to look for food. While they were in Moab, Naomi's husband Alimalec died and her sons, Malon and Killian married foreign women. And then about 10 years later, her sons died. Naomi heard the famine in Israel was over, so she decided to go back to Bethlehem. Ruth, who the book is named after and is one of Naomi's daughters-in-law, returned with her. So at the end of that chapter, Naomi says, don't call me Naomi, which means

pleasant, instead call me Mara, which means bitter, because the Lord Almighty has made my life very bitter. She says, I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me. The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me. Then in chapter two, things begin to change. The mercy of God breaks through so that even bitter Naomi notices it. God's goodness takes the form of Boaz, a man of great wealth, a man of great character, and a relative of Naomi's husband. Ruth finds work in Boaz's field, and Naomi says,

He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead. So in chapter two, there are signs of hope. Here's how chapter three starts. One day Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi said to her, My daughter, I must find a home for you where you will be well provided for. Now, finding a home for Ruth was going to be a problem because Ruth is from Moab and the Moabites had a very contentious relationship with the Israelites. If an Israelite man took a Moabite wife, he would become a social outcast.

He might have even been rejected by his friends and family. So who would be willing to do that? Well, Naomi has an idea. Verse 2. Now Boaz, with who? whose women you have worked as a relative of ours. See, Boaz was a relative of Naomi's and a man of great character who had already shown care for the poor. But what was Ruth supposed to do?

She couldn't just walk up to Boaz and propose marriage. Well, don't worry, Naomi has a plan. Verse 2. Tonight, Boaz will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you were there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying, then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.

Well, this story sounds like it came out of a romance novel. Did Naomi intend for Ruth to seduce Boaz? Ruth's actions could have been interpreted in different ways. What's clear is that Ruth was putting her reputation and personal safety at risk. But she goes through with a plan. Here's verse 8. In the middle of the night, something startled Boaz. He turned and there was a woman lying at his feet.

Who are you? he asked. I am your servant, Ruth, she said. Spread the corner of your garment over me since you are a guardian redeemer of our family. Now here's where Ruth's actions diverged from her mother-in-law's instructions. Instead of leaving the situation dangerously ambiguous, Ruth wanted to make her intentions clear right from the outset. Her goal was a commitment to marriage, not a one-night stand. In the ancient world, a commitment was symbolized by covering someone with the corner of your robe. It was roughly equivalent to the giving of an engagement ring in our culture.

So Ruth wanted Boaz to marry her and provide a home for her and Naomi just as a kinsman Redeemer would. We've already seen that a kinsman Redeemer was a person who had an obligation to buy his relatives back if they sold themselves into slavery to pay off their debts. Under certain circumstances, the kinsman Redeemer would also be obliged to marry his brother's widow to raise up a family for the dead man, a family that would inherit his property. Clearly there was no legal obligation on Boaz to act this way. Otherwise, this kind of elaborate strategy wouldn't have been necessary. Ruth could have simply walked up to Boaz in the marketplace and said,

You're my kinsman Redeemer, do what you're supposed to do. So what Ruth was asking Boaz to do was to act according to the spirit of the law of the kinsman Redeemer, even though he wasn't under any legal obligation. She appealed to him to be the family member who, at his own cost, would act to rescue the desperate, even though he didn't have to. Ruth's request required more than a little hutspe on her part. It was entirely countercultural for a woman to propose to a man or a younger person to an older one or a field worker to a field owner. Remember, Naomi's plan had called for her simply to be silent at this point and let Boas take the initiative. But whether

out of faith or fear or a simple inability to keep her mouth shut, Ruth shared her whole heart as soon as Boaz recognized her. But Ruth knew her future didn't ultimately depend on her and her plan. God was ruling over all things for good, and amazingly enough, Boaz agreed to her audacious request. His first words to her were, my daughter. And those words show that he didn't have any intention of taking advantage of her. He was willing to pay the social and financial costs of welcoming this despised outsider into his family. Indeed, Boaz complimented Ruth on having to be able to chosen him rather than going after a younger man. He says in verse 10, The Lord bless you, my daughter. This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier.

You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. A younger man would have had a better prospect, at least humanly speaking, providing Ruth with children of her own. But Ruth knew that Boaz was a man of character, and she could count on him to take care of Naomi as well as her. So Boaz rightly saw Ruth's adoption of Naomi's plan as yet another act of covenant faithfulness on Ruth's part. Just as she had left her own household and her own family to be with Naomi, so now when Naomi asked her to follow this dangerous plan, she did it, even though it was at great personal risk. Ruth was a woman of character. The story of Boaz and Ruth is not really a love story, at least not in the modern sense. It's not a story about a boy-meat girl in which both are

physically attracted to each other, and the rest is history. We know that Boaz was relatively old. We know that Ruth could work all day in the hot sun with hardly a break and then carry 80 pounds of grain back to her home. The two of them do not sound exactly like the typical Hollywood hero and heroin. The book of Ruth is a different kind of story than we're used to. The commitment that Ruth and Boas had to one another was built on their common character, which is always a much better foundation for a lasting relationship than mere physical attraction. Theirs was a character match. They were both people of substance. The real love story in this book is not about Boaz and Ruth. The real love story is behind the scenes. It's the love of God for a straying sheep. It's the love

of God that responded to Adam and Eve's sin with grace. It's the love that wouldn't let Israel go despite their centuries-long history of rebellion and idolatry. This love causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. In the lives of God's children, this love provides for our daily needs. For all these good gifts of God's love, we should be truly thankful. God's love is ultimately seen in Jesus. His love caused him to leave the glories of heaven and come down and live as an ordinary worker. It led him to be a baby in Bethlehem where he found no refuge.

Unlike Ruth, there was no room for Jesus in Bethlehem, no godly Boas to protect him. Instead he had to make do with a temporary place in a stable before he was driven out, having to flee for his own life even when he was a baby. For God so loved the world that he sent his son. Jesus abandoned his eternal glory and became a servant, someone who is of no reputation, despised and rejected by men. This same love of God took Jesus all the way to the cross, where he offered himself for the sins of his people. Jesus didn't just risk his life. He laid down his life. Why? Is it because we are such wonderful

people and thoroughly deserve it? No, it's because God was so committed to saving sinners like us, and this was the only way it could be done. It's because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. Do you know this love of God? Have you responded by giving your heart to him? He will be your redeemer and receive you into his family. He will cover you with his wings and be a refuge. He will spread the robe of Christ's righteousness over your nakedness. No matter how undeserving you are, no matter what you've done or where you've been, the invitation is open to come, to be redeemed, to find life. God will welcome you for the sake of Christ. He loves you that much. That's a love

story that needs to be told to wandering sheep.