LIVING BY LUCK OR BY GOD

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

RUTH 2:1-3

Lesson #04
LIVING BY LUCK OR BY GOD

• Memory Verse: Job 13:15
• After Ruth and Naomi return from Moab to Bethlehem, there is a problem. How will they earn a living?
  • Even though God told the Jews not to take advantage of widows, (Exo 22:22 Deu 24:17), widows had a very poor position in Israel. They were often robbed of their land and their inheritance.
  • Our story in Bethlehem begins in great poverty for Ruth and Naomi.
• Read Ruth 2:1-3
  • What do you learn about Boaz from these verses?
    • Remember that his name means = in him there is strength.
    • He was a kinsman to Naomi’s husband.
    • This fact becomes very important later in the story.
    • He was a very wealthy man and he owned farm land.
    • He was a very important man in the town of Bethlehem.
      • He had a position of authority and power.
      • However, his family did not always have such a high social position.
        • What do we know about Boaz’ family? Who was his mother?
        • Boaz’ father was a Jewish man named Salmon (Rut 4:21) and his mother was Rahab, the harlot.
      • Read Jos 2:1-4, 12-14, 21
      • Why is it important to know who his mother was?
        • • Rahab was a Gentile prostitute and not a Jew. It is important to our story later to know that Boaz was half Jew and half Gentile.
          • Remember that it was against the Mosaic Law for a Jewish man to marry a Gentile.

        Naomi told her daughters-in-law that they probably would never marry again in Bethlehem.

        This point of law was frequently violated in Israel’s history.

        It was against the Mosaic Law for Mahlon to marry Ruth in the first place.

        However, because that Law was already compromised in the case of Boaz’s family, it is not binding on Boaz.

      • The practice of gleaning (2)]
        • The Mosaic Law had a welfare system built into it that provided for the poor, the foreigners, the widows, and the orphans.
        • Gleaning was the welfare system :
          • Read Lev 19:9-10 Deu 24:19,21
          • Because the land belonged to God, he said how it was to be used.
          • Farmers harvesting grain could not cut the grain in the corners of the field. Also they could not go through the field two times to harvest it.
          • What remained in the field was for the poor, the stranger, the widows and the orphans. At that time, harvesting left about 30 % in the field.
            • However, notice that these poor people had to work for it. They had to go into the field and harvest it for themselves.
            • It was not just given to them like today’s welfare system. In other words, if someone went hungry and starved to death in Israel, it was because he was too lazy to work.
            • Also they had to glean by hand. They could not use machines or tools.
          • The same principle is stated in the New Testament in 2The 3:10.
          • The pattern of the gleaned field:
            • Notice that if a field is harvested leaving only the corners with grain, you have the shape of a cross. In Rut 1:20, Naomi refers to God as “the Almighty”. That Hebrew name for God is “El Shaddai”. It means = the God who provides for all my needs. But it also means = the God who chastens.
            • It is through the cross of Jesus Christ that God “El Shaddai” meets all my needs and chastens me as a loving Father when He knows it is best for me.
        • Naomi gives Ruth permission to glean (2)
          • Naomi is the head of the household.
          • Ruth is submissive to Naomi.
        • In the fields of Boaz (3):
          • Ruth did not know where to go to find the fields of Boaz. She was a stranger.
          • Verse 3 tells us that she “happened” to be in a field owned by Boaz.
            • We might say that she was “lucky” or that it “happened by accident” that she came to the correct field.
            • However, for the Christian, there is no such thing as “luck” or “by accident”. Why?
            • Read Rom 8:28-31
            • Everything that happens, every person that you meet in the Christian life is by divine appointment, known by God beforehand and ordered by God for your benefit and His glory.
            • Events may come as a surprise to us, but nothing takes God by surprise.
            • If you belong to Jesus Christ, you are guided by the Holy Spirit, just like Ruth, even when you do not know you are being guided by Him.
          • Ruth had made a decision for God. Now she would have faith to trust God to take care of her and to provide for her needs.
            • It is important that she go to the correct field. Why?
            • Bethlehem is on a hill and the fields are in the valley at the bottom of the hill.
            • The correct field puts her under the protection of Boaz.
            • The correct field fulfills the prophetic picture.
            • The shepherds were “lucky” to be in the fields at the time of Jesus’ birth?
            • No, the shepherds were “predestined” to be in the correct field. If they had not been in the correct field, they would not have seen the angels. They would not have gone to Bethlehem as witnesses of Jesus’ birth.
            • Read Mic 5:2 Luk 2:8-15
        • God’s sovereign guidance:
          • We do not always know in a perfect way God’s perfect will for our individual lives.
          • We must try to stay in His perfect will as best we can.
          • We make that more sure by:
            • Studying the word of God
            • Obeying what He shows us
            • Exercising our faith in his predetermined knowledge that He knows what is best and will lead us into it.
          • If your heart is right before God and you are walking in the light of God’s word, the ordinary, every-day decisions you make will be in God’s leading when you look back at it.
          • Abraham’s servant was looking for a bride for Isaac. He said, ”I being in the way, the Lord led me,” (Gen 24:27)
        • Application:
          • Before God will change our circumstances, he changes our hearts.
            • This is what He did with Ruth and Naomi.
            • Ruth chose God and her heart was changed.
            • Now we begin to see God change her circumstances.
              • She is a believer which means God will provide for her and protect her.
              • He will guide her life and lead her to the people and places where He wants her to be.
            • Often we get things backwards. We cry to God to change our circumstances, when we should be crying to God to change our hearts.

              God’s providential purpose is not to make us “comfortable”, but to make us “conformed”.

            • Read Rom 8:29
              • Conformed to what?
              • Conformed to the image of His Son.
            • If you want God to work in your life and your circumstances, there are three conditions you must fulfill:
              • =1= You must live by faith (Rut 2:1-3) (Heb 11:6)

      Ruth had faith to leave the land of Moab.

      Ruth had faith to glean which included working. Faith without works is dead (Jam 2:17)

      • • • • • • • =2= You must live by the grace of God (Rut 2:4-16)
                  • =3= You must live in hope (Rut 2:17-23)
                • We will discuss conditions #2 and #3 later in our study.

      Homework

      Ruth 2:4-16

      • • Application of Rut 2:1-3
          • If you have given your heart and life to Jesus Christ, how do you know He is taking care of you?
          • Is there some specific situation in your life for which you need to trust Him today? What is it?
          • Pray and picture yourself placing the situation in His hands.
            • When you discover yourself worrying about it, you will know you have taken it out of His hands.
            • Keep praying and placing it in His hands.
        • Preparation for Ruth 2:4-16
          • Read all of chapter 2 again.
          • Look for examples of God’s grace to Ruth.
          • Boaz is a prefigure or illustration of Jesus Christ. What do you see in this story that parallels Jesus Christ?
        • Memory verse: 2Corinthians 9:8