Service; A new attitude; Hope
November 20, 2011
Ruth 2:17 - 23

We must live in hope (Ruth 2:17–23)

Just call me Bitter

Ruth 1:20 - 21

20 She answered them, “Don’t call me Naomi [Sweet]. Call me Mara [Bitter] because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi when the Lord has tormented me and the Almighty has done evil to me?”
When Naomi and Ruth entered Bethlehem, Naomi was a very distraught person. She was upset over how her life had been progressing these last ten years. As they awoke in the morning, Naomi was in no mood to do much of anything except to continue to wallow in self-pity.
Ruth on the other hand was looking at life from a different perspective. We do not know a lot about Ruth’s life living in the land of Moab, but Ruth had heard enough about what the God of Israel could do that she figured that living under His guidance was better than her present living situation. When Ruth awoke that morning, she knew 2 basic things; she was hungry and if she wanted to eat she would have to go and get the food as she saw that Naomi in her present condition was not going to do too much.
When Ruth left the house this morning, there was no well-wishing from Naomi to encourage Ruth in her quest that day. When Ruth asked for permission to go to the fields that day all Naomi could say to her was, “Go, my daughter.” No pray as in the day she tried to send her daughter-in-laws back home, just “Go!”
A Little less, Less
If there is to be anybody in this story that should be bitter or hopeless it should be Ruth. When Ruth went out that morning, she went out as a complete stranger, a widow in a foreign land. What was she going to face that day? How much grain would she be able to gather? Despite not knowing the answer to these questions and so many more, Ruth, still went. When Ruth left the house this morning, she left with less than what Naomi had, she left with hope and because she left with hope verses hopeless what did she find?

1. Vs 8, Place to gather grain
2. Vs 9, Protection from harassment while gathering the grain
3. Vs 9, Refreshment while gathering the grain
4. Vs 14, Food to eat during her gathering plus  Food to carry back home
5. Vs 16, Assurance she would have plenty of grain

Results of Hope
When Ruth left the field this day and headed back home to Naomi, she was returning with much more than she had left and she did not even know it. When Ruth left the field this day, she was satisfied in many physical ways. In addition to the benefits of the above items, her labor netted her about half a bushel of grain, enough food to feed these two women for nearly a week.
1 bushel of rice weighs 45 lbs.
1 bushel of Barley weighs 48 lbs.
1 bushel of Wheat weighs 60 lbs.
As Ruth enters the town, the sun is setting or about to set and we see in verse 18 that Naomi is waiting and watching. I’m sure that she has wondered where Ruth has been all day, did she find a field to work in and if she did, how much will she be able to bring back. I’m sure that she has had this woe is me thought process all day long of what if she finds none of the above.
As Ruth approaches the place where they are staying, Naomi see the bundle that Ruth is carrying and as Ruth approaches Naomi, she reaches into her small bag and gives her the remainder of her lunch.
Because of Ruth’s hope, Naomi day is about to change.
What a difference a day makes!
As Ruth comes upon Naomi, Naomi unloads all of her concerns in the form of questions and amongst the questions we see Naomi go from Bitter to better.
Verse 19   Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today? Just where did you work? May the man who paid attention to you be blessed.”  So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the person with whom she worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”
As good as it was for Naomi to see Ruth walking up that dusty path with the bag of barley; Ruth had just brought news beyond Naomi’s wildest imagination. For you see when Elimelech took Naomi and his sons to Moab ten years earlier because of the drought, he sold the right to his property. This meant that when Naomi came back to Bethlehem, she came back to no personal property, so wherever Naomi and Ruth were currently staying was with whoever could or would put them up.  Now with the mention of the name of Boaz, Naomi’s life now has less, less. Naomi’s life now has hope once again.
What is so special about the name of Boaz?
As far as the name goes, not a lot. The best that anyone can figure out it means lively or swift. So if the name itself did not hold a lot of meaning than something else does and that is in who Boaz is.
Leviticus 25:23-25, 48 - 49
23 “ ‘The land really belongs to me, so you can’t sell it for all time. You are only foreigners and travelers living for a while on my land. 24 People might sell their land, but it must always be possible for the family to get its land back. 25 If a person in your country becomes very poor and sells some land, then close relatives must come and buy it back.
48 the poor person has the right to be bought back and become free. One of his relatives may buy him back: 49 His uncle, his uncle’s son, or any one of his close relatives may buy him back. Or, if he gets enough money, he may pay the money to free himself.

Naomi had hope on two fronts;
First - Because of who Boaz was – a near Kinsman who was wealthy and influential
As such he not only had the ability to assist Naomi, he in actuality had the responsibility to assist.
Second – He had already showed the willingness and desire to help.
Ruth’s half bushel of barley is just the beginning or the first fruits that was to come from the fields of Boaz for Naomi and Ruth.
Ruth 2:21, 23
21 Then Ruth, the Moabite, said, “Boaz also told me, ‘Keep close to my workers until they have finished my whole harvest.’ ”

23 So Ruth continued working closely with the workers of Boaz, gathering grain until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. And she continued to live with Naomi, her mother-in-law.

Ruth has been promised by Boaz that she is welcomed in his fields until the harvest is complete. This meant that Ruth was going to be able to provide for her and Naomi’s needs for the foreseeable future.

So how does this relate to our lives today?
Ruth 2:20
20 Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! He continues to be kind to us—both the living and the dead!” Then Naomi told Ruth, “Boaz is one of our close relatives, n one who should take care of us.”
Naomi, just like every one of us here has experienced our share of bitter times. Times when we have felt mistreated, rejected, cast aside or just plain forgotten about. As Naomi awoke this morning, she had no idea what this evening would bring.
This evening brought major changes to Naomi life while not changing any of her circumstances. Naomi future now held promise while still leaving her a widow who had lost her two sons. She was still financially poor and her life was still hard.
What was different about tonight from last night, she was now looking forward to the future rather than focusing on her past.
As we enter this Thanksgiving Day celebration here in America, I would like to challenge each of you to do three things.

1. Take time to trace the Lord’s grace and mercies in your life.

The Old Testament is the written record of God bringing every detail into place at just the right time. For every one of us, if we will take the time to be retrospective we can see where God has brought people into our lives or us into their lives at just the right moment for just a special purpose.

1. Hear the call to follow in the grace and mercy of God as in the case of Boaz

In his generosity, Boaz prefigured the generosity of Jesus Christ. As followers today, we are called to the same generosity. One of the distinct characteristics of the Jewish people was in obeying God to provide for the poor, the widow and the less fortunate. It is through this formula that God chooses others to bring others under the refuge of His wings.

1. Take courage for the future by considering what the Lord has done in the past.

There is no greater reason for hope than to see what has been given in the past. Just because God passes His grace and mercy unto us does not mean that our lives will become free from trouble and hardship.
Naomi’s and Ruth’s lives were not immediately changed and in some cases their past was always with them as in the case of being widows.

Should not we who believe in Jesus Christ rejoice in hope? When you consider who He is, what He has done for us, and what He says to us in His Word, there is no reason for us to feel hopeless. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He has died for us, and now He intercedes for us in heaven. In His Word, He has given us “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4, KJV) that can never fail. No matter how you may feel today, no matter how difficult your circumstances may be, you can rejoice in hope if you will focus your faith on Jesus Christ.
For the Christian believer, hope is not a shallow “hope-so feeling” generated by optimistic fantasies. Hope is an inner sense of joyful assurance and confidence as we trust God’s promises and face the future with His help. This hope is God’s gift to His children through the Holy Spirit, who reminds us of God’s promises found in His Word (Rom. 15:13).
The exciting new hope that now possessed the two widows was centered in a person, Boaz, just as our hope is centered in the Son of God. In fact, Jesus Christ is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1; 1 Thes. 1:3; Col. 1:27). Through faith in Christ, we have been born again into “a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3); and because it is a living hope, it grows stronger each day and produces fruit. The hopes that the world clings to are dead hopes, but ours is a living hope because it is rooted in the living Christ.
“And now abide faith, hope, love” (1 Cor. 13:13), and they still abide with us as we abide in Jesus Christ and trust in Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Day proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
George Washington