Ruth part 7 "Boaz, God's man for the day!"

25^th November 2018

P.A.Thatcher

The Mustard Seed Evangelical Church.

Series: “The best is yet to come!” {Lessons from the book of Ruth Part 7}

God's man for the day!: Ruth 3:1-4:12

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 Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he 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 are 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.’

‘I will do whatever you say,’ Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing-floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. In the middle of the night something startled the man; 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.’

‘The Lord bless you, my daughter,’ he replied. ‘This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: you have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.’

So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognised; and he said, ‘No one must know that a woman came to the threshing-floor.’

He also said, ‘Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.’ When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he went back to town.

When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, ‘How did it go, my daughter?’

Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her and added, ‘He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, “Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.”’

Then Naomi said, ‘Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.’

Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, ‘Come over here, my friend, and sit down.’ So he went over and sat down.

Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, ‘Sit here,’ and they did so. Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, ‘Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.’

‘I will redeem it,’ he said.

Then Boaz said, ‘On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.’

6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, ‘Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.’

(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalising transactions in Israel.)

So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, ‘Buy it yourself.’ And he removed his sandal.

Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his home town. Today you are witnesses!’

Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.’

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Now we come to this wonderful character Boaz. Boaz of course means swiftness, and as we have read he was certainly swift to act once Ruth had made her intentions known. But, there is another meaning to his name, it can also be; strength is within him. This suggests that not only can he be swift but that he also has the authority to do so. So what can we learn from this passage? The book of Ruth is often referred to as a great love story, that is a fair assessment, but, it is so much more than the Romeo and Juliet of the bible. This love story is a most incredible insight into the great love that God has for His people. We can learn so much more from Boaz than we have time for in our studies on Sunday morning.

With that in mind we will today consider the topic of God's man for the day! Boaz, just as it happened was a close relative to Elimelek, who was Naomi's deceased husband. Within Hebrew law, God had made provision for the family line to continue, when disaster happened in families. He had proclaimed that as in the case of Naomi and Ruth, a close relative, known as the kinsman redeemer could buy into the situation and relieve the family of their poverty. We are told that the closest relative of Elimelek, was another man. Protocol had to be followed, and so it was necessary for Boaz to give that man the opportunity to redeem Naomi & Ruth's problem. As we have read that man was happy to but land and property but not to take responsibility for Ruth. That left the door open for Boaz to go on and buy all of Elimelek's property, and land. He was also free to marry Ruth and to be the father of her children, who would then continue both the family name of Elimelek and also Boaz. That as we shall see next time is exactly what happens.

What can we learn for our encouragement this morning?

• Boaz was God's wonderful provision.
• Boaz was Ruth's provision.

Boaz was God's wonderful provision: We could look at Boaz's fine character and be inspired by that alone. But. Let us consider for a few moments that God had made provision in His law for such a time as Naomi and Ruth were experiencing. What a wonderful truth that is! It is almost as if the law was tailor made just for this occasion, and in one respect it was. But, God,s grace extends far more than one example. It is fair to say that this law had benefited many people in such circumstances both before and after this event. I cannot think of any examples given in scripture, other than one where it did not work out as God intended. The abuse of this law resulted in judgement and death of Onan son of Judah. It is recorded in Genesis 38, his sister in law Tamar had become widowed. Judah instructed Onan to do the right thing, but Onan was disobedient, God was angry with his wicked deed and Onan died for not doing as God demands. Shela, Judah's youngest son was too young and so Tamar found herself disappointed. You can read the whole grim story at your leisure.

Suffice it to say that Boaz was not such a man, but the closer relative was. For a moment just think of him. Just consider for a moment what a privilege that God was offering the kinsman redeemer. What a treasure Ruth really was! What wonderful prospects were available for the faithful servant of God. In this there is grave warning to us as Christians today. We are not bound to Levirate law, but there are many Christian laws that God has given that we are called to fulfil. We might not die for disobedience as did Onan, but disobedience is nonetheless wrong in God's eyes. So what are some of these Christian laws?

• Offering a sacrifice of praise: do we really worship God, with all of our very being? Sacrificially?
• Forsaking the gathering together of the saints? Can you really say that you attend the gathering of the church as you ought. You may well be in attendance but are you really here. It is often said of somebody that “the lights are on but there is nobody ate home!” It is easy for the body to be in church, but the worship is elsewhere!
• Being a true ambassador of Christ Jesus, being His person in the situation, this is what Boaz was portraying, he had a Godly perspective, he was in the right place at the right time and was willing to do just as God commanded.
• Encouraging all of the saints and as such building them up, restoring and redeeming their own personal difficulties. Boaz restored both Naomi and Ruth in their situation. The other redeemer let them down, but Boaz was there for them. Are you there for those who are in difficulty in our Mustard Seed or are you more like the other redeemer? That is of no use at all.

Back to Boaz, what an example of Godliness, he was. He was kind in business, he was caring in charity towards a desperate family. He was clearly older and therefore surprised when Ruth made her intentions known to him. He was clearly humble in every way. He was also Godly, he not only knew God's law but he lived by it and demonstrated it in all aspects of his life. Look at how he worked with his workers. How they respected him. How they also allowed the foreigner to work alongside them. He protected them and those who gleaned, he was caring and generous in all things. We could say so much more, but I think that the scene is set. We are not here to adore Boaz, but to see Him whom Boaz adored. Boaz was a servant of God, who was like God in so many ways. So much so that we see him as a prototype of the Great Redeemer. We will return to that in just a few moments.

Let us apply the testimony of Boaz to ourselves today. If God was to make a record of our lives and dealings just now, I wonder how inspiring that might be to others. Boaz, I am sure would be surprised at the way that we look up to him. What do we do that is as commendable for the cause of the gospel today?

Apply!!!

Boaz was Ruth's provision: His purpose was immediate, but the implications are eternal. I wonder do we really grasp this truth today. There are always immediate benefits or problems by all that we do. There are also eternal consequences involved. As with Boaz we do not know what will transpire from what and who we are today. I once read a short story by Isaac Asimov, it was about a man who went back in time to the beginning of history. He was taken to a swamp to have a look ate what it was like. His instruction was to stay on a specially devised walkway, but he erred and stepped off it because he wanted to feel what it was like. Unfortunately he stood on a butterfly. Inconsequential? When he returned to the 20^th century he found that Hitler had won the war. Small things make large differences over time was the lesson. This is even more so if the church, because our dealings have eternal significance!

What we do today shapes the future of heaven, let us get it right!

I am fascinated by the happening with Ruth at the threshing floor. If you want to see how man's mind goes into fantasy, just read some of the modern commentaries on this passage. What is the truth of what is going on here? We need to learn a small amount of Hebrew, to shed light on the reasons for what Ruth did.

The Hebrews are Semitic in their ways, one of which is unlike us as Hellenists (Greek descent). We are scientific or forensic in our thinking. The Hebrews are more artistic, or pictorial than we are generally. They think and understand in parables, pictures and types. Ruth plays out a parable to Boaz, as she lifts up the corner of his sheet and sleeps at his feet. She is in effect saying, I want to come under your redeeming care.

Her request to "spread the corner of your garment over me" (Ruth 3:9, NIV) had several meanings, each of which highlighted her desire to be a faithful part of the community of God's people. The word for "corner" in Hebrew also means "wings," so Ruth was asking Boaz: "Protect me like a bird protects her young; be my redeemer as God commanded in the Law so that in your actions, your provision and your family, I will find God's protection. And take me as your wife, for in your protection I will find God's provision and protection."

This story portrays the love and faithfulness Boaz demonstrated for God who, out of His love for all humankind, commands His people to care for the poor and thereby make His name known. We also see Boaz display what is in Hebrew called hesed (a merciful, compassionate, grace-filled loving-kindness) toward a foreign Moabite widow. We see Ruth's growing love and commitment to Naomi and to the God of Israel, whose amazing love was drawing Ruth into His beth ab, "the father's house."

Boaz and Ruth are a beautiful example of the way that redemption worked in a patriarchal culture. God included the practice of redemption, common in ancient Near Eastern culture, in His instructions to the Israelites. In so doing, He explained His role as "Father" (or patriarch) of all and His desire to redeem family members and the entire creation, restoring them fully in relationship to Him and to each other. Thus the righteous and faithful character of Boaz is a picture of God himself in His work of redemption.

After God used Israel to bring Ruth fully into His community, she joined in the mission to redeem others. She became the great-grandmother of Israel's king David, demonstrating that a foreigner could be completely brought into God's people and become His instrument for redemptive purpose. Jesus' descent from David's family in both blood through His mother, Mary, and legal kinship through His father, Joseph, gave Him legitimacy as Messiah to Israel among His first Jewish followers. Jesus' descent from Ruth made it clear that the Messiah would redeem all humanity, not only the Jews.

For Christians, the book of Ruth represents an early sign that the Messiah would liberate all of humankind, not solely Jews, bu that Gentiles such as Ruth would join God's community of redeemed. That is the church.

Boaz is such a wonderful forerunner to the Lord Jesus who in heaven was our redeemer but who condescended to come to earth and become a man. The result of this is that our heavenly redeemer is also a kinsman, who fully understands us and cares for us even better than did Boaz for Ruth. Jesu Christ is the Great Redeemer.

Ruth part 6 God's foodbank!

18^th November 2018

P.A.Thatcher

The Mustard Seed Evangelical Church.

Series: “The best is yet to come!” {Lessons from the book of Ruth Part 6}

God's food-bank!: Ruth 1:22 – 2:23

Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’ Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’

‘The Lord bless you!’ they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’ The overseer replied, ‘She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’

So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’

At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?’ Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’

‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’

At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.’ When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, ‘Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.’

So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. Her mother-in-law asked her, ‘Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!’ 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. ‘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; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.’

Then Ruth the Moabite said, ‘He even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.”’ Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.’

So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

As we have gone through the first chapter of the book of Ruth we have largely learned lessons from the characters involved and from how they reacted in the situation that we found themselves in. This week we will start to answer the question, “where is God in all of this?” I am currently re-reading Philip Yancey's book, “Where is God when it hurts?” In the book the author seeks to understand why God allows pain and suffering. I am sure that this is a question that each one of us asks in one way or another. It often comes in the form of, “why is this happening to me?” It is logical that the characters portrayed in the book of Ruth would each one ask the same question. Is that not what Naomi was saying when she made the statement that God had dealt harshly with her?

So today we will begin to address what God was doing, but for today, how He was doing it is the real essence.

We live in a day when food-banks are a vital part of British life. It is amazing how many people benefit from the use of the food-banks that are scattered all across our British Isles. The pleasing thing about food-bank is that it is a Christian vision and is run by Trussel Trust which is based on evangelical lines.

It is always a privilege to speak with Pam Stevens and her team in the food-bank that is attached to our church. Just the other day we had the opportunity to help somebody out through it's services. It is part of our ongoing ministry here in the Mustard Seed to provide the building for this important work. We must never forget that it was C.H.Spurgeon who said that to a starving man he would wrap the gospel up in a sandwich.

Where did Christians get the idea of a food-bank from?

Why do we support the local one here?

A challenge for us:

It is coming up to Christmas, we have finished the shoeboxes; why not collect food items for the Christmas food parcels that the food-bank here will be giving away?

To answer these questions we need to look into the Old Testament. It would be neat if the answer came from the book of Ruth. In part it does, but to fully understand the reasons for the turn of events in chapter 2 we need to go to the law of Moses. A couple of weeks ago, I threw out a challenge, to read the book of Deuteronomy. At least one person has done so and his testimony is that it has transformed a lot of his thinking, and it has been real food for his soul. We have a friend who in his youth was very tall and gangly. His fellow members of the university called him Deuteronomy, the reason being that they said he was long and boring. They were wrong on two counts. Mark was not boring and neither is Deuteronomy! It is in the law of Moses that God prescribes a food-bank for the poor among His people. It is this provision that Ruth, Naomi and Boaz have as the motivation for all that is going on in the chapter that we have read.

Let me explain:

In Deuteronomy 15: 4 God says: “there shall be no poor among you, for the Lord will bless you.” He is speaking to His people as they are about to go into the land. He was not saying that there will never be people in difficulties, but that there will be nationwide blessing for the people if they remained faithful to Him. Clearly some would come on hard times and become poor for all sorts of reasons, Jesus later said that the poor would always be with us. It is how God provides for the poor amongst His people that is the issue at hand today, how does He expect His people to show His love to His people? In Deuteronomy 15:7 – 11, God addresses the vitally important issue of those who become poor:

If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards them. Rather, be open-handed and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought: ‘The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near,’ so that you do not show ill will towards the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

Do you see what God is saying, there is blessing for all, but it comes in a variety of ways. The Levites for instance had to rely on the generosity and faithfulness of the people. God made provision for those who minister His word to be paid for their labours, and if you read the law of God. You will see, that it was not God's intention to “keep them poor in order to keep them humble,” as is the mindset of many Christians today! The Lord blessed His people adequately, and in this there is enough to support Godly ministry. This is an issue that we will face as we eventually seek a paid pastor.

But, it is more than just help to those in ministry, God in this passage is making a permanent provision for His people who fall on hard times. Now this is certainly a case where charity begins at home. God provided for His people in His land, He provided in abundance and as such He expected His people to be fair to each other. If we followed God's directives, there would be no poor in the church. But, there are poor people even amongst us, we have had some that have had to live on outside charity! That is quite wrong!

I am in a privileged position, in that I often know of circumstances that others are not privy to! In their difficulties we have been able to help some out. It is sad to say that there have been comments made that the person should simply pray and God will provide. This passage clearly tells us that we are the cheque book that eases their problem. We are God's answer, we are His provision for those who are hurting in any way, but in this occasion as it was for Ruth and Naomi, we must extend a helping hand, because God proscribes it! We must be generous, and then God says that He will bless us more, in order that we become even more generous. Dave Gilmore of Pink Floyd fame, once said that he had been brought up to give 10% of all that he had, to charity. His problem was that the more he gave, the more he earned and the more he had to give away. We cannot out give God, the sentiment is that we should seek to be as Generous as He is, His generosity is so abundant that we can never get near that, but as His children we should be known by our generous love to each other. But are we?

If we want real blessing in the church, then we need to be generous to a fault!

The way that this must be done is what we learn from this chapter in Ruth. Ruth and Naomi have returned to Bethlehem, at the very beginning of the harvest season, they are in need, and so Ruth goes out to glean. She goes to the fields, gains permission to pick up the left overs from the harvesters and is readily granted permission!

WHY?

The simple answer is that God had made provision for the poor to do this. We need to look at Deuteronomy 24:19-22 to find this:

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

What we are seeing worked out in Ruth chapter 2 is the law of God being applied. I was once preaching in Blaenllechai in South Wales and one of the mine owners grand-daughters, who was herself an old lady at that time, was in the congregation. I was speaking on this very passage! Afterwards she told me of the tradition of the mines in that valley. After the Welsh revival in the 19^th century, converted mine owners took this passage seriously and made the rule that any coal that fell from the machinery, or the delivery sack was for the poor people of the valley. They could go and collect as much as they needed for free. That had been abused in the late 20^th century, by unscrupulous people collecting the coal and selling it on. The practice has since been abandoned.

You see that Naomi had taught Ruth well in the law of God, Ruth knew what she should do and so she led the way. She asked permission of Naomi to go and do what the Lord had provided for them. Ruth qualified perfectly, in that she was a foreigner, she was a widow and also she had Naomi as a dependent! We would do well to learn from God's law that those new amongst us, as Ruth was in Bethlehem, are all of equal value to the long standing members of the church. In God's law all are equal and all deserve to be blessed by the ministry of the church! Boaz, the landowner, made sure that Ruth was provided for over and above, the letter of the law.

In this the law can be abused by us!

We can and ought to be more giving than the base requirements. If we are, then as with Boaz, I fully believe that our blessing will be a magnitude higher!

It was no surprise to see poor folks in the fields gathering enough food for their needs. The farmers ought to have welcomed them, but as always there are those who are not obedient to the law of God. We have them in the church today.

The critics, those who say, who are these unworthy souls, “what right have they to our blessing? This is ours, keep your hands off!” Boaz protected Ruth from such people. The leaders of the church are here to protect the poor in spirit amongst us, the marginalised in the church. The unwanted, those outside of the privileged few. We are here to make sure you enter into the full blessing that the Lord is pouring out on His church here.

There is one final thing from all of this that flies in the face of modern thinking and also that of charity ruling. It is something that I would maybe question even the food-bank about. It is the effort that God expects from those who are to benefit, where possible, they were to work for their provision. Ruth had to do a hard day's labour for the sack of grain that she took back, and the food that she enjoyed at Boaz' table! In the law of God, there is no such thing as a free meal. The worker deserves his wage. I believe the reason for this is that we are all made in the image of God, God is a Worker of extreme proportions and He expects us to work for our living. He put Adam and Eve to work in the Garden of Eden and that has been His directive ever since. There is nothing better than a good day's work for a good night's sleep!

To work for our living is good for our self worth and self respect, it is what we should do. It is what we need to do in the church, if we want blessing then it comes with the effort that God demands of us. The hard-working farmer deserves the benefits of his labours.

The Levites had to work hard in the temple for their provisions, the pastor must labour hard in the word and in prayer. When this happens you must supply His needs generously as did the nation for the Levites.

The poor members of the church are to be cared for, for some a loan might be needed because their circumstance is temporary. When it changes then they will be able to return what they have borrowed, But, did you notice that God made the provision, that said if their situation has not changed by a set time of seven years, we do not bring in the bailiffs, we write off the loan.

That is what God expects.

What a blessing that will be to the person, a burden off their mind and for the giver, there is blessing from God for using His resources generously. The blessing for Boaz was to be a beautiful wife and a name in history. If you have been able to do without it for 7 years do you really need it?

The capable poor person worked for their provision, for them they received the minimum wage, but for Ruth it came with bonuses and blessing beyond her wildest dream. The immediate blessing was food for the year to come, she also found herself sitting at the boss' table and enjoying magnificent food. Eventually she would have a new husband who was so much better than the first!

What do we learn from such a passage, God is the best provider for all of His people. He provides for all people everywhere and so our charity does not stop at home. It goes out into all of the world. The greatest benefit to the world is the gospel, but as with Spurgeon we need to at times wrap it up in a sandwich. That is our food-bank! The local Foodbank takes the gospel wherever they can, let us support them more in prayer than we do!

God provides for the church, and amongst us there should be no poor, we are expected to show the love of God in this very practical way, that in itself will be impressive to all who look in!

We must remember that it is by God's wonderful gift of Salvation, through Jesus that we are the church! All of us belong through His gift of faith. Therefore, as with the church in Acts 2 we ought to have all things in common. The outworking of this, is that there should be none of us who are struggling for our daily needs.

But yet there are!

Why?

Next time we will consider “Boaz, God's man for the time.”

Ruth part 5 An amazing set of circumstances.

28^th October 2018

P.A.Thatcher

The Mustard Seed Evangelical Church.

Series: “The best is yet to come!” {Lessons from the book of Ruth Part 5}

An amazing set of circumstances: Ruth 1:22 – 2:13

Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’

Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’ ‘The Lord bless you!’ they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’ The overseer replied, ‘She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’

So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?’

Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’ ‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

So far we have considered the main characters of the story, and from the meaning of their names we have seen that God has used the characteristics of each of them to amplify the true meaning of the story. The names are man given to each of them but they are in some ways God inspired and help us to understand the story so much better. Boaz is now coming on the scene, his name simply means “swift to act,” and as we shall see that is a perfectly fitting name for him. But, before we go any further we need to see what has been happening to this family in the broader context of what was happening to the people of God, who were the church of the day. What exactly was God doing at the time and how did that affect His people? What were the times really like? These are all vital questions, to which the answers will give us a far better understanding of what was going on and ultimately the implications for the church today. Let us never forget that Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 that these things, along with all of the other accounts of the Old Testament, are recorded for our benefit. That means that their experience is vitally important for us today.

Whilst Elimelech and Naomi were making their pragmatic decisions to do what they did, and also as Naomi was deciding to return to Bethlehem, we must never forget that God had not stopped working out His purposes! We are in the privileged position of knowing the end of this story, but the characters did not. We are in a similar position today in that we do not know what God is doing behind the scenes. We are living our lives, just as Naomi was, we are making our decisions just as she was and we are following our instincts just as she did when she decided to return home. It was only later that she learned something of the bigger picture of God's purposes being worked out through her sad experiences. But this is not the full story, there was an even bigger plan being worked out in the nation. On top of that the whole episode is simply another building block in the building of the church which one day will occupy heaven.

It is often said that the flap of a butterfly's wings if in harmony with millions of others could cause a hurricane. I am not sure of the possibility of such things but I do know that small vents in the plans and purposes of God have massive eternal consequences. It is often the circumstances that God's people find themselves in that are the driving force or guidance to decisions of great significance, being made.

Let us consider the circumstances that brought Naomi to decide to return home. They were all coincidences, or as some would say “God's incidences!”

• They were in Moab, a foreign land to Naomi.
• The famine was over in Israel.
• Naomi was missing her people.
• They arrived home at the time of the barley harvest.
• Boaz was returning from a business trip at the same time. He just happened to be the only person that could and was willing to do something about the situation.
• Ruth finds herself gleaning in Boaz's field.

Through all of these coincidences (and others) God is working out His purposes. As we know today, He was fully in control! That is a lesson for us today. God is in control of your personal circumstances, He is using you and me, through and despite our own decisions. He is also continuing to build His church through us! Therefore we ought to learn from this account, how important each of the decisions we make, both individually and corporately as the church, are!

When we consider what God was doing in the family, we see them being blessed through Boaz, where Naomi's sons had failed due to their death! But the picture is of course so much bigger. There were great implications for the nation also. The line of the king was being protected, and it was being developed. In the line of David was great, great grandparents called Ruth and Boaz. But there is even greater significance in that the kingly line leads to the King of kings, the Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. That brings even more significance for us, the church owes it's very existence to this very event in the time of the Judges. Heaven will be populated because of all that happened in Elimelech's family. That is also true of the events that were happening in Israel at the time.

Remember that Israel had been experiencing famine, which ultimately drove Elimelech and family into Moab. But, now the famine was over, the reason for the famine was the apostasy of the people of God. It was their sin that is the springboard for the blessings that we are observing today. How amazing and full of grace our God is in the way that He brings blessing out of disaster.

Blessing from disaster:

Deuteronomy is a most important book. It's name simply means second law. The background of this is that it is a second record of the law of God as given to Moses but set within the context of what was happening to the children of Israel at the time. It is laced with their history. The reason for this is that the leaders of the people. Eventually the kings were to write it out and keep their copy as their manual for life and leadership. Possibly the most important theme contained within is God's promise of blessing for obedience and His curse for disobedience. The blessings were always for a good harvest and safety. The curses were the promise of failed crops and invasion from foreign countries.

The story of Ruth is set in the time of famine, but God has remembered His people. This is the glorious promise of grace that God gives throughout Deuteronomy. If the people would humble themselves and repent then God promised to restore the harvest and once again protect them from external attack.. That was clearly what had happened during Naomi's time in Moab. Blessing had been restored.

All of the time that Naomi was in Moab, and Israel was under judgement, God was working out His purposes in ways that none really understood. Why did Elimelech die, what about Mahlon and Kilion? Through he human pain and grief involved, God had a purpose. That does not make it any less sad, but the outcome is glorious!

It is the same for us today. God has a purpose for you and I individually. If you live your life according to His will and purpose you will be blessed. The New Covenant blessing is nothing to do with abundance of things but all to do with a blessed life, a life of contentment and peace with God, whatever befalls us. There is also the corporate life that we belong to. God has set us in a community of His people. That is the local church! We, who call ourselves the Mustard Seed, are the local church, and as such we have responsibilities. Our responsibility as we will discover, if we read through Deuteronomy, is to obey God in all aspects of our life. When we do this then we will be blessed of Him.

I have been told that the church here cannot be blessed for all sorts of reasons. The story of Ruth, disputes that rationale! Let us for the last few moments draw this to a conclusion.

Where God's people are there is blessing:

For a moment consider Ruth, she had found a Godly family, she had entered into a Godly relationship with Naomi. Through this she had become a believer in God and was about to enter into a new nation. Ruth was converted and was joining the people of God. Consider what her thoughts would have been, she was gleaning as much knowledge about the faith from her mother in law whilst journeying to Bethlehem. She was excited by her God and His people and with great anticipation was coming to the church! What great blessing it is to have new converts amongst the people of God. Alongside Ruth the whole company of heaven was rejoicing over that one sinner who had repented.

Now consider Naomi, the pleasant one, could not enter into the joy of the Lord because her eyes were elsewhere. She was looking down at her own worries and concerns. She was not interested in the blessing that was hers in the bringing of Ruth into fellowship with God and His people. All that she could say was it was so much better before. I was full and now I am empty!

The church can be so full of Naomi theology that it does not see the blessing that we are really experiencing! More of this in a moment.

But then there are the people of God, they were experiencing their own blessing. The barley harvest had begun, this would be followed by the day of atonement and the passover celebrations and finally the feast of weeks or Pentecost as it later became. All of these were the ongoing evidence that God was blessing His people once again. They were about to receive an new convert, who would come and make a difference to the whole community. Ruth would bring them the challenge to accept her, even though she was foreign to them. She was now one of them, with all of her foibles that would undoubtedly raise eyebrows at times. They it seems welcomed her with open arms.

God was blessing them in the obvious ways but the effects were reaching into the whole of eternity. In reality the barley harvest was the least of all blessings. You see just as the barley harvest signified the greater harvest to come, so it was with the return of Naomi. The best was yet to come. The day of atonement was to find true significance and the passover accomplished in the descendant of Ruth, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The final harvester which is the Holy Spirit would later come and empower the church to bring in souls for salvation. All in all great blessing is promised in and through these simple beginnings. It is exactly the same with the local church, we belong to a much bigger people. Which is the church universal. That is all throughout history who are born again of the Spirit of God. As such we are all vital cogs in the machinery known as the church. Our Mustard Seed is vitally important in the growth of the church worldwide.

How can I say such a thing? Let me give you some examples.

• I was speaking to a pastor a couple of weeks ago, he was telling me that it was in the Mustard Seed that he was converted. He now serves the local church elsewhere but is a son of ours. I have met at least two other pastors who are serving churches that were converted here. There are serving Christians throughout the world whose gospel influence is the Mustard Seed. The Naomi mindset says that there is no blessing for us, but that is wrong. Kaushik Das in India has been blessed through our ministry. Let me tell you of what he said to me this week: “I along with our church were praying for your ministry last Sunday. We prayed that you and the church would be mightily blessed.” Now consider what happened last Sunday morning. We had a lovely service and with many visitors with their children. All of them spoke of the great blessing that they had received. Others of our regular congregation spoke of how the Lord had blessed and encouraged them as we worshipped and heard the word of God explained. Many went away blessed. But, I after hearing one or two criticisms went away in Naomi mode. I was downcast and ready to go, fed up and seeing no blessing. Others felt the same, I am sure, but we were not seeing what God is doing amongst us. We must repent of such self pity which can only cripple the church. Let us be like Ruth in our theology and rejoice in the blessing that is ours!
• Look at what is ahead, Ruth was eagerly meeting with God's people but yet Naomi was dreading it. She was about to present this new convert to the church but it was with a downcast heart. Let us for a moment consider our situation. Next week we have the great privilege of dedicating Ayla to the Lord for His covenant blessing on her life. Tristan and Becci will be bringing along friends and family to witness this wonderful service. We will have many in our service that do not know the Lord Jesus, will we accept them? Welcome them? Make them want to join with us? Will they leave wanting to know our Saviour because we have impressed upon them that it is a joy to belong to Him and His church? That is how Ruth felt in Bethlehem, and that is how all that enter the church of Jesus Christ should feel. Sadly there is more of the Naomi to our expectations than there is of the Ruth! Let's put that right.
• Just as circumstance brought Ruth to Bethlehem, so it has brought all of us to where we are today. That means that just as Ruth was expected to enter fully into Hebrew life, then so are we expected to enter fully into church life. That means that we all have our individual gifts that we must bring to the church. For Ruth it was going to be motherhood. Just imagine what would have happened if she had said that she wanted to do her own thing! That Boaz was not good enough for her. Where would that have put the plans of God? But that is just what we do as the church, we do not give our gift as we ought. But there is also another side to this, Ruth was accepted by all in Bethlehem. She was allowed and encouraged to bring and to use her gift. They were accommodating of her. That is something that we must learn from, newcomers must be allowed to enter into the whole of the fellowship and to use their God given gifts in whatever areas of the church that is necessary.
• The results of Naomi returning were far reaching and so is our ministry today. I was called of God to serve here and so I must serve until the day that God calls ma elsewhere, or you reject me. So I am saying that as for me and my house we will serve the Lord here to the very best of our ability. I am going to stop looking over my shoulder to past blessings and see the opportunities that God is affording here and now. I am so excited about what is happening with Operation Christmas Child, we are about to affect the lives of a number of children and their parents through the gifts sent. Then we will be enabling bible teachers to teach them the gospel. That we believe will result in some being converted and becoming vital witnesses for Jesus. That is the harvest that I am committed to. Of course there are other works that we are involved with, either corporately or individually. When the gospel is presented then there is salvation hope and we rejoice. My role is to equip all of us to be Ruth types who love and serve the Lord with all of our hearts. Let us move forward and stop looking to the past, that has been good but marred by our mistakes, just as was Naomi's experience. We will no doubt make other mistakes but if we maintain a Ruth mindset then they will be forgiveable mistakes because God is surely working out His purposes through us.

Truly, the best is yet to come!

Ruth part 4 On the turning away!

21^st October 2018

P.A.Thatcher

The Mustard Seed Evangelical Church.

Series: “The best is yet to come!” {Lessons from the book of Ruth Part 4}

Orpah: On the turning away!

Ruth chapter 1: 6-18

When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.’

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, ‘We will go back with you to your people.’

But Naomi said, ‘Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me – even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons – would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!’

At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.’

But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

NIV UK.

In our series “the best is yet to come,” we have so far concentrated on the main characters of chapter 1. We saw that Elimelech, whose name means “God is King,” was guilty of a lack of trust and faith when it came to matters that affected his family. We saw that Ruth, whose name means “friend,” was truly a friend to her mother-in-law but was also a friend the Naomi's family, friends, nation and most importantly she was a friend of God. Last time we saw that Naomi, whose name means pleasant, even though she was embittered by the dire circumstances that she found herself in was a truly pleasant believer.

This week we will consider Orpah, whose name means “back of the neck.” Her name suggests that she turns her back against difficult issues. Orpah, is one who could be accused of burying her head in the sand, or of deserting the cause. She would be one of those who, when the going gets tough, Orpah gets going! Our title is “on the turning away,” from this we will consider the various aspects that caused that turning away.

We see from the verses that we read, that Orpah:

• Started on the journey.
• Listened to the voice of reason.
• Missed out on true blessing.

Orpah started on the journey:

Great news had been heard, the Lord had come to the aid of His people. As a good Moabite, Orpah knew that the children of Israel were special to God Almighty. They had their own gods, but they were weak efforts next to the God of Israel. They were impotent whereas, Yahweh was Almighty. The Moabites who were descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew, they knew the stories of Yahweh's might, power and His provision. They had been a nation that had come under the direct judgement of God, and even though they did not follow Him or worship Him, they knew much of Him. Now the news is out, the famine is over and Israel are blessed again. This news was brought to the family, whilst they were immigrants in Moab. Naomi is up and going and both Ruth and Orpah are on their way, with her.

If she had completed the journey, then Orpah would have gone to the place of God's blessing. It was her decision to go this far as is proven by the conversation that she has with Naomi. Naomi attempted to send her and Ruth back, and both of them protest and vow to travel with her. It was a tearful experience and I am sure that Orpah was sincere in her tears for Naomi and also for her decision to go along with her to Bethlehem. But. As we know, Orpah did not remain resolved to go! We will return to that theme in a few moments, but we must first assess what is happening.

The Lord Jesus told a parable of the sower, which Matthew, Mark and Luke record. As you may recall, the good seed was scattered and it fell on any one of four different soils. Some fell on the good ground and was fruitful, but others fell on the path, amongst the rocks or in the weed patch, the result of each of these seeds was death and unfruitfulness. I could apply all three of them to Orpah's experience. The seed, which is the Word of God, which fell on the path was eaten up by the birds and came to nothing. The seed that fell on rocky soil, at first looked promising because it seemed to flourish quickly until the sun became very hot and then it withered and died. The seed that fell amongst the weeds, grew for a while and then was choked by the weeds that demand the water and nutrients that are required for life to grow and become fruitful.

Orpah, by the same assessment that we made of Ruth, knew much of the word of God from the family into which she had married. That word as we know will not mature and bring forth fruit because Orpah deserts the cause. There are of course mitigating circumstances that cause Orpah to go on her way. Naomi is particularly persuasive, we will return to that in a moment, but we must say that Orpah chose the way that she went. It was by her free will that she went back. Even though it was an emotional parting, Orpah freely separated herself from the family of God.

Now let us just apply this to the church today. The people of God in the Old Testament equate to the church of today. We are equally His nation, we each have families that are just as complex as this family that we are studying. We have those who are born into the family, those who are adsorbed into the family. We all dearly want our family to love and belong to the church. Our families, before they know God for themselves, rely on us to bring them into fellowship. Therefore all that they know of Christ and His church will almost certainly come from our influence on them. We are often the only bible that they will read and so we want them to know our Saviour by who we are. Just as Ruth did from Naomi!

All along that road, each one of them makes a decision as to whether to follow us to the place of blessing or to reject that road. Our responsibility is to be the best Christians that we can be in order that nothing about us causes them to desert the road to Christ. I would suggest that it was the personal decision of Orpah that caused her to refuse to go into the promised land. Her tears tell us that it was a wrench to do so, but she simply did not want to belong to the people of God.

That having been said, we must also consider what it was that finally caused her to turn away.

Orpah listened to the voice of reason:

As we saw when we considered Naomi, her voice of reason was not at all reasonable. God's people are not only called to live a Godly life, that shows others that God is really Saviour. But we are also called as ambassadors of Christ who plead with others to be reconciled to God! That is the gospel message, the problem with Naomi was that she preached another gospel. She had the message of, go and be happy and don't worry about blessing with the people of God.

In this case it reared it's ugly head with what appeared to be completely reasonable, rational and caring. It might seem reasonable to remind Orpah that Naomi was too old to have sons and to rear them to be a Levirate father to continue the family line. It is certainly true and logical, but that ignores the word of God which makes provision for such circumstances. The reason is bogus.

It might seem to be caring to send her back to her family and into the arms of a Moabite man as a husband, but again that is the most uncaring act of all. Orpah was being sent by Naomi into Moab and outside of God's covenant care.

It might seem to be rational to send her back to her way of worship, but that is more than irrational, it is against God's command that even in the Old Testament was that His people should be lights to the nations, that attract people to Him just as a moth is attracted to a light source on a dark night.

These were the words of Naomi to both Orpah and Ruth, and Orpah took them to heart and left. The result of that decision was that she was no longer living amongst God's people and being gospel influenced by them.

Let us consider this for ourselves today. We so easily do the same thing today. We do it in the family, are we keen to bring family, friends, neighbours to the church in order that they might hear the gospel and be saved? Or do we shy away from the invite for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps your reason is as I guess Naomi's might have been, that of shame when they meet our fellow believers. What will your contact think of your brothers and sisters in Christ, is often a barrier, after all Christians might just spill the beans on what the Christian life should be like, and would that add up to the example that we have made? It is easy also to be scared of bringing them into the church because we can never be sure how the church would accept them. That was so often true in Israel, it must never be true here. Sadly I do believe that it is a problem amongst us. We must be prepared to accept any who join with us!

O our family and friends see gospel truth in all that we are, do they want to know about Jesus because they know we love Him, or are they ignorant of our faith? I pray that is not the case.

Is our voice of reason the cross of Christ, or is it the fellowship of the church? We only have the cross to preach, the cross where Jesus died as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. It is the place where God's anger is turned away from us and onto Christ for the redemption of our souls. Our salvation is accomplished by Him alone, it is not the decision to go with Naomi that saved Ruth, it was her personal faith in God that changed her into a child of the living God. Deciding to go to the promised land would not have saved Orpah, she had one thing missing, it was something that no amount of persuading would change, it was faith in God that she lacked.

On the other side of the coin, we must say that no amount of persuasion, either to follow or to leave really makes no difference either. Naomi persuaded Orpah to leave and then focussed on Ruth but Ruth would not be persuaded. The difference was that God was at work in Ruth, He was calling her! Just as He called Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Samuel, Saul of Tarsus and you and me. He called Ruth to salvation. We must be about the business of bringing others to the promises of God in order that He save those to whom He chooses.

Finally:

Orpah missed out on the blessing:

• The blessing of meeting the people of God.
• The blessing of seeing the delight that the people of Bethlehem had over one member who had gone away but had now returned.
• The blessing of seeing god provision for His poor people.
• The blessing of seeing His protection through His Godly people.
• The blessing of seeing the Bridegroom.
• The blessing of a future family, through a son.
• The blessing of seeing Naomi holding a grandson.
• The blessing of heaven!

Let us make sure as far as it is possible to make sure our friends, family, neighbours, contacts do not miss out on the blessing of God found in Jesus Christ. Let us do all that is in our power to make sure for them there is no turning away.