Ruth - The Invisible Hand of God

Notes:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzfgQEpx_4vOSm5MdEY0WGlwWkk/view?usp=sharing

 

RUTH:  From Loss to Life - 2

THE INVISIBLE HAND OF A GOOD GOD

 

Proverbs 16:25 (NIV) There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

 

Ruth 1:22 (ESV) So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

 

 

Ruth 2:1 (ESV) Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

 

Ruth 2:1 (MSG) It so happened that Naomi had a relative by marriage, a man prominent and rich, connected with Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.

 

Psalm 37:23 (NLT) The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

 

Ruth 2:2-3a (ESV) And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers,

 

Deuteronomy 24:19 (NLT) “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.

 

Ruth 2:3 (NLT) So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.

 

Ruth 2:1 (ESV) Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

 

Ruth 2:4 (ESV) And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.”

 

Ruth 2:5-7 (ESV) Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”

 

Ruth 2:8-9 (ESV) Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”

 

Ruth 2:10 (NLT) Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”

 

Ruth 2:11-12 (NLT) “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers.12 May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”

 

Ruth 2:14 (NLT) At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.

 

Ruth 2:17-23 (NLT) So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. 18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.

19 “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.” 20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband.[b] That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.” 21 Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”

22 “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.” 23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

 

1. Wherever you are and whatever you’ve done, the best thing you can do is come home to God’s people and the place of God’s provision.

 

2. God cares about you.

 

3. God is at work even if you cannot see it.

 

4. When God seems farthest from us, He may be laying the foundations for the greatest displays of His faithfulness to us.

 

5. Ultimately, the characters in this story are revealing the character of God to us. 

 

He seeks the outcast as His family.

He shelters the weak under His wings.

He showers the needy with His grace.

 

Psalm 46:1-10 …refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress… ‘Be still, know that [He] is God. He will be exalted…’

 

Psalm 46:11 “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress”.