Ruth Part 8: The Crisis of the Seed (Dr. Trey Benfield)

Scripture Readings:
Genesis 3:15
Genesis 49:1-10
Ruth 4:11-22

Today is the eight and final sermon in our series of Ruth.  Ruth exhibits many of the traits of a good story.  It has a hero from a spurious background facing a crisis with limited resources but who is able to overcome the crisis using unconventional means.  Like all good stories Ruth has a beginning, middle, and end.  Boaz’ purchase of Naomi’s field and his marriage to Ruth has resolved the crisis but we still have the ending.

As we have reflected on Ruth we have seen that this story of a hungry, poor foreign woman marrying a wealthy noble Israelite has pointed to a bigger world outside of itself.  Ruth has borrowed imagery and language to consciously point the hearer back to the book of Genesis.  As I have preached through Ruth, I have pointed out some of the places where the story referred to events from the Genesis story.  

For example the story of Ruth starts with a famine.  The stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all involve famines.  Ruth leaves her family and her land to go to Israel using language similar to God’s command to Abraham to leave his family and his land and go to the land that will become Israel.  Like Tamar and Jacob, Ruth uses precarious means to obtain an inheritance.  In Ruth, the social order is subverted when a Moabite woman becomes the hero just as Jacob, the second son receives the inheritance, Jacob’s blessing is pronounced on the younger Ephraim rather than the older Mannaseh, the younger Judah is to receive the kingship of Israel, Perez becomes the first born over Zerah, and Joseph rises above all his older brothers to become second in command of Egypt.  In Ruth the crisis is the end of Elimelech’s line because of the death of his children before they have sons.  In Genesis infertility constantly threatens to end the family line.  The book of Genesis is the story of outsiders who because of their fidelity to God are able to overcome famine and infertility and the story of Ruth largely parallels this story.  

What I want to do is look at another example where Ruth parallels Genesis.  I think this is the most important parallel with Genesis and is the key to understanding why the author is using all these images and language from Genesis.  First, though let us try to think about what Genesis as a complete work is trying to tell us.  Genesis is actually a fairly organized book.  It is broken up into ten sections that all start with the phrase, “these are the generations of”  which is followed by a genealogy.  If you are in the biz you call these the toledot section because the word toledot is Hebrew for generation.  Second, the word offspring which in Hebrew is the word zera is used a stunning 49 times.  My point is that children and the family line is a major theme of Genesis.  Starting with chapter 12, Genesis is a essentially the Abraham family saga.    

Now here is the reason family lines and repetition of the word offspring is important.  It is important because it is the answer to the great crisis of Genesis.  The unresolved tragedy at the beginning of Genesis is that Adam and Eve listen to the words of the serpent rather than God.  Adam and Eve choose to believe that they themselves are the best people to decide whether or not they should eat the the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  In judgment of Adam and Eve, God is withholding a great benefit from them out of jealousy.  The result is Adam and Eve are exiled from God’s presence and the project God had started for humanity to fill and multiply the earth and thus expand God’s kingdom is in danger.  

God’s solution to this problem is found in Genesis 3:15, the passage we read earlier.  God will not abandon humanity to the alliance it has made with the serpent.  Instead He will fight the serpent by creating enmity between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent.  Notice there is that word zera in Hebrew or offspring.  The verse goes on to say that a specific offspring of the woman will suffer the bruise of the serpent but will ultimately prevail by crushing the serpent’s head.  So because of this verse the offspring of Eve becomes important because it will lead to a specific, particular offspring that will at last defeat the serpent.  

So the genealogies and the repeated use of offspring are both used for a reason - their use signals the advancement to the solution to that will resolve the crisis of the exile of humanity and the potential end of God’s project.  So while we have this family drama that could almost be a made for TV miniseries, it is imbued with cosmic significance.  By adopting the language of Genesis, Ruth is signaling to the reader that this story is another part of this drama advancing the story toward the offspring who will defeat the serpent, return humanity from its exile, and completing the projecting of at least expanding God’s kingdom over the whole earth.  

The book of Revelation graphically illustrates this drama using imagery from the Old Testament to picture this war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.  “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under feet and on her head a crown of twelve starts. (All of these terms are used in the Old Testament to describe Israel)  She was pregnant and crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  His tail swept down a third of heaven and cast them to the earth.  And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.”  

John is using a lot of symbolic language to show that the whole story of Israel, all the struggles with fertility and family lines are part of Satan’s war to stop the birth of the offspring that is destined to crush his head.  Ruth is part of this war as Elimelech’s line moves to the point of extinction.  

At several points in Genesis, mention is made of the offspring acquiring kingship.  At the end of Jacob’s life, he pronounces a series of blessings on his twelve sons.  These blessings take on more significance than we might think at first.  Jacob starts by telling us these blessings are what will happen in the latter days.  So here we can think of Jacob speaking prophetically and even crazier he is speaking of what we would call the end times.  Now I want to make a few comments about this prophecy and eventually it is going to relate to the main point of the sermon.  So I am going somewhere with this.

First, Jacob pronounces a blessing on each of his twelve sons in the order they were born.  For our purposes we will only look at the first four: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and tJudah.  Second, these prophesies have to do with which of his sons will receive the kingship.  Abraham’s family was promised a great nation and that nation was also promised a kingdom and a king who would do nothing less than become king of the whole earth.  What we would expect, because of the culture of the time, is the first born would naturally become the king.  This is a very consistent feature of most cultures - we refer to it as primogeniture.  Currently in England the kingship would pass to William because he is the eldest and not Andrew.

However, if we read the prophecy of Jacob, Reuben is passed over by the kingship because he defiled his fathers bed.  Earlier in Genesis we are told that Reuben had relations with his one of his father’s servants which in that culture was a blatant attempt to take his father’s place.  In other words Reuben had abused his power to try to usurp his father’s position.  As a result he is disqualified from the kingship.  Simeon and Levi are also passed over for the kingship because they had used their power in a violent way massacring an entire town because the of what one of the leaders of the town had done to their sister.  Judah is next in line and verse 10 tells us the scepter shall not depart form Judah nor the rulers staff.  In other words one of Judah’s line would hold the kingship and one of these descendants would be special.  To him shall be the obedience of all people.  This is a further development of the Genesis 3:15 promise giving us more detail about the one who would crush the serpent’s head.

So the tribe of Judah takes on great importance because despite being the fourth born, his line would be the one the kingship of Israel and ultimately the whole world would come from.  This is significant for our story because Boaz and Naomi are from the tribe of Judah.  The death of Naomi’s sons without children was a threat to this promise.  The child that Ruth bears to Boaz is a restoration of this promise and we learn in the genealogy that Ruth and Boaz’s child will be the grandfather of King David.  Of course that means that this child is also the ancestor of Jesus Christ, the messiah.  

Jesus is the seed who was promised to Adam and Eve who would crush the serpent’s head.  Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah.  Jesus is the one to whom shall be the obedience of all the peoples.  What is amazing is that this story of a rich nobleman who is kind to a poor Moabite takes on cosmic significance since the result is the preservation of the family line that leads straight to the salvation of the whole world.  In the end humble, simple kindness and inclusion saves the world.  However, perhaps it is not so surprising.  It is also the story of a simple couple caught up in Roman imperial census taking and taxation, a story of simple shepherds, and a manger that leads to the birth of this king.  

However, there is more this story has to tell us.  Let us first look back at why Judah.  Why is the kingship passed to Judah?  Judah is certainly not a great guy, but there are two significant events in his life that answer this question.  If you will recall, Judah’s father Jacob had two wives: Leah and Rachel.  Leah was unattractive and was unwanted and in fact Jacob was tricked into marrying her.  Rachel was the one Jacob loved, but Rachel could not have children.  Leah tried to earn the love of Jacob by bearing children.  Leah names her first son Reuben, she says because the Lord has looked on my affliction and now my husband will love me.  She names her next son Simeon because the Lord has heard that I was hated and has given me another son.  Then she names her third son Levi hoping that now my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.  When she names Judah there is a a change.  Leah names her fourth son Judah because, “This time I will praise the Lord.”  Leah has learned to rise above the competition and instead of seeking her husbands approval she rests in the praise of the Lord.

Second, if you remember the Joseph story, Joseph is sold by his brothers into slavery but becomes second in command of Egypt.  Many years later a famine forces Jacob’s sons to go to Egypt to buy grain.  To test their loyalty, Joseph threatens to imprison Rachel’s other son Benjamin.  Judah, knowing that with the absence of Joseph, Benjamin was his father’s favorite, begs Joseph to imprison him instead.  Judah sacrifices his freedom because of his love for his father.  

So Judah is characterized by resting in the praise of God and by offering himself as a substitute because of his love for another.   This then gives us a clue as to the features about the character of the king who is to come.  Judah is an imperfect representation of the kingdom, but his story gives us glimpses of what is to come just as Boaz and Ruth give us a picture of hesed the radical loyalty and devotion the characterizes God’s love for His people.  

Now just as we have gleaned a bit of knowledge of this coming king from the story of Judah, we can gain some further knowledge from the genealogy that ends the book of Ruth.  Remember this is the line of the offspring of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head.  He will end the battle that has been raging between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent.  Notice the name of Boaz and Ruth’s child - it is Obed.  The name Obed means servant.  The offspring will be characterized by service to others.   In Phillipians, Paul tells us that Jesus though he was in the form of God, emptied Himself by taking the form of the servant.  Jesus entire ministry is devoted to service .

This idea of service tells us something about power and the kingdom of God.  Our general view of a king is a negative one.  When we think of kings, we generally think of despots.  If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you think of King Goffrey.  The king is someone removed from power who uses his power for his own gain rather than the welfare of his subjects.  There is good reason for this - most kings do behave this way.  Power corrupts and that is a fact that we have a large body of empirical evidence to support.  This is the kind of power we see manifested by Reuben or the violence demonstrated by Levi and Simeon.  There rejection by God, is the rejection of the tyrannical exercise of power.  

Power and authority in the kingdom of God is quite different.  Most Israelites were expecting the messiah to come and kick the Romans out and then to rule in a similar manner to an earthly king.  Sure they probably thought the king would be much nicer to them than other kings, but they were not expecting the radically different idea of kingship that Jesus presents them.  This is why Jesus spends so much time teaching the people and the disciples what the kingdom of God will look like.   

At one point some of the disciples get in a fight over their position when Jesus imposes the kingdom they have been waiting for.  However, they are thinking in terms of the kingdoms they are used to and Jesus clearly denounces their idea and challenges them with His conception of kingship.  Here is what Jesus says, “You know those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  But it shall not be so among you.  But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  

For Jesus and for His kingdom, power does not take the form by manipulation in search of advantage like Reuben.  Power does not take the form of violence like Simeon and Levi.  Power takes the form of self sacrifice like Judah.  The line of the messiah is saved in the story of Ruth by a baby named servant.  

We in the church need to adopt a similar attitude to power.  How often does the church seek to advance its mission by attaching itself to celebrity or through the political process?  Yet this is just the church making the same error as His disciples.  We understand power as no different than the rest of the world.   Yet we are called to advance the kingdom through sacrifice and service.    

Here is other the lesson for us in the church, with the exception of King David, we know nothing about any of these people named in the genealogy.  All of them derive their significance by their relation to the king.  Even king David was originally passed over because his father thought him of no significance - certainly not of kingly material.  Yet God builds His kingdom through the neglected, the ordinary, the overlooked.  God uses the son of a Canaanite prostitute who marries a poor, Moabite woman.  

The great acts of Boaz and Naomi in this story are simple kindness.  Nothing in this story is heroic in the normal sense that we think of the world.  Instead it is concern for the other, sharing, and devotion.   Yet it is precisely these that lead to the defeat of the serpent and the salvation of humanity.  We in Resurrection Church do not need to be famous, or rich, or powerful, or articulate, or wise, or any other measure of greatness to advance the kingdom.  The war of the offspring and the defeat of the serpent is won, not by the great men of history, but those whose names are listed in a genealogy in passing.  People like us.  People who are not heroes, but people who are simply kind to others.  Let us abandon any other notion of what constitutes greatness and instead follow the example of Jesus.  
 

Ruth Part 7: Boaz's Kobayashi Maru Scenario (Dr. Trey Benfield)

Scripture Readings:

Nehemiah 13:1-3, 23-31
Matthew 22:34-40
Ruth 4:1-12

We are continuing a study of Ruth.  This is our seventh week in Ruth and we I will most likely conclude our series next week.  When we last left Ruth, Ruth at the urging of her mother-in-law had approached Boaz on the threshing floor and asked him to marry her.   Ruth had asked Boaz to marry her as a redeemer.  A redeemer was a legal term for a relative who was charged with ensuring that property did pass out of a family because of debt, also to purchase the freedom of a family member sold into slavery, and to ensure justice was served in legal matter involving a family member.  He had agreed but there is an obstacle in the way, because though Boaz was a redeemer there was another relative of Naomi’s who was a more immediate redeemer.  

What follows in chapter 4 is an account of a legal preceding in which the more immediate redeemer allows his rights to pass to Boaz.  It is interesting that we find that Namoi owns a plot of land that probably belonged to her husband Elimelech.  This land is probably in some sort of state of legal limbo because it was abandoned by Elimelech when he moved the family to Moab.  Naomi would have been to old to work the land and so it it would lie unused.  Ordinarily, the land would become the inheritance of a son, but since Elimelech’s line has seemingly come to end the land is up for grabs.  It was the responsibility of the redeemer to buy the land so it remains in possession of the clan.

I have discussed this previously, but the way land worked in the Old Testament was different than the way we think of it.  The land of Canaan was given by God to the Israelites for their use.  Ultimately, God owned the land but the Israelites were allowed to benefit from its produce.  When the Israelites took possession of Canaan specific families were given specific parcels of the land as their inheritance.  The land was to remain attached to the families.  The office of redeemer was created to ensure that the land did not pass out of the hand of its allowed family for long.  As a result a family would have been a deep attachment to a specific piece of land.

In order to fully redeem the line of Elimelech, it was not only necessary to marry Ruth it was also necessary to redeem his land.  Here is the tricky part and where the obstacle comes in.  The immediate redeemer whose name is given in the Hebrew text as Peloni Alomoni which is probably best translated as the equivalent of Mr. So-So or Joe Schmo, wants to buy the land.  At this point Boaz ties the purchase of the land with the marriage of Naomi.  It is difficult to understand exactly what is going on here why the land and the marriage are tied together- commentators are very divided as to why this is the case.  Probably the answer is that though we have the Torah there was probably a body of case law that was derived from the Torah that we don’t have access to.  In any event, Mr. So and So decided to back out perhaps realizing the land would not produce enough to enable him to support Naomi and Ruth from its proceeds.   

This was Boaz’s plan all along since it is Ruth that Boaz is primarily interested in.  In fact, I suspect that the text suddenly brings the land up now to deflect any idea that the land is what Boaz wants.  However, because of the connection with the land and the family, it is important because the full restoration of Elimelech’s family depends on the land and children.  Here Boaz hopes to restore not just the family line in terms of children, but also in terms of the lawful inheritance.   Interestingly, we see this real estate transaction performed in the presence of the witnesses is secured by the exchange of Mr. So and So’s sandal which  functions as a sign that he is abdicating his responsibility as redeemer.   

However, as interesting as ancient Israelite case law and the legal court procedures involved is, I want to focus on another issue.  Throughout this series I have emphasized repeatedly Ruth’s status.  She is a Moabite and I know you are tired of me hitting you over the head with this, but remember the Moabites were a despised people because of their scandalous origins, their pagan practices, and the fact that they repeatedly opposed the Israelites on multiple occasions including the hiring of the free lance sorcerer, Balaam who was to curse the Israelites.  Throughout the Old Testament, these facts about Moab are repeated and Deuteronomy 23 states that no Moabite or Ammonite may enter the assembly of the Lord forever.  In the passage from Nehemiah that we read earlier, the ban against Moab is recalled.  This is significant because  Nehemiah lived about 1000 years after Deuteronomy was written and about 800 years after the events of Ruth.  The Israelites could hold a grudge.  

The reason I keep bringing the fact that Ruth is a Moabite to your attention, I think I have mentioned in it in every single sermon in this series,  the reason is - because the book of Ruth keeps bringing it up. Almost every time Ruth is mentioned the text reminds us that she is a Moabite.  Even during the legal preceding we just read, Boaz makes note of it in verse 5.  One of the rules when we read a Biblical text is to pay attention to repetition.  When something is repeated its done so for a reason.  

We tend to read over this and assign very little significance to where Ruth is from, like she is Ruth from Carrboro.  Sure we know what people from Carrboro are all rich, liberal old hippies and hipsters who are always running marathons and cycling, but Moab was different.  Moab was a hated, despised people.  Now here is why I think the text mentions this - because the Moabites were excluded from the assembly of the Lord.  Furthermore, if allowing them to hang out with you is bad, marrying them is far worse.  Yet Boaz does so and there is no hint of condemnation for this action in this book. The elders even pronounce a blessing on Ruth and do not miss how extraordinary this blessing is that they pronounce.  They ask the Lord to make her like Rachel and Leah, the great matriarchs of Israel.  The even ask ask that Ruth bring renown to their community mentioning the founders of their tribe.  Every piece of culture that is special to them and whose memory they hold dear is heaped upon Ruth.  

Now let’s look back to the passage we read earlier from Nehemiah. The first few verses in the passage  lead to Israelites sending into exile all those who were from Moab.  The Israelites do this after reading the Deuteronomy passage I keep bringing up.  Then Nehemiah confronts all those who have married women from foreign nations including Moab and rather than issuing a blessing like the elders in Ruth, Nehemiah curses them.  As if this is not bad enough, Nehemiah beats them and pulls out their hair.  Again there is no hint in the book of Nehemiah that Nehemiah’s actions are anything less than pious.

So what we have is a clear contradiction in scripture.  Boaz takes a Moabite for a wife and is praised and the later Israelites take Moabites for wives and have their hair ripped out and are cursed.  I will double down on this point and say that the whole Old Testament is in contradiction.  On one hand foreigners are excluded and yet the promise to Abraham at the very start of Israel when God makes a promise to Abraham is that all nations should be blessed.  

Isaiah will spend chapter after chapter issuing curses against the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Syrians, the Cushites, the Phonecians, not to mention the Moabites.  Yet Isaiah will also say things like, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations,that my salvation may reach the end of the earth.”  Isaiah will also say, “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.  In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, Blessed by Egypt my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”  

Not to put too fine a point on it, but here is what Zechariah says, “Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord of hosts: in those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” 

If you are a Star Trek fan you are no doubt familiar with the Kobayashi Maru scenario.  For those of you unfamiliar, the Kobayashi Maru was a simulation that cadets in Star Fleet were put through designed to test their leadership abilities in extreme situations.  The scenario is this, the starship you are Captain of receives a distress signal from the Kobayashi Maru.  You have a duty to help all ships in distress.  However, the Kobayashi Maru is in the Neutral Zone which is a forbidden area of space that lies on the border of your enemies, the Klingon Empire.  You are required to offer assistance to a distressed ship but doing so causes you to be attacked by the Klingons and in the scenario their forces greatly outnumber you and they destroy you because you have clearly broken the law by entering the neutral zone.  

So in the Kobayashi Maru scenario you have an ethical/moral obligation to aid a distressed ship that is in conflict with the legal requirement forbidding you to enter the neutral zone.   Boaz and the people of Bethlehem face a similar situation.  They have an ethical requirement to bring blessing to all the nations of the earth and yet they are also forbidden to accept Moabites and other nations or to marry them.  How to resolve this contradiction?  I am going to approach it from two directions.  First, I am going to look at how Jesus interprets the law.  Second, we are going are to see how this story anticipates the way God will change the rules of the game.  

First, one of the issues Jesus confronts is challenges to the way he interprets the law.  It is not hard to find places in the law that are disputed or unclear and Jesus enemies use this to try to discredit Jesus.  Today in our political jargon we would call these wedge issues.  In effect they are confronting Jesus with various versions of the Kobayashi Maru scenario.  

The passage from Matthew that we read earlier takes place after several attempts by the two religious groups of the day, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, to trick Jesus using one of these no win scenarios.  The Pharisees who were experts in the law try to stump Jesus by asking what was the greatest commandment?  Now this was a trap because there was an internal dispute between schools of thought within the Pharisees themselves about which of the 613 commandments in the law were heavy and which were light.   Now no one would have objected to the answer Jesus gives saying that love of God is the greatest commandment.  Essentially Jesus restates the shema which comes from Deuteronomy 6:4&5  and every Jewish person had said these verse  every day for 1500 years at this point.  The first sentence you would have learned as a Hebrew child was Shema O Yitzrael Adonai Elohim Adonai ehad.  V’ahavat et Adonai Elohim B’kal L’vavka V’B’Kal Nafsh’ka, V’B’Cal V’Modeka. 

 The second commandment is really the test because the school of Hillell said it was “love your neighbor” while the school of Shammai said it was “observe the Sabbath.”  Jesus ends up siding with Hillel, but and here is where he rises above the debate, Jesus makes that statement “on these two commandment depend all the Law and the Prophets”

So Jesus is making point to the Shammai faction that all the laws they think are more important actually depend on these first two commandments.  Now here is what I think Jesus is doing - He is not replacing the law and saying really all you to do is follow these two commandments.  In another place, Jesus says not a jot or tittle of the law will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.   What Jesus is doing is giving a grid through which the law should be interpreted and that the test of following the law is drawing a straight line from the law to the point of the law and the point of the law is loving God and loving our neighbor.  When we are interpreting the law every decision should make a straight line to loving our God and loving our neighbor.  The law should fulfill those goals and never be used as a way to limit those goals.  If so we have missed the point. By marrying Ruth, Boaz has demonstrated love of God in working to accomplish the goal of blessing all the nations of the earth and by loving his neighbor the Moabite woman by accepting and caring for her.  

So what do we do with Nehemiah ripping out the Israelite’s hair for doing the same thing?  I think the key is to realize that the marriages of the Israelites was not accomplishing those goals.  By telling us that the Israelites were being led to sin and being pulled away from God because of their marriages just as King Solomon had done, I think Nehemiah is making this point.  

When Jesus is challenged about the legality of divorce, Jesus says the law of divorce was given because of necessary not because it was a good thing but because of the hardness of the heart of the people.  The intermarriage law was given not because it was a good thing, but because of the hardness of the Israelites heart.  The law was meant to protect the Israelites from the corrupting influence of foreigners because they were weak, it was not meant to banish foreigners from the love of God.  Boaz on the other hand has acted with integrity as has Ruth in her desire to leave her land and identify with Naomi and her people.  

So this is one answer to this question.  However, there is another answer that is even more profound.  Now you remember that I said that one of the keys to understanding what the author is trying to communicate in the Old Testament is to make note of repetition.  In addition to being referred to as a Moabite, Ruth is 8 times referred to as “my daughter.” - five times by Naomi and three time by Boaz.  This is a short book and if this phrase is used eight times it is because it is significant.  What Boaz and Naomi are trying to communicate by using this phrase is that Ruth is not an outsider instead she has been adopted in their family.  Ruth is not a foreigner rather she has been fully accepted and her identity has changed.  

This is God’s answer to the Kobayashi Maru scenario.  The way God solves the problem of creating a separate people to Himself and also blessing people outside of this group is by adoption.  This is why adoption becomes such a strong metaphor in the New Testament.  It is the explanation for how those who outside are brought in as full members of the family of God.  They receive the full status as sons and also the inheritance of the family.

Many have read the book “Blindside” by Michael Lewis or have seen the movie.  If you have not it is the story of a poor, black child named Michael Ohr who is adopted by a rich, white couple in Memphis.  The family had earned their wealth by owning a chain of Taco Bells.  One of my favorite scenes is one in which Michael goes in one of the Taco Bells and orders some food and instead of paying tells them his dad owns the place.  Of course the person at the counter is like, “yeah right” Michael calls his adopted father and rather than speaking directly to the employee, his father tells Michael to go up to the counter and demand his meal.  The reason the father does that is that he wants Michael to understand that he has the right to demand what he wants and even to get angry and yell because Michael needs to understand that he is considered fully his son.  He wants him to know that he has been fully adopted and embraced by the family and he wants him to fully absorb and understand that right.  

Now here is the thing about adoption.  We tend to focus on the part where the child is taken in by the family and receives the rights and privileges and is fully identified with the family.  However, there is another side to adoption that I think we need to remember to fully grasp the concept.  Many of you know the Crabtrees and know they are are actively working to adopt a child from China.  Holly has a blog that she updates about the experience and she made a very profound point.  Adoption is a happy thing in which a child experiences the safety and love of a family.  However, adoption always has a sad part because a family has been broken.

In this story Ruth’s family is broken.  She has no husband, no children, no hope of inheritance, no real future.  Ruth’s only companion is her mother-in-law Naomi who wants to change her name to reflect the fact that she only feels bitterness.  However, because of the love of Boaz, Ruth will receive a husband, a child, an inheritance, and a future.  She will have hope and Naomi will be restored.  All of this because Boaz looks at her and does not see a poor, Moabite refugee but someone he protects and loves as a father loves his daughter.  

In her blog Holly goes on to say that adoption is what Jesus does - bringing good things from the broken.   Adoption is what the gospel is about.  It is why the gospel is good news.    It is an analogy that Paul latches on to and uses in Galatians, Ephesians, and Romans.   What Paul wants us to understand is that because of Christ we are considered sons and heirs fully members of the family of God.  Full inheritors or God’s kingdom.  Like Michael Oher we have the right to walk into God’s kingdom and demand it as his children.  

Let me close with the words of Paul in Galatians.  Notice that this passage starts talking about redemption.  Just as Ruth acts as a redeemer to bring her a future, Jesus acts as our redeemer.    “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoptions as son.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His son into our heart crying Abba Father, so you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”  This is the power and the glory of adoption.  It is Jesus taking the brokenness of the world and bringing good things.   

Ruth Part 6: Help My Unbelief (Dr. Trey Benfield)

Scripture Readings:

Isaiah 43:1-7
Matthew 10:26-28
Ruth 3:11

We are in our week six in our study of Ruth.  Ruth is a relatively short book, and we are going through it rather slowly.  However, I think you will agree that not only is a compelling story, but there the author has managed to cram a lot of theology into this book.  My focus so far has been on the particular word hesed which is used quite a bit in the Old Testament to describe God’s relationship with His people.  We have talked about hesed and how no word can adequately translate it, because it contains several concepts like loyalty, mercy, grace, and a love that goes beyond ones duty.  It is illustrated in the story of Ruth by Ruth and her relationship with Naomi as well as Boaz and his relationship with Ruth.  By using a story, the author is able to communicate this concept in a more vivid way that just a definition so that we experience it in a deep way.

Today, I am going to revisit one verse that I think lies at the heart of Ruth and I want to go into more detail.  In this verse Boaz tells Ruth do not fear and I will do for you all I ask.  When I studied this verse I realized that these two phrases are used repeatedly in the Bible to describe God’s attitude toward His people.  So what I want to do in the sermon today is take these two phrases and try and understand their significance and what we can learn from these words.

However, I am going to start with a story.  In 1940 Adolf Hitler turned his military westward invading France after taking over Norway and Denmark.  Great Britain had sent 316,000 troops to France to help the French halt the Nazi invasion.  Hitler’s disciplined, mechanized army with its Panzer tanks and extremely effective air support proved too much for the Belgian, French, and British army.  The British Expeditionary Force, the French 1st Army, and the Belgian Army became trapped near the Dunkirk.  On the East and West were two massive German armies and to the North the English Channel.  For the Allies there were only two options available, hold out and fight and suffer certain defeat or surrender.  As those in Great Britain awaited news of the fate of the British Expeditionary Force, an officer was able to send out a three word transmission - “but if not.”   The British knew there would be no surrender, the army would fight to the end.   

The three word phrase introduces a verse from the book of Daniel.  King Nebuchadnezzar had made a giant golden idol and demanded that at certain appointed times, everyone in the empire was to bow down and worship the golden idol.  However, three Israelites, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego refused to so.  Nebuchadnezzar had devised a punishment for refusal - a fiery furnace.  When King Nebuchadnezzar confronted the three Israelites, they replied, “Our God is able to deliver us.  But if not, be it know to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden idol that you have set up.”  How were Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego able to defy the greatest conquerer at that point in human history despite the very real prospect of death by without any trace of fear?

So let’s first look at “do not fear.”   The phrase do not fear, do not be afraid, fear not or some variation is found in almost every book of the Bible.  In fact, do not fear is the most frequent command issued in the Bible.  Often the phrase is used at key movement in the story and also at times when God makes an appearance usually in response to a crisis.  The first time fear not is used was in the critical moment when God makes the great covenant with Abraham promising him descendants and great kingdom.  It is repeated again to Abraham’s son Isaac and then numerous times in Deuteronomy as the Israelites prepare to take over the promised land from the Canaanite and also to Joshua as he leads the Israelites into battle.

The book of Isaiah contains a section called the servant songs in which the Messiah is promised and repeatedly the command is given to fear not.  When the messiah is born in Bethlehem, the angels tell the shepherds fear not for I bring you good news of great joy that will be to all people.  I could go on.  

As we look at the examples where we are told not to fear there are some consistent reasons given for why we should not fear.  First, God’s people are under his protection.  God tells Abraham that He is his shield.  God is bigger than any enemy and everything and everyone is in His power.  The Psalms says God is our refuge and our strength therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains move into the heart of the sea.  The Lord is on my side I will not fear, what can a man do to me.  Jesus will later reassure the disciples that all power in heaven and on earth is under His authority.  

Second, God’s presence is with His people.  God’s presence means that His people will benefit because He is actively there to bless them and fulfill His promises.  When Isaac is harassed by the Philistines and cannot dig a well, God tells Isaac, “fear not, I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring.” I am with you is frequently repeated to His people.  He is on their side and that means He is actively working together with His people.  Often this phrase is used when God’s people are taking on a project like conquering Canaan or building the temple.  They are to know that with God’s help the goal will be accomplished.  

Third, God has a plan and He is in control.  We are not to fear the future because God has already decided the outcome.  God will redeem His people.  He tells Israel he will gather them for the east and the west.  God tells them fear not, nor be afraid have I not told you from of old and declared it?  God has a plan for His people and that plan is nothing less than the salvation of the whole world.  Jesus says fear not for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Remember that when Jesus talks about the kingdom, that is not an abstract concept to His audience.   The kingdom is shorthand for God’s plan to free Israel and to fulfill all the promises made in the Old Testament.  Jesus tells us fear not I am the first and the last.  
What I find interesting about this concept of not fearing is that despite its persistent repeated command throughout the Bible, the Church is full of fear.  We fear cultural relativism, shifting cultural values, future economic collapse, the marginalization of faith in public life, atheists, militant Islam, politicians that do not conform to our views and we sit and worry and fear that one or more of these groups will crush the church.  However, John tells us the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  

Listen to this quote from Leviticus that describes the state Israel will find itself if they depart from the loyalty to God: “The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues.  They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues.”  
What this passage tells us is that fear means that we will not be able to stand before our enemies.  Furthermore, those who forget God are recognized by the fact that they make irrational responses to irrational fears.  A driven leaf puts them to flight.   The scary thing for the church is at the heart of fear is unbelief in the only assurance of safety, God Himself. 

We should beware of those in the church who try to instill fear in us.  The consistent message of the Bible is against this.  Paul says that God gave us not a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self control.  This passage in Leviticus was written before the Israelites were to go into Canaan and establish God’s kingdom.  The point of the passage is a warning the fear will prevent the establishment of God’s kingdom.  The same holds for the church today.   How often does fear prevent us from living up to the ideals of the kingdom - our quest for economic security keeps us from engaging with the world, our fear of the other prevents us from loving our neighbor, our fear of lack of control prevents us from trusting God.   If we hope to establish Christ’s kingdom, the church must be characterized by power, love, and self control rather than fear.  

This is not to acknowledge that there are not real dangers.  The Bible never presents the world as anything other than a broken, violent place.  However, here is what Jesus says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  The power of the resurrection means that nothing physical can ultimately harm the Christian.  

When Jesus stand before Pilate the man representing the power and authority of the greatest empire in human history, Pilate tells Jesus, “Do you not know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you.”  Pilate is not blowing smoke.  His authority is real.  He can crucify and he can release.  However, Jesus shows no fear despite the very real threat Pilate represents because as Jesus says, “You would have no authority over me unless it had given you from above. “  For the Christian the key to living without fear is understanding that even despite the very real threat posed by the powers of this world, those powers are ultimately in submission to God who loves His people.   

Now lets looking at the second part of this verse.  Boaz tells Ruth I will do for you all that you ask.  Just as with do not fear, this is a statement that is repeated throughout the scriptures.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”  or later in Matthew “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith.”  There are at least twelve different occasions where Jesus will make a similar statement not counting the stories where the gospels overlap.  Later James will say, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, without doubting.”

The point I want to make from these examples is that God promises to give us what we ask for and the only thing that prevents Him from doing so is a lack of faith.  Just as with the command to not fear, I think we in the church have a hard time believing that this is true.   Here is what I do and here is what I think most Christians do - we will pray to God and ask him for small things but we are scared to pray for what we really want.  We trust Him to take care of the the things we know are easy to achieve but the really hard things we don’t pray about.  There is an inconsistency here because God created the universe, he can do the hard things as well as the easy things.  

Really though we are scared because we have asked God for something in the past and we have not been given it and we have doubted God.  We have prayed for something and we have not been given it and we have read these verses and have concluded we must lack faith.  So we try again and tell ourselves we must not doubt and that we need to really believe this time, but we know we are forcing the issue and that is not real faith.  So we end up ignoring these verse.  Maybe we don’t think that God intervenes in this way anymore.  The problem is that we have a high view scripture and just as with the command to not fear we must deal with this repeated and clear promise.  

So what do we do?  I do not know that I can answer all the questions. However, I think Ruth gives us some help in dealing with this issue.  You see forcing ourselves to have more faith is not the answer.  The answer is in a correct view of who God is and this is where this story of Ruth and Boaz helps us.  I have been making the point all along that the reason we have this story is because at times in the book of Ruth, both Boaz and Ruth have demonstrated hesed.  Remember hesed is the very important Hebrew used to describe God’s grace, mercy, loyalty, and love for His people.  Ruth’s love from Naomi causes Ruth to leave her family and her home and become a poor, refuge in a strange and possibly hostile land with little prospect or hope.  Ruth demonstrated hesed by showing great loyalty to Naomi.  Boaz has offered care and protection to Ruth inviting her to his table and sharing his food with her despite the fact that she is from an enemy nation and has little to offer him.  Further Boaz has pledged himself to her even though her methods were impertinent and brazen.  What this story is doing is giving a real picture that we can take hold of and feel of the character of God’s love for His people.  

So when we see Boaz offering this promise to give her anything she asks and calls her his daughter, we understand what Boaz means.  He wants to be her husband, he wants to act as her father, and just as a good husband or father Boaz wants Ruth to be happy and to have joy.  This is where Ruth is helpful because I think a lot of why we have problem asking God for what we want is that we have an inaccurate picture of the character of God.  God wants us to have joy and happiness and God wants the best for us and we don’t believe it just like a father wants the best for his child 

Now don’t think I am preaching the prosperity gospel here.  Sometimes we are not given what we ask for.  I have known Praveen for several years now and I know that he has prayed for relief from his back pain.  I know that we as a congregation have prayed together for relief from his back pain.  Is it because of a lack of faith that this has not happened?  I don’t think so.  I do not know why God does not give us the answer that we want sometimes.  Paul prayed that God would remove the thorn from his side but was not given relief.  Job never received an answer as to why he suffered.  Jesus prayed that the cup would pass from Him.

What I do know is that it is dangerous for us to view God in any other way than that He is a good father who desires our joy and is able and willing to provide for us.  When the serpent tempts Eve in the garden one of the lies the serpent tells her is that God really does not desire her happiness and that is why He withholds the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from her.  I think this incorrect view of God is why the doubt and the lack of faith enters our minds when we ask God for something.  The point I want to make is that just with the command not to fear, the belief that God wants joy for us, is based on the fact that God is on our side.  We cannot follow this command or pray the way we need to if we view God in any other way.  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how will He not also graciously give us all things?  

This is hard but I think that I have made the point of how serious this issue is to us in the church.  Let me conclude by leaving you with this story from Mark to help.  A man brings his son to Jesus because he is possessed by a demon.  The disciples are not able to cast them out and Jesus says clearly it is because the disciples lack faith. Jesus tells the father, “All things are possible for one who believes.”  Right here the father and the disciples are dealing with this issue.  The fathers response is “I believe; help my unbelief!”  We need to ask God to help our unbelief.  We need to repent of the ways in which we have ignored the clear teaching of scripture and we need to remember that God is our father and desires nothing less than His kingdom for us.  We need to boldly draw near to the throne of grace.  We have not received the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.  We have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father!
 

Ruth Part 5: The God who Covers our Shame (Dr. Trey Benfield)

Scripture Readings: 
Genesis 3:8-11, 21
Zechariah 3:1-10
Ruth 3:1-18

Today we look at the third chapter of Ruth.  This chapter begins the climax of the drama of Ruth.  For the last few weeks we followed the story of Ruth who the text makes a point of identifying repeatedly as a Moabite woman.  The Moabites were a nation of people located next to Israel.  They were a people with a disgraceful origin who worshipped pagan gods.  The Moabites relationship to Israel was one of animosity.  Not only is Ruth a Moabite but she is a poor, desperate refuge whose husband has died, who has left her home and her family to move to a strange, alien land.  Yet she has found protection under Boaz who has provided for her.  She arrived in Israel at the beginning of the barley harvest and Boaz allowed her to glean from his fields and accepted her under his care as one of his own.  However, the harvest is now ending and Noami and Ruth find themselves in desperate circumstances once again.  

It is at this point that chapter three takes up our story and Naomi knowing the women would need a new long term strategy to survive concocts a plan.  This is where the story gets interesting.  Naomi tells Ruth to clean and perfume herself and put on her best clothes and then wait until Boaz has finished eating and drinking and then to uncover his feet and lie down with him.  She explains to Ruth that Boaz will know what to do.  The question for us then is what exactly is going on here.  

The text is purposely ambiguous.  This is not uncommon in Old Testament literature.  Sometimes a story is not spelled out to us because the writer wants to draw us in and force us to think about what is happening.  Now we in the church have a problem with passages like this because we want to make the Bible into a morality tale.  We come across a character and if they are a good character we draw the lesson that we should emulate that person.  If they are bad we then we say we should not be like them.  So since Ruth is clearly the hero of the story we take this ambiguity and instead of reading  it like any other story we come up with some convoluted explanation about how Ruth is doing something noble.  

A common interpretation sees Ruth’s action as an ancient custom where she is symbolically making a marriage request.  The problem is there is no evidence for this at all.  Others think she is communicating to Boaz by changing her clothes and wearing perfume that she is no longer in a period of mourning for her husband.  The problem for this explanation is it seems the text would have probably emphasized that she was in a period of mourning earlier and there is are also Naomi’s persistent conversations with Ruth about finding a new husband.  If Ruth were still in a mourning period it seems unlikely that Naomi would have brought this up.  I I think if we read this anywhere else but the Bible I think we would know exactly what is going on.  

So let’s try to read this like its any other story.  Boaz and his men have spent the last eight weeks working hard harvesting grain.  They are now finished for the season, they are an agricultural based society so this grain is like money in the bank.  So what do they do now that their work is finished and they have a lot of money - they have a party?  As the owner Boaz would be responsible for putting together a celebratory feast for his men.  They are feeling good, they have just consumed a big meal, and likely also celebrated with drink.  The scene would have been like when sailors come to port after being at sea or cowboys riding into town after making their run.  No doubt there would have been the general debauchery at least among a certain portion of the men if perhaps not Boaz himself, but this would have been the atmosphere in some way or another.  All this revelry would have taken place at the threshing floor.  We know that Judah’s dalliance with Tamar took place at the time the sheep were sheared.  In Hosea 9 we are told that threshing floors were the places where prostitutes frequented.  

Boaz is described as having eaten and drunk and his heart was merry.  This phrase his heart is merry is the same phrase used in Esther to describe Xerses state when he commands his wife to show herself off before his drinking buddies.  So we have a man whose inhibitions have been dulled by food and drink, who has just completed a hard period of work, who is in a festive mood, being approached by a woman who has perfumed herself and put on her best clothes. 

The words Naomi uses when she explains her plan to Ruth are also suggestive.  Naomi tells Ruth to uncover his feet and lie down.  Uncover, feet, and lie are all words that can have a completely innocuous meaning, but are also frequently used as euphemisms.  The fact that these three words are used together combine with the set up tells us that Ruth is actively trying to seduce Boaz in attempt to force him to propose marriage.  Also keep in mind that Ruth is a Moabite and Genesis 19 tells that the Moabites because Lot’s daughters got their father drunk in order to take advantage of him.  

So what we have here is a poor woman attempting to seduce a rich nobleman and force him to marry her because she is poor and desperate.  Ruth is trying to manipulate him and take advantage of Boaz.  In the parlance of our times she would be referred to as a gold digger.  When Boaz discovers Ruth at his feet he says, “Who are you?”  This is the same phrasing used twice by Isaac in the story where Jacob dresses up like Esau to swindle the blessing from his blind father.  Now once again we have a story of a person who use deception to get something she does not deserve.  

Cause here is the thing, Ruth’s attempt to railroad Boaz into marrying her is a two pronged attack.  First, she will seduce him.  Second, Ruth asks Boaz to marry her  because he is her go’el.  However, while Naomi might be able to claim Boaz as a Naomi, it is unclear that a Moabite who has married into an Israelite family has that right.  Furthermore, even given that she might be considered part of Boaz’ clan it was not the duty of a go’el to marry a widow.  It was the brother of the dead husbands duty but at no point does the Torah assign this task to the go’el.  Ruth by asking Boaz to marry her as a go’el is asking Boaz to do something he is not required to do.  

Yet this has been the story of Ruth all along - in this simple tale we have two characters who go above and beyond their duties and obligation.  Earlier we talked about this going above and beyond and we said that Hebrew has a special word called hesed.  Hesed is usually translated as lovingkindness or steadfast love which does not really get across the point.  In fact no one word can probably contain the concept of hesed.  Ruth has shown hesed in her relationship with Naomi by remaining with her and caring for her despite the fact that her own husband is dead severing the connection between the two.    Boaz has shown hesed by going beyond the requirements of the Torah for gleaning, but also ensuring that Ruth is protected and also lavishly providing for her even letting her eat at his table.  

The reason this is important and the reason we are dwelling on this point is because continually God is described using the term hesed.  What makes the story of Ruth important is that it illustrates the concept of hesed better than any simple definition.  If we understand the story of Ruth, then we understand a bit better the character of God.  God is a God who goes above and beyond duty.  He provides lavishly for the outcast.  He takes the despised and calls her my daughter.  He brings protection and rest.  So lets dig a little more into this story and see what this tells us about the character of Boaz and how this illustrates to us the character of God.    

First, Ruth’s actions to seduce Boaz are amazingly impertinent.  Yet, Boaz’s response is neither to take advantage of her nor to condemn her.  Once again we see this demonstrated in the life of Jesus.  Think back to Mary who pours the expensive perfume on Jesus, unbinds her hair, and washes his feet.  This is amazingly awkward and puts Jesus is a precarious position and yet he is not concerned about his reputation.  All he sees is a woman desperately looking for protection and rest. 

Second, Boaz’ does not respond to Ruth’s actions by calling her out as a gold digger and then saying I accept you any way look how magnanimous I am.  No, instead Boaz dignifies her and praises her.  Listen to his words in verse 10, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.  You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether rich or poor.”  Boaz was not an old man by any means since he has demonstrated that he can work a full day in the fields. However, he looks at Ruth and praises her for not going after the man with whom she had better chance at having a child with or the richest person.  This was not simply about physical love since Ruth had plenty of opportunities.

Boaz even describes Ruth as a worthy woman in verse 11.  This is the same phrase used in Proverbs 31 to describe the ideal wife.  Boaz knew that despite Ruth’s actions, there was something about his character that attracted Ruth to him and not just anyone.  


We see this demonstrated by Jesus as well.  When Mary empties the perfume on him he dignifies her actions by publicly praising them knowing it would earn him scorn of others.  When the Syrophonecian woman confronts him, Jesus tells everyone that her faith is great.   When the woman with the issue of blood essentially tries to steal Jesus’ healing power, Jesus tells her to be of good comfort and acknowledges her faith.  

Third, in verse 14 we see that Boaz is concerned that Ruth’s action of spending the night at the threshing floor would bring shame to her by the community.  Boaz wants to protect her from this.  He says, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”   Boaz then gives Ruth six measures of barley.  Why does he do this?  Boaz does this so that if she is seen leaving the threshing floor by anyone in Bethlehem, they will conclude she is simply a hungry woman asking for food.  Boaz once again demonstrates hesed by protecting her from shame.  

Think back to the story of Adam and Eve.  If you will recall after they broke God’s one commandment and became aware of their shame and vulnerability before God, how does God respond?  We would expect that God would end the human project right there, but God doesn’t do that.  God issues a promise of a redeemer that would defeat the serpent.  Rather than allowing Adam and Eve to continue in shame he replaces their own flawed attempt at covering themselves with fig leaves by providing animal skins for clothing.  

The passage we read earlier from Zechariah contains much the same message.  Joshua, the High Priest, stands accused by Satan.  This is one of the few appearances of Satan in the Bible.  Satan means accuser and in the Old Testament Satan functions like a prosecuting attorney.  Joshua stands before the court in dirty clothes showing his unworthiness and proving the point Satan is trying to make.  Joshua is not worthy.  God’s response is to cover his shame and to make him worthy.  This is God’s hesed - it is above and beyond the law.  God goes on to say that Joshua is not an isolated case of God’s beneficence but an example of what is to come.  God promises the redeemer that will be able to make us worthy.  

This is what hesed looks like and this brings me to my fourth point.  Ruth’s case rest on the fact that Boaz should marry her because it is his duty as the go’el, the redeemer.  Here is the thing though - the torah is very specific about the duties of the go’el.  Not once is one of the duties listed as marriage.  There was a custom called levirate marriage in which the brother of the deceased husband is to marry his brother’s widow.  However, that is not necessarily the go’el.  Boaz is not even her immediate go’el.  Yet Boaz again demonstrating hesed, again goes beyond the law and makes the oath “as the Lord lives, I will redeem you.”  Such is Boaz’s love for Ruth and such is God’s love for His people.

What I want us to see is a God who loves His people.  What I want you to experience is the depth of this love.  That is what I think is the heart and the beauty of this story.  Ruth, the rejected, the poor, the foreigner, the enemy, the gold digger comes before Boaz with her impertinent convoluted scheme and Boaz far from rejecting her, far from merely fulfilling his ethical obligations under the law lavishes her with generosity.    Just as in the story of the prodigal son, the Father rejects the sons scheme to work as a hired hand and instead gives his son his finest coat and his ring and his staff and kills the fatted calf.  

Boaz does not treat her as Moabite trash scavenging through Israel’s garbage bins.  Boaz shows instead God’s plan for Israel and God’s plan for the whole world by showing us and Israel what God’s hesed looks like.  Even allowing her to glean would have been a kindness that required a strained interpretation of the torah as she was a Moabite whose only connection to Israel was a dead husband who should not have married her in the first place.  Boaz accepts her, dignifies her, and protects her from shame and humiliation.  This is a love that will fully be demonstrated on the cross when Jesus wrings Himself of His divinity on the cross and accepts our shame and humiliation not because of any obligation or necessity or greater law, but for one reason and one reason only - because He loves us.  

I want to conclude the sermon with one more picture of this from the book of Ezekiel.  I did not include it our readings because I wanted to present here so that we can hear it with these thoughts fresh and our mind.  Its powerful and amazing and communicates the generosity and the way God covers our shames and dignifies his people much better than any concluding remarks I could possibly come up with.  This is Ezekiel chapter 16:

Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem:  Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.  And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling clothes.  No eyes pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on an open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, ‘Live!  I said to you in your blood, Live’  I made you flourish like a plant of the field.  And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment.  Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; you were naked and bare.  

When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were the age for love, and I spread my wings over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine.  Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.  I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather.  I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.  And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.  And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.  Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk, and embroidered cloth.  You ate fine flour and honey and oil.  You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.  And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor  that I had on you, declares the Lord God.  
Elimelech has a scheme, Naomi has a scheme.  Adam and Eve had a scheme to know good and evil.  The Bible is the story of people who over and over again reject Him and devise schemes.  The Bible is not the story of heroes.  Abraham, David, Peter and the great people of the Bible all have a scheme.  The Bible is a story of failed schemes that lead to shame.  Yet despite them all God works to cover the shame of His people despite their schemes.  Just as he covered Adam and Eve and just as Boaz covered Ruth by giving her the grain.  Ruth says that she wants Boaz to spread his wings over her.  This is a phrase to describe God’s protection of His people in Deuteronomy it is also used in the Ezekiel passage.   

The passage will grow on to tell how this woman rejects God’s love developing her own scheme , just as we all do, but it will end with the promise of an everlasting covenant that even through the rejection of God’s love will go on to atone and cover even this and this everlasting covenant, the fulfillment and culmination of all the stories of hesed is what Jesus gives to us on the cross.

Ruth Part 4: The Mystery of the Go'el (Dr. Trey Benfield)

Scripture Readings: 
Leviticus 7:11-18
Ephesians 3:1-11
Ruth 2:14-23

We are continuing our study of the book of Ruth.  Last week we saw Ruth act heroically and tenaciously in her desire to provide for herself and her mother-in-law Naomi.  This was a potentially dangerous activity because Ruth was a women without any form of protection and a Moabite who were foreigners, pagans, and enemies of Israel.  However, she receives the protection of Boaz who also provides for her above and beyond any duty and obligation in the Torah.  Boaz does this despite a number of negatives - her impertinence, the fact that she was the foreign wife of an Israelite, a practice forbidden by Israelites, and a Moabite on top of that.  

So the New Testament authors frequently use this term mystery to describe how we interpret some of the concepts used in the Old Testament.  I have found that  understanding how the New Testament uses this term mystery is very helpful in helping us understand how the New Testament interprets the Old Testament.  It is a difficult topic for us because the Old Testament is mostly a collection of stories of a foreign culture and a lot of times the New Testament takes these stories and interprets them in a way that is very different than how we would use them.  Often it looks as though the New Testament is taking the stories out of context and forcing them to say something that they don’t say.   What I want to do is take this use of mystery and apply it to this story to show how we can make more sense of how this story applies to us and make it a little more relevant.  I also think it will help us be better students as we study the Old Testament.

In the Ephesians passage we read earlier, Paul uses the phrase mystery four times.  We think of mystery as something difficult or impossible to understand or explain.  Something like a riddle or puzzle that needs to be solve.   In the Ephesians passage Paul is partly using it this way.  

However for Paul, mystery has a very specific almost technical meaning that is derived from Daniel.  So if you remember in the book of Daniel, at several points Daniel is asked to interpret a dream that the king has.  These dreams are called a mystery and the interesting things about them is that they are understandable to some degree on their surface.  However, it takes Daniel who we are told is given wisdom from God to interpret them, to give them a more specific meaning.  So this is the key to a mystery.  It is something that we grasp on the surface level, but later revelation from God is needed to give them a fuller, more specific meaning.  That is what we see Paul doing in the Ephesians passage.  The mystery is made known to Paul by revelation that comes from Christ.  

What I want us to do with our text from Ruth today is see that there is a surface meaning that is readily accessible, but develops a fuller meaning as a result of the revelation of Christ.    

So our passage today starts with a meal shared between Ruth and Boaz.  Eating a meal together was highly symbolic in that culture.  Meals were an expression of hospitality and to celebrate special occasions.  They were even used as a way to cement agreements between people who made treaties to show that they were bonded together.   So what Boaz does by inviting Ruth to his table is no small matter.  One of the things we notice about Boaz is he is not an absentee landowner.  He knows his workmen and eats alongside them.  He does not use his status as a nobleman to separate himself.   Here he extends this generosity to Ruth.  

What I want us to notice is how many cultural taboos Boaz is breaking down by this simple act.  First, Ruth is a woman.  Second, she is poor.  Third, she is from a foreign country.  Fourth, she is from an enemy nation.   By eating with her, Boaz is destroying all of those barriers and showing that his hospitality extends to her despite all of these negatives.  He is showing that he is bonding himself to her and even celebrating their relationship.  However, Boaz goes even further.  He allows Ruth to dip her bread in the sauce.  The word for sauce is something like a wine vinegar - so something akin to maybe how we might go to an Italian restaurant and dip bread in a balsamic vinegar.  The grain is not simple barley but roasted, essentially it was malted barley.  That would have made the barley sweeter and then the passage tells us she was given as much food as she could eat.  Boaz is giving Ruth not just a meal but showing her abundance and even extravagance.  

Now let us contrast this with the behavior of the Pharisees in the New Testament.  The Pharisees hoped to go above and beyond the teaching of the Torah to show God the quality of their devotion.  They thought that by doing this they would earn God’s favor and show that they were truly repentant hoping God would see this and return and do all the wonderful things promised to Israel like getting rid of the Romans and setting up His kingdom.  The Pharisees became a private dining club since they observed a lot of laws concerning purity that had to do with dining.  The result of this was the Pharisees excluded those who did not adopt their rigorous program.  So when Jesus came preaching repentance and the coming of the Kingdom and then dined with those who did not think like the Pharisees the Pharisees were offended.  Surely, this was no way for the true Messiah to do things.  

However, if they had paid attention to Ruth, the Pharisees would understand that Jesus is doing exactly what His ancestor Boaz is doing.  Jesus is breaking down every barrier.  Like Boaz he is welcoming the poor, women, sinners, and all those excluded to His table.  Yet God is always breaking down barriers.  He takes a people who are slaves and takes them for His own.  He gives children to the barren.   When Hannah and Mary sing their song they describe God as not just powerful and not just good but as a revolutionary who reverses the world order.  

We see this concept foreshadowed in the passage we read in Leviticus.  The book of Leviticus starts just after the tabernacle has been built and the glory of God moves in to take residence.  Leviticus is written to instruct the people how they are to live now that God Himself is dwelling in their midst.  In order for the people to be able to approach God, God institutes a series of sacrifices.  One of the sacrifices is called the peace offering.  The neat thing about the peace offering is that when the animal is sacrificed the fat and choice parts are burned on the altar as the portion that belongs to God.  One part of the sacrifice is then given to the priest and the another part is given to the offerer.  The priest and the offerer then roast the meat and eat it before the presence of God.  What is symbolized by the peace offering is that God and the offerer are at peace with one another, they are bonded together and they share a meal in fellowship.  This is what God desires with us and the same approachability is what is communicated in both Boaz and Jesus’ actions as they share meals.  

What is it about Boaz that allows him to show such grace to this woman?  To answer this question I want to go back to the passage from Deuteronomy concerning the laws for gleaning.  “When you reap your harvest in your field a forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it.  It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.”  Verse 22 gives the rationale for this practice, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.”  So the reason given for taking care of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan is because in some way Israel could identify with them since they were once slaves.  

Now here is what everyone reading this book in ancient Israel would know that you don’t know.  Does anyone here know who was Boaz’s mother?  It was Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute who helped the Israelites conquer Jericho.  You see I think the reason Boaz was able to show such hesed was the same reason Israel was supposed to show hesed - it was because they could identify with being a foreigner, with being without resources and without hope.  

The incarnation is the ultimate example of this identification - God comes in the form of man in order to identify and experience what we experience.  Hebrews tells us we have a great high priest because he is able to sympathize with us.  This is why hesed is able to go beyond duty or obligation and why it is real and causes us to fall to our face and bow to the ground just as Ruth does to Boaz.

It is what Christ did for us and what we must do as the church, if we are to be a light to this world - identify with the other.  If we are to be effective we must not separate ourselves from the world and see our ourselves as somehow superior.  Remember it is Christ who though he in the form of God, did not could equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant.  This is the power of the incarnation and if we embrace it it can be the power of the church as well.  Those who are first shall be last.  The greatest in my kingdom will be a servant to all.

How we will do this?   The same way the Israelites were told to do it and the same way Boaz did it - by identifying with the other.  Throughout this story, Boaz has not used his wealth and status as a way to separate himself.  He is not an absentee landlord, but one who visits his workmen and knows them.  He eats with them and when he comes across a foreign, possibly pagan widow, rather than marginalize her he identifies with her because his mother was not so different.  

When Ruth returns to Naomi and describes to her Boaz’ actions and the meal they shared, Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is a relative of hers and is a redeemer.  In Hebrew the word for redeemer is go’el.  Go’el is a technical, legal term.  It refers to a near relative who is charged with certain responsibilities for the economic well being of the people under his care.  

According to the Torah a go’el had some specific responsibilities.  First, the go’el must buy back any hereditary property that had passed outside of the clan.  As we discussed last week, specific property was given by God to specific families and the family was charged with administering that land.  The land belonged to God but the family was charged with managing that land.  Provisions were made in the law to prevent the land from passing outside the family.  If you remember the story of Naboth.  Naboth owned a particularly nice vineyard that King Ahab wanted.  King Ahab asked to buy the land from Naboth but Naboth refused.  The reason Naboth gives for his refusal is because it would be wrong to give away the inheritance God had given to his family.  It was the responsibility of the go’el to make sure the land always remained with the family.  

Now let me explain how this works with the concept of mystery.  What I want us to see is how the revelation of Christ shows us how Jesus acts as a go’el and fulfills these duties to a greater degree than the Old Testament writers would have envisioned.   In the Old Testament the land was important because it was the people of God’s inheritance.  This is why it could not pass out of their hands and why it was important for the go’el to redeem the land if it had been sold to an outsider because the owner may have fallen into debt.   When Jesus comes He redefines the whole concept of the inheritance.  No longer is our inheritance the land.  The land was important because it was where God dwelled.  However, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection the glory of God was no longer confined to the temple and to the land of Israel.  The presence of God and the inheritance was now something that belonged to every believer.  

So if you remember when the Samaritan woman at the well asks Jesus if God is to be worshipped on Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans worshipped God or Jerusalem.  Jesus answers, “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”  The nature of the inheritance had been expanded and broadened.  No longer was it Israel but the whole world.  All authority would be granted to Jesus on heaven and earth.  This is the point Jesus is making when he says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy but lay up your treasure in heaven.”   Our inheritance is the kingdom of God which Jesus has purchased for us.  Jesus had come as the go’el and bought our inheritance at the cost of His own life.  This is the mystery - in the Old Testament the land was the inheritance and the go’el redeems it, but this is a mere foreshadowing of the bigger picture in which Jesus the more perfect go’el redeems for His people the true inheritance.  

Second, the go’el must purchase the freedom of any member of the clan who had sold themselves in slavery usually because of debts.  In the book of John, Jesus says that all those who practice sin are enslaved to sin.  Our sin has led us to slavery and just like those in ancient Israel our only hope lies with our go’el , our kinsman redeemer who pays the price and purchases us from slavery.  Jesus says that He came to give His life as a ransom for many.  Like Boaz He is not an absentee landowner.  He identifies with His people serving rather than being served.  Like Boaz He breaks down the barriers and takes the poor and the marginalized and eats with them.  The go’el was a weird ancient custom at home in a clan based society.  However, it is a powerful picture and we see Jesus takes this picture and transforms it into a story of the greatest redemption of all - the salvation of humankind.  

As His followers we must understand that we are a people who were in need of redemption and have been redeemed.  Rather than trying to earn God’s approval by distancing ourselves as the Pharisees did, we must work at breaking down the barriers that separate us from others.  We must extend grace like Boaz in a way that is abundant and extravagant.  We will do this the way Israel was commanded to do in Leviticus - by remembering that they were once slaves in a land that was not theres.  It was what Boaz did and what Jesus did - not distancing ourselves from others but identifying ourselves with others.  This is the mystery that Christ reveals to us.  The Church must not be served but must serve and to extend the ransom offered by the ultimate go’el, the Redeemer who came to give His own life as a ransom for many.  
 

Ruth Part 3: Impertinence and Grace (Dr. Trey Benfield)

Scripture Readings: 
Deuteronomy 24:19-22
Matthew 15:21-28
Ruth 2:1-16

We are continuing our study of the book of Ruth.  So far in our story we have followed the story of a man named Elimelech who fled his home in Judah because of a famine and took his wife and his two sons with him to a country called Moab.  I emphasized that this famine is presented not as a random event but the result of a curse because of Israel’s failure to obey the law.  Ruth is set during the time of the book of Judges which is not Israel’s finest hour.  Mostly Judges is the story of oppression, violence, and abuse of power.  

Elimelech’s sons marry two women from Moab, something forbidden by Israelite law.  During the family’s ten year stay in Moab, Elimelech and his two sons die leaving Naomi and her daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth.  Naomi decided to return to Judah.  This is significant because the word return is related to the word repentance and is the remedy to the curse.  Her daughter-in-law Ruth decided to return with Naomi to Judah despite being a member of an enemy nation and having very little prospects in this new country.  We are told Ruth does this out of devotion to Naomi.  In this she embodies the Biblical idea of hesed  which describes loyalty and kindness above and beyond duty.  Hesed is the word often used to describe the devotion of God to His people.  So the crazy thing about this story is that this Moabite woman presents to us a picture of the love of God.  

As we begin our passage today we are introduced to a new character in this story, a man named Boaz.  Boaz is introduced as a relative of Naomi’s husband, a noble man, from the clan of Elimelech.  Typically, when the Bible introduces a character we are given the name, the person’s family, status, and then the significance for the story.  Here the order is reversed because the narrator wants to highlight that Boaz is a legal relative of her husband.  This detail would raise the hopes for the readers who understand that as a relative he had a legal responsibility to Naomi.  At this point Naomi is unaware of Boaz and the reader is unaware of whether or not Boaz would fulfill his duties but the hope is raised.

When Boaz himself appears on the scene we are told that he greets his workers with a blessing, “YHWH be with you.”  Boaz uses the name YHWH the personal name for God used by people who are in covenant relation with Him.  Once again our hopes are raised that Boaz is committed to YHWH and to the law.  This reinforces the description of Boaz as a worthy man and if He is a follower of YHWH then perhaps Boaz will fulfill his duty to Naomi as her relative.  At this point we only have the words of Boaz we do not know if his deeds will match them. 

In the Old Testament we are frequently expected to look and see if the words and actions of the characters match.  For example, in the book of Judges which I said earlier was set in the same time as the story of Ruth, there is a character named Gideon.  Gideon is chosen by God to route one of Israelites enemies called the Midianites.  After Gideon does so in spectacular fashion, the people try to make Gideon king but Gideon refuses saying that only God is king.  That sounds great and we often tell stories to our children about how faithful Gideon is and suggest they be like Gideon.  The problem is that in the next chapter we find Gideon building a harem and fathering 70 children with his wife one of which Gideon names Abimelech.  The name Abimelech means ‘my father is king.”  The text really does not comment on this, but sharp readers will realize that the picture of Gideon is of a person who says one thing but does another. So at this point the reader of Ruth is supposed to anticipate the question will Boaz’s actions match his words.

At this point Boaz asks the question, “Whose young woman is this?” or “Who does this woman belong to?”  We may be forgiven if we find this sexist and a relic of a patriarchic society.  However, the real question Boaz is asking is who protects this woman?  If she is affiliated with a husband or a father or even a clan then she would be safe since anyone accosted her would suffer repercussions from her protector.  What Boaz really wants to know is Ruth safe.  

This was no small concern.  Remember as we have said earlier, Ruth is set during a particularly brutal and lawless time period in the history of Israel.  The powerful did what they wanted and the weak suffered what they must.  Women were particularly vulnerable and Judges gives several instances in graphic detail of the horrible treatment of women during this time period.  Boaz is right to be concerned and upon discovering she was a foreign and enemy nation if he had any concern for her safety it should have been heightened.  

The question Boaz asked is answered by a field supervisor, a manager.  Although he answers the question, he also gives a few more details.  First, he says that she has come to “glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.”  So lets talk ancient near east agriculture. 

Barley is a type of grass that grows in stalks.  At the top of the stalk is the head which contains the seeds or grain.  The great thing about grains is that they can be dried and stored and used for food, animal fodder, or you can make beer out of it.  Now when it was time to harvest, the stalk was cut with a curved blade called a scythe.  This was before the iron age so the sickle would have been made of flint attached to a stick or possibly bronze.  Once the stalks were cut they were stacked in sheaves.  At this point the seed has to be removed from the head which would have done by beating the stalk against something hard like the ground.  This was known as threshing.  If you were really fancy you would beat it with a stick called a flail and you would have a special prepared hard surface made of stones called a threshing floor.

During harvest time, Israelites landowners were required by the Torah to permit widows, orphans, the poor, and foreigner to glean from their fields.  The landowners was not to cut all his grain but leave the corners for the gleaners.  Workers were also not supposed to go back and look for grain they missed or dropped.  This grain was also left to the gleaners.  This grain was part of the Israelite safety net and was provided for the groups of people who would have been most vulnerable in their society - widows, orphans, and foreigners.  

Notice in verse 2 Ruth says to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.”  However, the report the supervisor gives to Boaz is a little different.  He tells Boaz that Ruth asked to glean AND to gather among the sheaves after the reapers.  Remember sheaves are grain that has already been cut and harvested by the workmen.  The supervisor is giving Boaz the impression that Ruth is not satisfied by merely gleanings but wants some of the harvest sheafs as well.   This would have been considered the height of impertinence for a foreigner to demand this sort of thing.  

The supervisor then goes on to note that the Ruth has been working in the field from very early in the morning only taking one short rest.  When we read this we are immediately impressed with Ruth’s industriousness.  There is something appealing and we think that is neat Ruth is a hard worker.  However, what it means to the supervisor is that she is taking all our grain.  Once again the supervisor is highlighting Ruth’s impertinence.  Now the syntax of the supervisors words is very confusing.  Its possible this is meant to convey to the listener that the supervisor did not quite have the story straight.  In any event he certainly created the impression to Boaz that she wanted more than just the allotted gleanings.

By contrast Boaz is accepting, generous, and kind.  He calls her my daughter indicating to everyone that Boaz has accepted the responsibility of providing protection to Ruth.  Boaz tells her not to bother going to any other fields where her position may be more precarious.  His workmen are ordered not to harass her.  A Moabite woman would ordinarily been subject to whatever a man could get away with, Boaz is letting his workers know this is not the case on his land.  She is also privileged with drinking from the workmen’s water.  Ordinarily the first thing a woman would do on the way to the field was stop by the town well and fill her animal skins with water.  Boaz tells her that she does not have to do this.  Later Boaz will invite Ruth to her table even offering his sauce rather than just giving her bread and then will even allow her to harvest from the sheaves rather than just the gleanings.   

Ruth is understandably overwhelmed by Boaz’ kindness toward her.  She falls on her face in a sign of respect and asks Boaz how she had found favor, literally the word is grace, in his eyes.  After all she is a foreigner and she understands the unlikelihood of her receiving any special treatment.  Boaz answer is that he knew of the way she had sacrificed everything out of devotion to Naomi.  However, there is something else he adds.  Ruth had left her father and her mother and everyone she knew and love to come with Naomi to Israel.  She had responded radically and irrationally.  

Throughout Ruth the text has subtlety made references to stories of the great men of Genesis.  We start with a focus of Elimelech who flees from a famine.  The same circumstance confronted Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and each time they received blessing from God.  Yet Elimelech and his sons die and so the story shifts to Naomi.  Naomi though is old and it unlikely she will carry on the family name.  The same circumstances had occurred in the life of Sarai and Rachel and God had intervened and the result was a great multitude of descendants that struck fear into the heart of the Egyptians.  Yet with Naomi we see no sign of history repeating itself.  Instead we see God’s blessing falling on Ruth.  In fact she is oddly fulfilling the story of Genesis by radically and irrationally leaving her family and the land she knew just as Abraham way back in Genesis when God said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  Ruth is actually the parallel with Genesis that we have been waiting for.  Somehow Boaz understands a glimpse of this.  

However, I want to spend the rest of the sermon focusing on the actions and decisions of Boaz.  First, Boaz is taking an ordinary event and has made it an occasion for  compassion, generosity, and acceptance.  He is demonstrating the hesed to this woman that goes above and beyond the law.  His commands to his workers and his actions all go above and beyond the requirements of the Torah.  In this way Boaz acts as an ideal Israelite.  Remember that one of the purposes of the Torah, was to be a light to the Gentiles.  By keeping the laws, foreign nations would see the wisdom and understanding of God reflecting through them.  Ruth remarks that Boaz has shown her grace.  She has seen the character of God demonstrated in the abundance of Boaz’s generosity.

Second, Boaz has done this despite Ruth’s impertinence.  It is likely the supervisor is exaggerating Ruth’s request, but Boaz is acting on his information. Rather than berating her he indulges Ruth.  We see Jesus demonstrate this same indulgence.  On more than one occasion Jesus is approached by a woman who we can classify as impertinent and in all instances His response is similar to Boaz’s.  One of our readings gives an example of Jesus’ generosity to an impertinent woman.  The Syro-Phonecian woman, a pagan from a land that was historically at war with Israel, approaches Jesus begging him to cast a demon out of her daughter.  His disciples wanted to send her away but Jesus saw something in her and tested her.  At one point he calls her a dog but she doesn’t miss a beat begging for Jesus’ help.  Jesus not only heals her but holds her up as an example of faith.  

Think of the prostitute who pours the perfume on Jesus and washes him with her hair.  Think of the woman who suffers the discharge of blood and touches Jesus in order to heal herself.  Remember Jesus is a holy man and her discharge of blood makes her unclean and yet she touches Jesus anyway.  All of these women are rewarded by Jesus despite their impertinence.  Each experiences God’s hesed.

Third, Boaz makes his decision to show Ruth grace and hesed despite an ethical dilemma.  If you go back to verse 4 you will see that Boaz came from Bethlehem and went to his fields.  Here is the question, why does Boaz not live near the field?  A farmer like we know a farmer would have had a farmhouse on the same property as his fields.  Not in the ancient world.  Bethlehem is a city which has a very specific meaning in Hebrew - it means a settlement surrounding by a wall.  The reason the wall was important is that it provided protection.  So Boaz didn’t have a farm house on his fields because he would not be safe from raiders.  Therefore, everyone lived in the city and then went to the fields to work.  So who would raided places like this?  Well it would probably be the enemy nation right next door to Bethlehem - Moab.  

Let me read another passage from the Torah, “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you.”  You see the Torah commanded care be provided for widows and for foreigners.  Ruth was both of those things.  Her connection with Naomi was a plus since she was a member of Boaz’s clan.  However, let us remember that Ruth’s connection is only because Naomi’s son married a foreigner, something forbidden by Israelite law.  Then not only is she the result of foreign intermarriage she is a Moabite on top of that.  

So what does Boaz do when the Torah seems to command two different things?  He chooses grace and hesed.  You see, Boaz has realized that the Torah was not meant to limit God’s grace and hesed.  Rather it is meant to demonstrate it in a radical way.  For Boaz this is just the start of his ethical dilemma though.  In a future sermon we will see how Boaz continues to demonstrate grace even when his ethical dilemma intensifies.  

Fourth, Boaz understood something key about who he was.  You see God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites.  Each family was given an allotment and was charged to administrate and manage their portion of the land.  However, the land was to be viewed as God’s property, not the Israelites.  The Israelites authority was delegated by God.  They were to rule over the land as God’s representatives.  Ideally this meant reflecting Gods’s character in how they treated the land, the workers, and the people in their community.  Boaz understood this in a way that most of the Israelites did not.  The result was the Boaz is motivated to show God’s hesed and concern for the vulnerable.  

So normally, I make a big deal about how we usually make a mistake by turning the Old Testament into a big morality tale where we are supposed to be like the character we decide is the hero of the story.  However, in both the actions of Ruth toward Naomi and Boaz to Ruth I think we are supposed to be like these characters.  You see Boaz is acting like Israel was supposed to act, like the Torah envisioned them to act but they so rarely did.  The result of the actions of Boaz is that a woman from Moab is blessed.  Remember that God’s promise to Abraham is that through him all the nations of the world would be bless.  We see this being worked out in the story of Boaz and Ruth.  

So the church and we as Christians must be people characterized by grace.  We must be a people who give abundantly and overwhelmingly.  Our actions should not be limited to duty and obligation but must go beyond.  Jesus tells us if someone wants our tunic, we give them our tunic and our cloak.  If someone forces us to go one mile, then we go two miles.  We are to give to the one that begs.  We should do this in the face of impertinence or cultural conflict or even religious prerogatives.  Boaz does not understand the Torah as a limitation.  When there is an opportunity to show anyone God’s grace we must take advantage of the opportunity.   

What will motivate us to do this is the understanding that our lives, our stuff, our children  and our families are not our own but gifts from God.  We are to manage all of these gifts as if they belong to another.  We are to reflect the character of God in how we administer all of the things we have been given in this world.  This is what is meant by stewardship.  We need to stop thinking as though we own it and instead see how we can use our possessions and gifts and resources and blessing to demonstrate the character of God.  Like Boaz we must do so without fear of God’s law and even in the face of what is not customary, what is not courteous, even in the face of impertinence.  Also in what I think is one of the greatest lessons this story has to teach us - we have the ability to demonstrate God’s character in the ordinary and know that it goes forward to build the kingdom.