I studied and taught through the book of Ruth this summer in our college ministry at Grace Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. It was a phenomenal experience for me in both the learning and the teaching aspects! At the end of my studying, I wrote out a summary of the lessons that I believe God had us to focus on this summer from Ruth. I hope that they are both encouraging and challenging to you.
What Do We Learn from Ruth?
Now that we can see not only the individual scenes of the book of Ruth, but now also the book in its entirety, we must ask, “What does the Holy Spirit intend us to learn about God’s character, how He works in our world, and how we should correctly respond to Him?”
In chapter 1, we learned that God is Sovereign over all events in all of history. But not only is He Sovereign, He is also good and trustworthy! In the midst of the most intense pain and greatest loss, God has not turned His back on us. In the midst of dark, oppressive times, God is still working in our world. Many times, however, when difficult situations come our way, we become bitter and miss God’s work in our lives – our Bitterness Blinds Us from Seeing God’s Blessings. Even when we can’t understand what God is doing, even when it seems like God is against us, we must trust His Word and trust His heart.
In chapter 2, we focused in on Ruth’s journey into Boaz’s field. She didn’t think long and hard about which field to choose, nor do we sense any kind of pressure. This was just a daily decision. But this decision was essential to God’s plan of redemption! Ruth had to end up in Boaz’s field. Since we can see the entire story and then the larger Story of God’s redemptive work, we get insight into how God interacts and leads His people. Though we don’t see Ruth struggling with the decision, we do see her coming under the “wings of God” in chapter 1. She made a decision that the God of Israel was the God that she would serve and love. Just a few verses later we find her in Boaz’s field. Ruth was simply doing life “under the wings of God.” She was going to provide for herself and Naomi, not doing anything “spiritual,” so to speak. Too often, in our minds, we limit God to the spectacular, the big, the weighty! But the story of Ruth teaches us that God works in the small, the minute, the daily grind. We said that the defining moment of our lives may come when we are simply being obedient and “doing life.” Every conversation, every relationship, every accident is a part of God’s working in our lives.
In chapter 3, we mainly focused on hope. Naomi went from hopelessness in chapters 1 & 2 to finally catching just a glimpse of God’s kindness to her when Ruth relays her encounter with Boaz. Naomi realizes that God is not against her, but is fighting for her. As soon as she realizes this hope, she begins fighting for others.
We too, when we have hope for or in something, take the focus off of ourselves and onto the source of that hope. This enables us to fight for people rather than ourselves. The reality is that we have the greatest hope, the ultimate hope of eternal life with the God of the Universe because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. However, too often we live our lives as if we do not have hope! We live to build ourselves up, live to secure earthly hope, earthly security, earthly pleasures for ourselves at the expense of others because we don’t understand the hope that we have. Jesus secured all that we could ever want or need on the cross. And His resurrection gives us hope and sends us out into the world. As we come into a deeper understanding of the hope that we have, we are freed to love unconditionally, serve passionately, and give relentlessly because I am secure. I don’t have to secure anything else for myself, but fight with God in His plan to spread His love and Glory over the earth.
In chapter 4, we see Boaz as the redeemer of Ruth. The whole idea of the kinsman-redeemer is a beautiful picture of Christ! Ruth was a foreigner, she was hopeless and helpless, and had no way to redeem herself. All that she had to offer was her broken life. We see her at Boaz’s feet in chapters 2 & 3, her rightful position in that culture, but also her position of humility. Boaz is a close relative of the family, he has the wealth needed to redeem her, and he was willing to do just that. He does all that was necessary to secure for her a hope and a future with him, and takes her as his own to be his bride.
Do you see the picture yet?
Ephesians 2, as well as other passages, tells us that we were “dead in our trespasses and sins.” We were foreigners, not only non-Israelites, but sinners that God could not justly have anything to do with. All that we had to offer were the filthy rags of our sin, and our dead hearts. The only place that we can go is the feet of Jesus, who God sent down to earth to die in our place. We cannot do anything to earn our way into the family. In fact, we wouldn’t even know that we needed to be revived unless God’s Spirit had not revealed that to us! We too were hopeless and helpless. So, God in His mercy sent Jesus to be our redeemer. Jesus became “like us” when He took on human flesh.
Not only was He human so that He could die in our place, He was fully Deity so that He was able to pay the infinite penalty for the sins of the whole world. Lastly, and most unbelievable, He was also willing to do all of this for us! Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of “the joy set before Him.” That joy was glorifying the Father by redeeming a people from every tribe, tongue and nation to worship Him. Jesus endured the cross to redeem you and me! We are His beautiful bride; He is our Kinsman-Redeemer! And Boaz in the story of Ruth embodies Christ as the greatest redeemer.
Every trial, every blessing, every encounter, and every seemingly insignificant decision is part of a much larger, grander plan of God. God’s work in our world is to bring glory to Jesus, the great redeemer. The book of Ruth shamelessly points to Jesus in both the concept of the kinsman redeemer and the Offspring of Ruth. So, Naomi’s heartaches – they were about Jesus. God leading Ruth into Boaz’s field was about Jesus. Boaz’s work of redemption was a picture of Jesus’ redemption of all those who would trust in Him including both past, present, and future humanity. Piper clarifies this in saying, “the blood of Jesus flows forward and backward in history.” Jesus paid for the sins of Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi, just like He did for you and me. They were trusting by faith that God would send a redeemer; we trust that He did send that redeemer – Jesus Christ.
Just like the lives of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz were about Jesus, our lives will be to the glory of Jesus. If we are believers, we will glorify Him by eternally showing and glorying in the work of His grace and mercy, and being ambassadors of His grace to the rest of the world. If we do not trust in the work of Christ, we will glorify Him by proving the justice of His character and wrath against sin. God desires that all come to repentance, and if you haven’t ever trusted Christ, today is the day for you to do that. Look and see the beauty of what Christ has done and the beautiful picture of it in the book of Ruth. Your life, whether you are a believer or not, is not about you. You are here to serve a much larger, much more significant purpose than to fill a spot on earth for 80 years. Our lives are about the Kingdom of God.
Remember, Ruth teaches us that we can bear the weight of great loss because we know that God is a loving God, working for our good and the Glory of Jesus in every situation. We can stop living for ourselves because Jesus has secured all that we need on the cross, enabling us to love and serve others rather than ourselves, regardless of our circumstances. Ruth points us to the Gospel, and the Gospel reminds us that our lives are not our own, we have been bought, like Ruth, with a price. Therefore, we live to honor Christ, not ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment