Shabbat Shalom. Please open your Bibles. We are studying in the book of Ruth. Today, our study is in Ruth chapter 1 from verse 19 into Ruth chapter 2. And we're going to read up to verse 17. Please follow me. I begin with verse 19 of Ruth chapter 1. So they too went until they came to Beit Lichem, and it came to pass when they were come to Beit Lichem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, is this Naomi? And she said unto them call me not Naomi, call me Marah, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty Why then call ye me Naomi seeing the Lord hath testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me so Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her which returned out of the country of Moab and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley harvest Ruth chapter 2 in verse 1 and Naomi had a kinsman of her husband a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech and his name was Boaz and Ruth the Moabite said unto Naomi let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace and she said unto her go my daughter.

And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab. And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.

So she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field. Neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them. Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou should take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It has fully been shown unto me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompensed thy work, and a full reward be given unto thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight. My Lord, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaids, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaids.

And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and he reached her parched corn, and she did it, and was sufficed and left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commended his young men, saying, let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not. And let fall also some of the handful of purpose for her And leave them that she may glean them And rebuke her not So she gleaned in the field until even And bit out that she have gleaned And it was about an afar of barley I'm going to stop with the reading here I'm kind of wondering with so much reading today if the Lord will help me to finish this portion but nevertheless that's where I felt when I was preparing for the message that it will be a good place to pause here as we're moving one step at a time in the study of the book of Ruth now I don't know if you can see beloved brothers and sisters just look back in a moment you're going to have the little map there on our overhead, and I would like you to look at the map, and you can just imagine the distance between Bethlehem, Yehuda, which is on the west side of the Dead Sea, of the Jordan River.

A little bit further north, and if you'll see on the east side, you can see the land of Moab there, right below. There is about a distance of about 75 miles of a distance between Bethlehem, Judah, Bethlehem Yehuda, and the land of Moab. For us today to drive it, it's not a long distance because we can do it rather quick. But for the two women by the name of Naomi and Ruth to take a walk In that long journey, about 75 miles from Moab to Bethlehem, it took some time. It was a treacherous journey over the hills, over the mountains, in the valleys, in a very difficult terrain to walk.

So we are studying the beautiful book of Ruth. Her nickname, you might say, for those of us who are Jewish and Israelis, her nickname is Ruthie. We usually call for a lady whose name is Ruth. Her nickname is Ruthie. Beautiful name. And remember, it comes from the word Reut, friendship. And you can see how Ruth was very friendly towards Naomi, her mother-in-law, but also towards the people of God, the people of Israel. Well, in the first passage, the first 18 verses of Ruth chapter 1, we have covered this interesting story. Jewish family, Hebrew family, go down to Moab. A famine in the land. Elimelech, the husband, died.

His two sons, Machlon and Kilion, died. Two daughters-in-law remained with Naomi, the mother-in-law. And now three women are alone. And Naomi had heard that God had blessed Israel in the land of Bethlehem. And he had given bread for our people of old, the people of Israel. And so she began after 10 years to move back towards the land of Israel. So she had charged her daughters-in-law to go back to Moab. They too instead had to make a decision. Will they follow Naomi to the God of Israel, to Bethlehem? Or will they remain in the land of Moab? Well, each one of them had to make a decision.

Ruth made a godly decision. Opa made a false decision. She went back to her people, Moab. She went back to her gods and she walked off the pages of the Scripture, of the word of God. On the other hand, Ruth says, entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee for whither thou goest, I will go. Whither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God shall be my God. Where you die, there will I die and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also if out but death part thee and me.

Ruth made a decision to walk back with Naomi to the land of Israel, to the people of Israel, to the city of Bethlehem. And they went this long journey, crossing somewhere the Jordan River and arriving to the land of Bethlehem, and the passage today began with the travel to Bethlehem and the arrival to the city of Bethlehem. And you notice this in chapter 1 and verses 19 to 22, those last verses of Ruth chapter one we find first of all in verse 19 they travel to Bethlehem it was a long trip it was a long journey and we read here in verse 19 and they too went until they came to Bethlehem this long journey finally they arrived we do not know how long it took these two women to take this journey 75 miles it's a long journey to take and you never know how many days and who knows maybe a couple of weeks and so on to take this journey in this terrain and finally they have arrived to the city of Bethlehem let me remind you that Bethlehem means the house of bread Beit means house, Lechem means bread, and now God is now provided for the people of Israel bread in Bethlehem.

Well, you will notice that immediately when they arrived to Bethlehem, it says in verse 19 that all the city of Bethlehem was moved about, and they said, is this Naomi? All the city was moved. Now that word here, All the city was moved. And everybody was speaking. And they say, is that Naomi? Is this Naomi? Why? Because they have heard of how she and her husband Elimelech left Bethlehem, went to the land of Moab. And they must have heard of some of the events that happened there and so on. Because rumors are moving about just the same like Naomi heard that God visited Bethlehem and gave food for his people they must have heard what happened to this lady in the land of Moab so they wondered and they say is this Naomi is this Naomi and notice what we read in verse 20 and 21 Naomi is now saying unto the people of Bethlehem look at this beloved brothers and sisters she said in verse 20 call me not Naomi but call me Marah for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me I went out full and the Lord has brought me home again empty why then call ye me Naomi seeing that the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me.

You see, beloved brothers and sisters, even though Naomi went away from the land of Judah, from the city of Bethlehem, you can see that she understood that whatever happened to her in her life was the providence of God. And you know, it is very important to understand the providence of God in our lives. You see, the providence of God, let me give you the meaning of the word providence. Providence is the means by which God directs all things. You see, God directs all things in your lives and in mine. There is no surprises as far as God is concerned. You and I might be surprised about the events that happened to us in our lives.

But God is in charge, He is sovereign. And His providence is seen throughout the whole book of Ruth as well as in the book of Esther. In fact, throughout the whole history of humanity, the providence of God. Again, I would like to repeat it. What is providence? It's the means by which God directs all things. And we read, for example, in Romans 8 and verse 28, For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. He has a purpose for you. He has a purpose for me in our life. Will we submit to his plan for us or will we do our own thing and have our own way?

And so Naomi understood that. So when she came back home to Bethlehem, she said to the people of Bethlehem, don't call me Naomi. Naomi means pleasant. Don't call me Naim or Naomi or pleasant. But call me Mar or Marah. Marah means bitter. You remember when Yeshua, our Messiah, was on the cross? They gave him bitter. Remember that? They gave him something to eat that is called mar. In fact, if you remember from his birth until his death, even the wise men that came to the house in Bethlehem, you remember they gave gold, frankincense, and more. It comes from the same root word. And the word more is a perfume that come out from something, crushing of someone or something.

And what she has learned is that the Lord has actually crushed her. Allow her to go through some difficult time. Notice she said, don't call me pleasant, but call me bitter. Why, and look at this, four times she attribute all the experiences that she had to the Lord himself. Number one, the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Number two, the Lord brought me home again empty. Number three, verse 21, the Lord has testified against me. And number four, the Almighty has afflicted me. Notice, she didn't say anything about anybody else. She didn't say, the people from Moab afflicted me. She didn't blame anybody, but she attributed this to the Lord.

But she understood the providence of God. She understood that the reason that I'm in this situation is because Elimelech and I and Machlon and Kilion have left the place where God's people belong to. The land of Israel, the land of Judah, and the city of Bethlehem. And so she said, I went out full, and I came back again empty. And I would like to suggest, you remember the verses that we just read earlier? The prodigal son. He asked from the father, Father, give me what belonged to me. He shouldn't have asked the father to take it. He should have stayed in his father's house until the time where the father would give the inheritance to the son.

But he took everything with him and he went to a faraway country. He was away from the presence of his father and his family and he wasted everything in the far country. And when he came unto himself, He turned back and he said, Father, I've sinned against you and before heaven. He said, take me as one of your servants. But the father said, no. You remember he took him in and he gave him shoes on his feet. He gave him garment to wear. He gave him ring on his finger and he killed the best calf he had. And he says, this my son was lost and now he's found.

He was away from me, and now he had returned back home. But the son understood that he was wrong by leaving his father's house and going away in a way that was not pleasing to God. And you see, Naomi understood. She understood that God, in his providence, dealing with her life, and she said, don't call me Naomi, pleasant now, call me bitter, because God had to deal with me. He had to deal with me four times. She used twice the Almighty and twice the word Jehovah, Lord, Yahweh. The Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. Jehovah has brought me home again empty. Jehovah has testified against me.

The Almighty has afflicted me. That word Almighty, the first time it's used in the Bible, is actually used in a time where we find it in relationship to Abraham our fathers in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 1 where God appeared unto Abraham and the word Almighty or God Almighty El Shaddai, sometimes we sing El Shaddai, El Shaddai Lord God Almighty now the English translated Almighty but it comes from the Hebrew word Shaddai which comes from the word breast. It is there where there is strength for a baby who's been fed by his mother's breast. Where there is strength for him to continue on physically. And here what really happened is that the one who has strength, the one who is almighty, the one who is able to nourish the person, his own children, when one has turned away from him, he or she could not be nourished, She could not have any power to continue on.

And therefore, he had to deal with Naomi and her family. She lost her husband. She lost her two sons. Can you imagine here the mother who had to bury her husband, to bury her two sons, and now to return empty? That's why she said, I've gone out full. And I was brought again empty. I went out full, verse 21, and the Lord had brought me home again empty. But you know, brothers and sisters, it's amazing the ways in which God deals with his people. It's better to come back empty than to be full and away from the Lord. It's better to be broken before the Lord and be at his presence than to have everything and be away from him in this world.

He loves his own people so much that sometimes he has to discipline his own people in order to bring them back to himself. So finally they are in Bethlehem and you will see how it's a new fresh beginning when she came back and now notice it says in verse 22 the last verse of Wut chapter 1 it says here in verse 22 the timing of her arrival notice there the timing it says that Naomi returned and root the Moabites her daughter-in-law with her which returned out of the country of Moab and they came to Bethlehem and notice it says in the beginning of the barley harvest it's usually around March, April it's a new start a new beginning the barley harvest in the beginning of that barley harvest is beautiful to see it's now they are going to begin to glean and to get from the field all the harvest and to have plenty of food you might say a new start and a new beginning that word return is mentioned here more than once beloved brothers and sisters in fact you will notice in chapter one it's Nearly about 9, 10 times the word return, return, return, return is mentioned.

The Hebrew word is lashuv, teshuvah, to return. And when a person is returning back to God, when a child of God, some believers that have gone astray from the will of the Lord, it's so wonderful to see when they are returning to the presence of the Lord. And they say, I play the fool. I shouldn't have been going away from the Lord. His love is so great. There is fullness of blessing in the presence of the Lord. He is able to provide and to meet the need of His people. Even at times things are difficult, He is so faithful in thy presence. The Bible said in Psalm 16, there is fullness of joy.

But away from the presence of the Lord, there is nothing but sorrow. There is nothing but trouble. And that's why it's so wonderful for us, beloved brothers and sisters, always to be challenged to stay close to our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, because it is the only place of blessing. The only place of blessing. So, Wut chapter 2, from verses 1 to 3, we have Wut now is gleaning in the field of Boaz. Look what it says, and the Boaz, by the way, is one of the most beautiful pictures of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in the Bible, in the Word of God. It says in verse 1, you see, Naomi had a kinsman.

It says in verse 1, Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. All of a sudden, the name Boaz appears on the pages of the Word of God. All of a sudden, we find out in chapter 2, remember, when the book was written, when Ruth was written, there was no divisions of verses and chapters. It's really linked immediately with the previous verse that we read. And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Alimelech, and his name was Boaz. Now this is interesting because this first verse tells us three things in this passage.

Number one, that he was a kinsman. Now the word here is not the word goel, which also means the Redeemer. The word simply means meyodah or modah. Someone that is an acquaintance. They knew about him. He was a very well-known man in the land of Israel and in the city of Bethlehem. Naomi was related to him. How was she related to him? Notice the second thing that we read. That he was a mighty man of wealth. Of the family of Elimelech. Now Elimelech was her husband so this man that is the kinsman by the name of Boaz he was related to Elimelech. Some in Jewish writing suggest that Elimelech and Boaz were cousins.

In other words both of their fathers were brothers and they were sons of these two fathers. So he is a kinsman, he is one that is acquaintance of the family but he was a mighty man that word for mighty man is the Hebrew Ishchail it's used often time in the word of God for example it's used about Gideon in Judges chapter 6 and verse 12 and also Yiftach in chapter 11 and verse 1 of the book of Judges those two men the name Ishchail or a mighty man is being used for them. Now they were warriors. He may have been a warrior as well because in the time of the Judges, Israel constantly had wars with their enemies.

But here it says that he was a mighty man of wealth. He was a very wealthy man from the city of Bethlehem. And he was related to Elimelech, the husband of Naomi who died. Then immediately, the third thing that we find out about this man, his name was Boaz. You know, the Bible is so filled with meaning. Look at this. Three things we see about this person. Number one, he was a relative. Number two, he was a mighty man. And number three, his name is Boaz. The Hebrew word for Boaz is two Hebrew words. Bo in him. Az means strength. In him there is strength.

Az in Israel, when Israel invented the gun, Uzi. Come from the same root word, Uzi, my strength, Az. That's where you get here, that meaning. And yet you can see that it's filled with application to the person of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. A kinsman, a mighty man, and in him there is strength. You remember that word mighty man is Ish-gibor-chail. You remember one of the titles of the Messiah in Isaiah 9, verse 6? That his name was El-gibor, mighty God. One of the titles that the Messiah had. Then the same name, Gibor, mighty. It's a beautiful type of the Messiah Yeshua, this man by the name of Boaz.

Wealthy. He had to become poor, the Messiah Yeshua, in order to make us rich. But he was rich, the eternal Son of God. He had to become poor. He was kinsman. He had to become a man, just like you and I. Relative to us, you might say, In chapter 2 of the book of Hebrews, he took not the natures of angels, but he took upon himself the seed of Abraham, if you remember. He became a man like you and I in order to be able to redeem us, to save us. And this man's name is Boaz. And we know in Yeshua there was strength, there was power in him to be able to redeem these poor people like you and I.

And Boaz was able to redeem Naomi and Ruth who were two poor ladies who needed this help from this man. And so you notice he's introduced to us here without any connection. He hasn't yet seen Ruth as yet, but he's introduced to us in chapter 2 and verse 1. And so now in verse 2 and 3, Ruth is now asking from her mother-in-law to go to glean for food. And so we read in verse 2 and would the Moabitess said unto Naomi let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him whose sight I shall find grace and she said unto her go my daughter you see they were poor they just came back from Moab they had no husbands Naomi had no children they had no means to survive they just returned from a long journey of 75 miles and now they are back in the city of Bethlehem and look at the wisdom and the willingness of Ruth to begin to meet the need of the family so she asked her mother she says mom, mother-in-law I would like to go into one of the fields and to glean some ears, some foods for us to bring.

And notice it says, after him in whose sight I shall find grace. Now notice this expression, after. In other words, because she was a stranger and because she was poor, she couldn't go and glean just in the field of anybody. And the only thing she could do is she could glean after the ones who have already ripped the land. There is a law that God had given our people, of all the people of Israel, that a stranger or the poor or the one that has no means, he or she could glean after the reapers have already took all as much as they could from the field.

Please turn with me to Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus chapter 19, verses 9 and 10. We read these words. It says in verse 9, When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of the field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyards, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard. Thou shalt leave them, listen to that, thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am the Lord your God. You see, God has instructed, you see how beautiful the provision of God for his people. When one of the Israelis become poor, he or she do not have any more, any land of their own.

Or something happened that they have lost their possession. God always was caring for his people and he prepared a way whereby their needs can be met. And so he said to the owners of the field, he said, yes, you can glean, but don't go to every corner. Leave something there for the poor as it says here in Leviticus chapter 19 and also for the stranger I am the Lord your God I care for the poor I care for the strangers and so Ruth somehow learned this and understood that from her mother when they came back to Moab and she says to Naomi in Ruth chapter 2 and verse 2 he said let me go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace and she said unto her go my daughter so Ruth wanted to take care of her mother who was probably getting up in age and some of the writings they suggested Ruth must have been about the age of 40 by that time and here we find out that now she's going to take care of her mother-in-law who is getting up in age and she's going to glean after those who have gleaned before and she hopes that she will find grace in someone's eyes.

And look at this, brothers and sisters, the providence of God. We can see this how clearly in the next verse. Ruth chapter 2 and verse 3. And she went, listen to this, and she came and gleaned in the field after the reapers and her hap. Other translators said by chance was to light on a part of the field that belonged to Boaz who was of the kindred of Elimelech. Now you see, humanly speaking, just look at the chance. I was so lucky to come now. It happened to be that I came to the field that belonged to this man by the name of Boaz who was a kinsman to the family of Elimelech and Naomi.

But beloved brothers and sisters, I want you again to understand the providence of God, the hand of God, the means by which God directs all things. And while it does say here in verse 3, humanly speaking, it says, Herhap was to light on a part of the field belong unto Boaz. Nevertheless, you and I understand for that, that it's not by chance, but by divine design, God used the means whereby He directs all things here in this world. Wonderful truth to understand, beloved brothers and sisters. In Hebrew, it's almost like saying, she chanced a chance. In verse 3 in Hebrew, It happened, but it was not happened without the hands of God moving about and bringing her into the field that belonged to the man by the name of Boaz.

And you and I, brothers and sisters, when things happen in our lives, we have to realize that the Lord allows things to happen in our lives for a purpose. He's moving about and He moves things around to produce His own plan in the life of individuals, in the lives of nations. You know, we're reading the Word of God of a time that is going to approach in the last days of the church age, where we know before the tribulation period will begin, there will be nations who will gather against the people of Israel. And how things will shape and come about, we don't know. But even if you look at the situation today in the Middle East, you can see the hand of the Lord allowing things to happen in order to bring about his purposes in the life of the nation of Israel and all the nations of the world.

And so in verses 1 to 3 of Wut chapter 2 she gleaning now and by chance, by divine providence she was brought into the field of this man by the name of Boaz. And here we find out now a little bit about Boaz beautiful to see notice the way that Boaz conversed with his servants look at the employee employer relationship it's found here in chapter 2 of Ruth in verses 4 to 7 Boaz now first of all verse 4 said and behold Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the reapers the Lord be with you? And they answered him the Lord bless thee. Can you imagine you get up in the morning and you go to your Job and you say to the boss, God bless you my boss and he says God bless you too my employee.

Wouldn't it be wonderful? But the moment you mention God or Jesus Yeshua, don't give me this nonsense don't tell me these religious things even our work we don't want him in our lives you know this teach us also a beautiful lesson because even though Israel was in the days of the Judges where every man did that which is right in his own eyes yet there was always a godly remnant among our people Israel even in the difficult time you remember the book of Judges close in chapter 21 and verse 25 of the book of Judges it says in those days there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes and yet beloved brothers and sisters there was always a godly remnant among the people of Israel Boaz come to his field and he's speaking to his reapers to his servant and he says, the Lord be with you.

And they respond to him. And they say, the Lord bless you. Yehovah imachem. And they respond and they say, Yevarechecha Adonai, Yevarechecha, Yehovah. Beautiful expression to see here. So, you know, we always learn that even in difficult times, when the people of God at large departed from the will of the Lord there's always those godly people that are maintaining you might say the right relationship with the Lord like Boaz like his servants the reapers there and there were many in the city of Bethlehem who were not leaving the city of Bethlehem and going to Moab because they loved God and understood that he may discipline the people of Israel but they wanted to stay close to the Lord.

And by application, brothers and sisters, look at the church age today in which we live in, the assembly. We know that we live in the Laodicean days where the church at large is scattered to pieces, where there is so much lack, you might say, lack of sound teaching and there's all sort of views and all sort of names. You might say, everyone does that which is right in his own eye. But there's always, even in the body of Messiah, there's always those that God had raised to seek to say, no, I want to stay close to Yeshua, to Jesus, the Messiah. I want to learn from His Word.

In spite of the broken condition that exists in the body of Messiah, we will stay close to the Lord. We will stay close to His words, close to Yeshua the Messiah. We are not perfect. We are failing people. But nevertheless, the place of safety is still by the Lord and His word never changes. It remains the same. And so beautiful to see here this remnant, the people of Israel, that they were those godly men and women who still wanted to stay close to the Lord. And so we see the relationship that they have had with each other. And then verse 5, Boaz is asking his servants because he see this woman there.

And he said in verse 5 to his servant that was set over the reapers. This is the one, Naarod, the servant, one single individual who was irresponsible over everyone. He said to him, whose damsel is this? He has seen this damsel, Naara in Hebrew. And he asked, who does she belong to? It seemed to be like he began to be attracted to this young lady, Moabitish lady. And he was inquiring about her. Who does she belong to? It says in Hebrew, Who does she belong to? And so in verse 6, Boaz's servant responded to him and he said to him, And the servant that was set over the reapers, he answered and he said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

You notice, even though she became a believer in the God of Israel, even though she had adopted God's people, yet she is always called the Moabitish woman. The Moabitess dams him. And in other words, what we learned is that even though a person might adopt the God of Israel to be part of the nation of Israel, physically speaking, one has to be born to a family that is Jewish, that is Hebrew. But nevertheless, she was recognized as a godly woman among the people of Israel because she believed in the God of Israel. And he said, oh, yes, this is the one, the Moabitess damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.

And then in verse 7, he told Boaz about the doing, the activity of root. Look, he says three things here in verse 7. And she said to me, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. So she came and has continued from the morning until now. And thirdly, she tarried a little in the house. Not a three times the word she. She said, I pray you, let me glean. She came to me to our field, to your field, Boaz, and she asked me to glean after the reapers. Secondly, I'm telling you, Boaz, she came, she did glean, she continued even from the morning until now.

She didn't stop. She just continued working and gleaning and gleaning and gleaning. And finally, in verse 7, she tarried a little in the house. She just went to take a little break and she came out to work. He described before Boaz all that which Huth was doing. She requested permission. She was working from the morning until now. She only took a short break and she continued on. And so in verses 8 to verse 13, we find Boaz's kindness towards Ruth, the Moabitish damsel. You see what a kind man this Boaz was. Even though it says he was a man of valor, Gibor Chayil, he was a wealthy man.

He didn't need anyone. He is a very powerful man. And here is this Moabitish woman who is poor, who just came back from Moab, gleaning, working behind the reapers, only gleaning a little bit from the corners, whatever is left, just that she will have some food for herself and for Naomi, her mother-in-law. And so look at the kindness of Boab. So beautiful to see in it the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that everything that was written for time was written for our learning. Whatsoever things happened in the past to our people, of all the people of Israel, is a lesson for us today.

And we need to appropriate it to our own hearts and understand that many types, many pictures here are to show to us the relationship of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach with His beloved people. You and I who were needy people, who were poor, who needed to be restored to the Lord. And so look at this. Look at the kindness of Boaz. First of all, he says in verse 8, Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou my daughter? Go not to glean in another field. Neither go from hands, but abide here fast by my maidens. He began by saying to Ruth something that is so important.

I hope we're all going to learn from that. It's like our Lord Yeshua the Messiah will say to you and I, go not to glean in another field. You know, sometimes we as believers trying to be happy in our lives, trying to find satisfaction, and we're going trying to find our way in so many places, we think this will make me happy and that will give me satisfaction and this will meet my need and there we're going to go and people are traveling all over, you know, many people have no local place where they are steadily, faithfully sticking to the Word of God and being faithful and useful in the midst of God's people and they're wandering around trying to find satisfaction anywhere and everywhere and as we find out in Scripture, do not go to glean in another field.

Stay by the field of Boaz. And I'm not applying this necessarily to any particular church group or assembly group or congregation group. But what I'm trying to say, that there are many of our dear brothers and sisters who are trying to find a place where they are being fed spiritually and they have no place. And they are trying it and trying it there and trying it there. And you can twist the Bible as much as you want. It will never change. God's Word remains the same. If you and I want to be fed and to grow spiritually, The best field to go is right here, by the word of the Lord.

Look what the psalmist of Israel said many years ago. Turn to Psalm 19. He wrote those words by saying to the Lord about how he felt about his word and his, you might say, field of gleaning food for the soul. He said in verse 7 of Psalm 19, the law of the Lord is perfect. The Hebrew word, the law of the Lord, is not only the first five books of Moses, or not only the Ten Commandments, the law, Torah, Adonai, has to do with all his word. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The status of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgment of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. And notice what he says in verse 10 and 11. More to be desired are they than gold. Yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey, and the honey come. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned. And in keeping of them, there is great reward. You see, the soul of the believer needs to be fed from the fields of God's word. That's why we need to learn from the word. To hear the word because we are wandering. We are like all going astray, everyone to his own way, as Isaiah 53, 6 says.

And the best place to come to is to the field of our Boaz, our Lord Yeshua, Hamashiach, Jesus the Messiah. And so immediately he's saying to Ruth, and I'm back in Ruth chapter 2, and verse 8, Boaz said unto Ruth, you hear me? My daughter, go not to glean in another field. Neither go from then, but abide here with my young maidens that are working there in the field. Stick around. Stay right here. Look at the kindness. He was that wealthy man of valor. She was the poor woman. He was the one that belonged to the nation of Israel. She was a Moabitish woman. And then he says to her listen you stay by my field don't go anywhere else stick around in fact you might see already a glimpse of his somehow attraction towards this woman by the name of Ruth and you know what the Lord is attracted to us not because of something about us but because his love for us humanity whom he created for his pleasure no wonder God sent his son to this world to save sinners because he loved us so much John 3.16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life and so we see how, first of all, in verse 8, Boaz encouraged her to stay around.

Notice now he gave her instruction in verse 9. He tells her four things in verse 9. Number one, let thine eyes be on the field that they reap. Number two, go thou after them. Number three, have I not charged a young man that they shall not touch thee? And number four, when you are thirsty, go unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Look at the provision. Not only stay around here, but I am instructing you, let your eyes be only on the field so you can get as much as you can. Number two, you go after them because they are going to leave behind so you can glean much.

Number three, I have already told nobody to touch you. Nobody to withhold from you anything. And number four, when you are thirsty, go and drink from what the young men have taken out from the well. In other words, he's telling, he's providing for her everything. And it's so beautiful, brothers and sisters, to see the care that the men Boaz had for Ruth. And then now notice that when he was so kind to her, She was amazed. You know, I don't know if you remember when you first became a believer. You know, when we first became believers, we were wondering, why would God care for us?

Really, think about it for a moment. Why would God think about you and I? Why would he want to do anything to do with us? And when we became believers and we understood what it cost the Son of God to be punished on our behalf, it moved us. It moved us. It moved our hearts. It moved our hearts because we realized that we don't deserve his love for us. We don't deserve what he has done for us. It was totally his mercy, totally his grace. And that's why we always have to be careful never to assume that God loves us because of our performance or because we have been better or because we have been gooder or because we have been more obedient.

His love for us is while we were yet sinners, the Messiah has died for us. While we were without strength, while we were his enemies, he was willing to come down to this world to give his life for us. And you see, Ruth was amazed. Well, I'm a stranger. I'm coming out to glean and look at this. The man who is in charge of all this field, the owner of this field, is now coming to me and telling me not to go elsewhere. To stay around and to look at the field, to follow the reapers. I've told them not to touch you, not to harm you.

And if you are thirsty, come and drink. She was amazed. And so she responded. Notice what she does. Immediately she fell on her face. Remind me of Isaiah, the prophet of Israel, who said, Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King. Peter, when he saw, after Yeshua told him, you go and throw the net here, and he took so much fish into the boat, Peter fell on his face, and he said, depart from me, Lord. He realized his condition and before whom he is standing.

Ezekiel fell on his face when he heard the word of the Lord. And when he saw what the Lord had done, he fell on his face. Look at every person that was moved by the work of God in his or her life. And what does she do? Again, look at these beloved brothers and sisters. She fell on her face, and she bowed herself to the ground, and she said unto him, Why? Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou should take knowledge of me, seeing I'm a stranger? She was so surprised, and you see, and she asked him, Why? Why do you really care?

I'm a stranger. Why do you do this for me? Why do you provide for me so much? She was so overwhelmed. And she fell on her face. And she bowed herself to the ground. And she asked the question, why? The Hebrew word is lama. Why? Oftentimes, we ask this question in our life. Why? Why? Why this happened to me? Why this is going on in my life? Why? Lama. Lama. Why? Why? But she was amazing. In this case, she was puzzled. Why would he care so much for her to meet her need and to provide for her so much? And so, you listen, you can see the grace, the kindness.

I want you to read with me a verse in the book of Titus for a moment. Read a beautiful verse there in Titus chapter 3 and verse 4. But after the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by work of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote to Titus about the kindness of God. You know, brothers and sisters, God is kind. He is so kind. If we only grasp His kindness towards us, undeserved grace of God, we, you and I, receive because of what Yeshua have done for us.

And so she was overwhelmed when she reckoned. And you notice that she says in verse 10 of Ruth chapter 2, she says, seeing I am a stranger. The word here for stranger in Hebrew is nochriah. Nochriah is a person that had no standing among the people of God. She had no ground. She was just passing by, if you will, a stranger, a nochriah, Someone who has no rights, no merit, nothing that she can claim. Nothing. Only grace. She can claim for grace. And so notice now, after her, what she said, notice what we read here in the next verses, in verse 11 on now. Boaz is now heard about Ruth.

And he was himself moved because it says in verse 11, And Boaz answered and he said unto her, unto Ruth, he said, It has fully been showed me all that you have done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knowest not theretofore. You see he said I have heard about you it was told me I have heard I haven't seen you I haven't met you yet but I have heard about the decision that you have made I have heard about this and perhaps he was recollecting the words that he heard that Ruth said to her mother-in-law entreat me not to leave thee or to return from following after thee for whither thou goest I will go whither thou lodgest I will lodge thy people shall be my people and thy God shall be my God where you die will I die and where you will be buried there I will be buried the Lord do so to me and more also if ought but death part thee and me so Boaz must have heard it is so wonderful to know when somebody hear about the decision making that someone have made.

You know it's so wonderful to hear about the person who made a decision to repent before the Lord and turn to Yeshua the Messiah. It's so wonderful to see that. We hear so much negative. Things. We hear so much opposition against the things of God. But isn't it wonderful to hear about someone who said I have decided to follow Yeshua, Jesus. I have decided not to turn back like Opa, but to follow Naomi and to love her and her people and to love her God. I have decided. I confess my sin before God. I repent of my wrongdoing and I'm turning to the Lord and His kindness towards me had been proven when he had given his son, the Mashiach, the Messiah who died for us on the tree.

That moves our heart. What a joy to hear that. And so brothers and sisters, let's just go back here to the last portion that I read in verse 12 on after Boaz shared with her what he had heard in verse 12. The Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given unto thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose Wings thou art come to trust You see she wanted protection And the wings of the Lord Is kind of protecting her Many times we have in Scripture That word the wings of eagle When God brought our people Of all the people of Israel In Exodus chapter 19 He said I brought you out From the land of Egypt As an eagle wings I protected you And I brought you all the way To this land Exodus 19 and verse 4.

Deuteronomy speak about it and even the book of the Revelation chapter 12 and verse 14 the Jewish remnant who will be protected during the tribulation time and will flee to Petra Bozrah they will be carried like upon an eagle's wings in fact I want to read that Revelation 12 and verse 14 and to the woman this is Israel were given two wings of the great eagle and that she might fly into the wilderness into the place where she is nourished for a time and times and a half a time from the face of the serpent, Satan. Satan who will seek to destroy our people Israel of all during the tribulation time.

Israel will be successfully with the help of the Lord having those two eagles' wings protect them and carrying them into a place where Israel will be preserved for a time and times and half a time, three and a half years during the second half of the tribulation period. Amazing to learn all these things. She wanted to be protected by Boaz God. And so we read that his wish for her in verse 12 that she will be recompensed and receive a reward. Notice verse 13, it says that Ruth's appreciation. She says in verse 13, then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight, my Lord, for that thou has comforted me, and for that thou has spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaids.

In other words, she says, thank you, Boaz. She appreciated, she responded, she says, you have comforted me. You have spoken friendly unto me. And brothers and sisters, when you need comfort, where do you go? The best person to give you comfort is our Boaz, whose name is Yeshua, the Messiah. The best person to be friendly to you, when all your friends have left you, There is one that is sticketh closer than a brother and his name is Yeshua. And she sensed it for Boaz and she appreciated that. And so finally, let me just conclude with verses 14, 15, 16, and 17 just to see Boaz care for root. Verse 14, Boaz said unto her, At mealtime, come thou hither and eat of the bread and dip the morsel in the vinegar and she sat beside the reapers and he reached her parched corn and she did eat and was suffice and she left to go to work and you know that now Boaz himself now take a piece of bread and he hand it over to her he said eat it's like the Lord would feed us we would want to meet our need and to feed us spiritual food Boaz feeding her notice as it says he reached her parched corn he is the one that gave her to eat he is the one that helped her to be satisfied and after she had been satisfied she left at the end of verse 14 she went now to do her work verse 15 and when she was risen up to glean Boaz commended his young men and he said to them and notice that how many times what does he say to his young men verse 15 let her glean even among the sheaves and approach her.

No don't touch her let her glean even among not only after but even among them in other words she is now allowed to take to glean just the same like all the others then verse 16 and let fall also some of the handful of purpose for her and leave them that she may glean them and rebuke her not. And then you notice what Boaz did? He went beyond the law. The law said that a stranger that a nochri could only glean after. But Boaz went beyond and he says let her glean among. If you read carefully Leviticus 19, you read carefully Leviticus 23, the poor and a stranger go beyond after the reapers already reap.

But Boaz says, no, you're going to be like this if you are one of the reapers, one of my people. You go and you notice what he also tells them in verse 16, beautiful, let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for hell. In other words, he's saying to his grippers, he says, you purposely, if you reap everything purposely, leave something out. Don't take everything for yourself. Make sure that this person has plenty to take. And you know, it's so beautiful. We need to learn from Boaz. We need to be like Boaz to let others to be fed and encouraged. There are so many people who are discouraged today.

There are so many people who are downcast. Problems here and problems there. And you and I need to be like Boaz reapers. Like Yeshua's servants. Instead of hurting people, let's build them up. Instead of starving people, let's feed them. Let's be those like Boaz and his servants have been. So look at the end, verse 17, and I'm going to conclude. So she gleaned in the field until even, and bit out that she had gleaned, and it was a bout and a pha of barley. Notice that. She gleaned and she gleaned. She brought so much. According to this measurement, it's about 21 liters is an eifah of barley.

And imagine for a poor stranger woman who have nothing. Now she had been so filled that she can go to her mother-in-law and give her food. And there will be plenty left. Because of Boaz and his godly attitude and his grace and his kindness towards Ruth. And brothers and sisters, I can assure you, not because I say it, because the Bible says it, if we are going to stay in the fields of Yeshua the Messiah, close to him, we will be satisfied spiritually. We will be a blessing to many others. We will grow and be vessels for him here in this world. It is the best thing to do for all of us is to stay close to him.

And when we go astray, and when we fall into sin, in the time we do, we can repent and turn back to him because the Bible said the blood of Yeshua the Messiah cleanses us from all sin. And we can begin to be vessels again for Him, where we can be feeding and encouraging others to continue to follow after the Lord. Well, may the Lord bless His Word.