The Beauty Of Godliness

Well, if you have your bibles, open them to the Book of Ruth. Let's look at Ruth chapter two. We finally reached the second chapter here of the Book of Ruth. If you remember, the Book of Ruth is set during the time of the Judges, that three hundred plus year period in Israel's history, that was really their darkest days, where they would be oppressed for years and years and decades at a time and then delivered by these individuals. And really, judges is not the best term for them. They weren't necessarily judges. They weren't necessarily good men and women of the greatest character. But they rose up at various times and were used by God to deliver his people. And in the midst of these dark days we find the story of the Book of Ruth. This is also an interesting time because we have gone from the covenant mediator Moses to the next covenant mediator, Joshua, and we have not yet gotten to the time when the covenant will be mediated by the kings and prophets and priests. And so this time is a bridge between the individual covenant mediator Moses and Joshua and the nation of Israel in its golden era where it will have its great kings along with this priests and its prophets. And in the midst of this time you have the time of the Judges. And the Book of Ruth begins with the era of the Judges, and it ends alluding to the birth of the greatest of the great kings, David. So the book bridges the gap. The narrative bridges the gap. This narrative is about the hope of God's people as represented by this individual story, which is really not all that individual. As we dove into it, we've gone through chapter one and we've looked at really the frowning providences and the pain of chapter one. Now we look at the providence of God as he brings together Ruth and Boaz. If you remember, we're trying to look at this in layers. On the one hand, we want to look at this as the people of God, and here the message of God to his people that God is in control, that God cares for his people, and that God delivers his people. Amen. But at the same time, we want to look at the smaller message, this message to an individual clan, to an individual family, to an individual couple. We want to look at it from that perspective, because God offers encouragement for us on that level as well as on the broader level. He also encourages us as we look at our marriages, both from the micro level and the macro level. The marriage of a husband and wife is indeed about that husband and that wife, that man and that woman, but it is also about a bigger picture. It is about the picture of the relationship between Christ and his church. It is about the picture of God over time, being faithful to a community, bringing forth generations. So even when we look at our marriages, we have to look at our marriages and our individual relationships the same way that we look at the Book of Ruth. Yes it's about me and my spots, and yes it's about something bigger than that. For those who are not married, it's important to look at this from both perspectives because we don't want to think about our individual relationships as just individual I've said on a number of occasions that that's one of the things that I've really been encouraged by sin not even since moving here, but it just since first coming and visiting here in Zambia. But where I'm from, we are so incredibly individualistic I mean, just as individualistic as you can imagine, and then more. And in some ways that's been good and it's been helpful, and in other ways it has been very destructive. There was a song a while back that puts this in perspective in terms of what we are looking at here in this text, and the title of the song was marry her anyway, anybody, Now, don't I use young people in here acting like you know I'm spiritual. I'm in sure, no, pastor, I never heard that song. I don't know anything about that. But essentially the song was about a young man who goes to the father of a young woman to ask for her hand and marriage. He's following the tradition if you will. The father says no, and essentially the chorus says, you know why you want to be so cruel? They'll let you know I'm human too, right, And essentially the hook and the song is I'm going to marry her anyway. I asked. I did you a favor by asking, but I don't need you to marry her anyway. That's the kind of individualism that I'm talking about. And so for those who are not married, it's very important to understand that marriage has to be seen from both ends of this spectrum, that this is not just about you wanting someone for you. This is about you entering into a covenant relationship that impacts a family, that impacts a community, that impacts the kingdom, that impacts the world, that impacts generations, And when you think about it from that perspective, it changes even your choices. So let's look here chapter two. We said one through seven, I think we need to go through verse thirteen Ruth. Chapter two. Now, Naomi had a relative of her husband, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was boac Us. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him, in whose sight I shall find favor. And she said to her, go, my daughter. So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Ilimelech. And behold now, and you notice you've seen that twice right, that he's of the clan of Elimelech. That's going to become important later on in the story, because essentially what this book does is it unfolds a practical example of leverright marriage. God gave lever right marriage to Israel, and simply put, leverright marriage was the process of bringing up children in the name of a deceased relative so that his line did not end. If you were here in the morning, we talked about adoption and how adoption was really a Greco Roman response to this, when there is no heir, what do we do? And so legal adoption became an answer to that. In Israel's history, leaver right marriage was an answer to that. And so my brother dies and leaves a wife, I am now responsible to produce an air for my brother, who will be my brother's air and not my heir through his wife. This is a practical outworking of leaver right marriage. And so the fact that he is of the clan of Elimelech is very important. That's why you've seen it twice here in the first few verses of chapter two. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and he said to the reapers, the Lord be with you, and they answered, the Lord bless you. Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers. Whose young woman is this, And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, she is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, please, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers. And she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest. Then Boaz said to Ruth, now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner. But Boaz answered her, all that you have done for your mother in law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me. And how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before the Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants. Amen. You know, so many single people are desperate to find love. There was a song about it back in the day, but I won't quote the song because I don't want to date myself. Many feel as though time is running out and all the good options are gone, and so they become desperate. There's the story of the young woman who when she was a teenager, she was resolute and she said, I am going to marry a man, but I'm not going to marry a man unless he is a spiritual giant like Charles Spurgeon, mixed with the charm and good looks of Charles Bota high standards. Indeed, in her teen years and then in her late twenties, when she was yet unmarried, the story changed a little bit and it was I just want a godly man. In her late thirties, she was still unmarried and she said, if he just knows where a church is, I'm we laugh, But haven't we seen it? Haven't we seen the compromise? Desperation kicks in? My friends are all marrying off girls that I passed on, Guys that I passed on. They have found mates. And now I'm looking around and it seems as though all the good choices are gone. And the next thing you know, there is an unbeliever who begins to look good, or a member of a heretical sect or a cult that begins to look good, or someone who holds to irreconcilable doctrine that begins to look good, or someone who is disqualified because of character issues that we begin to consider as we lower and lower and lower the standard. In all of this, there's a tendency to look at the world through our limited lens and quite simply to not trust God. And when I say to not trust God, what I mean is not just to trust God to bring you a spouse, but to trust God even if he chooses not to. Singleness is not a disease, Amen, somebody, Singleness is not a disease. It is actually a spiritual gift that God gives to some We know this one Corinthians, chapter seven. There are people who are gifted of God to be single. There are things that single people are able to do in kingdom life that married people are just simply not able to do. And so when I talk about trusting God, it's not just about trusting that because you think that's what you want. You know that eventually that's what you're going to get. God is good if he gives you a spouse. God is good if he doesn't. Amen. But when it comes to this finding of a spouse, we have to understand that we must trust in the providence of God and not yield to desperation. And we see here in these first thirteen verses a beautiful picture of the providence of God, really in two ways. First, we see the providence of God because there is no union unless God arranges a meeting. Amen. There is no union unless God arranges a meeting somehow. The two people have to be in the same place at least long enough to say I do hey man. Even if you're in a culture where people arrange marriages, eventually you have to show up at the same place and the same time, by the providence of God in order to be able to do that. And secondly, there is no union. Again, aside from cultures where we're talking about arranged marriages, there is no union without some foundation of attraction, whatever that attraction is built on. So let's look at these two things. First, there's no union without God arranging a meeting. And God does just that. He arranges a meeting between Ruth and Boaz. God gave a Limelck a relative by the name of Boaz. You see that in the first verse. Now, Naomi had a relative of her husband, a worthy man of the clan of a Limelech, whose name was Boaz. He didn't just say Ruth had a relative named Boaz, or you could have just left the line off, but the line wasn't left off. He is a relative, he is a worthy man, he is a man of their clan. This is important because later on we find out that this is all part of that leverright marriage law, which is why this particular individual is an important individual for Ruth to meet, and God in his providence has arranged for Ruth and Boaz to meet. Think about how big the planet is. Billions and billions and billion we are They're over eight billion people on the planet now, and in a planet where there are eight billion people. We talked about it in the announcements today. Two of those people are getting married this weekend. You don't have to be a mathematician to recognize that the odds of that are outrageous. And yet God in his providence does it all day, every day. And it's amazing when you stop and hear people's stories, because for most people, their story is not yep, I grew up in that house. He grew up right next door. We saw each other. No, for Ruth and Boaz, that wasn't the story. And even when people get married to somebody who lived next door, the story is usually not yep I was in that house. They were in that house, met each other and kind of figured, you know, eventually this was gonna be No, it's usually ah, we played together, never thought about that, went my direction and went their direction. Next thing, you know what, the providence of God. Do we trust in the providence of God? For those who are not married, that's the question. Do you trust in the providence of God? Do you trust that God is in control or do you believe that you have to manipulate circumstances in order to make things happen for those who are married. Do you trust in the providence of God? Do you trust that God knew what he was doing when he brought your mate to you? And here's a more important question. How much does it take for you to question that providence? And every married person has that stress point. Amen, I don't care how godly you are. There are days when you go But for some people that takes just an amazing amount of pressure and difficulty and hardship. For other people, it just takes waking up next to somebody whose breath doesn't smell all that great. The next morning, somebody who burns a meal, and all of a sudden, off we go. God didn't know what he was doing. Do we trust in the providence of God? Secondly, God gave bo As a field and sent Ruth to that particular field on that particular day Verses two and three. And Ruth the Mobite said to Nailmi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him whose sight, in whose sight I shall find favor. Now we know about Boaz, but it's very important to know that we're hearing narration there. Ruth doesn't know about Boaz she doesn't hear the narrator. She doesn't hear verse one. By the way, this man by the name of Boaz, you need to go to his field, because girl, no, no, that's not the way it happened. We are told after the fact about Boaz, who happens to be a relative, who happens to be a worthy man, who happens to be of the right clan. And then right after we're told about that, we get in real time and Ruth just says, I need to find favor with someone so that we can eat. She's not thinking about a husband. She just wants to feed herself and nail me. That's all she said to her, Go my daughter. So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and I love this happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boa. She just happened to who was of the clan of a Limelech. In case you didn't get that the first time. Amen, God is in control. She's not looking, not yearning, thinking about anything other than we have to survive. God also gave Israel this law of gleaning Leviticus twenty three, twenty two. And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge. Nor shall you gather the gleamings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord your God. We find again in Deuteronomy, chapter twenty four and expansion on this law Deuteronomy twenty four, beginning of verse nineteen. When you reap your harvest in your field and 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, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, for the fatherless and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterwards. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. This was their welfare plan. If you will, this is how the poor were taken care of within the confines of the nation of Israel. Every individual took part in this, or was supposed to take part in this. Certainly, there were those individuals who were ruthless and godless and did not do this, but Boas was not one of those individuals. Boaz was an individual who reaped the harvest in his field, and then apparently not only did he leave the gleanings for the poor, but he had people who supervised those who were gathering the gleanings in his field. So now he has the expense of not reaping all of his harvest, that's profit that he's leaving out there, and he has the added expense of personnel who's overseeing this part of the harvest. This is a good man, but it's God who did this long before there was a ruth and long before there was a Boaz. Why is this important because this is about obedience to God's law leading to blessing. Obedience to God's law leading to blessing. We talked earlier about desperation and what desperation does, and oftentimes desperation leads us to disobedience to God's law. The person who comes to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever is saying, I am willing to violate God's law because I don't believe that I can get what I want if I obey God, and this is what I want. So my desires have to be right, not God. My desires have to lead not God. We even begin to try to justify it. I've sat on those counseling sessions. Ah, I'm a pastor. You just don't know. He treats me better than the Christian guys up dated. In other words, there is a standard that is higher than God's law, because God's law and following God's law just doesn't work. The Book of Ruth would beg to differ. And again, better to be single the rest of your life and obeying God and the gleaning of the fields, than to disobey God and have what has been forbidden to you. God also brought Ruth from Moab. Don't forget that. If she was a woman from Jerusalem, if she was a woman from Bethlehem, if she was a woman from Israel around the neighborhood who happened to be in this field, and boas happened upon her, we would still see the hand of providence. But this is a woman who is a foreigner from another land. Several times in the text we get this verse two, and Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi verse six, and the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, she is the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. Two times in this sentence, right, she's a Zambian woman, you know, the one who came from Zambia. In verse eleven, Ruth says, you know. Boa says, you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. Four times four times in these few verses. Twice in one of the verses, we're reminded that this is a foreign woman. This is a woman from Moab. How would a woman from Moab during the period of the Judges come to Israel to meet a prominent man? There the answer the providence of God. There is also great irony here. Who are the Moabites? Where do they come from? If you'll remember, Abraham and Lot divide themselves, and Lot goes and pitches his tent near Sodom. God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, but he saves righteous Lot and his family. Lot's wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt. And then later on Lot's daughters become desperate because they do not trust and the providence of God to bring them a man. So they get their father drunk and go in and lay with him, and one becomes pregnant, and her descendants are the Moabites. So this woman is part of a people who exist because of a woman who did not trust God and preferred incest to obedience, when just on the other side of the mountain there was Uncle Abraham who had over four hundred trained men that he went to war with a number of kings with. But they couldn't trust God for what was on the other side of the mountain, so they sinned. And so we have providence and great irony, as one of their descendants is now about to be folded in, grafted in not just to the people of God, but to the lineage of great King David, and to the lineage of the greatest of the great kings, Jesus, do you trust him? Secondly, not only is there no union without this meeting being arranged, but there's no union without some foundation for attraction. Now, attraction varies from person to person, It varies from culture to culture. What one culture finds attractive, another culture may find repulsive. What we look for in people, what we become accustomed to, bone, structured size, height, weight, Some cultures like people with meat on the bones, other cultures like them. Rail fan again, attraction, Where did you grow up, what did you grow up seeing? What did you grow up being pointed to? What kind of media have you consumed? Sometimes these things are healthy, sometimes unhealthy. The fact of the matter is it's real. And I'm not arguing here that we somehow become so spiritual that attraction becomes a non issue. However, as a Christian, while we can never really escape these preferences, we must learn to prize other traits, biblical traits above superficial ones, because if we don't, time will rob us of the things that we were drawn to and leave us with an abundance of the things that we chose to ignore. Proverbs thirty one to thirty Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Amen. Beauty can be taken away with the ravages of time. Again, i am not arguing that somehow we become so spiritual that this becomes a non issue. But the question is this, as we balance those things. As we are conformed to the image of Christ, what becomes more beautiful to us? And do we become so shallow and superficial that the things that the Bible says are beautiful the things that are beautiful about Christ. Isaiah tells us that he had no beautiful external form, and yet he's the most beautiful thing that the world has ever known. And if we belong to him and are drawn to him, does the beauty of Christ and the beauty of the character of Christ formed in another person begin to elevate our ability to appreciate that which is not superficial? Or is it the other way around? Is the superficial so powerful that we begin to depreciate the character of Christ because we just must have the superficial? God brought Ruth to Boas' attention. And one of the things I love about this book, and I believe it's one of the greatest love stories anywhere, anywhere, anywhere, anywhere, not just in the Bible. I believe this is one of the greatest love stories anywhere. And we don't know what either one of them looked like. Nothing where they talk a short who knows dark skin, fair skin? Text doesn't say, because in one of the greatest love stories ever told, there are things far more significant and important than that Verses four and five. Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and he said to the reapers, the Lord'll be with you, and they answered, the Lord bless you. Then Boaz said to his young man, who was in charge of the reapers, whose young woman is this? She wasn't the only young woman. Later on, he's gonna tell her stay with the other young women. For whatever reason, he recognizes this young woman. Perhaps it's just because she's new, We don't know. But what we know is this, if he doesn't recognize her, he's not going to marry her. Amen. So whatever the reason was, God saw to it that she came to his attention. Secondly, God gave Ruth attributes that attracted Boaz. We see it here in the texts, and it's not a stretch. It's the only thing that we're given Verses six and seven. The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, she is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, please let me glean and gather among the sheaves. After the reapers. So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest. So what do we see here? Ruth was a stranger who showed kindness to an Israelite. Boaz was attracted to that. How do we know? Verses eleven and twelve. But bo has answered her. All that you have done for your mother in law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me. And how you left your father and your mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. He saw her as having come to take refuge under the wings of Yahweh. No, no, no, no. I know you, and I know your story. I know what you've done for Naomi. I know what you gave up. May God bless you. That's attractive to him. She submitted to Israel's traditions and laws. This is attractive to him. This is a woman who is come from Moab. And what did she do? She found out the traditions and the customs and the laws of the people of God, and she is now acting in accordance with the customs and the laws of the people of God to the benefit of her mother in law. That's attractive. She also worked diligently. Later on, we're going to find out about how much she carried away, So we don't know if she was tall or short, or fat or thin, or light or dark or anything else. I can tell you she was strong. She's been here since morning. She's worked the whole time, except for a short break. This was attractive to Boas, but the attraction has to go both ways. So God gave Boas attributes that attracted Ruth. Verse eight. Then Boa said to Ruth, now, listen, my daughter, do not go to Glen. Notice also this term of endearment and affection that he uses my daughter. This is not a man who's trying to make advances or take advantage you're interested. You do not say my daughter. Guys, if you want to know what you say, talk to me after the sermon. I can help you. But for now, just don't say this. Listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one. But keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face. You think this pleased her? She fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me? Since I am a foreigner here i am I'm not just a foreigner, I'm a Moabite. By the way, we talked about this earlier in the series. Not only does Moab have this history that caused them to be despised by the Israelites, but they were also one of the peoples who oppressed Israel during the time of the Judges. They were hated by the Israelites. So now she marries an Israelite. But that's okay. They're in Moab. He dies. Now what happens she goes back to Israel. She's a Moabite woman and is she's a foreigner and a stranger in a strange land. What does she expect? She expects for people to look down at her, She expects for people to mistreat her. She expects for people to find out about who she is and where she's from and to think less of her. And this man says, I will provide for you and I will protect you. That's attractive. She falls on her face. You already told me that you know I'm a foreigner. You already told me that you know I'm a morbid and now you tell me that the women are going to guide me, and the men are not going to harm me, and that you're going to see to it that I have everything. I listen to me, ladies, I don't care how handsome, smooth, rich, whatever else he is. This is what you're looking for. A man who will provide, who will protect, and who will extend kindness, A godly man who does so in obedience to the law of God. A godly man who is passionate about the people of God and the things of God. A godly man who finds in you the pursuit of God more attractive than anything else in the world. That's what you're looking for. That's what you're looking for. Men. On the other hand, you see what we're looking for. This godly woman who is in pursuit of the things of God, in obedience to God. This diligent woman verse thirteen. Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants. What has to happen in God's providence, there has to be a meeting, there has to be an attraction. And we see here in these first thirteen verses of chapter two there was a meeting, and organize this meeting, and we just talked about a few things that happened that God did to organize this meeting. The God of the universe brought these two people together. And it wasn't just two people who were together. And because anybody can say that, right, oh, it's obvious God brought us together. Why because this is what I like and what I want. It has nothing to do with godliness. And there it was no because the attraction here is rooted and grounded in the character of God himself. It's rooted and grounded in the law of God. It's rooted and grounded in Godliness. And so as we think about God's providence, and as we think about what we want and what we need in order to build a marriage that is seen from both ends of the spectrum. From the standpoint of us as individuals, as a couple, as a broader family, as a culture and community, and society, as the Kingdom of God, It's important to understand God's the author of marriage. God gave us marriage for his glory. God gave us marriage for our sanctification as well as our satisfaction. And if we want a marriage that will glorify God and bring the greatest joy to us, then we look for the hand of Providence, not in the superficial things, but in godliness and holiness and righteousness. Not in things that not only can but will fade with the ravages of time, but in things that just become more beautiful over time. Again, I am not arguing that we will somehow become these super spiritual people that are immune to things that attract us outwardly. But what I am arguing is that i we grow in grace, the scales must tip. And this is not just for people who aren't married. This is for people who are married. Because when we are married, if the scales don't tip in favor of the godliness, if the scales don't tip in favor of those things outside of ourselves, then all of a sudden, we find ourselves with someone whom we married a decade ago, two decades ago, three decades ago, because they look like X, but now they don't. So what do we do? Our eyes wonder looking for someone else who does that is also not trusting in the providence of God. God is good, He is in control. Trust him in your best days and in your worst trust him. Let's pray, Gracious God, our heavenly Father. We bow before you in gratitude and humility, overwhelmed as we contemplate your providence and the way that you control and organize and orchestrate everything in the universe in order to maximize your glory. Gradest grace to believe this even when you are glorified through our difficulties, through our hardships and our heartache. Fatherly, we live in a world that tries to convince us, and sometimes successfully, that our happiness is tied up in some other person. If we just find that spouse, grant by your grace, that we might seek our joy in no one but you, our wholeness, our fulfillment, and no one but you, And that should you grant us a spouse, we would see it merely as the gravy on top, not as the sinner and the core. In the essence of our existence or our fulfillment. And for those whom you call to live in singleness, grant them the grace of contentment. Pray for the young person under the sound of my voice who is growing weary and on the verge of compromise, Strengthen them to day to trust you and wait to glean the fields filment. For the one who's married and weary again, grant them grace to trust in your providence even during difficult days. Because you make no mistakes. Teach us to see your hand of providence and to trust it. And in all these things, grant that your glory might be our chief goal. We ask this in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen,