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 poor or rich. Ruth 3:10 Ruth’s initiative in coming to Boaz gives us a picture of how we should come to Jesus. Ruth took a risky initiative of faith. She went to Boaz and asked. And because she asked, she received. Faith seeks Jesus and is blessed. “You have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich” (3:10). Ruth could have chosen a differen...
Jan 23, 2025•3 min
“Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask.” Ruth 3:11 We saw earlier what we can learn from Naomi’s example of love. There is more for us to learn about love from the example of Boaz. Love waits. “She lay at his feet until the morning” (3:14). Boaz faced an extraordinary test of his character and integrity. If this were the movies, Ruth and Boaz would have become one that night, under the stars. Why did Boaz not say, “I love you, and you love me. Let’s become man and wif...
Jan 22, 2025•3 min
"She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in law had commanded her." Ruth 3:2, 3:7, 3:9, 2:12, 3:11 After the winnowing was done, one of the farm workers would spend the night on the threshing floor to guard the grain. Naomi knew that Boaz would be guarding the grain that night (3:2). And when Ruth went to the threshing floor, she found Boaz sleeping at the end of his heap of grain. Ruth pulled the blanket off Boaz’s feet and lay down (3:7). Perhaps it was the cold on his ...
Jan 21, 2025•3 min
“Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor… When he lies down… go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” Ruth 3:2-4 Ruth 3:2-4 Naomi tells her daughter-in-law to make herself as attractive as possible, to sneak up on a man in the middle of the night, and to lie down at his feet. It’s not surprising that Naomi has received harsh criticism for her plan. Is she suggesting that Ruth should seduce Boaz? Did she not reali...
Jan 20, 2025•2 min
My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Ruth 3:1 Naomi was an older woman. Ruth had made an extraordinary commitment to care for her, but what would happen when Naomi was gone? Naomi gives us a marvellous example of love. Love appreciates what others have done and seeks to do good for them. “Should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?” (3:1). There is a real change here. Naomi’s thoughts had all been about herself and her loss. But God’s provis...
Jan 19, 2025•3 min
My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 The story of Ruth is a marvellous story of hope. If you are feeling hopeless today, what should you do? Do what you can. Ruth took responsibility, and she used the strength God had given her. She also took the initiative to go out into the field and work hard. In addition, Ruth cultivated good relationships with the servants and with Boaz. Paul tells us to “work out your own salvation with f...
Jan 18, 2025•3 min
When [Ruth] rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” Ruth 2:15-16 Ruth had been following the reapers and picking up the scraps. But after the meal, the reapers started dropping entire stalks on the ground—pre-cut stalks of grain, waiting to be picked up! When the day’s work was done, Ruth returned home with an ephah o...
Jan 17, 2025•3 min
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. Ruth 2:14 The whole Bible is one story that consistently points to our Lord Jesus Christ, and Boaz points us very clearly to Jesus. Naomi describes him as “one of our redeemers” (2:20). Jesus is the Redeemer who welcomes us and blesses us. And Jesus welcomes us to His table...
Jan 16, 2025•3 min
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! Ruth 2:12 Boaz had heard about Ruth’s loving commitment to her mother-in-law. He is deeply impressed, and he wants her kindness to be rewarded. Boaz extends himself in showing kindness to Ruth, and his prayer is that God will do the same. God often deals with us in a way that reflects how we have dealt with others. David observed this and he sa...
Jan 15, 2025•3 min
She… 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 Elimelech. Ruth 2:3 It seems that this all happened by chance. Ruth did not know the field belonged to an eligible member of her husband’s family. But we do! Boaz is a marvellous example of a good employer. He takes an active interest in his employees. As a believing man, he prays for God’s blessing on them. And notice that his goodwill is returned. He...
Jan 14, 2025•3 min
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. Ruth 2:1 Now we are introduced to the third main character in the story. The fact that Boaz belonged to Naomi’s family is mentioned twice (2:1, 3). We are being let in on a secret: There is another relative. He is “a worthy man” of good character and great wealth, older than Ruth, but single. It doesn’t take much imagination to work out where this story is going! After all the sorrow and loss, ...
Jan 13, 2025•3 min
I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 26:12-13 Here are two more principles for growing in faith in the midst of sorrow. Remember that the LORD has made a covenant with you. “LORD” in four capital letters is the name used in relation to the covenant God made with His people. The LORD said, “I… will be your God, and you shall be my people” (26:12). Naomi speaks of God as the “Almighty,” recognising His sovereignty. But she speaks...
Jan 12, 2025•3 min
The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me… The Almighty has brought calamity upon me… Ruth 1:20-21 How are we to overcome the waves of sorrow, the distortions of grief, and the bitterness that lurks at sorrow’s door? A beautiful strategy unfolds in Naomi’s example. Here is the first of three principles for growing in faith in times of loss: affirm that God is sovereign. Naomi speaks about God in two ways, and both are important. First, she describes God as “the Almighty.” When suffering comes...
Jan 11, 2025•3 min
“Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.” Ruth 1:20-21 Here are two more truths we learn from how Naomi navigates her grief. Grief distorts. “I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty” (1:21). When Naomi left Bethlehem, she had a husband and two sons. None of them are with her now. When she left, she may have been prosperous, but she came back in poverty. So, what Naomi says is ...
Jan 10, 2025•3 min
The two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” Ruth 1:19 Ten years had passed since Naomi left Bethlehem. Three bereavements had taken their toll and when she arrived home with Ruth, her friends barely recognised her. The first thing they would say would be, “How’s Elimelech?” “Oh, he died shortly after we arrived in Moab.” “Oh, Naomi, we are so sorry. You were left with the t...
Jan 09, 2025•3 min
Ruth said… “Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." Ruth 1:16-17 Ruth makes a marvellous commitment to Naomi, and we see three marks of this loving commitment in her words. Love commits to God. “Your God [shall be] my God” (1:16). Ruth is saying, “I have watched you love your God through three...
Jan 08, 2025•3 min
They lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And [Naomi] said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods…” Ruth 1:14-15 Orpah is a sad example of temporary faith. Ruth and Orpah had come under the influence of Naomi, and there is good reason to believe that they had made some profession of faith. But while Ruth persevered, Orpah turned back. Naomi says, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to...
Jan 07, 2025•3 min
Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband! Ruth 1:8-9 The book of Ruth is a love story. As events unfold in these ordinary lives, we will see three distinguishing marks of genuine love. First, we see that love considers. Naomi had moved to Moab, but she never really belonged there. So, when she heard that the famine in Bethlehem was ov...
Jan 06, 2025•3 min
The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!” Ruth 4:14 When you bring ordinary people and our extraordinary God together, you get a story of redemption. The words redeem, redeemer, and redemption occur 23 times in the 85 verses of the book of Ruth, so in order to understand this book, you have to meet the Redeemer. A redeemer is a person who brings the best out of the worst at his own expense. That is wh...
Jan 05, 2025•3 min
I will bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:2,3 Right from the start we need to understand that the lives, loves, and losses of these ordinary people are woven into God’s hidden plan to bring blessing to the world. This story is about Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. But the central character is God Himself. Everything good comes from His hand, and we will see three truths about Him. God cares about ordinary people. The book of Ruth is sandwiched between Judges ...
Jan 04, 2025•3 min
A man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Ruth 1:1 Here we come to a question that will affect how we understand and apply this story. Some commentators castigate Elimelech and Naomi for moving to Moab. Should they have stayed in Bethlehem and trusted God to provide? God’s Word offers other examples of faithful believers moving in times of famine, such as Jacob going to Egypt (see Genesis 46). The Bible makes no comment on this family’s...
Jan 03, 2025•3 min
There was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Ruth 1:1 There was a famine… in the Promised Land! This was the land God gave to His people—a land flowing with milk and honey. And the famine was in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.” The fields in the area were especially fertile, so why was there a famine? The first thing that comes to mind is that God must have held back the rain. But there could be ...
Jan 02, 2025•3 min
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land. Ruth 1:1 The book of Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible. It is a story about ordinary people, and it is a story about our extraordinary God. When you bring ordinary people and our extraordinary God together, what you get is a story of redemption. Many of the stories in the Bible are about unusual people who do remarkable things: Abraham offering his son on an altar, Moses leading God’s people out of Egypt, Davi...
Jan 01, 2025•3 min
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”Hebrews 2:13 The gospel story won't be finished until the day Jesus stands in the presence of the Father and says these words. Jesus has come to us. Now we must come to Him. The Gospels are given so that you will know this Jesus to whom you must come. The disciples came to Him in Galilee. We come to Him at the right hand of the Father. How are we to do this? The Bible invites us to come to Jesus through repentance and faith. Repentance and faith are ...
Dec 31, 2024•3 min
“Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” Mark 16:7 Mark ends his Gospel with an invitation for the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. This invitation is for you, not to meet Christ in Galilee, but to come to Him by faith. Notice, there is something for you to do. Imagine a family living in poverty. They have no money. They sleep in a shack with a leaky roof and scavenge for food. The childrens’ clothes are in tatters...
Dec 30, 2024•3 min
“He has risen.” Mark 16:6 Christian faith hangs not only on what God has done, but on God’s explanation of what He has done. If all we had at Christmas was the story of a baby born to a virgin, lying in a manger, we would never know who this child is, so God gives us the explanation: Jesus is the Son of God. If all we had on Good Friday was the story of Jesus dying on the cross, we would never actually know what it means, so God gives us the explanation: Jesus died for our sins. If all we had at...
Dec 29, 2024•2 min
“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:6 Notice that it was an angel from heaven who tells the women that Jesus has risen. Mary did not go into the tomb, find it empty, and say to Salome. "Jesus must have risen from the dead.” That thought did not even occur to the women. It was the angel who told them. That’s important because some people think faith is about creating your own reality. The theo...
Dec 28, 2024•2 min
Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Romans 6:1 If you’re asking this question, it means you’ve understood the gospel. In Romans 5, Paul explains what Jesus achieved on the cross. Then in Romans 6, he begins with this question. Once you’ve understood the gospel, this is the natural question. And the apostle Paul’s answer is: “No!” The free grace of the Lord Jesus Christ won’t lead you to a life of sin because, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; be...
Dec 27, 2024•3 min
He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. Isaiah 53:5 Jesus suffered under the judgement of God so that, in Him, you would be saved from God’s judgement. There’s a movie called Double Jeopardy, in which a man fakes his own death and then frames his wife for his murder. She is convicted and sentenced to prison. While she is in prison, she discovers that her husband is not dead but very much alive and living with ...
Dec 26, 2024•3 min
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34 Here we come to the deepest suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will never be able to fully take in what this meant for Jesus. The Father delights in the Son, and the Son delights in the Father. The love of the Son for the Father and the love of the Father for the Son was their joy before the creation of the world, and will be for all eternit...
Dec 25, 2024•3 min
