Confirm the Lord’s will

Ruth 2:8-23; 8/28/2022; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang

 Introduction

What should we do when we meet the other half of our life in the crowd of people?  In other words, when we think that when we meet the other half of our life, the most important thing we should do is to confirm the Lord’s will.  Do you agree?  Sometimes, we don’t even have the concept of confirming God’s will, but God still leads us to confirm His will.  Let’s look at the first point:

Waiting for Boaz’s concern

Since God brought Ruth to Boaz’s field, could Boaz be the other half of the life God brought to Ruth?   If so, did God let Ruth see Boaz’s concern?   First, Boaz spoke.  In fact, Boaz had already spoken to the servant overseeing the harvest, but Ruth did not hear it.  This time, Boaz finally spoke directly to Ruth. This is important, right?  Sometimes we have a longing for love, and maybe all the process is completed in our hearts and dreams, but we fail to say a word to the other party.  You may have a crush on someone for many years, only to find that he is ready to get married.  After we believe in the Lord, we should first hear what God has to say about our love and marriage.  Do you agree?  If God does not speak, if there is no word of God, our hearts will not move, right?

           Second, Boaz took heart.   When Boaz speaks, it makes people feel warm!  He said to Ruth, “Listen to me, don’t go to other people’s fields to gather grain, and don’t leave here, but always be with my maids.  Boaz began to put Ruth into his own sphere to consider, right?  To be always with my maids, this is his heart of Ruth.  These language symbols indicate that Boaz began to connect Ruth to his own life trajectory.  Not only that, but Boaz went one step further.  He began to think about Ruth’s relationship with his family, especially with his servants above all.  ”He said, “The servant has been commanded not to oppress you!”  And to meet Ruth’s basic needs in life:  if you are thirsty, you can go to the vessel and drink the water drawn by the servant. Remember that Jesus once said: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. (John 7:37)” ？

             Lastly, Boaz decided.  There is the word of God, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the objective confirmation.  Boaz began to think, maybe this is the other half God has prepared for me, right?  I don’t know how this woman named Ruth treats me.  Would she mind my age?  After all, because I waited on God, I missed talking about marriage at a young age.  Is this woman today brought to me by God?  “At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10)”  When two prepared people confide in each other their humility, they begin to love each other.  He knows, this is the other half of his life!  Let’s look at the second point:

Unity of each other’s values

Apparently, Boaz had been paying attention to Ruth since she returned to Bethlehem from Moab with her mother-in-law Naomi.  First, pay attention to her testimony.  If people can be together for a lifetime, it is not their external conditions, but their internal values. Boaz said to Ruth:  “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. (Ruth 2:11)”  Boaz said to Ruth:  “Your kingdom is my kingdom, and your God is my God!”  This sentence is deeply appreciated.  Because, Boaz knew, as long as they worshiped the same God and loved the same Lord, they would have the foundation for a lifetime of companionship.  Ruth not only said that, but also did the same, and really returned to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law.

Second, pay attention to her needs.  What are human needs?  It’s just food, clothing, housing, and transportation, right?  People don’t need much, but want a lot, right? The Bible records: “At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”  When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. (Ruth 2:14)”  I am more willing to look at this picture from the perspective of God meeting people’s needs.  Jesus dipped in vinegar to quench his thirst on the cross, and the Father met his Son’s basic needs.  Five loaves and two fish, 5,000 people are full, and there is “a left over”!  Including our marriage and love, God also fulfills us according to our needs!

Finally, keep an eye out for her family.  Through Boaz, God not only met Ruth’s needs, but even heartily met the needs of his mother-in-law Naomi.  The Bible records Ruth’s that day “So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. (Ruth 2:17)”  If calculated according to their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, one efa is about 22 kilograms, which should be enough for the two of them to eat for a month. Coupled with the fact that Ruth ate with Boaz’s servants every day in Boaz’s field, mother-in-law Naomi’s rations were abundant.  The Bible shows us that because of their shared values, touching testimony, and love when they met, Boaz began to love her family, right? Let’s look at the third point:

 Waiting patiently for God’s time

 When God’s will is determined and the values are the same, the next step is to wait for God’s time and order.  First of all, mother-in-law’s approval.  Frankly speaking, the road that human marriage has traveled in the past two hundred years is really not easy.  Free marriage and love have been proposed as plausible and taken for granted.  In fact, most of the time that human beings have gone through, there are parents involved.   In fact, there is no path that human beings can navigate on their own.  Its absolute principle is that it conforms to God’s will.  Ruth came home from the fields and reported what had happened to her mother-in-law, as she should have.  One is respect, and the other is blessed.  When Ruth returned home, her mother-in-law asked Ruth,  “Where did you glean today? Where did you work?  Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”  Marriage is not just a matter of two people, and it is often “packaged” together with parents and family members.

Second, identity recognition.  Of course, the purpose of marriage is not to return to the bondage of the parents, but to eventually leave the parents and be united with the spouse.  But at least the elders can help give advice on whether it is appropriate, agree?  Mother-in-law Naomi testified here that Boaz was a member of our own family, a very close relative.  This cleared the way for Ruth and Boaz to marry.  According to the law:  “If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. (Leviticus 25:25) ”  ​​​​So, in Naomi’s eyes, Boaz was a suitable candidate.  That is to say, the children born to Boaz and Ruth in the future will be in the name of Naomi’s husband Elimelek.

Finally, be patient and wait.  At this moment, it can be said that all is ready except for the opportunity.  According to the customs of today’s world, if two people fall in love, they will have a sex relationship soon.  Many subsequent tragedies have also resulted from this.  Because people can’t wait and are unwilling to wait for God, many mistakes have been made.  Who is willing to reflect on it?  Could it be that from now on we can learn to wait on God patiently?  “So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law. (Ruth 2:23)”  It should be two months before the barley and wheat are harvested.   Two months is not a short time for both men and women in their relationship.  Especially Ruth, her patient waiting was pleasing to God.

Conclusion

Thank God!  Marriage matters, the most important thing is to confirm the Lord’s will!  Seeking God’s will,  matching core values, and waiting for God’s time and order are the greatest proofs in our lives!  Excuse me, would you like to?

Let us pray……

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a] 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.[b]”

21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.