Transcript:
KL = Kendra LeGrand
EG = Eric Gagnon
Kendra LeGrand: Hey, friend, my name is Kendra, and I have the absolute honor to introduce to you who is going to be our teacher today. His name is Eric, and he is our Theological Content Manager here at First 5. And we’ll hear a little bit from Eric in a second, but I just wanted to congratulate you for making it through Week 4 of our study Ruth: Finding God Faithful When You Feel Insecure and Uncertain. And I’m excited to hear what Eric has to share with us today. But Eric, before I go over the Major Moments, I just want to hear from you: What is one of your favorite things about what you do here at Proverbs 31 Ministries? Favorite task, job, whatever you want to call it … What do you like to do?
Eric Gagnon: Yeah, that’s a fun question. I really just … I can’t believe sometimes that I get to dig into some of these books – especially Old Testament books – and, like, I even right now have Logos [Bible Software] open on one of my screens, and I can have a commentary open right now. And it’s just such a joy to me to be able to dig really deep and look at the Hebrew, look at the Greek, and really figure out and see things that aren’t, you know, super apparent just by reading it. So I think that’s my favorite part of my job.
KL: And you’re really good at it, too, Eric, because I feel like you clear out the way for us to experience the Word of God a little more clearly. And so we’re just very grateful for what you do here every day at Proverbs 31 – thank you. All right. So, with that, everybody, let me go ahead and recap this week’s Major Moments, and then we will hear from Eric himself.
● Day 16 | God revealed to Boaz both Ruth’s character and her commitment to Naomi.
● Day 17 | Boaz’s response to Ruth showed godly character, commitment, and patience toward both Ruth and Naomi.
● Day 18 | Boaz’s gift to Ruth revealed his heart toward Naomi and protected Ruth.
● Day 19 | Naomi was satisfied with Boaz’s response and patiently waited for what would come next.
● Day 20 | Boaz took action to properly redeem Ruth and Naomi.
All right, Eric, you can take it away.
EG: All right. Well, I thought we would start out with me just asking you: Who do you think of when you hear the words “loving” and “kind”?
KL: That is a good question, Eric. I think of my mother … and she’s a faithful First 5 Friend, so I bet you she might be listening to this! But um, yeah, she’s selfless and kind and helpful and very considerate of everybody in the room. And so that’s who I would say.
EG: Yeah, well, it’s funny because I think the first thought that popped into my mind was also my mom. And I think when we think of our moms, we think of them just being, you know, steadfast and always there for us. So we’re going to be talking about kindness today. But before we do that, I just want to summarize for those who may be just jumping into the study at this point, just a real quick summary of where we are:
So Ruth is a foreigner, a Moabite woman living in an ancient time, who’s poor. She decides to honor her mother-in-law because she loves Yahweh. She loves the Lord, the God of her mother-in-law. Orpah [Ruth’s sister-in-law] seems to make a wise decision to stay in the community that she knows and maybe find a husband to provide her with security there as a widow. But Ruth, in an ancient culture, chooses poverty to follow a widow, an old widow, Naomi, with whom she shares no actual blood. She finds [this man] Boaz by what seems like an accident, but we all know it’s not. And Boaz ends up blessing Ruth and Naomi with food, and Ruth follows Naomi’s odd instructions to lay down next to Boaz at night, to wake him up gently by uncovering his feet. Naomi told Ruth that he’d tell her what to do next. And everything leading to the scriptures I’m going to share here is really showing Ruth choosing faith and loyalty and lovingkindness, really, over what she can see and perceive: security, the familiarity of her own culture, her own gods, her own religion back home.
And today, I really want to focus on the word “kindness” that Boaz uses to describe Ruth. Because this is actually kind of strange – it’s surprising that Boaz would respond the way he did. So here’s the scripture, Ruth 3:9-10, that I want us to really zone in or zoom in on today: “He said, ‘Who are you? ‘ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. ‘ And he said, ‘May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter …'” And by the way, Boaz saying “my daughter” there is really just a way of showing respect and a sense of obligation to Ruth. Then he continues, “You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.”
Her first kindness he’s referring to is her kindness to her mother-in-law. And next, we’re going to talk about this last act of kindness that Boaz mentions. But it’s really easy to just read these verses quickly and not think about all the other ways that this story could go, or should have gone, except, of course, that God is directing everything. But I mean, this plan should not have worked.
Let’s talk about some of the reasons why: First, Ruth is actually speaking pretty boldly here. And also what she does is not part of the instructions. By speaking … It’s not even part of the instructions she got from Naomi. So I think as Bible readers, kind of knowing how badly other stories go in the Bible where people fail to follow the instructions, I think … I am kind of on edge throughout this whole scene. We’re on edge, wondering, Is this another disaster story like Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar? They were, by the way, Boaz’s great-great-great-great-great-grandparents – that’s five greats. Or is this a story like Lot and his daughters? This, by the way, is where the Moabites came from. I think that tension here in the story [of Ruth] is intentional, or at least God knew that we would be reading it and understanding it that way. Because it really is a miracle that nothing goes wrong here. It’s a miracle that anything goes right.
Ruth agrees to honor her mother-in-law’s instructions, which seems good and right, but the instructions include putting herself in a potentially compromising situation. Potentially compromising her reputation, her safety, being at night alone in the dark, laying down next to a man she barely knows, taking his blanket off his feet … which, by the way, is just a gentle way of waking him up. Even so, with all of this, it’s not just unusual for us to read from our perspective – but this was strange even back then. And just to note: The word “wings” that we read there – “spread your wings” (Ruth 3:9) – is the same word as a “garment.” So this could also be translated, “Spread your garment over me.”
Sharing a garment was a symbol of marriage, that is, sharing a garment together. And speaking of Israel in Ezekiel 16:8, the Lord says, “I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine” (NIV). So there’s this language that God is using to describe His relationship with Israel as [that of] a husband and a bride.
And so this is certainly a marriage proposal from Ruth [in Ruth 3:9-10]. And it’s interesting also that the sentence is a command. It doesn’t mean that Ruth is bossing Boaz around, but it’s also not a question. She tells him to marry her here.
And Boaz also is the opposite of her in so many ways. I mean, she’s a woman in ancient times telling Boaz, a man, what to do … and she calls herself a servant, but that also means she’s telling Boaz, a foreman, a master, what to do. And she is poor and perhaps dirty, perhaps even smelly, telling wealthy Boaz what to do. And she’s a Moabite, a descendant of Lot, one of his daughters. And Boaz is an Israelite, one of God’s special, chosen people. And Ruth doesn’t stop there – she then tells Boaz who he is. She says he’s a redeemer. And I just thought I’d pause there and say this: Has anyone ever told you, Kendra, what your job was?
KL: [Laughing] Eric, this makes me giggle a little bit because I’m the youngest of four. And so it makes me think back to when I was growing up and my siblings would tell me to do certain chores, and they would just, like, make sure I did it, whether that was to set the table or take out the trash.
EG: Right.
KL: And so that’s what this reminded me of!
EG: Yes, I can hear my own children doing that same thing, especially my oldest. And you know, when people tell us what our job is, especially when we already know it, it’s not usually an enjoyable experience. But of course, Boaz doesn’t take it the wrong way at all. But he already knows who he is. If we keep reading Ruth, we find out that Boaz already knows that he’s a kinsman to Naomi and that there’s another kinsman. And so he already knows who Ruth is. And he says he knows all she’s done until this point.
So this word in Hebrew, “redeemer,” go’el, is the key word in Ruth’s proposal, and it’s key to why Boaz responds the way he does. Go’el is the word “redeemer,” and by using this word, Ruth’s making a reference to Levirate marriage from Deuteronomy Chapter 25. So, Ruth, a foreigner, a Moabite, is citing the Word of God, the Word of Yahweh, the God of Israel. A foreigner is following an Israelite custom because she trusts in the God of Naomi. And this is part of why Boaz responds the way he does. Because think of all the ways that this could have gone differently …
He doesn’t respond and call her a worthless Moabite and tell her to go away. As a man of character – we’re told that he’s a man of character – he still doesn’t question her morality for appearing to him alone at night in this way. He doesn’t shame her for being so bold, though this really was bold of her. And he doesn’t take advantage of her. But he instead protects her. He protects her reputation, and he provides for her, even with food as she leaves (Ruth 3:15). He’s a nobleman, and he acts nobly. And it’s because he shares her faith. He shares that same love for Yahweh, the Lord. And this is made even more clear because he says that she has shown hesed, which is a Hebrew word meaning “kindness,” or “lovingkindness.” And it’s used to describe God’s own unique and steadfast love that we see throughout Scripture.
So he agrees to marry her as long as the closer kinsmen (who he mentions later) agrees, so you can tell God’s Word really is more important to him than his own interests, and he wants to do what’s right. So in all of this, Boaz is the one with this hesed, or lovingkindness, for Ruth because he has compassion on her as a poor foreigner, and what they obviously shared together is faith in the same God – and not just any God but Yahweh, the Lord.
And as I prepared this [teaching], I just kept thinking over and over … You know, we are all like Ruth, in a way. I mean, God knew we’d be reading the story today. And I believe God allowed these impossible divisions, these impossible hurdles here in the story, to be crossed between Ruth and Boaz. And He caused them to exist in order to erase them. I mean, He’s showing us something; He’s allowing these dividing lines to exist so He can show us how much He wants to cross them.
And here are some examples of what I mean: You and I, Kendra, are not great candidates for God’s lovingkindness to us. We have nothing to offer. There’s nothing we can do to impress God or make Him love us. We come to God empty-handed, with nothing but faith and trust in Him. And we’re poor, and God is rich, and we’ve been dirty and smelly with our own sin, and God is noble and pure. God made us a good world, and we, by all of our sins, have virtually spit in God’s face by breaking His good laws designed for our safety, which really makes us enemies, like the Moabites were against Israel.
R. C. Sproul called it “cosmic treason.” Because it’s one thing to disobey parents or disobey even a police officer or disobey a political leader. But how much more is it, how much worse is it, to disobey the King of the universe? Jesus said, “If you’re not for me, you’re against me” (Matthew 12:30). So before coming to Christ, we’re all God’s enemies. We have a fallen nature. And we continue to struggle with sin and disobedience as Christians. And yet what is God’s response? Just like Boaz, God has smiled on those of us who are bold enough to turn from our wicked ways, to flee our own lands of Moab. Those who, like Ruth, boldly ask God to be our Redeemer.
We tell God to be our refuge and our strength. We tell God, Spread Your garment over us, Your Church. The analogy in the Scriptures of the Church, the assembly of God’s people, is God’s Bride. And like Boaz, He’s purchased both us and the ground we stand on. He’s bought us with His blood; He’s redeemed us from sin and death. We were once not a people, Scripture says in Ephesians. We were from the kingdom of the world, and now we’re citizens of heaven. He’s given us a home, He’s given us hope and a future, and He promises never to leave us nor forsake us. That is lovingkindness.
So what do we do about all of this? Like Ruth, we show lovingkindness back to our God. We declare to God that we’re His servants. And He calls us His friends, His Bride. We devote ourselves wholeheartedly to God, and we covenant together, like a marriage covenant between the Church and God. Like the child Boaz and Ruth had, who led to Jesus, we, too, seek to further advance the line of promise in God’s Kingdom so that more souls will hear the Good News and join up with the family of God. And we also show this lovingkindness, this steadfast love and loyalty, to our families. We show this love to our in-laws. We show this love to our friends. We show this love to our neighbors. We show this lovingkindness to foreigners, and we show it to people who don’t look like us, talk like us or even believe like us. We show this love to our enemies. We show this love even to those who would threaten our lives. But we do it because we’ve been changed. We’ve been changed by a particular God, Yahweh, the Lord. And we do it because we’ve been changed by His Word. So that’s all I have, Kendra. I hope this has been helpful to those listening today.
KL: Eric, that was fabulous. You kept my attention the whole time. I have a lot of notes written on my notes app on my phone. But I think what I love most about what you had to share today were just the examples that we can learn from all of the people in the book of Ruth and just how applicable this book is to our everyday lives. And just like you wrapped it up at the end, like, we are able to show lovingkindness because of the lovingkindness of Jesus. And so I just want to say thank you for this teaching. And I would love to go ahead and close our time in prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank You for today. Thank You for this time that we’ve had together to learn a little bit more about Your lovingkindness through the book of Ruth. God, Eric mentioned a lot of things, but I think I just want to pray that we’re like Boaz in the sense of You helping us to have compassion on those around us. Lord, help us to be more like Ruth and have the confidence to speak up or take the step of obedience that we need to take. Lord, help us to have the faith, like both of them did, that we need for today as we go about our daily tasks, and help us to love like You love us, Lord. It’s in Your Son’s name that we pray, amen.
Adorn the Gospel 