RUTH: THE FIRST LADY OF SPIRITUALITY

Ruth 1:16-17 (KJV)

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Galatians 6:1 (KJV) says,

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

It should go without saying, at least in a church like ours, that what is true here of men is equally true of women.

I refuse to spend all of my time trying to appease the feminists of our land with misinterpretations of the Bible that allow women to assume roles that belong to men.

And I am going to buck the direction of the current political correctness and promote the manliness of men.

·   Men ought to be leaders

·   Men ought to be conquerors

·   Men ought to be decisive

·   Men ought to be bold

·   Men ought to be the head of their homes

·   Men ought to be Sunday school teachers

·   Men ought to be bus workers

·   Men ought to be Bible students

·   Men ought to be greeters at the church house

·   Men ought to be men

But this in no way implies that women are less than men, nor does it mean that they are not to be spiritual.

I made some small reference to that last week when I pointed out that Paul mentioned Sarah and other “women” in his “Hebrews Hall of Faith” in Hebrews chapter 11, and when I delivered the point about Deborah and Jael from the book of Judges.

I want to dedicate this morning’s message to Ruth, who I will call, The First Lady of Spirituality.

She isn't the first spiritual lady in the Bible.

I have already mentioned Sarah, Deborah and Jael.

By this time we could easily have also mentioned:

·   Rebecah

·   Thamar and

·   Rahab

But you have got to admit that there is something unique about Ruth. She is the first and one of only two books of the Bible named after a woman.

She is one of only four women specifically mentioned in the genealogy of Christ:

·   Thamar

·   Rahab

·   Ruth

·   Bathsheba

What an inspiring testimony we find in Ruth, one that men and women alike can model to be more spiritual.

I want to give you four things from the example of Ruth

I. A TESTIMONY OF CONVICTION

Ruth 1:16-17 (KJV)

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

A family of Jews from Bethlehem.

Elimelech and his wife Naomi, along with there sons, Mahlon and Chilion, had moved out of Israel and into Moab to escabe the famine that was happening at home.

Let’s stop for a second and let me make this comment – It’s just about NEVER a good idea to move from one place to another just because you think there will be better financial opportunities in the new place.

I have witnessed it over and over and it almost always:

·   Ruins the family spiritually and often

·   Doesn’t help them out financially either

They move over to Moab where two devastating things happen:

1. Their sons marry – these are not believing girls.

I wish I had a way to warn people of the dangers of marrying the wrong person.

Marriage always changes the one who gets married.

It’s impossible for things to stay the same.

Some of those changes are obviously for the good.

But there is great potential for dramatic, negative changes too.

Those little hiccups in your “to be’s” personality, or in their families personality – they become your own hiccups.

They don’t go away – love does not triumph over them; they become incorporated into who you are.

·   Things your parents taught you

·   Things you believed were part of your very fabric,

get ripped out of your life by people you have only known, sometimes for a few months.

Both boys married Moabite women.

2. All three men - died

·   Elimelech

·   Mahlon and

·   Chilion

They all died in Moab.

Naomi and her daughters in law were left widowed. Naomi was left widowed and childless in a strange land.

Naomi did the only reasonable thing – she made her way back to Bethlehem

But she offered for her daughters in law to stay behind, in their own homeland.

Orpah accepts and turns back to the place of her nativity.

Ruth, however, did not.

Ruth makes a promise to Naomi that is a testament of conviction.

Ruth 1:16-17 (KJV)

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Notice that she did not make this promise to her husband – this was not just a marriage vow.

She made it to the mother of her now dead husband.

She is under no obligation to make such a promise

There is no precedent for this promise

Orpah did nothing wrong by going back home but Ruth demonstrated that she had become a new creature at some point after her marriage.

She was a Moabite by birth, but not by conviction.

·   She had a different home than before, “where thou lodgest, I will lodge.”

·   She had a different family than before, “thy people shall be my people.”

·   She had a different God than before, “and thy God my God.” And

·   She had a different eternity than before, “and where thou diest I will die.”

None of this could have been forced upon her. It was something God had done in her.

Here’s the thing about convictions; they never change.

Orpah was happy to be among a Jewish family so long as it was in her best interest to be there but when circumstances changed, she changed.

Ruth, on the other hand, had become a new person. Her circumstances went from bad to worse for a little bit, but her convictions remained steadfast.

We are going to learn that circumstances will continue to change and Ruth will made new decisions based upon those circumstances, but she never changes from her core convictions:

·   She remained in her new home

·   She remained with her new family

·   She remained true to her new found God and

·   She inherited that new eternity

I note secondly that Ruth had

II. A TESTIMONY OF CARING

Ruth 2:17-18 (KJV)

So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.

And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.

Naomi and Ruth made it back to Bethlehem, but this does not mean they made it back to good times.

They are both widows

Naomi had left with her husband in a time of famine

It is very likely that they come home to nothing except some of Naomi’s family who may have helped her with shelter.

Ruth offered to do the one thing she could do for some income – to glean in the fields.

Gleaning was a provision God had established in the Mosaic law – a way to care for the needy.

Whenever harvest season came around, the farmers were instructed to leave the corners of their fields untouched. That way the poor could come and harvest those corners and so provide for themselves.

What it meant was that there was something for the poor – but they had to work to get it.

·   The farmers didn’t harvest it for them

·   The government didn’t tax the farmers and give it to the poor

There were crops in the fields and the poor could have those crops if they would go work for it.

Ruth went out to glean for both herself and Naomi.

When the day was over, she brought what she had harvested back – enough for herself and her mother in law.

And Ruth kept it up every day until the end of the harvest.

I notice thirdly that Ruth had,

III. A TESTIMONY OF CHARACTER

Ruth 3:1-4 (KJV)

Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.

Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.

And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

At first glance this story sounds a little fishy.

But that’s because we read into it things that have to do with our culture.

This isn’t sordid or pornographic – its just the opposite.

There was no sexual contact between them and Boaz was careful to make sure that both his testimony and hers was kept intact.

The idea of laying at his feet was a request on her part to be protected and sheltered by Boaz.

·   He had already expressed care for her

·   He was biblically qualified to marry her and

·   She was counseled by Naomi to seek such a marriage

Both Boaz and Ruth were content to ethically remove every biblical obstacle before they proceeded with a relationship

And Naomi remained a central figure in Ruth’s life even after her marriage.

Finally I note that Ruth had

IV. A TESTIMONY OF CHRIST

Matthew 1:1 (KJV)

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

…..

Matthew 1:5-6 (KJV)

And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

Let me make what I think is a very small stretch right now and urge you, whatever else is true in your life – have a testimony for Jesus Christ.

Ruth became a new creature

·   She moved into a new home

·   She was accepted into a new family

·   She worshipped a new God

And through all of that, she became part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

So you are saved.

·   You have a home in heaven

·   You have your sins forgiven

·   You have become a part of a local church and

·   You come to worship God

Now go out and make Jesus Christ known.

Let Christ live in you and let Christ speak through you.

·   At work

·   Around town

·   When you are shopping

·   While paying your bills

·   When you go to get gas

·   As you hang around friends and family

You might think of yourself as an unlikely witness for Jesus Christ.

·   Maybe you are quiet and reserved

·   Maybe you have very few skills when it comes to talking to people

·   Maybe there are things in your past that you think make you unworthy

If you are saved, you can be a testimony for Jesus Christ.