Hesed in Action – Part II • 06.05.22
Hesed in Action – Part II
Ruth 3
Witness the beauty of loyal kindness
- Naomi seeks to provide Ruth a better future
- Ruth humbly follows Naomi’s counsel
- Boaz gladly takes care of Ruth and Naomi
Welcome to those who are new with us this morning! My name is Pastor Nick and I have the privilege of studying God’s Word with you. We’re continuing our verse-by-verse study of the book of Ruth today. Before we jump into the text, let’s…
Dismiss 4th & 5th graders
Ushers + Bibles (Ruth 3 – Pg 128 of Blue Bibles)
Today we’ll continue to witness the theme of Hesed in Action. If you’ve not been with us the past two weeks, I’d highly recommend going back and listening to the previous sermons, as they do build on one another. A central concept for this book has been hesed. Let’s put the definition on the screen one more time!
Hesed – loyalty, steadfast love, kindness, faithfulness; The core idea of this term relates to loyalty within a relationship. (Lexham Theological Workbook)
Last week, we witnessed hesed in action from Ruth towards Naomi as she worked hard to provide for her mother-in-law. We heard about her working hard in the fields all day long and beating out the wheat in the evening. She took risks to provide sustenance for their family. We also witnessed hesed in action from Boaz towards Ruth and Naomi, as he generously looked after his kinsmen. He went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure Ruth was safe while she was gleaning and that she took home plenty of food to Naomi. Finally, we witnessed hesed from God as he graciously acted behind the scenes to drive things forward. He directed Ruth to Boaz’s field, he guided Boaz to visit the field that particular day, he allowed Boaz to hear of Ruth’s hesed towards Naomi, and he worked through Boaz to show hesed to them.
From these examples, our main response was to consider two things:
- What would it look like for you to do hesed?
- Who has God put in your sphere of influence that is in need?
How did that go this week? Were you able to be a blessing to others? Did you show someone the hesed of God through your words and actions? I’d love to hear how God’s Word is impacting your life after the service or via email this week. *Pause*
Today we are going to continue to…
Witness the beauty of loyal kindness
…amongst the people in the book of Ruth. Let’s dive into Ruth 3.
Ruth 3:1–18 (ESV)
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5 And she replied, “All that you say I will do.”
6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” 10 And he said, “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. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 And he said, “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. 16 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, 17 saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’ ” 18 She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.”
With a book as short as Ruth, you’d expect there to be action in every chapter, and certainly there is! Consider that at the end of chapter 2, we heard that Ruth continued to glean in Boaz’s fields until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. Last week I shared that was roughly 2 months’ time. During that time Ruth is still living with Naomi, which might seem like an interesting detail to you… Why include it? Perhaps to help the readers realize that nothing had progressed in Ruth’s interactions with Boaz. By all appearances, it seemed Ruth was content to glean the crops and provide food for her mother-in-law. This was the new normal for them and that’s where it ends.
But chapter 3 changes all of that! Now we see that Naomi has been stirred into action by the hesed of Ruth. Ruth’s hard work and daily provision for Naomi appears to awaken within her a renewed purpose and defeat of the self-absorption that bitterness had brought upon her. Once again hesed leads someone to take the initiative, this time it is Naomi caring for Ruth. Our first example of the beauty of loyal kindness today is witnessed as…
- Naomi seeks to provide Ruth a better future
After two months of daily gleaning in Boaz’s fields under the hot sun, Naomi realizes that she can demonstrate love to Ruth by seeking “rest” or more literally “a resting-place” for her. Naomi reveals that she is thinking about Ruth’s future. She wants her to have the peace and security that comes from having a husband and family to look out for her.
You have to remember that up to this point, it’s Naomi and Ruth living together, as Ruth had given her oath to never leave Naomi back in chapter 1. Last week we discussed the dangers of being a single, foreign woman in those days when everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. Naomi is thinking ahead. What will happen after she dies? Ruth would be all alone. Who will look after her? And so, she comes up with a plan to care for Ruth. It’s revealed in verses 2-4 and it predominantly revolves around Boaz who is their relative and a kinsman redeemer. We’ll talk more about that role in a minute.
Naomi directs Ruth to clean herself up and make herself presentable to Boaz. Naomi is helping Ruth proposition Boaz for marriage. That’s what is going on in the details of uncovering his feet and laying at them. It was a way for a woman to approach a man in that culture. Naomi instructs Ruth to wait for Boaz to tell her what to do! She expects Boaz to provide leadership in this matter.
In all of this, Ruth is at the mercy of those who are guiding her. She has to trust Naomi’s counsel and she has to trust Boaz’s integrity to respond well and not take advantage of her. If she follow’s Naomi’s advice, she is taking a risk again!
So, what does she do? Does she push back? “No Naomi, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I cannot do what you ask of me.” Not in the least! Ruth listens to her mother-in-law and follows her counsel. In fact, this is our second opportunity to witness loyal kindness:
- Ruth humbly follows Naomi’s counsel
There is a mutual loyalty in Ruth and Naomi’s relationship. They care for and love one another. They are watching out for each other. Naomi has Ruth’s best interests at heart here. And Ruth is committed to Naomi and trusts her counsel. Verses 6-18 recount the interactions that follow that evening and the following morning. Naomi’s counsel is revealed to be wise counsel! And Ruth’s humble obedience to it results in an incredible and promising future for her.
Look more closely at Ruth’s part in this night-time encounter with Boaz. After he awoke to find a woman at his feet, he asked who she was. And rather than simply saying, “Ruth” she identifies herself as his servant and asks him to spread his wings over her, for he is a redeemer! In saying it this way she boldly reminds him of his prayer over her that he had stated weeks or months earlier. Let me remind us of it.
Ruth 2:11–12 (ESV)
11 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. 12 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!”
Boaz had prayed that Yahweh, the One, True God, would bless Ruth for her hesed to Naomi. And he identified Yahweh as the God under whose wings Ruth came to take refuge. Now Ruth is essentially asking Boaz to be the answer to his own prayer! “You be the full reward from Yahweh by redeeming me as your wife!”
When Ruth calls Boaz a redeemer, she is speaking of the same thing Naomi had identified him as back in 2:20. A redeemer or kinsman-redeemer in Ancient Israel was a relative within your clan who had the responsibility to protect the interests of the clan in the event of a hardship within your family. We see a couple of scenarios shown in Leviticus:
Leviticus 25:23–25 (ESV)
23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.
(God owns everything, we own nothing!)
25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.
Leviticus 25:47–49 (ESV)
47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself.
The redeemer would help their clanmate out of trouble by redeeming their land for them. However, that is not the primary way that Ruth is using this term. The focus here isn’t the land that Elimelech and his sons owned, but rather the fact that Ruth was a widow without a husband. It is clear from Naomi’s words in verse 1 and Boaz’s response to Ruth’s proposition that the primary purpose was marriage. As a close relative from her husband’s clan, Ruth is asking Boaz to consider her as a wife.
This is a bold request from a woman in those days! Ruth is taking a risk by following Naomi’s counsel here. Boaz could have treated her poorly, rejected her advances and labeled her as a promiscuous woman, or even taken advantage of her sexually in the night at the threshing floor. But, as we heard last week, Boaz is a worthy man of good character, and he will do no such thing to Ruth. Instead, he receives her proposition as evidence of her hesed (kindness). He commends her that she did not pursue younger men but came to him, an older man, for help.
This interaction between Ruth and Boaz reveals yet again the godly character of each one. In fact, Boaz even identifies her as a “worthy woman”, which is the same phrase used in Proverbs 31:10 as “an excellent wife”. This is high praise from Boaz about a Moabite woman!
Both Boaz and Ruth are above reproach here. Neither one of them succumbs to the temptations of immorality that would have been present in the late-night threshing floor interaction. There is integrity to the way they treat one another. And they seek to maintain propriety by having Ruth leave before dawn. Boaz doesn’t want to give anyone the wrong impression about Ruth and vice-versa!
All of this happens, humanly speaking, because Naomi showed hesed to Ruth. Which, if you think about it, happened because Ruth had shown hesed to Naomi. And then, Boaz is repeatedly responding to the hesed of Ruth, both to Naomi and now to himself. As we have seen repeatedly in this short book – ordinary people showing hesed to one another is powerful and contagious! There is a spreading of loving kindness and loyalty that beautiful depicts God’s character to the watching world.
Which brings us to the last opportunity to witness loyal kindness today:
- Boaz gladly takes care of Ruth and Naomi
The outcome of the threshing floor interaction is that Boaz assures Ruth that he will take care of her, unless the closer kinsmen-redeemer would do it first. We’ll get into the details of what he meant by that next week. Either way, the result will be that Ruth is taken care of! She need not fear for her future any longer! What an incredible promise. Boaz yet again demonstrates his godly character by gladly taking care of these women. And, though it is not implied that Naomi is part of the deal in this chapter, we will see next week that this was the case.
And, if giving her a verbal commitment was not enough, Boaz then provides a generous portion of barley in the morning to take home to Naomi. This was his way of saying, “I’m committed to this path.” In fact, did you catch the words that Ruth shared with Naomi in verse 17? “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” There is incredible depth to that statement. The word for “empty-handed” is the same word Naomi used when she returned to Bethlehem in her bitterness and said, “I went away full and the LORD has brought me back empty (or empty-handed).” Naomi is being confronted through Ruth’s words and Boaz’s provision. She is not empty. She has food. She has family. And, as we’ll see next week, God is providing redemption for her family.
What an incredible recounting of God working through ordinary people to be a blessing to one another and, eventually, to the entire nation of Israel. As we heard in week 1, this whole book will end with the genealogy of King David, revealing that Ruth and Boaz were his great-grandparents. God will bring a king after his own heart out of the godly characters of Ruth and Boaz.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, that’s coming next week. What are we to do with what we’ve heard from Ruth 3 today?
There are several ways this passage ought to challenge us this morning. Perhaps first and foremost is the integrity that Boaz and Ruth display through this encounter. As a single man and single woman, they show hesed to one another in a private setting that could have been rife with temptation. Yet there is no indication that sexual impropriety was on their minds at all. They are godly people with proven character.
This is a beautiful contrast to the interactions between other men and women that we’ve seen in the days of the judges. Samson comes to mind. Or even Delilah, his last consort. They were selfish people driven by their own ambition and lust. We saw them using one another to get what they wanted, which is a far cry from how Boaz and Ruth interact with one another!
This really gives us an opportunity to evaluate our own character and integrity. Men, are you more like Boaz or like Samson? Are you driven by your desire to protect and provide for women or by your lustful desires to use them for your own benefit/pleasure? If you’re married, are you keeping your eyes and thoughts for your wife alone? If you’re single, are you treating women with respect and honor? There is a real problem in our day and age of men using women for selfish pleasure or gain. There is a devaluing of integrity, especially related to sexuality that is happening with both sexes. Both are using one another for their own gain and selfish pleasure/pursuits. We live in an era of casual dating and hook-up apps that has completely undermined a biblical view of sex and sexuality. And both men and women use it for selfish gain.
Ladies, are you more like Ruth or Delilah? Are you driven by a desire to show hesed and bless others or by a desire to use others for your own benefit/pleasure? If you’re married, are you keeping your eyes and thoughts for your husband alone? If you’re single, are you treating men with respect and honor? This is not just a problem for men, women struggle with manipulative, sinful behaviors as well.
The beauty of God’s plan is so much better than anything the world has to offer. Hesed is selfless, intentional, and committed to the good of others. It is so much better than anything the world has to offer! If we are men and women of hesed, then we will seek to interact in integrity and godliness with everyone we come across. God’s plan confronts us in our selfishness and calls you to “love your neighbor as yourself” and “lay down your life for your brother/sister”.
If this sounds like a tall order, that’s because it is! Living this way is counter-cultural. It is flies in the face of our own inherent selfishness. Which is why we need Jesus, the Son of God, to rescue us from our sin. The only way we’re truly going to be able to live this way is through faith in Him. Listen to Paul’s emphasis on Christ in the call he issues to the church in Ephesus.
Ephesians 4:32–5:2 (ESV)
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Our example for a life of hesed is Jesus Christ. We are able to walk in hesed only if we have been forgiven by Christ. Only if Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has been applied to our lives through faith in him. This is the way to a life of loving kindness. Trust in Christ. Believe in Him and then allow him to produce in you a life of loyal love and kindness. *Pause*
Can you imagine a world where men and women were known for godly character and sexual purity rather than the way things are now? How amazing it would be to have sexual abuse put to death. To have no more scandals or coverups. To have companies like Tinder put out of business because no one is interested in treating each other as a casual hookup. For polygamy and open-marriages to be out of the question because people recognize God’s way is the best way. For the multi-billion dollar pornography industry to be shut down overnight. This is what happens when people choose hesed over worldly, fleshly lust and sexual gratification.
Then there is the whole issue of integrity in other matters of life. Integrity is not solely in the sexual realm. I appreciated this comment from K. Lawson Younger Jr.:
All of this speaks volumes in a world where integrity seems to be a forgotten character quality. Whether one is looking at the political scene or at the world of business, there seems to be a great shortage of integrity. People seem to be more concerned with whether they are liable than whether they are doing the right thing. They are concerned more with not suffering personal loss than with living by godly, biblical principles. (NIVAC)
Isn’t that an accurate summation of how so many in positions of authority conduct themselves today? There is no integrity. Simply looking out for self. Doing whatever it takes to protect my kingdom. No matter the cost to others! What a sad reality…
Which makes me even more thankful for Ruth and Boaz’s example of godly integrity and conduct, not because of what it brought them, but simply because it was the right thing to do. Ruth is committed to Naomi because it is the right thing to do in God’s eyes. Boaz is committed to Ruth and Naomi for the same reason. And neither of them compromises in a tempting situation. They stand firm in their integrity. And God is glorified as a result!
We need men and women like that in our homes, in our church, in our community, and in our nation. Men and women who do what is right, not because of what it will gain them, but because it pleases the Lord. Will you be such a man or woman? Will you learn your Bibles, so you know what pleasing God looks and sounds like? Will you put what you learn into action, day-by-day?
That goes for men and women of all ages. Young or old. We each have a calling before God to submit to and obey Him. What will that look like in your life this week?
Let’s pray.