Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
No study of the women of the Bible would be complete without reviewing the lives of Ruth, Esther, and Mary the mother of Jesus. These women were, like mostgood women are, phenomenal. Next in our series we are going to take a closer look at these three good women and discover what they gave; what they lost; and what they gained by deciding to follow what God wanted instead of what they would have chosen fortheir own lives.
Tonight, we will briefly survey the life of Ruth. But first let’s read a passage found in 1st Peter as though it was an actual Word from God.
1 Peter 3 NLT
1 ¶ In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over
2 by observing your pure and reverent lives.
3 Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.
4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
5 This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands.
6 For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.
7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.
Can you imagine what your world, and even the world would be like if men and women who wished to be the husbands and wives God intended actually followed these instructions as though this was a real word from God? I think it would be awesome … and I think it would make God responsible for the outcome, just like it did in the lives of so many women in the Bible, one of which is the focus of tonight’s teaching.
As we look at the life of Ruth, even before she wasmarried, we note she was building the relationship and making the long-term impact God planned for herfuture. Let’s read:
Ruth 1:1 ¶ Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
This account took place in the 15th century BC. No one at that time imagined God was in such control or that He was using the trouble of that time to set up such a pivotal point to His plan. Like the song says,
“Even when we don’t feel it, He’s working … He never stops, He never stops working.”
The story of Ruth, who was a Moabitess, details her journey from marriage into an immigrant family from a foreign country; 10 years of being a barren wife; the death of her husband and her subsequent indigent widowhood; her travel to the land of Israel with her poor mother-in-law; and the hard work she was obliged to do in the fields, gathering what was left behind by the reapers, so that she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, could eat that day.
Ruth was committed and submitted. She softly asked Naomi to not require her to leave but to allow her to serve until she died and was buried. Later Naomi encouraged Ruth to offer herself as a wife to a kind near wealthy kinsman named Boaz. Ruth obeyed and followed Naomi’s instructions.
I encourage you to read the whole book of Ruth. There are only 4 chapters, and the conclusion shows how much God is working in the affairs of life to bring about His plan. To bring some conclusion to this evening’s teaching, let’s look at what Boaz said about this woman named Ruth.
Ruth 3
9 And Boaz said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”
10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.”
11 “And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.”
It was the hard-working, yet humble, submissive, gentle spirit displayed by Ruth that served to impress not only Boaz, her future husband, but it evidently also impressed the whole town. She had an honorablereputation.
You may know the rest of the story:
By the account of her husband, before he was her husband, Ruth was a virtuous woman. I believe her to be an example of the woman written about by the Apostle Peter.
She trusted God and she trusted others God placed in her life – much the same as our next two women, Esther and Mary the mother of Jesus.
Soft answers really do turn the heart of man…
