Gtcotr/ss020109
Life is a script which only God can write.
Key Scriptures: Ruth 2
15 … Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let Ruth glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:
16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
The book of Ruth is actually a story about two people who are very different but who are perfectly joined together for God’s plan. This story of Ruth and Boaz is a love story which was written in heaven.
Life should be a script that only God can write.
Scholars agree that Boaz is a type and shadow of the Bethlehem born Messiah who takes to Himself a Gentile bride, Ruth, who is a picture of the New Testament Church.
The authority of this book is unquestioned and believed to be written by the prophet Samuel in order to bridge the gap between the Judges and the King he so dearly loved and anointed, King David.
The story of Ruth …
* Begins about the year 1200 BC … some say nearer 1186BC, when the Midianite army was raiding the land of Israel, stealing their harvested crops, so that food was nowhere to be found. This takes place at the same time God sends His angel to call a young man named Gideon to deliver the Children of Israel from their enemies.
* At that time, since there was no food in Israel, a man from Bethlehem took his wife named Naomi, along with their two sons and moved them to the neighboring land of Moab, just on the East side of the Dead Sea in the bordering country we now call Jordan.
* While in the land of Moab … (Ruth 1-4 – The Story)
* … in the end Boaz redeems Ruth, marries her and …
The story of Ruth reveals three Kingdom Principles that are worth noting. You see, God does things on purpose … daily He still delivers us handfuls of purpose. How can we take advantage of these opportunities of a lifetime? Let’s consider these Kingdom Principles.
1. A Kingdom Covenant
Ruth 1
14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
16 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:
17 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.
There is a difference between kissing and cleaving. Many will kiss with good intentions but God is looking for those who have a covenant conviction … a capacity to cleave.
Covenant between two people is possible when they both realize that God has divinely orchestrated their relationship for a Kingdom purpose higher and more valuable than their individual desires. God joins people together for His purpose.
When people embrace that spark of destiny’s covenant we often have no words to adequately express it, so we call it love … and it is … it is the love of God which is meant to bind souls together in His Kingdom cause … a relationship born by the spirit, flooding the soul, joining the hearts. Covenant is a conviction which demands expression.
We see a prime example of this in the covenant between Jonathan and David.
1 Samuel 18:1ff
Now when David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul … Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
2 Samuel 1:26 How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you! And your love to me was deep, surpassing the love of women!
No less moving is the relationship we have with Christ and with those to whom He joins us in covenant.
Not only does the story of Ruth and Boaz tell us about the Kingdom Covenant but it also reveals the power and purpose of:
2. A Kingdom Culture
You will find nothing more powerful than the uncommon courtesies of just being kind to others, friends, neighbors, strangers and yes, even your enemies. This is a part of the Kingdom Culture.
Ruth 2
8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field.
9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well."
10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. "Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked. "I am only a foreigner."
11 "Yes, I know," Boaz replied. "But I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers.
12 May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully."
Boaz was nice to Ruth … Ruth cared for Naomi’s welfare … Naomi appreciated Ruth and promoted her … the good-guys in this story were not lazy or selfish, greedy or jealous, but rather they cared for one another and were kind to each other.
Kingdom Culture is nothing more than living the simple courtesies of life which God gave man from the beginning. Those character qualities such as kindness and consideration, treating others the way we want to be treated ourselves, patient and forgiving, encouraging and helpful along life’s way. We should be unselfish, non critical, non condemning, and non judgmental people of our word.
This is the kind of person God can work through. Boaz and Ruth were examples of people who believed in and lived according to Kingdom Culture. It was rare in those days and it is still rare today.
God has called His children to a higher way of life than their own humanity, nationality or ethnicity. While we cherish and celebrate the heritage we were born to or have adopted along the way, we reach higher to see, higher to know, higher to embrace the Kingdom way of life. Covenant Believers have no other gods before Jehovah and follow no greater commands than to:
Love God more than we do ourselves and to love others as much as we do ourselves.
Let’s not miss the greatest opportunities of life, those handfuls of purpose from heaven … let’s not disqualify ourselves because we won’t forgive, are selfish, greedy or follow after the ways of this world and serve another god. Let’s adopt a Kingdom Culture as our dominant philosophy of life and be kind. This is the way of Christ.
The story of Ruth teaches us about a Kingdom Covenant and a Kingdom Culture but it is also a testimony of:
3. A Kingdom Commitment
The Kingdom Commitment I am referring to is a commitment which God made. You see, God is committed to the Kingdom of His Dear Son. So committed that He orchestrates Kingdom covenants and superintends the events of life to bring about His purpose … no one can stop Him … God is committed to the Kingdom.
I find it more than intriguing how God devises plans and coordinates the lives of men and women for years, generation after generation, in order to fulfill His Kingdom purposes. God had been orchestrating Ruth’s redemption for years and years and years.
We notice in the last few verses of the book of Ruth that some credit is given to the lineage of this man Boaz who, as we understand, is a great, great grandfather to both Mary, the mother of Jesus, and to Joseph, her husband, who adopted Jesus.
Ruth 4:18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron
Why did the writer go back only so far as Pharez in the genealogy?
God wants us to understand that He is so committed to His Kingdom purpose that He looked down from heaven and saw this young boy named Pharez and, despite his birth circumstances and his condition of life, God called him and used him anyway. Who is Pharez?
Ruth 4:12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
Pharez was the son of Judah, born to his daughter-in-law Tamar who disguised herself as a prostitute. She pretended to be soliciting along a roadside when she enticed Judah into her tent to lay with her whereupon she became pregnant with twin boys. However God still chose to use Pharez and blessed him greatly, more so than many realize. Pharez’s descendants run from Caleb to David, from Jabez to Zerubbabel. Pharez was and still is favored by God.
Not only did God use Pharez but He also used Ruth, a Moabitess! Who were the Moabites? What were Ruth’s roots and what difference did it make then or does it make now?
Genesis 19
36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
Moab was the son of Lot born to his eldest daughter, conceived in a cave, one drunken night as the result of an incestuous relationship. For this reason the Moabites were looked down upon, especially by the descendants of Jacob … how could God ever use a person like that?
How could God choose to use either of them, Ruth or Boaz?
* Because of their Kingdom Covenant
* Because of their Kingdom Culture
* Because of His Kingdom Commitment
And it’s no different with you and me. God does not see as other men see, is not limited by what limits man and has a perspective and a purpose that is out of this world.
In conclusion I encourage us all to:
1. Open our hearts to recognize and embrace the covenant relationships God has purposed for our life.
2. Be willing to be inconvenienced for others … realize that it is not out of our way to help others … it is on our way … right on our way to heaven … be kind.
3. Realize that God is committed to His Kingdom.
Perhaps we need to consider our commitment to His Kingdom and begin receiving our handfuls of purpose today.
