Ruth at the Threshing Floor (Ruth)

Appleton Gospel Church

Ruth at the Threshing Floor (Ruth): Character matters. In this broken world, will you find yourself in a compromising situation from time to time? Absolutely. What will you do? Will you compromise yourself and follow the ways of the world? Or will you trust in the Lord and honor him with your life and the commitment of your character? Recorded on Aug 18, 2024, on Ruth 3:1-18 by Pastor David Parks. This sermon is part of the series Ruth: The Love of a Redeemer. In the Bible, the book of Ruth tells the story of a family that experienced a series of bitter tragedies. But through loyalty, integrity, and faithful love (hesed), they find unexpected redemption, restoration, and hope. Our God is a redeemer. Sermon Transcript So, all month, we’re working through a series on the OT book of Ruth called The Love of a Redeemer. As we’ve seen so far, Ruth is all about facing the bitter tragedies of life by leaning on the hesed, or the steadfast loving-kindness of God, but also on the men and women in our lives who have the character and integrity to reflect this kind of redeeming love to us. As Justun said last week, the Bible, from cover to cover, is a redemption story. And sometimes, the people of the Bible reflect the redemptive love that God ultimately gave us through Jesus. Of course, very often, the people of the Bible (and perhaps other people in our lives today) do not reflect God’s love or godly character. But Ruth provides several good models for us to learn from. In Act 1, we saw Ruth, a foreign (Moabite) woman, model this hesed-style love to her mother-in-law, Naomi, after their husbands died. We saw this in Ruth’s incredible declaration of loyalty and commitment to Naomi and then in her willingness to leave her people and her gods and return to Bethlehem with Naomi to love and care for her. Last week, in Act 2, we saw Boaz model this hesed-style love for Ruth and Naomi. Boaz protected Ruth as she worked in his field and generously provided food for them. Today, in Act 3 of our play, we’ll see if this loyalty and kindness, this protection and provision, might become something more for Boaz and Ruth. But the lead characters of our play find themselves in a seemingly sketchy situation that is a real test of their integrity. How would they respond? Will they compromise themselves, following the ways of the world? Or will they trust in the Lord and honor him with their lives and the commitment of their character? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Ruth 3:1. Act 3, scene 1. Ruth 3:1–6 (NIV), “1 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” 5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.” So, we’re not sure exactly how much time has passed here since Ruth and Naomi arrived from Moab. Chapter 1 ends with a transitional note from our narrator that they arrived in Bethlehem just as the barley harvest was starting. Then, Ruth providentially gleaned in the fields of Boaz during the harvest. Historically, the barley harvest would start in mid-May and would continue with the wheat harvest through the end of June. Now, here, perhaps sometime in July, the harvest was done, and the operation turned to winnow the grain on the threshing floor to separate the grain from the chaff. Bethlehem, which, as we said, meant “house of bread,” was filling back up. Now, harvest time was really hard work.