Ruth 2

Be my rock of refuge, where I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

Ruth 2:12.

May the Lord repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.

John 14:16-17.

Incline your ear and save me.

Be my rock of refuge where I can always go.

Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress." Ruth 2:12, "May the Lord repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge." John 14:16-17, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.

The world cannot receive Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.

Now, there's a real ferment.

Ruth 2:14, "Eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar." Fermented, right there in the Bible.

How about Passover, fasting, and bitter herbs? Exodus 12:8, "Roast with fire an unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." Bitter herbs, that's a polyphenol goldmine.

Unleavened bread, I mean, that's the Passover rhythm.

Bitter greens and herbs, Exodus 12:18.

Goat, sheep cheese, yogurt, Genesis 18:18.

Vinegar and fermented foods daily, Ruth 2:14.

Lentils, pressure cooked, they're small.

Now, verse 2.

Can I have a lady read verse 2? Who's there? Ruth 2, 2.

Jesse? And Ruth of Moabite, at 178, a female was killed.

Three years before her death, in the site I shall find it, at 173.

And Boaz happened upon her, and the first thing he says to her is, "The Lord be with you." And if you are Catholic and you have been to Mass, you know that we say that at Mass, "The Lord be with you." The priest says that, "And with your spirit." That's what that's from.

That's from Ruth 2:4.

So that's how important, uh, the church thinks it is, and certainly it was an indicator of his character.

The first thing he did was see her, really see her.

God's heart for the vulnerable.

Look at Ruth 2, verse 1.

It says this, a man of great wealth of the family of Elimelech.

His name was Boaz.

Hold tightly to what's good.

Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other.

In Ruth 2, we not only see God's heart for the vulnerable.

the worker, and the lonely, but we also see how the world needs more people like Ruth and Boaz, that we need to be those people who care for the vulnerable, who work hard with diligence, and pursue relationships with generosity and kindness, because when we live this way, we glorify and honor Jesus as our God and the one worthy of our praise.

But waiting on God does not always mean doing nothing.

Think about Ruth.

Ruth had experienced tremendous loss.

She was widowed.

She had left her homeland.

Her future looked nothing like she probably imagined.

But Ruth didn't sit down and refuse to leave until her circumstances changed.

She went to the fields.

Do you remember our memory verse? Probably not, because you haven't memorized it yet, but it's here.

Ruth 2:12.

Can you read it with me? "May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings," what's the word? Kanaph.

The same word that Ruth uses.

Now, the whole idea of a reward is not a new concept.

If we turn to the book of Ruth 2:10-12, in Ruth, we have a Moabitess young widow who came with her mother-in-law back to the land of Judah and Israel and to help her mother-in-law, whom she dearly loved, and they were both widows.

And in verse 10, in Ruth 2 in verse 10, she fell on her face.

She bowed to the ground and said to him, "Boaz," this was somebody for whom she was gleaning the fields, and he made it possible for her to do that.

She said, "Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner?" She was a Moabitess from...