Honoring Your Mother | Part 1
In this inspiring episode, we turn to the story of Ruth to uncover powerful biblical truths about honoring mothers and embracing the virtues of a godly woman. Through heartfelt insights and relatable anecdotes, we explore the challenges modern mothers face in a culture that often prioritizes self over family. Ruth’s unwavering loyalty to Naomi offers a timeless example of love, respect, and the enduring impact of motherhood on our lives.
Checkout these other Family Fortress Ministries Podcasts:
TIME FOR THREE daily couples devotional: https://time-for-three.captivate.fm/listen
FORTIFYING YOUR FAMILY: https://fortifying-your-family.captivate.fm/listen
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family Podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B: ement made on Mother's Day in: Speaker B:caldwell.
Speaker B:Listen to his May we pause to pay honor to her who, after Jesus Christ, is God's best gift to men.
Speaker B:Mother.
Speaker B:It was she who shared her life with us when as yet, our members were unformed.
Speaker B:Into the valley of the shadow of death she walked that we might have the light of life.
Speaker B:In her arms was a garner of our food and the soft couch for our repose.
Speaker B:There we nestled in the hour of pain there was a playground of her infant glee.
Speaker B:Those same arms later became our refuge and stronghold.
Speaker B:It was she who taught our baby feet to go and lifted us up over the rough places.
Speaker B:Her blessed hands plied the needle by day and by night to make her infant clothes.
Speaker B:She put the book under our arm and started us off for school.
Speaker B:But best of all, she taught our baby lips to list the name of Jesus and told us first the wondrous story of a savior's love.
Speaker B:The pride of America is its mothers, Caldwell goes on to say.
Speaker B:No nation is ever greater than its mothers, for they are the makers of its men.
Speaker B:The importance of mothers, I don't think, can be emphasized certainly enough.
Speaker B:But we might ask a question.
Speaker B: as Reverend Caldwell said in: Speaker B:Mary Farrar writes, no role has lost more value in the 20th century than has the role of the mother.
Speaker B: In the: Speaker B: But in the: Speaker B:Mothers have been told for almost 50 years now that they are unnecessary and they are really nothing special.
Speaker B:They have been told that professionals can do the job better.
Speaker B:In many cases.
Speaker B:They have been told that a man can nurture and care for a child just like a woman.
Speaker B:They have been told that children simply need a loving, qualified caretaker and they'll be just fine.
Speaker B:What we've witnessed, Mary Farrar says, is the sabotaging of the role of the most valuable person in a child's life, his or her mother.
Speaker B:And I would say amen to that.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, folks, the honor of being a mother has been sabotaged in recent years, and our understanding, I believe, of what depicts a godly mother has been greatly distorted in our day and in our time.
Speaker B:So this morning we want to look to Scripture to see an example of what it means to not only honor our mothers, but also what it looks like to be the kind of woman who makes a good mother.
Speaker B:I want you to turn with me, if you would, to Ruth, chapter two.
Speaker B:Ruth, chapter two and verse one.
Speaker B:I've been preaching from the Book of Ruth.
Speaker B:I want to continue to, as I bring this Mother's Day message here today.
Speaker B:And I remind you as we go to the Book of Ruth in chapter two, that what a privilege it is, what a privilege it is to have the Word of God.
Speaker B:God's Word is a revelation to us.
Speaker B:It's God speaking to us.
Speaker B:Sometimes I think we forget that just how sacred and precious the Word of God is that God is speaking to you.
Speaker B:God is speaking to me.
Speaker B:He is speaking to us through His Word.
Speaker B:It's a revelation of who God is.
Speaker B:His Word to us.
Speaker B:So I hope you'll think about that even as we continue to read the Word of God and as you study the Word of God.
Speaker B:Ruth, chapter two.
Speaker B:Look with me, if you would, at verse one.
Speaker B:And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.
Speaker B:Let me pause here for a second and say that we have had three singles so far in this book we've talked about over the last few weeks.
Speaker B:We talked about Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah.
Speaker B:Now we have two single widows who have come into Bethlehem, Judah.
Speaker B:But a fourth single is introduced into our story here.
Speaker B:And as we'll see, a very, very important fourth single, and that is a single man by the name of Boaz.
Speaker B:Verse 2.
Speaker B:And Ruth, the Moabitess said unto Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace.
Speaker B:And she said unto her, go, my daughter.
Speaker B:And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers.
Speaker B:And her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Speaker B:And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the reapers, the Lord be with you.
Speaker B:And they answered him, the Lord bless thee.
Speaker B:Then said Boaz unto a servant that was set over the reapers, whose damsel is this?
Speaker B:And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, it is the Moabitess damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab.
Speaker B:And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.
Speaker B:So she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now that she tarried a little in the house.
Speaker B:Then said Boaz unto Ruth, hearest thou not, my daughter?
Speaker B:Go not to glean in another field.
Speaker B:Neither go from hence, but abide here fast.
Speaker B:By my maidens, let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap and go after them.
Speaker B:Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee when thou art athirst?
Speaker B:Go into the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Speaker B:Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground.
Speaker B:And said unto him, why have I found grace in thine eyes that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
Speaker B:And Boaz answered and said unto her, it hath fully been shewed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband.
Speaker B:And how thou hast left thy father and thy mother in the land of thy nativity and art.
Speaker B:Come unto a people which thou knowest not hitherto.
Speaker B:For.
Speaker B:As we look at our text today, I want to share with you three ways that Ruth honors her.
Speaker B:Her mother.
Speaker B:In fact, I guess in this text you would say three ways in which she honors her mother in law.
Speaker B:We will also see from her example some of the character qualities that it takes, I believe, to be a good mother.
Speaker B:It takes to be a good mom.
Speaker B:We see first that Ruth honored Naomi by the life that she was living.
Speaker B:By the life that she was living.
Speaker B:Now, I've used this word, honor.
Speaker B:And I just want to take a brief moment and say what I mean by that, because it's important to understand.
Speaker B:I think we talk about giving honor to someone, especially today as we give honor to our mothers.
Speaker B:That it means to esteem someone in a high position in your life, to count them as a priceless treasure unto yourself, someone who is very, very priceless to you, someone that you hold in high esteem.
Speaker B:And certainly God says that we are to give that kind of honor to our mother.
Speaker B:We're to give that kind of honor to our father.
Speaker B:And I don't believe there's any.
Speaker B:Listen, I don't believe there's any greater way to honor your mother today on Mother's Day, or your father than to live a life that's honoring and pleasing to God.
Speaker B:I don't believe there's a greater way.
Speaker B:I could.
Speaker B:Or I could say, I don't believe there's any greater way to dishonor your mother or father than to live a life that's dishonoring through the Lord Jesus Christ to God, you're either today honoring or dishonoring your parents, your mother, as we celebrate Mother's Day here today, by the life that you're living, you're either honoring her or you're dishonoring her.
Speaker B:If you're living a life that's honoring and pleasing to God, you're living a life that's honoring and pleasing to your mother and father.
Speaker B:But again, if you're not, then you're living a life that's dishonoring, displeasing to them.
Speaker B:And let me say here this morning, I know it's Mother's Day.
Speaker B:And again, we tend to think, when we talk about Mother's Day, of small children and teenagers.
Speaker B:But listen, as grown adults, we have mothers, and it doesn't say that we are to stop honoring our parents or to stop honoring our mother or father when we're 16 or when we are 25 years old.
Speaker B:When the Bible says that, I believe it means that we're to honor them until we die.
Speaker B:And one of the greatest problems we have in America today is we have raised a generation of children, and now adults, who have never learned to honor their mother and father.
Speaker B:And therefore, there is no honor over the authority of God and God and his Word.
Speaker B:So let's take a few minutes, and I want to look at a few ways that Ruth was living a life was honoring to her mother in law, Naomi.
Speaker B:Notice first that Ruth was respectful.
Speaker B:She was respectful.
Speaker B:Look with me at verse two, if you would, in chapter two.
Speaker B:And Ruth, the Moabitess said unto Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him, in whose sight I shall find grace.
Speaker B:And she said, or Naomi said unto Ruth, go.
Speaker B:My daughter Ruth showed respect to Naomi by asking permission by her mother in law to go and glean in the fields and work.
Speaker B:Now, Ruth is probably in her mid or late 20s, I would say, by this time.
Speaker B:And many would say, well, by the time you're in your mid to late twenties, do you need to ask permission for your mom or for your dad to go do something?
Speaker B:Do you need to do that?
Speaker B:Well, maybe in some cases, maybe you don't.
Speaker B:But Ruth was so respectful to Naomi that she drew her into this part of her life.
Speaker B:In a time that Naomi was very depressed, in a time that Naomi was very bitter and asked her permission.
Speaker B:She said, I want to show respect to you because you are like my mother.
Speaker B:You see, Ruth understood something that is important.
Speaker B:I believe that we understand that honor and respect, like a two sided coin that is on one side of the coin is the word honor, on the flip side is the word respect.
Speaker B:And the word respect means to look back on.
Speaker B:And certainly I know, as I have said previously in times that I've preached, we need to be living as parents and grandparents, mothers and dads.
Speaker B:The kind of life that our children can easily look back on and give respect to us.
Speaker B:Certainly we need to be those kinds parents that it's easy for a child to give honor to.
Speaker B:I believe this pagan Moabite girl named Ruth, who is now a believer in Yahweh, that is she came and was converted to God.
Speaker B:We saw in chapter one in verse 16 and 17 the beautiful statement that she makes.
Speaker B:I believe she could easily look back.
Speaker B:It wasn't hard for her to look back at her relationship with Naomi and to give her her deepest respect.
Speaker B:Naomi had obviously made a huge impact on Ruth's life.
Speaker B:I'm sure that Ruth as a young lady in the home and living with them had observed the godly life and devotion to God in the family life in the home with Naomi.
Speaker B:Even though Ruth was not a believer at that time and even though she was of a different race, in fact, and of a people that the Israelites despised, she was living among these people and Ruth was in her home as was Orpah.
Speaker B:Naomi still loved her daughter in law.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:I'm sure Ruth remembered Naomi's love and encouragement through 10 years of.
Speaker B:Listen folks.
Speaker B:Through 10 years of being barren and not being able to have a baby.
Speaker B:And that was one of the.
Speaker B:In their culture in that day and time, literally a woman who could not have a child was thought to be not much.
Speaker B:That was their identity in that day and time.
Speaker B:And this young lady by the name of Ruth went 10 years.
Speaker B:She was barren for 10 years and could not have a child.
Speaker B:And I'm sure during that time that Naomi reached out to her and encouraged her as any mother should do to their daughter in that time of distress for her being barren.
Speaker B:I'm sure Ruth remembered how that Naomi embraced and loved her for 10 years in Moab after her husband, that is Mahlon had died and her son had died, both of them brokenhearted.
Speaker B:But I'm sure Ruth remembered how that Naomi wrapped her arms of love around her and they comforted each other during those times and those years that she had lost her husband and and Naomi had lost her son.
Speaker B:Naomi had shown Sacrificial love to Ruth that it facilitated, as I had said previously, if we go back to chapter one, that it facilitated, I believe Ruth coming into a relationship with Jehovah God.
Speaker B:So I think when Ruth looked back, when she looked back to the love of Naomi, when she looked back to the time she had spent with her, when she looked back to and remembered her devotion to God and her love for God, when she looked back to the sacrificial love that she had practiced to her and what that meant to her, even having an example where that when she came to the banks of the Jordan, that she committed herself to the one and true God.
Speaker B:She didn't follow the little G gods, she didn't follow Chemosh in Moab, but she followed Yahweh, Jehovah, God.
Speaker B:So I believe it was easy, maybe, perhaps, for Ruth to give honor to this mother in law by the name of Naomi Butt.
Speaker B:But what if your mom or dad is not so honorable?
Speaker B:What if you look back and they're very, very hard to give honor to?
Speaker B:There's no perfect parent.
Speaker B:Many of us here today were raised in homes.
Speaker B:And you can look back and you can say, I wish I'd have been raised in this home or that home.
Speaker B:My mom and dad, they weren't the perfect parents.
Speaker B:They didn't do the things maybe that I wish they had done when I was growing up.
Speaker B:Debbie and I talked about it on the way to church this morning.
Speaker B:We were reflecting back to our boys.
Speaker B:And as much as we love them, as much as we tried to do what was right in raising them, now I can look back and say, man, I'd have done a whole lot of things different than I did because I know a whole lot more than I did 20 years ago.
Speaker B:How many parents here today wish you knew back then what you know today?
Speaker B:It would make a difference.
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker B:It would make a lot of difference in a lot of things that we would do.
Speaker B:I shared last week how that at the end of chapter one, how that Naomi and Ruth, when they entered into Bethlehem, Judah, they came back to the land.
Speaker B:They came back to the place of the presence of God.
Speaker B:But when they arrived there, Naomi is very bitter.
Speaker B:Naomi is very, very bitter.
Speaker B:And she says, the Almighty God himself hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Speaker B:Naomi was bitter.
Speaker B:Naomi was depressed as they came into the city of Bethlehem, Judah.
Speaker B:And when they get there, she is asked a question.
Speaker B:Is this Naomi?
Speaker B:Is this still that same woman that we used to call pleasant?
Speaker B:She doesn't look pleasant.
Speaker B:She looks bitter.
Speaker B:She looks Depressed.
Speaker B:Is this still her?
Speaker B:And in Naomi's answer, one of the things she says, and I remind you, she said, I went away.
Speaker B:What Church.
Speaker B:You remember?
Speaker B:I went away.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Full.
Speaker B:But I came back.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:I came back empty.
Speaker B:I came back empty.
Speaker B:Here's Ruth standing right beside her.
Speaker B:Here's Ruth standing right there when she says these words.
Speaker B:I came back empty.
Speaker B:And if you put yourself in Ruth's sandals, what would you begin to think?
Speaker B:Who am I?
Speaker B:Nothing.
Speaker B:Am I.
Speaker B:Are you really empty?
Speaker B:I'm standing here with you.
Speaker B:I'm your daughter in law.
Speaker B:It would have been very, very hard at that point, at that moment.
Speaker B:It would have been very hard for Ruth to give honor to Naomi.
Speaker B:Because Naomi at that point was being very hard to give honor to.
Speaker B:Listen, folks, there'll be times when your mother or dad may not be that parent that's so easy to respect.
Speaker B:Maybe even today, you may be here today and you're sitting here and say, yeah, that's me today.
Speaker B:It's hard for me right now with some things I'm going through with my mom and dad to really give honor to them, to really give respect to them.
Speaker B:So the question comes up, what should you do in those times when they're not so honorable, when they're not so easy to love, when they're not so easy to respect?
Speaker B:What should you do in those times?
Speaker B:Do you get angry?
Speaker B:Do you get mad at them?
Speaker B:Do you get offended at them and not talk to them as a child?
Speaker B:Do you disrespect them with your words and with your actions toward them?
Speaker B:Is that what you should do?
Speaker B:I think Ruth gives us a beautiful example in Scripture of how to respond in that situation.
Speaker B:How did Ruth respond?
Speaker B:Ruth was not disrespectful, but she showed sacrificial love to Naomi.
Speaker B:Even when Naomi was again very hard to love.
Speaker B:Ruth said, mom, let me go into the fields and get us some food to eat.
Speaker B:Ruth was coming beside her, beside Naomi.
Speaker B:Ruth was encouraging her and esteeming her as someone who was still very precious and very valuable to her.
Speaker B:Realizing the state of depression that her mother was in.
Speaker B:And again, I say, mother, I remind you that this wasn't even her mother.
Speaker B:It was her mother in law, her mother in law.
Speaker B:We hear all these mother in law jokes today.
Speaker B:I mean, we hear them all the time.
Speaker B:But I want to tell you, to Ruth, her mother in law, Naomi was not a joke.
Speaker B:She was someone very, very special.
Speaker B:She was someone very, very precious to her.
Speaker B:She was someone that she loved.
Speaker B:Even in a time when her mother was down.
Speaker B:When her mother was hard to love, when her mother was hard to respect, when her mother was bitter, she came beside her and did that which we need to do.
Speaker B:In those times, she still honored her.
Speaker B:She still gave respect to her.
Speaker B:But not only do we see Ruth's character shine in her respect for Naomi, but also in her faith in God.
Speaker B:Her faith in God.
Speaker B:Look at it with me again in verse two.
Speaker B:And Ruth the Moabite said unto Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I will find grace.
Speaker B:Ruth was asking Naomi's permission to go into the field and do something called gleaning.
Speaker B:You say, well, preacher, what does that mean?
Speaker B:What does it mean to glean?
Speaker B:Gleaning in that day and time was a provision in the law of Moses to take care of the poor through a kind of welfare to work program, we might call it today.
Speaker B:The poor were not simply to depend on handouts from the state.
Speaker B:They would go and do something according to law of Moses, called gleaning.
Speaker B:Now, when they would glean a field, the landowners, when they would glean in the barley harvest, I mentioned last week at the end of chapter one that it was a time, it was a providential time that they came back to Bethlehem, Judah.
Speaker B:It was a time of the barley harvest.
Speaker B:And that harvest would be going on for seven weeks, would provide food for the poor.
Speaker B:So Ruth and Naomi and the providence of God just happened to come back at this particular time.
Speaker B:And the poor could glean in the fields.
Speaker B:And what the landowners would do, what they were instructed by the law of God to do, if you have time, you can go back and read this in Scripture, is they were to start when they started gleaning and cutting the barley, they would start in the middle of the field and they would harvest it in circles until they got out to the edge of the field.
Speaker B:Now, if the fields were rectangular, which most of them were, if you harvested in circles, then time you got to the edge of the field, you would have the corners of the field left.
Speaker B:That was God's provision for the poor.
Speaker B:They were to go in the corners of the field and they were able to pick up the barley, get the barley, harvest the barley from the corners of the field so they would not starve to death.
Speaker B:We have a gracious God.
Speaker B:Does God care for the poor?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:But not only that.
Speaker B:While they were harvesting, God had commanded the landowners too, that when you harvest, do not go back and pick up the scraps behind you.
Speaker B:Let them stay on the Ground so that the poor can come behind you and they can pick up all the scraps that are left behind you.
Speaker B:Now, Ruth was stepping out on faith that somewhere out in a field that there would be a generous and God fearing landowner who would let her glean in their field.
Speaker B:She knew that even though God made provision for the poor to glean in the fields, the landowners were not constrained to do this.
Speaker B:They didn't always obey the law of God.
Speaker B:Many landowners would not let the poor glean in their fields.
Speaker B:I believe that's why she said, maybe I can find a field where the landowner will show grace to me.
Speaker B:But for Ruth to glean was especially dangerous.
Speaker B:She was a Moabitess, she is from a land, a different kind of people, a despised people, a cursed people.
Speaker B:The Israelites felt that the Moabites were a cursed people.
Speaker B:And so she knew that when she went to this field that she would stand out, this Moabitess would stand out because she was from a different land.
Speaker B:She was a stranger, as we see and as we look at that and we know the time and the custom of that day and time.
Speaker B:If a young lady went out in a field of glean, she didn't go by herself either.
Speaker B:She would go with a protector, a male protector out in the field to protect her.
Speaker B:In fact, Libby Groves says this, the presence of a male represented more than protection.
Speaker B:If a male was with Ruth, it declared her status and said that she was properly fitted into a family structure and was a respectable woman, she should be treated as such.
Speaker B:If she was unaccompanied, it signals that she was not a respectable woman.
Speaker B:It was fine to treat her any way you chose to treat her.
Speaker B:So you may could imagine the faith it took for this young, newly converted Moabite girl to be in a land, a strange land, by herself, no male protector go out in the field, that perhaps she would land in the right field where that a landowner would show grace to her.
Speaker B:So when she volunteered to her mother in law to go out in the field and glean and provide food for them, she was making herself very, very vulnerable.
Speaker B:She was vulnerable and because of her great faith in God and love for Naomi, she made herself vulnerable to sexual abuse.
Speaker B:She made herself vulnerable to physical abuse.
Speaker B:She made herself even vulnerable to being killed and deaf.
Speaker B:This was a great act of faith for her to do what she's doing.
Speaker B:I can relate a little bit to this.
Speaker B:I can remember.
Speaker B:Debbie remembers.
Speaker B:I don't know, I think it's been about 10 years ago when I was driving Back from the airport from a meeting, and I'd been corresponding with a pastor in Nigeria.
Speaker B:I'd sent him some books, and I was trying to help him with family ministry there.
Speaker B:But as a lot of you may know, especially in ministry, I get emails all the time from different pastors overseas inviting me to come and minister there.
Speaker B:And a lot of them are looking for what?
Speaker B:Money.
Speaker B:And they need money.
Speaker B:A lot of them are genuine and need money.
Speaker B:This pastor, I've been doing this for a couple years, and I began to realize his heart was a heart for God.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:I'll never forget when I was driving back from the Nashville Airport about 10 years ago, and it's like God just spoke to me through the holy spirit and said, I want you to go to Nigeria.
Speaker B:I said, God, I don't want to go to Nigeria.
Speaker B:I don't know anybody in Nigeria, and I don't want to go to Nigeria.
Speaker B:And I gave God all kind of excuses about not going, and God continued to convict me about that.
Speaker B:I got home, I told Debbie about it, and I.
Speaker B:Long story short, I ended up flying to Nigeria by myself.
Speaker B:There was no missionary team there.
Speaker B:There was nobody there to meet me at the airport but this preacher and a delegation that he had gotten together.
Speaker B:And I told Debbie before I left on that airplane, I said, you know, if I ever felt in my life that I was going to leave and fly out somewhere and possibly never, ever come back, it was that day.
Speaker B:Because I really didn't know.
Speaker B:I didn't know what was there.
Speaker B:I landed, and I'll never forget, I can get a little sense of maybe a little bit what maybe Ruth was feeling, because when I landed that day and I saw these Nigerians there, and I spent a week or so with them and God blessed in some tremendous ways.
Speaker B:And then I got on the airport, went back.
Speaker B:I didn't see one other white person the whole time I was there.
Speaker B:In a week.
Speaker B:Now, that's a little different.
Speaker B:Everybody was a total different color.
Speaker B:I'm sure everywhere I went, I stood out.
Speaker B:Wow, look at that white guy.
Speaker B:I had children come up, say, I've never seen a white person.
Speaker B:Can I touch you?
Speaker B:You know, I mean, it was a strange feeling.
Speaker B:I just say that to kind of give you a little bit of an understanding, you know, that Ruth is out in this field.
Speaker B:She's out by herself.
Speaker B:She doesn't have a male protector.
Speaker B:She's from a cursed place.
Speaker B:People there despised her kind.
Speaker B:I think if we don't understand that, we don't really get the Full impact of what's happening here in this story.
Speaker B:But in God's sovereign providence, he honors her faith and she just happens to land in the right field.
Speaker B:It's wonderful how God blesses your faith.
Speaker B:She just happened to land in the right field where there was a landowner by the name of Boaz who was very gracious and who was very generous.
Speaker B:In verse 11, we see Ruth's response to his kindness and the grace that Boaz has shown to her.
Speaker B:Look at it with me.
Speaker B:In verse 11, Boaz answered and said unto her, hath been fully shewed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother and the land of thy nativity and art come unto a people which thou knewest not.
Speaker B:Hitherto her faith in God was news in the community.
Speaker B:It was obvious that everyone in Bethlehem, Judah, was talking about this young lady named Ruth, who had come into the covenant community.
Speaker B:She had come to believe in Yahweh and had come back, left her family back in Moab, left her land and come back with Naomi, this now very bitter and very depressed woman.
Speaker B:Boaz knew he had heard all this.
Speaker B:He had heard of her faith in doing this.
Speaker B:Boaz had heard of her faith, I'm sure, in her commitment to Yahweh and leaving her gods for the one and true living God, the one and true Jehovah God.
Speaker B:This woman Ruth was a woman of folks, I'm just saying, of great faith.
Speaker B:Great faith.
Speaker B:But not only was she respectful did she honor and live a life that was respectful and live a life that was full of faith.
Speaker B:Let me say she was also very humble.
Speaker B:Look at verse 8 again with me, if you would.
Speaker B:Verse 8.
Speaker B:Then said Boaz unto Ruth, hearest thou not my daughter?
Speaker B:Go not to glean in another field.
Speaker B:Go from hence, but abide here fast.
Speaker B:By my maidens, let thine eyes be on the field they do reap, and go thereafter them.
Speaker B:Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee?
Speaker B:And when thou art athirst, go into the vessels and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
Speaker B:And then notice her response in verse 10.
Speaker B:Then she fell on her face and she bowed herself to the ground and said unto him, why?
Speaker B:Why have I found grace thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing that I am a stranger?
Speaker B:Ruth asked Boaz a question that we all folks need to ask God.
Speaker B:Why?
Speaker B:Why, God?
Speaker B:Why is it that I have found grace in your Eyes that you should take knowledge of me, seeing that I am a stranger.
Speaker B:I am an enemy to you.
Speaker B:God, why?
Speaker B:Why have I found grace in your eyes?
Speaker B:Ruth knows that she's a stranger.
Speaker B:She's a non Israelite.
Speaker B:She didn't expect any special treatment.
Speaker B:So her response to Boaz is humble astonishment.
Speaker B:She's astonished.
Speaker B:She's amazed that that he would show her this kind of grace.
Speaker B:I believe Ruth is very different from most people today that seem to have a sense of entitlement.
Speaker B:They expect kindness and are bitter and resentful when they don't receive kindness because they're not getting their way.
Speaker B:But Ruth expresses her sense of unworthiness by bowing before Boaz to the ground.
Speaker B:Listen, proud people don't feel amazed at being treated well.
Speaker B:They feel deep gratitude.
Speaker B:But humble people do.
Speaker B:Those who are humble are so amazed that grace has come to them and their unworthiness that it makes them feel even more lowly.
Speaker B:Boaz, as we'll see in this passage later, is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Ruth represents the Gentile outsider that comes and bows down in humility before Christ because they realize that they are unworthy because of their sinfulness and they're amazed at the grace offered to them through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Listen, I don't believe there's any person who's truly come to God that has not done what Ruth did here.
Speaker B:That is, you must humbly bow yourself before God and declare your unworthiness.
Speaker B:God, I am a sinner.
Speaker B:God, I have no hope without you.
Speaker B:And I am in need of your grace.
Speaker B:I am in need of a savior from my sin.
Speaker B:And when you receive that grace, when you receive that salvation, you are amazed that God would ever save someone like you.
Speaker B:I hope we never get over that.
Speaker B:I hope you never get over your salvation, that you aren't continually amazed when you look at it that God could save someone like you and me.
Speaker B:We should never get over that.
Speaker B:And listen, folks, the more you get to know about God and the more you get to know about your depraved self, the more amazed you are, the more sinful you see yourself, the more depraved you see yourself, and the more amazed you are at the wonderful grace of a loving Savior.
Speaker B:Folks, pride is hideous.
Speaker B:This thing called pride is so hideous, it keeps the lost person lost and it keeps the prodigal, the prodigal saved person from getting right with God.
Speaker B:It's no wonder that God says, I hate pride.
Speaker B:God said, listen, I'll resist the proud, but I'll give Grace to the humble.
Speaker B:I'll give grace to the humble.
Speaker B:Now I'm not saying as a child, if you're a child here today, you're a young person here today, you're a teenager here today that you need a fall prostate before your parents feet.
Speaker B:They're not God.
Speaker B:But I am saying this.
Speaker B:They're God's ordained authority in your life.
Speaker B:They're God's ordained authority in your life and God does command that you give honor to them.
Speaker B:So as a child, you should humbly acknowledge your parents position that God has given to them and you should be thankful and humble about all they have done for you and all they have done for you.
Speaker B:And I'd ask you today, do you have this attitude of humility or is your heart puffed up with pride?
Speaker B:Do you have a sense of entitlement that they owe you even more and you're upset because you don't have as much as maybe somebody else has?
Speaker B:There are some here today, I believe, that need to humbly bow before the Lord Jesus and by faith trust in him as our Lord and Savior.
Speaker B:There's some here today that need to clothe yourselves with humility and you need to go to your parents or you need to go to somebody else and you need to ask them to forgive you today and get that right with God and get that right with them.
Speaker B:We've looked at three ways very briefly that Ruth honored her mother in law by the life she lived, by respecting her, by her faith and by her humility.
Speaker B:But notice another way that she honors her.
Speaker B:She also honors her by the loads that she's lifting.
Speaker B:You have listened to the first part of a two part message by evangelist Sam Wood.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:And if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's Word.
Speaker A:Remember, fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
