Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Ruth was surprised at the kindness of Boaz to her on her first meeting with him. She recognised that she was an outsider in the community, without any rights to special treatment. Yet she was also aware that she was receiving from Boaz far more than would usually be given to a needy person. Moreover, he had spoken warmly to her and assured that there were many benefits for her in coming to know the God of Israel, under whose protection she had come (Boaz had used the illustration of a mother bird with her young to describe God). No doubt, there are many ways of discovering those benefits, but here we can see that one method involves those who know something of what these blessings are mentioning them to those who might not. Boaz, the long-term believer in the God of Israel, spoke appropriately to Ruth, the new believer in that God, and his words brought comfort to her, as she testified to him in verse 13: ‘I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken

At the beginning of this second chapter of Ruth, the unknown author provides his readers with information about a relative of Naomi’s late husband. Boaz was not the only one of his relatives that lived in Bethlehem, but the author wants us to take note of his existence. He also wants us to take note of his character, which he describes as worthy. The description indicates that he has a good influence over others, that he is a man who knows how to get things down, who can use his status in the community for the benefit of others, and who is respected by others because of his fear of God. It is possible that Boaz was a military leader as the term translated ‘man’ in verse 1 can have that meaning. Psalm 15:2-5 gives a character portrait of such a person: ‘He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbour, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, b

One of the complaints of contemporary life is a failure of people to express realism. When asked how things are going, most people will say fine, but they may be at that moment going somewhere for help. When we look at the news, we are informed that many people are facing huge problems at different levels of life. The same may be true in the spiritual life of believers in Jesus. Imagine returning to the place where we had worshipped God previously after about a decade of being away. What would we say if someone asked us how we were? Would we tell it as it is, or would we think it best to be positive and not admit that aspects of life have been hard? In a sense, this is the question that was asked of Naomi when she and Ruth reached Bethlehem. While one cannot be precise how long Naomi was away for, she had been in Moab for at least ten years. Their arrival in Bethlehem caused quite a stir in the community. The women of Bethlehem do not seem to have been certain that it was her when they