Transcription

Connor:
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris:
Hey everybody. Welcome to the Bible guys. Today is Friday. And if you’re listening or watching, we want to just say TGIF. We are with you.

Jeff:
There we go.

Chris:
And today, before we jump into the second part of the story of Ruth for us, we have another exciting episode of Would You Rather. There’s no jingle for that. Okay. There’s a crowd cheering. All right. You want to read number one?

Jeff:
Would you rather have your only mode of transportation be a unicycle or a giant inflatable duck?

Chris:
Wow. Wow. How are we supposed to assume that the duck can go anywhere? Or is it just by water?

Jeff:
It’s just an inflatable duck. I don’t know.

Chris:
Because if it’s only by water, then maybe it creates its own water. There’s so many possibilities. Yes.

Jeff:
I don’t know. So many possibilities here. I don’t know.

Chris:
I’m going to have to, I want, I, everything in me wants to say the giant inflatable duck.

Jeff:
Okay.

Chris:
We’ll do it, but I can’t because it didn’t say like, you can take the inflatable duck, like down the road to Kroger.

Jeff:
It’s a mode of transportation. You can take it anywhere. I say. I think the assumption is you can travel anywhere you need to travel, either by unicycle or giant inflatable duck. I’m going with the duck. You’re going with the duck? Yes. Okay, good. What would you choose? I used to be able to ride a unicycle, so that’s a pretty simple one for me.

Chris:
Oh, wow. Could you lay?

Jeff:
No, probably not. I don’t know. I haven’t been on a unicycle since I was probably like 17 or 18. That’s funny.

Chris:
All right, number two, would you rather live in a world, live in a world, where it rains popcorn every day, or where it snows mashed potatoes every day? Are we talking about instant mashed potato flakes?

Jeff:
Because snowing- No, mashed potatoes, instant mashed potato flakes is not the same as mashed potatoes.

Chris:
Mashed potatoes, snowing would be really, like, hinderous. It’d be hindersome.

Jeff:
Yeah. So does the popcorn have,

Chris:
Butter and salt and butter? I mean, you could collect it and salt and butter it. Yeah.

Jeff:
I think I would choose the popcorn. Yeah, it just seems a lot… Now, I love mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes is my favorite side. Yes. Is it your favorite side too? Yes, it is. It is? Really? It is, yes. Oh, wow. With gravy or with salt and butter? Gravy. Salt and butter. You’re wrong. Wrong answer. You’re wrong. Wrong answer. Okay.

Chris:
I love, I love mashed potatoes and gravy. But I would, I would definitely choose popcorn too. Yep.

Jeff:
All right. Popcorn. Okay. That was a good one. Would you rather have to do the cha-cha every time you enter a room or break into a dramatic monologue from a Shakespeare play whenever you leave a room?

Chris:
Ooh, those are both really good options. Yeah. I’m gonna say cha-cha.

Jeff:
Yeah. Well, I think you sometimes do the cha-cha when you just walk into a room anyway.

Chris:
I like to do the cha-cha. That’s a movie quote. Is it? From Bruce Almighty. Oh, okay. Steve Carell when he was a when he was the anchor guy.

Jeff:
Well, that’s a different game, Chris. Yes. Yes. Sorry. Stay focused, bud. Stay focused. Or the other one, dramatic monologue Shakespeare, when you walk out, to be or not to be, that’s the question.

Chris:
That’s a pretty cool thing, too.

Jeff:
Yeah, that’s kind of a neat one.

Chris:
If everybody knew that about you, then they’d be like, okay, here he goes. Here he goes. He’s leaving.

Jeff:
You suddenly just go off on Othello for a minute. To be!

Chris:
Or not to be.

Jeff:
Yeah, or it’d get old for everybody and they’d go, oh, there he goes.

Chris:
Right, right. Well, they definitely would.

Jeff:
Okay. Would you rather, oh, no, I already read that one. So you’re number four.

Chris:
Oh, would you rather be able to turn invisible, but only when nobody’s looking or be able to fly, but only at the speed of a brisk walk? How incredibly specific.

Jeff:
Those are hard. Yeah. Being visible, but only when nobody is looking. That’s a weird one.

Chris:
Yeah. Why?

Jeff:
So then I don’t know the value of being invisible.

Chris:
Just so you can’t show it off. Hey, watch this.

Jeff:
Boop.

Chris:
Right. Or to fly, but only at a brisk walk.

Jeff:
Is the assumption when nobody is looking is a person? That nobody? Cause like you could hide from dogs and stuff. Like a mean neighbor’s dog.

Chris:
Yeah. I’m gonna say…

Jeff:
Because it’d be terrible if you decided you’re a thief. Hey, I’m visible. I’m going to start stealing stuff. Then somebody walks down in the living room, turns the light on and suddenly, immediately they can see you. That kind of ruins it for you.

Chris:
You know what I’m going to say? I’m going to say fly out of brisk walk. Here’s why. Because I can’t really think of anything good that can come from being invisible. It’s only like bad things. It’s going to lead to no good. But can you imagine, you know, like sometimes you say, I’m going to go for a stroll. But even if, even if it’s only at the speed of a bridge walk, you’d be like, I’m just going to go for a fly.

Jeff:
Yeah. Cause you don’t have to do any work then you’re just flying. Or, you know, at this point now you don’t need stairs either.

Chris:
Oh yeah.

Jeff:
Right. You just go up to the top of the hill. You don’t have to hike to the top of the hill. Oh yeah. So that’s way better. Oh gosh.

Chris:
That’s a no brainer. All of a sudden. There’s a no brainer. That elevated everything for me.

Jeff:
Yeah. Do you remember, do you remember the cartoon WALL-E? Yes. And when everybody’s sitting around and they’re, they’re, they’re sitting around with their, they’ve got their screens and their great big drinks and they’re just on that little cart that floats. Yes. Yeah. That’s what this life would be like for you from that point on. Just a great big giant, big gulp.

Chris:
Only they were big, large people.

Jeff:
Well, that’s okay. But if you don’t have to walk anymore, you’re going to be a big, large person too. Here we go. Number five. Would you rather have to wear roller skates all the time or be stuck in a hamster ball for a week? Hamster ball for a week. That’s a no brainer.

Chris:
No brainer.

Jeff:
Yeah. It’s only a week.

Chris:
She didn’t say a year. She said a week.

Jeff:
Yeah. Hamster ball all the time or roller skates all the time. Which one would you choose? Oh, definitely roller skates. Roller skates all the time. Yeah. Yeah. But hamster ball for a week.

Chris:
Yeah, then it’s over.

Jeff:
Yeah, then it’s over. It’s done.

Chris:
And then after that you put on roller skates.

Jeff:
How about roller skates inside the hamster ball?

Chris:
Now that would be a double whammy.

Jeff:
Yeah, it would be. Double whammy.

Chris:
I would just sit. If I had a hamster ball. Just sit out? Yeah, I’d just sit out in the hamster ball. Okay, for a week. For a week. Can you imagine going to the restroom in a hamster ball? And then walking?

Jeff:
No, you’re taking us places that I don’t think she was going to take us.

Chris:
Hey, it’s a question of contemplation. I am merely contemplating, Jeff.

Jeff:
Okay. Well, thank you for that, Chris.

Chris:
It was very enlightening. Let’s thank Desiree.

Jeff:
Thank you, Desiree.

Chris:
Yeah, because I actually like Would You Rathers a lot.

Jeff:
Would You Rathers are the best.

Chris:
Yeah, they’re really good.

Jeff:
Okay, well, hey, if you’ve been with us all week, this is Friday. We’re coming to the end. We’re in the middle of the story, this beautiful story of Ruth and Naomi, and we’re going to introduce a new character, Boaz. There’s going to be some things that are going to be hard to understand. We’ll unpack them with regard to their cultural belief system, but just understand Boaz comes in and he has the potential to be the hero, a hero in the story. And Naomi is trying to really set up Ruth in a good way. So here’s what’s happening. It says, we’re going to start in Ruth three. We’re not going to read Ruth two. And we’ll, we’ll cover that in a minute though. It says one day, Naomi said to Ruth, my daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you so that you will be provided for. Boaz is a close relative of ours. And he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight, he’ll be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Now do as I tell you. Take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he’s finished eating and drinking. Be sure to notice where he lies down and then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.” I’ll do everything you say, Ruth replied. So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law. After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet and laid down. Around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over and he was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet. Who are you? He asked. I am your servant, Ruth,” she replied. Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer. The Lord bless you, my daughter, Boaz exclaimed. You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. Stay here tonight. In the morning, I will talk to him. If he’s willing to redeem you very well, let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself. Now lie down here until morning. So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, no one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor. Then Boaz said to her, bring your cloak and spread it out. And he measured six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. And then he returned to the town. When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, what happened, my daughter? Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her. And she added, he gave me these six scoops of barley and said, don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed. Then Naomi said to her, just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he’s settled things today. So we have to introduce Boaz. Right. Right. So who’s Boaz?

Chris:
Boaz is the, is he the uncle? What is he?

Jeff:
I don’t know. I asked you, dude.

Chris:
Um, Boaz. Well, um, we, we sort of skipped, uh, the introduction of Boaz, right. And, and, and Luke Chepin and Ruth Chepin. They’re distant cousins. Distant cousins. That’s what he is. Okay. Yep. But he’s, but he’s a part of the family. And, uh, so he has, uh, technically, uh, I don’t think that he was obligated by law, but I think that there is probably more cultural tradition is what I remember from the story where it’s, uh, it’s not as if there’s a law that says he has to take care of somebody like that. But, uh, but you know, to take care of family, it was customary to, to, uh, help family in need. Right.

Jeff:
Yeah, so he is a distant cousin of Elimelech and Naomi, which would mean then that he was also a cousin to Elimelech and Naomi’s sons. So then they had this idea, there is this concept, and this is within the law, of a kinsman redeemer and the kinsman redeemer being one of the male relatives who had resources that was in the lineage of the family that would come in and take responsibility for a woman that was a widow. Very similar to like the brother was required to do so.

Chris:
I didn’t realize that was in the law.

Jeff:
Yeah. Yeah. It was within their law. It wasn’t required that he do it. but a woman had the right to request it. And if the first guy refused and the second guy would say yes. Right. Okay. So this is her way.

Chris:
That sounds like what I’m remembering.

Jeff:
Yeah. And so, so, um, I think if he refused, then there was some kind of a financial arrangement or some kind of way to get out of being in the kinsmen redeemer.

Chris:
Right. I just remember that he didn’t have to do it.

Jeff:
Yeah. So, What you have here then is Naomi brings Ruth to this place, you know, to Bethlehem and it’s harvest season. Remember, we just read that it was the beginning of harvest season. And so one of God’s laws for the Jewish people was that a farmer wasn’t supposed to harvest the corners of his field and leave it for the poor people.

Chris:
And we covered that probably what a couple of weeks ago.

Jeff:
Yeah. Yeah. And so leave it for the poor people was the, the idea there. And this is then the poor people could go out and work. It wasn’t pure charity. You had to do the work of it. But you know, if you have a big rectangular field and you’re out there harvesting back and forth, back and forth, when you make that, just make the turn. Don’t, don’t go straight into the corner and take the extra time. And I’ll say, leave that. And then they can do it. So then Naomi knows this rule and she goes to Boaz and says, hey, God’s blessed you and your harvest. Would it be okay if my daughter-in-law harvested in just the corners of your field? Grab a little bit and we can stay alive. And Boaz kind of notices and he goes over to Ruth and says, listen, you can, you can stay with us and you can gather grain with my girls. So he had all his servants out there and he’s, you know, so she definitely caught his eye. And so he kind of takes care of her more as family than as just some poor lady that needs food. And that caught Naomi’s eye going, Oh, I bet Ruth isn’t picking up on what this is. Because Ruth is a Moabite. Naomi knows the rules. So there’s all these social things. The poor people can pick over there in the corners and yeah, whatever, just do your thing. But Boaz comes over and goes, no, you don’t have to pick in the corners. You can just go ahead and get what you need. And so Ruth is like, oh, isn’t he a nice guy? And Naomi’s like, oh, Boaz is interested in Ruth. Maybe, maybe he’s interested. He might just be a nice guy. Extended family, way out there, whatever. So maybe he’s just a nice guy, but Ruth is thinking there might be a chance. As a matter of fact, there’s a moment when they all take a break, like a lunch break in chapter two, and he invites Ruth over, Hey, go ahead and you can have some of our food. You can have some of our wine, you know, and that’s what Naomi is picking up on is Boaz isn’t just a nice guy. He, he likes Ruth. Right.

Chris:
Or in addition to being a nice guy. That’s right. That’s right. Yeah. So, you know, when you think about, okay, what does this have to do with me? What kind of sermon is in there? You know, is there a sermon in there somewhere, right? I think it’s maybe this, that you never know how the tides are going to turn. You never know what’s in store, right? So, you know, for that matter, you never know if it’s going to be today. Right. So you’re walking into, you know, an environment and, uh, you know, remember the day that you met one of your best friends in the world? Yeah, sure. Right. Like, did you know that that was the day you were going to meet him? No. Right. Remember when the day you met your wife? Yes. You didn’t know that was the day you were going to meet him? No, I didn’t. And that changed the course of your entire life. It did. The trajectory of your entire life changed on that day. Yeah. So it’s just a reminder. I think there’s a sermon in here somewhere that says, you know, you’re down on your luck, right? You’re sad. You know, your life is, hey, I’m going to change my name because of the season that I’m in. You know, everything is just really bitter. And then all of a sudden, boom, things start to turn. Why? Because Apparently Boaz thinks Ruth’s attractive and that’s going to create this opportunity. This opportunity that is going to end up where everybody’s going to be taken care of.

Jeff:
What an incredible moment. And by the way, Naomi is the one who’s tuned into this, not Ruth. Right. But it’s interesting because we just ended yesterday with Naomi being bitter. Right. My life is miserable. I can’t, I left with everything. I lost everything. She lost everything. I came home. God gave up on me.

Chris:
Can you imagine losing your, your husband and your sons? Yeah.

Jeff:
And so she has this sense that, you know, for some reason God’s punishing her, taking things from her. But there’s a really amazing note in verses 19 and 20 here in chapter two, which we didn’t read. Which we skipped. Right. But it says, Naomi had felt bitter, but her faith in God was still alive. And she prays God for Boaz’s kindness to Ruth. Right. She does. She celebrates that God is good to us and God has provided for us through Boaz for Ruth. And so we might feel bitter about a situation, but we must never despair. Today is always a new opportunity for experiencing God’s care. And then it goes, though Ruth may not have always recognized God’s guidance, he’d been with her every step of the way. She went to glean and just happened to end up in the field owned by Boaz. So she didn’t know it was Boaz’s field. She just goes to get some food, knowing that you’re allowed to glean in the corners. And Boaz goes, Hey, why don’t you come over and have lunch with us? Right. And you can, you can, you can pick any part of it. You don’t have to just pick the corners. And so she just happened to do that, just happened to be a close relative. This was more than mere coincidence. As you go about your daily tasks, God is working in your life in ways you may not even notice. We must not close the door on what God can do. Events do not occur by luck or coincidence. We should have faith that God is directing our lives for his purpose, which is right in line with exactly what you were saying. And I didn’t even read that. You could write the notes for the life application. You know what? Call Tyndale. Choose from me. That’s right. Tyndale is the publisher. You can just go tell them you got this.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah. And it’s just great. And then, you know, um, there’s also a note here that talks about, it says, um, here it is. The nearest relative did not have to marry the widow. And if he chose not to the next nearest relative could take his place. If no one chose to help the widow, she would probably live in poverty the rest of her life because the Israelite culture, uh, the inheritance was passed on to the son of the nearest male relative, not the wife. The laws for gleaning and family redeemers helped to take the sting out of the inheritance rules. In other words, they’re saying that’s why, you know, the rules existed, you know, and that’s the benefit. And then it says, we have a family redeemer in Jesus Christ who, though he was God, came to earth as a man in order to save us. But by his death on the cross, he has redeemed us from the sin and hopelessness and has thereby purchased us with his own possession. First Peter chapter one, verse number 18. This guarantees our eternal inheritance. Boy, I had a hard time reading that. But, but, but so you can see the, you can see the picture, right? Yeah. The foreshadowing of Jesus, who’s referred to as the kinsman redeemer, isn’t he?

Jeff:
Exactly. Which is awesome. Right. So this is what you have. And by the way, Boaz, and Ruth wind up being in Jesus’ family, which is, you know, really cool. So, hey, let’s contrast Samson. So we’ve already talked about the kind of decisions Samson made with the women he chased. It was nothing to do with character. It was only had something to do with the visible thing. Now, hey, I think you should be attracted to your spouse, right? So those of you that are single, that are listening, you know, attraction is part of it. Uh, it’s just not the main thing, but in our culture today, uh, beauty is the most important thing. And so what we find out is that he doesn’t consider the character of a woman like Delilah and she winds up ruining his life, right? He’s only, he never thought about his own character. He didn’t care about his own character. He certainly didn’t care about the character of other people. It was just pure hedonism. Whatever pleases him that he wants. I want what pleases me. No consideration of what kind of life he’s going to try to build. On the other hand, you have two really interesting hints here. One, Boaz mentions to Ruth, the reputation you have is good. Virtuous. Virtuous.

Chris:
So your reputation, so Boaz… And everybody knows.

Jeff:
Right. Boaz had taken a liking to her. He’d noticed her, was around her several days, a significant amount of time, and apparently done his homework. because he didn’t just say, I think you have a good reputation. He said, everybody knows you’re a virtuous woman, which means he’s checking out. He’s getting references at this point behind the scenes. He’s trying to figure out what kind of woman is this? Because when you make a decision about relationship, you’re going to be in for your life. It’s going to affect every aspect of your life, right? A good marriage is great. A bad marriage ruins everything, right? It’s so hard. And so he’s, he’s looking, he’s very interested in her. He certainly was attracted. But he didn’t make any moves until he knew that she had an outstanding reputation, a virtuous reputation with everybody. And then on the other side of it, Naomi says, Hey, go do this. And this was like a, a hint that a woman would, would be open to a marriage. She’s not cuddling up to him. They’re not spooning, right? She’s not coming up. All she’s doing is she goes to his feet and says, I would be available if you made a proposal. That’s what she’s—that’s the simple—it’s weird to us, but in their culture, that would have made sense in the day, right? And so she’s not coming on to him sexually, but she’s letting him know, I would be available if you made an advance, you know, for marriage. And so she comes home, and he gives her a bunch of grain. He starts giving her all this stuff, you know, like somebody in love does. Here, take, just take more, right? Here, have some of that. Here’s some jewelry. Take some of my money. Hey, let me, you know, let me take you out the door. That’s what he’s doing. So he gives her six scoops of grain. Take this back to Naomi. So he also is honoring Naomi’s family. Right. And Naomi says, okay, just wait because he’s a good guy. He’s going to go, he’s going to take care of his business quickly. So Naomi knows here’s a man of good reputation. He gets his business done. And he knows that Ruth is a virtuous woman. And so they’re measuring each other’s character, right? Before any of these decisions were made or these attempts were made.

Chris:
Which is so contrasted the story we just left.

Jeff:
of Samson going, Oh, there’s a pretty one. Let’s go sleep with that one. Right. And it ruined his life as opposed to they took time. They investigated the character and they got to know each other and they’re both serving one another. Right. That there’s a whole different thing. And, and Hey, it winds up eventually, well, I hate to spill the beans, but they get married and, uh, you know, is, is it’s a beautiful thing. So, so take your time, discover the character, the person you’re looking at, but this is true about going into business. This is true about friendships, right? Choosing your neighbors, man, the church you’re going to go to, right? Character matters. The reputation matters. All these things in life, the alliances that you make, the character of the people that you’re making the alliance with is more important than the opportunity or the flashy thing, the salesmanship that they’re, that they’re putting on you.

Chris:
Yeah. That’s a, that’s a great lesson. Yeah. So there’s a lot of sermons hitting in there.

Jeff:
Yeah.

Chris:
So we are going to continue with Ruth on Monday. So hopefully we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.