Ruth Ch2/ Matthew Ch3
Humble and diligent VS. Rebuke bravely
Ruth 2/ Matthew 3
Ruth 2/1-7: She worked humbly and diligently that God gave her a “special chance”.
Here we see how humble and diligent Ruth was after she came to the land of Judah with her mother-in-law. She was not lazy at all. She was willing to go out and work to support their living. She was humble that she would do little work as picking up the leftover grain. She would work behind people so that they would have a chance before her. But first of all Ruth asked permission of her mother-in-law to go out to work. When Naomi gave her permission, Ruth went out and started to work in a field. As it “turned out”, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz. And “exactly at that moment” Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and saw Ruth in his field. He learned from his workers that she was the Moabites woman who came back from Moab with Naomi. He was told about her noble virtues. He was also reported how humble, diligent and hard-working Ruth was in the field. It was not by accident that she met such a “special” and wonderful chance. This was a guidance of an invisible hand of God. Proverbs says, “Those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” (14/22b) God shows Himself love and faithful to those who keep His good way. Ruth truly walked in God’s good way: Her determination to follow Naomi, her humility in seeking the will of her mother-in-law, and her caring for Naomi. And God truly showed Himself love and faithful to her.
Matthew 3/1-6: He lived a hard life according to the Holy Spirit. He preached the truth diligently.
John the Baptist was born when his parents were very old. He was their only beloved son. But he obeyed the Holy Spirit to leave everything behind him and went to the desert to preach the truth. He told people to repent so as to enter the kingdom of heaven. What a hard life he had because of obedience! Look what he wore and what he ate. He had a leather belt around his waist. He diligently served the Lord as a faithful servant. Therefore, people went out from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan to confess their sins and to be baptized by him in the Jordan River.
Ruth 2/8-13: The more blessing she received, the more she was grateful and humble.
Boaz told Ruth not to work in another field. He told her not to go away from his field but to stay with his servant girls. He not only encouraged her but also comforted her. Ruth bowed down to the ground for all these favors she found in his eyes. Ruth truly knew that she was nothing. She did not think highly of herself because she had sacrificed everything for the sake of her mother-in-law. She did not boast about how good she was in taking the way of cross. The more blessing she received, the more she was grateful and humble in her heart. “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” she told Boaz. She knew that she was unworthy of any blessing. She was even lower than a servant girl. Humility was the secret why Ruth received blessing more and more.
It is very important that we work diligent in the field of Boaz and do not go to another field. Many God’s children work very hard and diligently in the world. They are busy for food, fame, money, power or fun. Some work hard for the false teaching or heresy. Many work diligently for other gospel. All of these are “another field”. We lose the grace, blessing and the presence of the Lord in “another field”.
The field of Boaz means the work of God’s will. It is to preach the pure truth and lead everyone to repent by faith and turn to the Lord. Be sure that we labor diligently in the work of God’s will. There is only one thing is needed to work according to God’s will. Follow the example of Mary sitting quietly before the Lord everyday and listen carefully and humbly what He says in the most Holy Bible. Then we can do beautiful things that are after God’s own heart. In addition to it, I urge you, “first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2/1-4) What a pity many servants of God have neglected the importance of intercession. They are busy with their own programs such as visiting or all kinds of church activities. They do not spend time with God to understand His will before they go out to work. They do not rely on the power of the Holy Spirit in their works. There is no blessing of God in this kind of ministry. It is a work of wood, hay or straw.
Paul encourages us to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15/58b) If we labor the work of the Lord, we are laboring in the Lord. Then it will not be in vain. Let us stay with the field of Boaz until our Lord comes back.
Here is a short testimony of myself. When I was called by the Lord, I wholeheartedly wanted to go to the most famous Seminary in China. I hoped one day I would be a famous Doctor of Theology. But the Lord intervened. He put me on a desolate mountain in the East of China. He trained me there in the Home of Grace. It was a newly established Bible school. There were only four persons, including the teacher and the student. They had a black dog. Everyday each person was allowed to have one bottle of hot water in a Thermos. You were to drink and wash from that bottle of water. There was only one oil lamp in each room. I went up there in tears. But since then I have never left this work of God’s will. Now I am almost 78 years old. I have learned how precious this mission is over the years. It is to prepare 48 “Home of Workers” all over the world for those who have been called by the Lord. It is to provide a quiet place for God’s workers to read the Bible and pray. God will train His workers by His own words. In this place every worker will have a chance to read the Bible carefully and explain the scriptures by the scriptures. Their lives will be transformed totally when they examine themselves carefully according to God’s words. Their services and visions will be renewed when they pay attention only to the Bible and pray watchfully. They will find their first love to the Lord. In this way God will train workers that are after His own heart. They will be sent out by the Holy Spirit to preach the truth all over the world. If the quality of a servant is good, the quality of his ministry will be good. He will be approved by God. God considers the life of a servant more important than the work of a servant. Home of Grace is a vision from God. The Lord will accomplish it by Himself.
Ruth 2/14-16: She continued to be humble and lowly that she received more blessing.
We learn here that Ruth not only humbled herself before the older people or the rich man. She was humble in all kinds of situations. When she worked, she was behind others so that they could have a chance before her. When she went to eat, she sat down with the servants of Boaz. She ate when Boaz offer it to her. She kept the left over for her mother-in-law. When she finished her meal, she got up and went to work at once. Ruth was humble and kept herself in low position all the time. Therefore, she received blessing greater and greater, more and more.
Matthew 3/7-12: He rebuked the hypocrite sharply. He honored the Savior as the highest and considered himself as nothing.
When John the Baptist faced the Pharisees and Sadducees, he was not afraid of their high position in the society. He was bold and rebuked their hypocrisy without compromise. He sharply warned them to stop deceiving themselves and others when they came to be baptized. He said, “You Brood of vipers! … Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” If they repent from their heart, they could flee from the coming wrath. If they didn’t repent, they would be cut down and thrown into the fire.
John the Baptist refused honor from man. He only honored Jesus the Savior as the highest. He knew himself was of nothing. He was not even qualified to carry the sandals of Jesus.
Ruth 2/17-23: She kept God’s words and lived with her mother-in-law. Naomi, a type of the suffering Lord, was her only delight.
Ruth was a good example to serve the Lord for every worker. It was her love for her suffering mother-in-law that Ruth went out and worked hard on small and unimportant jobs. She told everything to her mother-in-law when she came back from work. She also gave whatever she got to her mother-in-law. She continued to obey the instructions of her mother-in-law. Ruth stayed at the place instructed by her mother-in-law and worked there until the end. And she lived with her mother-in-law all the time. Her joy and satisfaction was not from her fellow servant girls or the work in the field. Her great joy and satisfaction was her mother-in-law.
Matthew 3/13-17: Our Lord was the most humble one before God and man. He fulfilled all righteousness. He was pleased by God.
Our Lord was blameless. But He went to John the Baptist to be baptized. When John the Baptist tried to stop him, Jesus said that it was proper for them to do that. It was to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus was completely perfect and blameless. But he totally humbled himself before man. Jesus desired nothing but to fulfill all righteousness. Therefore, heaven was opened for Him. God praised Him, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
Comparison of two chapters:
(1) Both of Ruth and John the Baptist had the same attitude of suffering to follow the Lord. They gave up everything in the world and took the narrow way of cross.
(2) John the Baptist obeyed the Holy Spirit completely from beginning to the end. He came out to work when God wanted him to. He went to work in a desert, where God sent him to. He preached exactly what God wanted him to preach. There were countless people went to him to be baptized. He became famous and respected by man. But John the Baptist had been obedient to the Holy Spirit all the time. Ruth respected the older people. She first had the permission of her mother-in-law, and then she went out to pick up the leftover grain in the field. It was an invisible hand of God that brought her to the field of Boaz. God blessed Ruth this “special arrangement” so that His divined plan would be accomplished by them. Her work in the field was very small and unnoticed from man’s viewpoint. But her work was of the will of her mother-in-law. Her work was of gold, silver and precious stone. “Grain” means life. It is a kind of life that pays attention to the word of God and put it into practice. It also means a work of the Holy Spirit. It may be a very small work that is ignored by man. But it is approved by God! It has an important part in His kingdom.
(3) Both of them spread out fragrance of humility and gratitude before the Lord and man. Ruth and John the Baptist both worked very hard and diligently. They had never thought they should be honored because they had given up everything to follow the Lord. They knew it by heart that they were nothing and unworthy of God’s kingdom. Therefore, they were full of gratitude all the time. The more they were blessed, the more they humbled themselves.
(4) But in the face of sin and the evil power, John the Baptist was very bold. He rebuked the hypocrite sharply. He warned them to produce fruit of repentance. This was because he was faithful to the work entrusted by God. He faithfully led everyone to truly live in the Lord. At the end, he died for the sake of the Lord. He would absolutely receive a great reward and an incomparable glory from God.
(5) Our Lord set up the best example for us. He was perfect and blameless. But he was baptized by John. Usually we feel it is easier to humble ourselves before God than before man. But our Lord humbled Himself before man so that He could fulfill all righteousness.
(6) We should follow the good examples of Ruth, John the Baptist and our Lord. May we determine to follow the Lord and work diligently in the field of Boaz. May we humble ourselves before God and before man. May we faithfully preach the truth without compromise. May we stand up boldly to rebuke the hypocrite. Then we will certainly make our heavenly Father God very pleased.