Ted Arthur Ministries

January 8, 2012                        WHO ARE YOU

Rth 2:19  Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!" Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.
Rth 2:20  "The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers."

 You should notice that Naomi’s bitterness is going away. She is now speaking of the LORD in a different way. Your obedience can deliver others from satanic bondage.

Rth 2:21  Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "He even said to me, 'Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.'"
Rth 2:22  Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed."
Rth 2:23  So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Rth 3:1  One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for?

Rth 2:2  And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor." Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter."

We see that Naomi’s attitude is also changing about Ruth and probably others. Notice the difference between Naomi’s words in verse 2, and in verse 22. In verse 2 Naomi’s attitude was go I don’t care. In verse 20 Naomi’s attitude appears to have changed about God. When your thinking about God is correct, your thinking about others will also begin to change. What has happened to change Naomi’s attitude? The answer is Ruth, and God is what happened to Naomi. God worked through Ruth to show His great mercy. God did the blessing through Boaz, Ruth did the hard work, and Naomi received the benefit. You might say Naomi was more than a conquer, and so are you.

Rom 8:37  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
Rom 8:39  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Boaz and Ruth change Naomi’s life. Naomi did nothing, Ruth did all the work, all Naomi had to do was enjoy the benefits. God and Jesus changed your life. You did nothing, Jesus did all the work, all you have to do is enjoy the benefits.

Psa 103:1  Of David. Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Psa 103:2  Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
Psa 103:3  who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
Psa 103:4  who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
Psa 103:5  who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The above describes what happened in Naomi’s life. God does not show favoritism, He will do the same for you.  

Rth 3:2  Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.
Rth 3:3  Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
Rth 3:4  When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do."
Rth 3:5  "I will do whatever you say," Ruth answered.
Rth 3:6  So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
Rth 3:7  When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down.
Rth 3:8  In the middle of the night something startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet.
Rth 3:9  "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."

Boaz ask the same question here that Naomi ask in 3:16.

Rth 3:16  Litv   And she came in to her mother-in-law. And she said, Who are you, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.

This is a question that must be answered by everyone.

See Mt. 4:1-11. Jesus had to answer the question who are you.

Luke 7:37-48. The world will sees you in different from what God sees you.

Luk 4:31  Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people.
Luk 4:32  They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.
Luk 4:33  In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice,
Luk 4:34  "Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
Luk 4:35  "Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
 
Luk 4:40  When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Luk 4:41  Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.

This will help you to know who you are. These daemons were not witnessing for Jesus they were challenging His authority to cast them out. If they challenged Jesus don’t think that you will not be challenge, when you are challenged you better know who you are.

There was nothing sexual or romantic happening here, Ruth was asking Boaz to do what the Mosaic Law required. Spreading the corner of the garment over a woman symbolized a man’s willingness to accept a widowed relative in marriage comes from Ezekiel 16:8.

Eze 16:8  "'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

This is what happens when you accepted Jesus as your redeemer.