Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / October 1, 2026 - Ruth 3 & Proverbs 16:26-29

Transcript

October 1, 2026 - Ruth 3 & Proverbs 16:26-29 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Plan, where you're seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, with God's word letting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Josiah Smith, Lee Pastor of Compass South Valley.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Thursday, October 1st, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ruth 3.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Is not Boaz our relative with whose young women you were?
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he is finished eating and drinking.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And she replied, All that you say I will do.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother in law had commanded her.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Who are you?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: You have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And now, my daughter, do not fear.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I will do for you all that you ask.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And now it is true that I am a redeemer.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Remain tonight and in the morning.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: If he will redeem you, good, let him do it.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Lie down until the morning.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So she lay at his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then she went into the city, and when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, How did you fare, my daughter?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, You must not go back empty handed to your mother-in-law.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: She replied, Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs sixteen, twenty-six through twenty nine.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: A worker's appetite works for him, his mouth urges him on, a worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as we get into Ruth chapter three, one of the things that's really important for background and context to understand what's going on is to kind of get at least a cursory understanding of what's called leverett marriage.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this was instituted within the Mosaic law, and we find it in a place like Deuteronomy 25, 5 and 6.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just read it.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: It says, If brothers dwell together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Her husband's brother shall go into her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So Leverett marriage was this provision given within the law for when a widow loses, or a woman who becomes a widow by losing her husband without a child, without an heir, there was a provision specifically in place so that the father's name would not be blotted out of Israel, that he would have posterity, he would have children, and his name would continue.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And within the provision of the law, it would be the brother, and even it would kind of continue from there, but the closest relative onward to that brother would have an obligation to marry the wife.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: So of course that this uh implies that there is not another wife in the picture.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, God uh instructs very clearly in his word we are to be uh of of one husband, one wife.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the uh the implication is that if there is a brother that's close, closest to the husband that dies, that he has a responsibility to marry the woman and to have a child and raise up uh the line uh of his brother's name, right?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Which is the whole point.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: So all this talk in Ruth of a kinsman redeemer is kind of talking about that reality that Boaz is within the realm of the family uh network, if you will, that would have some level of responsibility and obligation uh to obey this command and to uh pursue this provision of the law.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: This was a way, of course, uh to raise up children that would continue on the name of the husband that passes away, but also it was a means of caring for the widow.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was a means of making sure that she was provided for, cared for, and protected.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So here in Ruth chapter three, Naomi, of course, knowing all of this, that's why even in chapter two, she says that he is a kinsman, he is a redeemer, he was within the familiar network like we were talking about.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, here in Ruth three, Naomi kind of comes up with a plan.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Naomi has, you know, suddenly is concerned about caring for Ruth.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And up until this point, both in chapter one and in chapter two, we've seen Ruth very intentionally going out of her way to care for Naomi.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: She's the one in the hot sun all day in the fields, gleaming so that she can care for Naomi.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And here there's a switch.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: So Naomi begins in here in verse one.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: My daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there's this sense of even I think uh Ruth's kindness, her taking care of Naomi has had this kind of profound effect on Naomi, such that now Naomi has a great concern for Ruth.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's this mutual love and concern for one another.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so Naomi gives this sort of strange uh command, if you will, uh, to her daughter-in-law Ruth.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: She tells him to go to Boaz at the threshing floor, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So a threshing floor was typically on a hill where it was a flat, kind of stony area where they would have a big stone that would kind of grind up the barley uh so that they could separate the wheat from the chaff.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: They would the winnowing forts that they would pick up all of that, throw it into the air, and uh they would separate the wheat from the chaff.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so think of that as basically Boaz's bank.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is uh his uh his livestock or rather his crops, right, that he's been working on and growing and tending to.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is his livelihood.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so oftentimes the field owner would sleep uh at the threshing room floor so that he could protect uh his crops and he could protect his livelihood.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So Naomi, of course, knowing this, this was something that was common uh during this time agriculturally, she knew that Boaz would be sleeping there, and so she comes up with this, from our vantage point, very strange plan for Ruth to sneak in, uncover Boaz's feet, and essentially have this sort of marriage proposal where she's asking Boaz if if he would be her redeemer.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And even the way that she says it, spread your spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Anytime we see uh that image of someone spreading their wings, that's often attributed to God covering Israel, covering his people, caring for them, protecting them.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so even Ruth is kind of invoking that imagery of God, the God that she committed herself to in chapter one, your people will be my people, your God will be my God.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes to Boaz and asks if he would, in likeness to the God that he worships and serves, if he would do the same thing for her, if you, if she, if he would be her redeemer.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm Ruth, your servant.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: She says, Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, now, a couple things that are just important to point out uh specifically uh in this uh chapter uh is uh I think Ruth's just faithfulness, her character.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's been commented on twice by Boaz, both in chapter two and here in chapter three.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think her love and her care for Naomi, uh, I think you start to see Naomi kind of come alive here in chapter three.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: She has a very, very poor attitude.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: She's blaming God, she's saying, Call me, Mara in chapter one, in chapter two.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: She's mostly not a big part of the narrative.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And here in chapter three, she's now speaking and dominating the narrative.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of a different Naomi.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: No longer is she complaining, no, no longer is she blaming God.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, she's she's coming up with this plan to try to care for uh Ruth, to try to show great concern uh for Ruth.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think even we see Ruth's character making a profound impact on Naomi, and even in a sense, Ruth's faith, the hope that she has, uh, and just her selflessness kind of makes uh Naomi's hope, if you will, and her faith kind of rekindle, right?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so the roles begin to reverse.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Naomi takes active active steps to provide care for Ruth.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because we've got to remember, right?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Naomi started, she's bitter and broken.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Call me Mara, don't call me by my name.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: But Ruth's character, uh, she is considered a worthy woman and her rest in God.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And Naomi's seeing this, she's she's seeing the kind of woman that Ruth is.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: It ignited, again, a kind of hope uh in Naomi's broken heart.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, one thing that we could kind of pull away from this is oftentimes, and you know this to be true, when you observe someone else's faith and someone else's hope in the midst of difficult, maybe painful circumstances, God has a way of using that to stir your own heart to deeper faith.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you could even name people or think of people right now, where you've watched them suffer well, you've watched them navigate grief well.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And as a result of that, there's a sense of your hope, your faith uh being stirred as a result of seeing someone else.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see happening here uh with Ruth to Naomi.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And even Ruth's faith, her entrusting herself to ultimately God, uh, it emboldens her kind of obedience to Naomi.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, Ruth is not from Israel, right?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: So some of the things that are happening here perhaps were foreign to her leverage marriage, kinsmen redeemers.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure Naomi's explaining it to her, but all this is foreign and strange, right?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: She tells Ruth, go in the middle of the night, uncover this guy's feet, ask him to marry you, basically.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's all strange, but but Ruth has this again, this security and this confidence.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And Ruth obeys her mother-in-law, Naomi, even though she cannot see the result, right?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: She doesn't know how Boaz is gonna react, she doesn't know what he's gonna say, she doesn't know.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, this is happening during the period of the judges where women are being treated horribly.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, horribly.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So she has no idea what's gonna happen.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, she has this hope, she has this confidence, she obeys willingly, right out of respect and commitment to Naomi.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: She obeys immediately, out of confidence in God, I would say, not her circumstances.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: She says, All that you have commanded, I will do.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: She obeys completely.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: She's a worthy woman of character, and she does all of this without having any idea of what would happen.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say that true hope and true faith in God gives you a kind of confidence to keep pursuing obedience regardless of the outcome.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times we will tether our obedience to our ability, perceived or otherwise, to see what will happen.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And what we see here with Ruth is that faith in God's promises, faith in his character, should give you more comfort and security than being able to see the outcome, right?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Ruth's hope grounded her, her trust in God, grounded her in uncertain circumstances.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the things that uh the author of Ruth does just as a literary feature is that throughout the book, if you haven't noticed, the fact that Ruth is a Moabite has been said multiple times.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Ruth the Moabite, Ruth from Moab.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the the author wants you to know this is not a woman from Israel.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is a woman from a foreign pagan nation that is demonstrating a kind of faith uh that really puts Naomi to shame, especially at the beginning, uh, and is uh she's held up as this example.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see all of this happening and taking place in Ruth III.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, Boaz is a man of character, and so he takes this seriously, he considers it a great honor, uh, but there is someone who says that's closer.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, we talked about like the family member that's closest to the man that died.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: So there's someone that's closer, so there's some legal things that need to be worked out that we'll read about in chapter four.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: But we we again see his his just overabundant, overly generous uh provision to to Ruth and Naomi, right?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, Naomi comes, uh Ruth comes back to Naomi, and then she said and told her all that the man had done for her, saying, These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law, right?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Boaz's godliness was reaffirmed by his respi, his surprising response.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: He blesses her, he calls her a worthy woman, he promises to redeem her if the near Redeemer will not.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right, and so we can we continue to see just God providentially working through the details of this situation.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: We see Ruth's character, we see Boaz's character, and uh we'll see how the story ends tomorrow when we read chapter four.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here in Proverbs 16, we'll just talk about one verse today.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 16, 26 says a worker's appetite works for him, his mouth urges him on.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, some of this is just an observation, right?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: That oftentimes your your physical hunger, or maybe even your physical needs will motivate you towards work, or at least it should, right?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's other proverbs, the sluggard buries his hand in the dish and basically falls asleep before he brings it back to his mouth.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: But here, a worker's appetite works for him.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: The need for food, the need for, I don't know, clothing and uh the basic necessities of life that require us to work and receive a wage for our work and labor.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: It says a worker's appetite works for him, his mouth urges him on.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so the Lord has even kind of baked into the reality of our humanity that our basic needs can serve as a kind of motivation for us to work hard to provide for ourselves and of course for our families.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see that here in Proverbs 16.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully you're being encouraged by the story of Ruth.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna uh hopefully tie it all together tomorrow as we finish up the story.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: But Boaz, just a great man of character, Ruth, a woman of character, uh, God's providence so clearly on display.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Naomi kind of seeing the whole thing, having a front row seat to character in her daughter-in-law, that's kind of reigniting her her hope and her and her faith, I would say, in God, and all that's gonna come to a head uh in a very positive way tomorrow in Ruth chapter four.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit Compass Bible SV.org.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.