God's Providence: Redemption Through Selfless Love
Summary
The story of Ruth concludes with a powerful demonstration of God’s providence, working through ordinary people and difficult circumstances to bring about redemption and blessing beyond what anyone could have imagined. Naomi, who began her journey in deep loss and bitterness, seeks rest and security for her daughter-in-law Ruth, acting out of selfless love and faith in God’s goodness. Ruth, in turn, follows Naomi’s guidance with humility and courage, approaching Boaz in a way that is both bold and respectful, trusting in his character and in God’s provision.
Boaz, a man of integrity, responds to Ruth’s request not with self-interest but with righteousness, honoring both the law and the spirit of redemption. He recognizes Ruth’s worthiness and kindness, and he is willing to bear the cost and risk of redeeming her and Naomi, even when another relative refuses. The public proceedings at the city gate highlight Boaz’s commitment to doing what is right, regardless of personal sacrifice or social expectations.
God’s providence is seen not only in the resolution of Naomi and Ruth’s immediate needs but also in the way their story becomes woven into the larger tapestry of God’s redemptive plan. Ruth, a Moabite and outsider, is brought into the family line that leads to King David, and ultimately to Jesus Christ. The steadfast love (chesed) that marks the actions of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz is a reflection of God’s own steadfast love for his people—a love that restores, redeems, and brings fullness out of emptiness.
This narrative challenges us to examine our own motives, to act with sacrificial love, and to trust God’s unseen hand even in our darkest moments. The redemption found in Ruth points forward to the greater redemption accomplished by Christ, who gave himself for us so that we might be brought into God’s family and experience his mercy and grace. As we remember Christ’s sacrifice, we are called to extend that same mercy and steadfast love to others, knowing that God is always at work, often in ways we cannot yet see.
Key Takeaways
- Selfless Love Reflects God’s Heart
Naomi’s actions are motivated by genuine concern for Ruth’s well-being, not her own gain. This kind of selfless love is rare and difficult, as our hearts are often inclined toward self-interest. Yet, it is precisely this sacrificial love—seeking the good of another without expectation of reward—that mirrors the greatest commandment and God’s own love for us. [41:18]
- Righteousness Requires Costly Choices
Boaz’s willingness to redeem Ruth, even at personal expense and risk, stands in contrast to the unnamed kinsman who declines the responsibility. True righteousness is not merely about following rules but about making choices that honor God and others, even when it costs us something significant. Our faithfulness in small and large decisions shapes the legacy of our lives. [01:00:02]
- God’s Providence Works Through the Ordinary and the Outcast
Ruth’s story shows that God often works through those whom society overlooks—the foreigner, the widow, the outsider. The inclusion of Ruth and Tamar in the lineage of David, and ultimately Jesus, reveals that God’s redemptive purposes are not limited by human boundaries or expectations. He brings fullness out of emptiness and hope out of despair. [01:05:38]
- Redemption in Ruth Foreshadows the Greater Redemption in Christ
The sacrificial love and redemption seen in Boaz point forward to the ultimate Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Just as Boaz paid a price to restore Naomi and Ruth, Christ gave his life to redeem us from sin and bring us into God’s family. The story of Ruth is a shadow of the far greater mercy and grace found in Jesus. [01:10:33]
- Our Response: Extending Mercy and Trusting God’s Steadfast Love
Having received God’s steadfast love and mercy, we are called to extend that same love to others. This means confessing our self-reliance, recognizing our constant need for God’s grace, and acting as agents of his mercy in the world. Even when we cannot see the outcome, we trust that God is working providentially for our good and his glory. [01:13:54]
Youtube Chapters
[00:00] - Welcome
[00:45] - Introduction and Recap of Ruth
[02:30] - Naomi’s Plan for Ruth
[05:10] - Ruth Prepares and Approaches Boaz
[08:00] - The Threshing Floor Encounter
[12:00] - Boaz’s Response and the Role of the Redeemer
[16:00] - The Significance of Chesed (Steadfast Love)
[19:00] - The Marriage Proposal and Boaz’s Integrity
[22:00] - The City Gate: Legal Proceedings
[26:00] - The Unnamed Kinsman and Boaz’s Sacrifice
[30:00] - Ruth and Boaz’s Marriage and Naomi’s Restoration
[34:00] - The Genealogy: From Ruth to David
[37:00] - God’s Steadfast Love and the Coming of Christ
[41:00] - Communion: Remembering Christ’s Sacrifice
[45:00] - Closing Prayer and Benediction
Study Guide
Small Group Bible Study Guide: Ruth – God’s Providence, Redemption, and Steadfast Love
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### Bible Reading
- Ruth 3–4 (Main text: The story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz’s redemption)
- Matthew 22:36–40 (The greatest commandment: loving God and neighbor)
- Galatians 3:13–14 (Christ as our Redeemer, bringing blessing to all nations)
- Psalm 103:8–13, 17–19 (God’s steadfast love and mercy)
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### Observation Questions
1. What steps did Naomi instruct Ruth to take in approaching Boaz, and what was Naomi’s motivation for doing so?
[[41:18]]
2. How did Boaz respond to Ruth’s request at the threshing floor, and what does this reveal about his character?
[[48:57]]
3. What was the outcome of the legal proceedings at the city gate, and how did the unnamed kinsman’s decision differ from Boaz’s?
[[01:00:02]]
4. According to the genealogy at the end of Ruth, who are some of the surprising people included in the family line leading to King David?
[[01:05:38]]
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### Interpretation Questions
1. Why is Naomi’s selfless concern for Ruth’s future so significant, especially considering her own losses and bitterness? How does this reflect the “greatest commandment” in Matthew 22:36–40?
[[41:18]]
2. What does Boaz’s willingness to redeem Ruth and Naomi, even at personal cost, teach us about the true meaning of righteousness?
[[01:00:02]]
3. The story highlights God’s providence working through “ordinary and outcast” people. Why do you think God often chooses to work through those whom society overlooks?
[[01:05:38]]
4. How does the redemption in Ruth point forward to the greater redemption found in Jesus Christ, as described in Galatians 3:13–14?
[[01:10:33]]
---
### Application Questions
1. Naomi acted out of selfless love for Ruth, seeking her good without expecting anything in return. Can you think of a time when you put someone else’s needs ahead of your own, or when you struggled to do so? What made it difficult or rewarding?
[[41:18]]
2. Boaz made a costly choice to do what was right, even when another person refused. Are there situations in your life right now where doing the right thing might cost you something—time, reputation, money, or comfort? What would it look like to choose righteousness in that situation?
[[01:00:02]]
3. Ruth was a foreigner and an outsider, yet God used her in a powerful way. Are there people in your life or community who are often overlooked or on the margins? How might God be inviting you to show them steadfast love or include them?
[[01:05:38]]
4. The story of Ruth reminds us that God is always at work, even when we can’t see the outcome. Is there an area of your life where you feel empty, bitter, or uncertain about the future? How can you trust God’s providence in that area this week?
[[01:06:45]]
5. The redemption Boaz provided for Ruth and Naomi is a picture of the greater redemption we have in Christ. How does remembering Christ’s sacrifice for you change the way you view your own failures, needs, or relationships?
[[01:10:33]]
6. The sermon challenged us to confess our self-reliance and recognize our need for God’s mercy. Are there ways you’ve been trying to “fix” things on your own instead of relying on God? What would it look like to depend on his grace instead?
[[01:13:54]]
7. Having received God’s steadfast love, we are called to extend that same love to others. Who is one person you can intentionally show mercy or steadfast love to this week? What specific action can you take?
[[01:13:54]]
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Closing Prayer Suggestion:
Thank God for his providence, his steadfast love, and the redemption we have in Christ. Ask for help to trust him in difficult circumstances and to extend his love and mercy to others.
Devotional
Day 1: Selfless Love and Faithfulness in Action
Naomi’s concern for Ruth’s well-being, without any guarantee of personal benefit, is a powerful example of selfless love and faithfulness. She seeks rest and security for Ruth, acting out of pure devotion and trust in God’s providence, even when her own future remains uncertain. This kind of sacrificial love is rare and challenges us to examine our motives, as our hearts often default to self-interest. Yet, Naomi’s actions reflect the greatest commandment: to love God wholeheartedly and to love others as ourselves, even when it costs us or goes unnoticed. [41:18]
Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV)
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Reflection: Who is someone in your life you can serve today with no expectation of recognition or reward, simply out of love for God and for them?
Day 2: Righteous Choices in Everyday Moments
Throughout the story, Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz consistently choose to do what is right, even when it is difficult or goes against their own interests. Their decisions—whether public or private, significant or seemingly small—are guided by integrity and faithfulness to God. These moments of choice, both big and small, matter deeply, as they shape character and impact the lives of others. The challenge is to recognize that righteous living is not just about grand gestures, but about the accumulation of faithful decisions in the ordinary moments of life. [53:37]
Ruth 3:9-13 (ESV)
He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”
Reflection: What is one small, specific decision you can make today to choose righteousness, even if no one else will notice?
Day 3: Redemption Requires Sacrifice
Boaz’s willingness to redeem Ruth and Naomi, even at personal cost, stands in stark contrast to the unnamed kinsman who declines the responsibility. True redemption is costly—it requires sacrifice, risk, and a willingness to put others’ needs above our own. Boaz’s public and private actions demonstrate that doing what is right may not always be easy or convenient, but it is always worth it in God’s eyes. His example points us to the reality that righteous action often comes with a price, but it is through such sacrifice that God’s purposes are fulfilled. [01:01:55]
Ruth 4:7-10 (ESV)
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”
Reflection: Is there a sacrifice God is calling you to make for the sake of someone else’s good or for the sake of righteousness? What is holding you back?
Day 4: God’s Providence Turns Emptiness into Fullness
Naomi’s journey from bitterness and emptiness to joy and fullness is a testimony to God’s providence, even when circumstances seem hopeless. What began in loss and lament ends in restoration and blessing, as God orchestrates events in ways that surpass human understanding. Naomi’s story reminds us that God is always at work, even in our darkest moments, and that He can bring about redemption and new life from situations that appear irredeemable. Trusting in God’s providence means believing that He is not finished with our story, no matter how bleak it may seem. [01:06:45]
Psalm 103:17-19 (ESV)
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
Reflection: Where in your life do you feel empty or hopeless? How can you trust God to work in ways you cannot yet see?
Day 5: Christ, Our Ultimate Redeemer
The redemption found in Ruth and Boaz’s story is a beautiful foreshadowing of the far greater redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. Just as Boaz sacrificed to redeem Ruth, Jesus gave His very life to redeem us from sin and restore us to God. Through Christ, we receive mercy, forgiveness, and new life—not because we deserve it, but because of God’s steadfast love. As recipients of such grace, we are called to extend that same love and mercy to others, living as people who have been redeemed and transformed by Christ’s sacrifice. [01:11:22]
Galatians 3:13-14 (ESV)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Reflection: How can you intentionally extend Christ’s mercy and love to someone in your life today, in light of the redemption you have received?
Quotes
Jesus Christ has God in his providence worked through Tamar, worked through Ruth to bring about David, in whom the line of David would never end, but would be fulfilled in the true King of Israel, Jesus Christ. [01:11:38] (23 seconds)
If you are going back to chapter one and you're reading for this for the first time, not knowing what comes next, you cannot imagine how this ends. If you're Naomi in chapter one, if you're Naomi and you are widowed and in a foreign land and stuck, you cannot imagine getting to this point. [01:06:45] (20 seconds)
And there's the next, like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah. This is where the underlying allusion to the situation with Judah and Tamar now becomes explicitly stated. And so God uses these two women who are outcasts, who are foreigners, Tamar and Ruth, and he includes them in the line of matriarchs that, as we see, is going to achieve something incredible. [01:04:11] (38 seconds)
The question then for us is, will we do what righteous living calls for? Because what we do in these moments matters. The choices we make matters. Even the small, seemingly insignificant choices build up over time and they matter. [00:53:37] (24 seconds)
kindness to Naomi on the road from Moab to Bethlehem. In chapter two, Naomi recognizes Boaz's kindness to Ruth and to her. And now in chapter three, Boaz recognizes Ruth's kindness to him. We see this theme that God's mercy and kindness to his people is coming and extended through his people. [00:50:36] (27 seconds)
This is the example that we see in Naomi. Her love for God, her faithfulness to God, her loyalty to God, and her love that sacrifices her own self, her own desires for the good of her daughter -in -law, Ruth. This is an example that we strive for, but we recognize as difficult. [00:43:02] (24 seconds)
But there is no indication that anything more than his feet are uncovered here. So rather it seems there's a twofold purpose to this. One, so she lays below his feet showing her lesser social status as a foreigner, as a Moabite, and as a widow towards Boaz, who is a property -owning man of substance and means, right? So there's that. And then two, it could just be an attempt to wake him up by making him uncomfortable. So imagine if you are married, you may have experienced this where your spouse unintentionally steals the covers from you in the middle of the night, right? And you wake up cold and uncomfortable. And then you have to like, I've never, this has never happened to me. But you have to like, kind of like, really like put your shoulder in to get back over. Like, this is kind of the situation here. So like, this is just making him uncomfortable. This is waking him up. [00:45:26] (63 seconds)
A real quick comment that I want to read from Word Bible Commentary says this, Now what happens at the threshing floor is as essential to the storyteller's purpose as what happened on the Moabite highway between Ruth and Naomi, or what happened in the harvest scene when Boaz praised an impoverished widow who was gleaning, or what will happen in the solemn civil hearing at the city gate. At each of these points in the story, a moment of choice is presented to both actors and audience. And at each of these points, the choice is made in favor of what righteous living calls for. [00:52:38] (41 seconds)
This is what's kind of happening with Ruth, although there are no manipulative methods occurring. The other thing here, the other reason that this Redeemer likely did not want to marry Ruth, is that if he were to marry Ruth and to have a son, then the estate would stand in the name of the dead husband and not the kinsman, right? So this is a sacrifice that he was not willing to make. But Boaz, the worthy man, was willing to make this sacrifice. So this man, in contrast to Boaz, when faced with the decision in favor of righteousness, declines. [01:00:30] (40 seconds)
He said, who are you? And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first, in that you have not gone after the young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. [00:48:04] (28 seconds)
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