Monday, September 13, 2010

God Is At Work - The Story of Ruth Part II - A "Chance" Meeting, Part 44 of 44

TEXT: " '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 family guardians' " (Ruth 2:20).

IDEA: When we display hesed to others, we reflect the hesed of God.

PURPOSE: To help listeners ask God to help them show hesed to others for Christ's sake.

Let me ask you some questions about grammar.

What is a noun?

What is a pronoun?

When you come across a pronoun in a sentence, what do you look for?

I. In Ruth 2:20, Naomi declares "The Lord bless him. He has not stopped showing his kindness [his hesed] to the living and the dead."

To whom does the "he" refer?  Does it refer to the Lord or to Boaz?

An impressive number of scholars believe that the "he" refers to "the Lord."  Naomi is blessing God for the hesed he has shown "to the living and the dead."

What might support this interpretation?

Hesed usually is looked at as an attribute of God.

Boaz had helped, but it seems like an overstatement to say that he showed his kindness to "the living and the dead."

If Naomi is talking about God, what does she imply about what has happened to Ruth's encounter with Boaz?

Others believe that the "he" refers to Boaz.  In the context this seems most likely.

It was the mention of Boaz that sparked the statement.

Naomi gives Boaz an accolade that would be highly prized in Israel.  He showed hesed to Ruth.

Either interpretation fits the grammar.

II. The antecedent might have been made deliberately vague.

Was it the Lord or Boaz that showed hesed to Ruth?  The answer is "Yes."

We are never more like God than when we show "loyal love" to someone who cannot pay us back.

This is what the life of faith is about.

1 John 4:7-12 states essentially that God's love is shown in our actions.