Ruth 3:1-18

He has absolutely no legal obligation to Ruth whatsoever. He owes her nothing. The legalists, the moralists, they’ll say, “He is here fulfilling his obligations according to the law.” No, he’s not.He’s not marrying her to obey the law because

the law speaks nothing of this situation, gives no commands to Boaz. So why does he marry her? He loves her. If you don’t get that, you butcher,

you butcher the whole story. It’s about love.

And in this, BOAZ IS LIKE JESUS, and RUTH IS LIKE THE CHURCH, and Jesus loves us, not

because he’s obligated to, but because he’s gracious and he’s kind, and he’s affectionate,

and he’s dependable. And it’s all of grace, not of law, not of legality, not of obligation.

•The sovereignty of God is working through allof these people: through the counsel of Naomi,though it is risky, to be sure; through thefaithfulness of Ruth; and through thetrustworthiness of Boaz.•And what we see is that the flip side of theprovidence of God, which is the theme of theBook of Ruth, is that sometime we have totake calculated risks.

• Ruth risks, but ultimately she is trusting Boaz andGod, who Boaz loves very much. And in this, let mesubmit to you, that this is perhaps the greatestlove story in all of scripture, and that it transpiresin the context of all of the Bible’s story, which isthe greatest love story ever told.