Title Barley Han Eva's Thanks
Contents Abram's usual idea of God is different from the God of Abraham, the God Isaac conceived is different from the God of Isaac, and the God Jacob conceived is different from the God of Jacob, that is, the God of Israel. Just as the God Joseph conceived and the God Joseph discovered are different, the God that Naomi conceived and the God that Naomi discovered are different. Likewise, only those who have discovered that the God we normally think of today is different from the God shown in the Bible can be said to have met the real God.
In the Lesson on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-34, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Then he told them not to lay up their treasures on earth, but in heaven. Here, the treasure is where our heart goes and what our eyes focus on, and in the end, talking about the treasure, he brings out the word about the “master”. Is the owner God? is it wealth? What is the factor that can be my master? It appears in relation to life (life). Is it God who saves me? is it wealth? will run into the problem of People in this world think that wealth (money) is the life that saves me. However, a believer believes and follows God as the ruler of our life. But do you really think that your life here today is in God's hands? Or you still need money to live! do you think Again, you'll have to be honest with yourself.
It can be said that Ruth received great favor from Boaz by being invited to a meal. They were given rice cakes and roasted grains to eat, but there were so many leftovers that they even gave them to her mother-in-law (verse 18). In addition, Boaz's consideration for Ruth is even more evident. Not only did Boaz glean from among the sheaves, but Boaz deliberately dropped barley while harvesting, giving Ruth a favor to glean a lot. And neither rebuked him nor reproached him. In this way, the amount of gleaning was 'one ephah' (about 2 words).
The core of today's text is the sheep Ruth gleaned from Boaz's field. Here, an eva means a great harvest. It is the result of a miracle that we were able to pick up this much under the background of the period of the Judges. The background of the period of the Judges is that it has been a long time since the people of Israel forsaken God's covenant, as we have already seen in the Book of Judges. In a situation of violence and ignoring and oppressing the weak, and thus raping and killing a Levite's concubine, or how to feed a stranger on the road, it is possible to rape a woman from a foreign country and also a widow, Ruth. Even though it is a situation that can be ignored and trampled on, he has no appeal to anyone, and it is a great harvest and a miracle among miracles that he was able to pick up an evapor of barley.
Under these circumstances, the amount of ears that Ruth had picked up was unexpectedly large. Naomi is surprised by this unexpected result. These are the characteristics of the gospel. The gospel, by its nature, always surprises and baffles us humans. It always leads to unexpected results. In the first place, when Ruth was about to go glean to Naomi, she had no expectations. Because when he returned home, he had already noticed the attitude of the people there. I realized that my hometown was not the hometown I had envisioned. In such a situation, I could not help but be surprised by the unexpected and staggering results.
To a person who has had such an embarrassing experience, you come to realize how great the grace God has truly bestowed upon you. If you look at it realistically, one eva of barley is just a little bit of food. However, those who have experienced embarrassment can be grateful to those who know that it is the grace of God that works behind the scenes, but those who do not have such experience are like a child brought before Jesus. I mean, what are you going to do with this? No different from those who say that, instead of giving thanks, only dissatisfaction and complaints will abound.
In this way, those who do not know their sins before God always stand up for themselves in front of the cross and are full of complaints and dissatisfaction. These people lead a life with their mouths sticking out in everything. Even in front of the cross of Jesus, his mouth sticks out. Even before the cross, they do not always have gratitude because they do not know what their sins are and how great they are. I've been to church this much, so you should bless me! Because I believed in this way, I thought that I should be saved. Who does not know the cross as much as this, and who knows what their sins are because they do not know the meaning of the cross?
It's not just the amount of barley that Naomi is truly amazed at by an evaa of barley. Despite his lack of faith, he was amazed at God's mercy and providence. We are grateful and moved because we realize that God has taken care of unexpected results. And as Naomi's expression of Boaz's kindness is well expressed, as she confessed, "He never ceases to show favor to the living and to the dead" (Ruth 2:20), this is not Boaz's grace, but Boaz's grace. It was through God's grace that I discovered. And that's how I discovered that he was "one of the people who will push our business." I was giving up everything in a state of despair thinking that I was ruined, but unexpectedly, I was grateful for the grace of God for allowing me to meet a close relative who could continue the generation of my husband who had been cut off. In other words, we have discovered the restorer of life (4:15).
Here, Naomi's confession, "He never ceases to show favor to the living and the dead," is not just about Boaz, but reveals the fact that it is Jehovah God. Therefore, the appearance of the “inheritance bearer” speaks to the great providence and grace of God for the family of Elimelech, who had lost the cost. We are grateful for this one fact that God has not ceased to give grace and love to the living and the dead. Therefore, Naomi's gratitude is not limited to the gratitude of one Barley Eva, but it is a tremendous gratitude and a heartfelt confession for discovering a restorer of life.