Pastor Deborah
Ruth 1:1-2 EASY
There was a time when judges ruled Israel.
During that time there was a famine in Judah.
A man who lived in Bethlehem, in Judah, had a wife and two sons.
His name was Elimelech.
Elimelech's wife was called Naomi, and his sons were called Mahlon and Kilion.
They were from Ephrathah's clan.
Because there was not enough food in Judah, Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem.
They went to live as strangers in Moab.
RUTH 1:3-4 EASY
Elimelech died while they were living in Moab.
Naomi and her two sons remained there alone.
Then Naomi's sons married women from Moab.
Mahlon married a woman called Ruth.
Kilion married a woman called Orpah.
RUTH 1:5-6 EASY
After they had all lived in Moab for about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion died.
Now Naomi was completely alone, without her husband or her sons.
Naomi received news from Judah that the Lord had helped his people.
There was now enough food in Judah again.
So Naomi decided to leave Moab and return to Judah with Ruth and Orpah.
RUTH 1:7-8 EASY
Naomi and her sons' wives left their home in Moab.
They began to travel together on the way back to Judah.
On the way, Naomi said to Ruth and Orpah, ‘Listen!
You should return to your mothers' homes in Moab and stay there.
Your husbands are dead now. You have been kind to them and to me.
I pray that the Lord will be as kind to you.
RUTH 1:9-10 EASY
I also pray that God will give to each of you another husband
and a new home.’
Naomi kissed them and said ‘goodbye’.
Ruth and Orpah began to weep loudly.
They said to Naomi, ‘No!
We will go with you to live with your people.’
RUTH 1:11-13 EASY
But Naomi said, ‘My daughters, you should return to your own country.
You should not choose to come back to Judah with me.
I will not give birth to any more sons for you to marry them.
Return to your own country, my daughters.
I am too old to marry another husband.
Even if I did marry a man immediately, when might I give birth to sons?
I am sure that you do not want to wait until they are old enough for you to marry them!
Would you wait all that time and not marry anyone else?
So, my daughters, you must not return to Judah with me.
You should not have to share my pain.
The Lord has turned against me.’
RUTH 1:14-15 EASY
Ruth and Orpah wept loudly again.
Orpah kissed Naomi and she said ‘goodbye’.
But Ruth would not leave Naomi.
She held on to her.
Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Look! Orpah has returned to her family.
She has returned to serve the gods of Moab.
Go back home with her.’
They were very conscious about their gods.
It is about the God they served.
RUTH 1:16-17 EASY
Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Do not say that I must leave you.
I will go with you, wherever you go.
I will live wherever you live.
You belong to Israel's people.
I will belong to them too.
Your God will be my God.
I will die in the same place that you die.
That is where people will bury me.
I will stay beside you until death makes us separate.
If I ever leave you, the Lord should punish me.’
Naomi's God will be Ruth's God.
She said she will embrace Naomi's God.
In our lives we go through difficult things but we need to make our decision.
To follow God or the God of this world.
RUTH 1:18 EASY
Then Naomi UNDERSTOOD that Ruth would not agree
to return to her own country.
So she stopped saying that Ruth should leave her.
UNDERSTOOD - "Ah Ha" -> see
Raah
RUTH 1:18 KJV
When she SAW (ראה Raah) that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
RUTH 1:19-20 EASY
Naomi and Ruth travelled together to Bethlehem.
When they arrived there, the people were very surprised.
The women from the town said, ‘Is this really Naomi?’
Naomi said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi.
Call me Mara, instead.
The Almighty God has made my life very sad.
Bethlehem -> House of bread
Mara means bitter.
RUTH 1:21 EASY
I left here with everything that I needed.
Now the Lord has brought me back here with nothing.
The Almighty Lord has turned against me, so that I have suffered.
It is not right for you to call me Naomi.’
RUTH 1:22 EASY
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab.
And they came to BETHLEHEM at the BEGINNING of BARLEY HARVEST.
H8462 beginning
Original: תּחלּה
Transliteration: techillâh
Phonetic: tekh-il-law'
Origin: from H2490 in the sense of opening
Strong’s Definition: a commencement; relatively original (adverbially originally):- begin (-ning), first (time).
Beginning -> opening
H8184 barley
Original: שׂעור שׂער שׂעורה שׂערה
Transliteration: śe‛ôrâh śe‛ôrâh śe‛ôr śe‛ôr
Phonetic: seh-o-raw'
Strong's Definition: (The feminine form meaning the plant and the masculine form meaning the grain (second form)); from H8175 in the sense of roughness; barley (as villose):- barley.
Grain much cultivated.
Barley bread was used by poorer people.
Barley [N] [S] a grain much cultivated in Egypt (Exodus 9:31) and in Palestine (Leviticus 27:16; Deuteronomy 8:8).
It was usually the food of horses (1 Kings 4:28 ).
Barley bread was used by the poorer people (Judg. 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42 ).
‘Seorah’ (שעורה) – Hebrew for ‘barley.’
In ancient times, barley was used as animal’s food and therefore represents STRENGTH and HARD WORK (the livelihood of a person in ancient times was dependent on the livestock).
Barley Harvest is the cutting, threshing, separating, and cleaning of individual barley grains from the mature barley plant.
Depending upon variety and climate conditions, barley grows from 12 to 48 inches tall.
The tightly packed spikes or ears of seed kernels can take from 40 to 55 days to fully ripen after flowering and droop down when ready to harvest.
The barley harvest implies that farm owners will require extra hands to help pick up grains and glean.
Ruth exploited this opportunity so she could provide for she and her mother in law.
She got into the field of Boaz, who unknown to her was a kinsman of her late Husband.
Ruth’s wandering to work on Boaz’s field was providence.
It was God’s divine guidance.
God was steadily designing her path towards greatness and historical relevance.
Ruth didn’t have the right skill to even harvest the grains from the weed properly.
She therefore was given the task of gleaning [gather (leftover grain) after a harvest]
This implies she was going to eat crumbs that fell off the table of the maid servants and other skilled workers.
Ruth has one whole book in the Bible assigned to her.
Ruth amidst this was diligent in her doings, she went about her job with commitment and moral excellence.
The barley harvest is the start of our redemptive pathway into God’s plan for our destiny.
It is not discriminatory, having a place for all; irrespective of gender, social strata or religious provenance.
Moab’s history does not qualify Ruth for a place amidst God’s people.
Moabites always did detestable things before the Lord and were constant menace to God’s people.
From where she was born, she had no rights to the blessings. Whoever is not a Jew is called Gentiles. Gentiles is non-Jews. They have no covenant rights.
Our cultural provenance or religious background does not matter over God’s redemptive works in shaping our destiny.
It is in our willingness to come out of our ungodly ways and surrender totally to God.
The barley harvest was the start of redemption.
Each one of us have our own destiny.
God wants us to realize there is a plan.
We have a purpose and destiny to fulfil.
The barley harvest is where God finally evaluates our readiness and reliability for the place of destiny.
God choses the qualified from those he called.
He separates the grain from the chaff and uproots the weeds.
The harvest is the point of gathering and dissemination.
It is the point where we are presented to the world.
Harvest precedes the different usage of farm products as food or raw materials for new products.
There is a war in the spiritual that is going on.
What is God's agenda to the world?
His agenda is to save the world.
The barley harvest precedes our apostolic presentation, to manifest God’s agenda to the world.
The barley harvest is God’s quality check on our Personality.
There is an assurance check on our mind in relation to the mind of Christ.
That we be carriers of the mind of Christ to put on the new self body, created to be like God and carefully search out the world.
This was obvious in the way Ruth approached the foreman.
RUTH 2:6-7 MSG
The foreman said, “Why, that’s the Moabite girl, the one who came with Naomi from the country of Moab.
She asked permission.
‘Let me glean,’ she said, ‘and gather among the sheaves following after your harvesters.’
She’s been at it steady ever since, from early morning until now, without so much as a break.”
We are reflectors of what we see.
We see Jesus and we reflect Jesus.
We are evaluated if we are possessors of the power and presence of the holy spirit.
It is the presence of the Holy Ghost that creates a pathway to providence.
RUTH 2:2-3 NIV
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and
pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.
As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
Her testimony in the working world is very good. She was very hardworking.
Ruth had agreed to submit her totality to the God of Israel.
She was unsure of what Bethlehem holds for her, but she had confidence in the God of Israel.
Moab had their multitude of gods , Ruth had an assurance the God of Israel was of better and perfect standing.
Ruth went out to represent God in the Labor market.
She was without a degree or required skill, but she exuded diligence in the task committed to her.
The barley harvest requires talent and skills, more importantly diligence.
It is the presence of Holy Spirit that creates the pathway.
2 TIMOTHY 2:1-7 MSG
So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ.
Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!— to RELIABLE LEADERS who are competent to TEACH OTHERS.
When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us,
the way Jesus did.
A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace.
He concentrates on carrying out orders.
An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere.
It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce.
Think it over.
God will make it all plain.
Paul told Timothy to teach the scriptures to Reliable and able men.
Reliability is diligence, ability is skill and capacity.
This alludes that the harvest is for men who will get the Job done at the appropriate time over unreliable skilled men.
Reliable leaders who are competent in teaching others.
People who are reliable and sent by God. Willing to be taught. Teach these people. Not just anybody.
Reliability is diligent.
We hire people who can do the job.
The foreman spoke of Ruth as “she had worked steadily since morning”.
Ruth approached him in the most polite of ways (Ruth2:6-7).
Godly Character is a component of diligence and it must be easily perceived by men.
God in his benevolence will guide us to destiny helpers and profitable relationships.
This depends on the destiny end point.
Esther started as an orphan in a gentile land, she turned out a queen.
David got ahead as a shepherd boy, his barley harvest was the contest against Goliath.
He ended up King of Israel.
Ruth was a poor widow, who gleaned cereals.
She has reference in the Messiah’s lineage.
Character is very important.
Don't live life blur blur. Know there is a purpose in our lives.
We need to look to God and see God bring us all these.
It starts with small things.
Faithful in small things and God will give us more.
Barley harvest is God’s quality control test.
It is why production companies, take the final product to
the quality Laboratory.
The products are checked if they can adequately meet the consumers’ needs without costing the manufacturer.
God checks if we will meet the evangelical need of the world without costing his spiritual Investment.
Everyone is called to be a witness.
We are called to share Jesus unto this world.
Need to be saved. Otherwise the people end up in hell.
Ruth was thus evaluated at the barley harvest, on her veracity
to have a place in the lineage of Jesus.
The barley harvest demands us to have a relationship with God and be diligent at what the Lord expects of us.
It is the revolutionary point of our destiny.
God puts it there to test our readiness for his purpose.
RUTH 2:15-16 EASY
After the meal, Ruth returned to work in the field.
Boaz said to his workers, ‘Let her pick up grains anywhere, even near the heaps of barley that you have cut down.
Do not chase her away.
You should also pull out some barley and drop it for her to pick up.
Do not be angry with her.’
RUTH 2:17 NIV
So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening.
Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted
to about an ephah.
RUTH 2:17 EASY
Ruth picked up grains in Boaz's field until evening.
Then she hit the grains with a stick so that the seeds came out.
The grains of barley that she took home filled a large basket.
A very large amount of seeds for one day's work.
Simple job of gleaning, Ruth stayed at it diligently.
We learned that an ephah of barley was equivalent to 92 cups.
Ruth gathered that amount just on her first day in the field of Boaz.
But food provision would only be one of the many blessings that would come through Naomi’s suffering.
In the sovereignty of God, Boaz was the family’s redeemer.
According to the custom of their time, a redeemer had the right to rescue a family member who was in need or in danger.
In this case, Boaz would not only purchase Naomi’s land, but he would also marry Ruth, and in so doing, protect both she and Naomi as well as provide for them.
Together, Boaz and Ruth would bring Obed into the world, who would become the father of Jesse, who would become the father of King David.
This put Ruth in the genealogy of the true Redeemer, Christ Jesus.
Naomi’s “harvest” was much more than grains of barley.
She not only would be cared for, provided for, and protected, but she would also be the great, great grandmother to King David, and would be in the lineage of the True and Better Redeemer, Jesus.
What a harvest, indeed!
Beyond the hardship, see the good things God has prepared for those He loves.
JOHN 4:37 TPT
And this confirms the saying, ‘One SOWS the SEED and another REAPS the HARVEST.’
JOHN 4:38 TPT
I have sent you out to harvest a field that you haven’t planted, where many others have labored long and hard before you.
And now you are privileged to profit from their labors and reap the harvest.”
We too, was chosen by our Redeemer when we were at our lowest and in desperate need of a Savior.
Having a Redeemer is a far greater blessing than having material things or a fitting social status.
God is so good. Today through Jesus Christ, we don't deserve it and yet God still give us blessings.
Each one of us have our own story.
God knows and He chose us.
Being redeemed by Jesus is the greatest love story of all.
He saw us at our worst and not only loved us but gave his
life for us.
ROMANS 5:8 TPT
But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in
our place while we were still lost and ungodly!
Though our blessings are wonderful and many, they pale in
comparison to the fact that we have been redeemed!
So yes, our “barley harvest” is full!
And indeed, we are beyond grateful for our many blessings.
But the most exceptional wonder of all is that we have a Redeemer.
Our Redeemer is CHRIST, and IN HIM we have everything that we need.
PRAISE GOD from whom ALL BLESSINGS flow!
Our Redeemer is Christ. He has redeemed us from sin and blessed us. It starts with a barley harvest.
1 CHRONICLES 31:20-21 NASB2020
Hezekiah did this throughout Judah; and he did what was good, right, and true before the Lord his God.
Every work which he began in the service of the house of God
in the Law and in the commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.
We seek Him and follow His word.
Character building.
No foundation no character building, no reliable leaders to take care of sheep.
Already dead to Christ, not trying to die.
God does not send accident.
In His goodness He turned it around.
There is God's presence here.
Follow God's Word. Seek God.
God's will, purpose and plan.
He is the One who prospers us!
God send destiny relationships.
Able leaders and shepherd just like Christ.
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