Introduction: We saw previously the purpose of Ruth’s searching.  She is searching for a necessity.  She is searching for food.  We must remember that there was no welfare system as a safety net for the people and times of Ruth.  In fact, still in the land of Israel, there is no free lunch so to speak.  When people move to the land, they come many times with the shirt on their backs.  They need food and help and the government does not provide this help.  That is why we give to Project Nehemiah every December.  Project Nehemiah helps new emigrants with help they need such as food baskets and blankets. 

      We did see that the food that every believer needs is the Word of God.  Without the Bible as a steady diet, we will be weak, emaciated believers.  It is part of the problem that has been ongoing since the start of the church.  You cannot force people to eat the Word of God.  We must make it so desirable that they cannot help but eat.  Let me give quickly give you some practical and useful directions for reading and searching the Scriptures.   This is from Thomas Boston, an old Puritan preacher.  These can make us want to read the Word of God for the food that our spiritual side is so desperately need.

1. Follow a regular plan in reading of them, that you may be acquainted with the whole; and make this reading a part of your private devotions. Not that you should confine yourselves only to a set plan, so as never to read by choice, but ordinarily this tends most to edification. Some parts of the Bible are more difficult, some may seem very barren for an ordinary reader; but if you would look on it all as God's word, not to be scorned, and read it with faith and reverence, no doubt you would find advantage.

2. Set a special mark, however you find convenient, on those passages you read, which you find most suitable to your case, condition, or temptations; or such as you have found to move your hearts more than other passages. And it will be profitable often to review these.

3. Compare one Scripture with another, the more obscure with that which is more plain.

                                                2^nd Peter 1:20

            “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

      This is an excellent means to find out the sense of the Scriptures; and to this good use serve the marginal notes on Bibles. And keep Christ in your eye, for to him the scriptures of the Old Testament look (in its genealogies, types, and sacrifices), as well as those of the New.

4. Read with a holy attention, arising from the consideration of the majesty of God, and the reverence due to him. This must be done with attention, first, to the words; second, to the sense; and, third, to the divine authority of the Scripture, and the obligation it lays on the conscience for obedience.  1^st Thessalonians 2:13

         “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”

5. Let your main purpose in reading the Scriptures be practice, and not bare knowledge.

                                                James 1:22

            "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

      Read that you may learn and do, and that without any limitation or distinction, but that whatever you see God requires, you may study to practice.

6. Beg of God and look to him for his Spirit. For it is the Spirit that inspired it, that it must be savingly understood by. 1^st Corinthians 2:11

         "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God."

                     And therefore before you read, it is highly reasonable you beg a blessing on what you are to read.

7. Beware of a worldly, fleshly mind: for fleshly sins blind the mind from the things of God; and the worldly heart cannot favour them. In an eclipse of the moon, the earth comes between the sun and the moon, and so keeps the light of the sun from it. So the world, in the heart, coming between you and the light of the word, keeps its divine light from you.

8. Labour to be disciplined toward godliness, and to observe your spiritual circumstances. For a disciplined attitude helps mightily to understand the scriptures. Such a Christian will find his circumstances in the word, and the word will give light to his circumstances, and his circumstances light into the word.

9. Whatever you learn from the word, labour to put it into practice. For to him that has, shall be given. No wonder those people get little insight into the Bible, who make no effort to practice what they know. But while the stream runs into a holy life, the fountain will be the freer.

      So she was searching for food.  She was also searching favor.  She wanted to find favor with some landowner that would not look down on her nationality and past.  Many people are looking for favor.  They want someone to care for them.  David utters six of the saddest words in the Bible.      Psalm 142:4

“I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.”

      We must care for folks.  It is compassion that makes a difference.  Compassion should move us.  It moved our Saviour. Matthew 9:36

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

      She was also searching for fulfillment.  She wanted to go and be a blessing to her mother-in-law.  It is a picture of a new Christian.  They want to do something for the Lord. 

      This brings us to the section of found by grace.  I made this statement last time and will end this introduction with it.  When make God’s business your business, He makes your business His business. 

II.  THE PROVIDENCE IN HER SEARCH

                                                Vs. 3

“And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.”

      This would be called the foreknowledge of the Lord.  It is the knowledge of persons and events before they exist. It is one of the divine attributes of God, by which persons were foreknown of Him and events determined. It is a capacity altogether beyond the mind of man to grasp.  We also call it the omniscience of the Lord.  Let’s turn to Psalm 139.

                              Psalm 139:1-6

“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”

      I do not claim to understand this.  It is in the Word of God and that is good enough for me.  Some try to use the foreknowledge of God to blame Him for all the evil actions of men.  That is a liar of the devil. 

      I found some material by Andrew Telford in regards to this subject.  I thought it would help shed some light on this subject.

      I have heard people say that certain preachers were "deep preachers," I felt they were so deep, that no one understood what they were talking about, or that they had slipped away from "the simplicity that is in Christ."

                              2^nd Corinthians 11:3

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

      Some preachers have made some Bible truths that really are simple, very complex, to the average Christian because of our ignorance of the Bible, or because of our lack of ability to present the truth clearly.

      Foreknowledge is a divine attribute of God, whereby God sees all things in the present tense. Now, trust that this simple statement gives clarity to the truth we are dealing with. There is no past, present, or future with God. Neither time nor space means anything to him.     2^nd Peter 3:8

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

      This knowledge of what God knows is a superior knowledge.  David told us it was too high.  But it is much more than a superior knowledge; it is supernatural knowledge.  David is dealing with the matter of Foreknowledge, and Foreknowledge belongs to the realm of the infinite. David was only finite and he is dealing with a truth that belongs in the realm of the infinite.  Foreknowledge is in the realm of the supernatural. It is a divine attribute of God. David lived on the earth. He was only human with human limitations. When, as a Christian, we deal with such a subject as the Foreknowledge of God, we are dealing with a truth, which belongs, in the realm of the infinite. In the matter of knowledge, as Christians, we are finite, and cannot go beyond that which God has revealed.

      What is the practical value to the believer, of this doctrine of Foreknowledge? Is there something in it for my soul? We have been saying that God knows all things past, present, and future, and I want to testify that I am glad he does. It rejoices my heart to know that he does, and God wants it to rejoice the hearts of his people. In Job 42:2 we read:  "I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee."

      This verse shows that God is all-powerful. Job believed after hearing God speak in these last three chapters concerning his acts of creation, that God is all-powerful. God is all observing, has all knowledge, and all wisdom. No doubt David said the same thing as Job. When David made a statement, it rejoiced his heart. He knew that God was all observing. He missed nothing. He sees everything. Are you not glad he does? God is all-wise; he understands everything perfectly. That made the heart of Job glad.  

      Let’s see the foreknowledge of God in the life of Ruth.

A.  Involved God's Command In The Past

      Ruth went to a field and began to glean. She was allowed to do this because of a command that God had given in the ancient past.

                        Leviticus 19:9-10

“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.”       Deuteronomy 24:19-22

“When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.  When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.”

      God had worked in her past to take care of her present need. He knew that the line of David was going to come from womb of Ruth.  He takes care of her.

      The same is true in the life of the believer. Our present standing in Jesus was made possible because of what God did in the ancient past. We were chosen and elected in the past.  Ephesians 1:4-6

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

      Jesus was provided for our salvation before man ever sinned.

                        1^st Peter 1:18-20

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”

      Everything we have and are today is a product of the past work of the Lord, and of His grace.  1^st Corinthians 15:10

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

B.  Involved God's Control In The Present

      This verse says that it was her "hap" to go into a field owned by this man named Boaz. From a human perspective it looked as though it was purely coincidental. However, for God's perspective, it was sovereignty in action. He had already determined that there was going to be a wedding, and a baby for Ruth. Ruth doesn't know it, but the Lord is pulling all the strings of her life to get her in the right place at the right time.

      Just as the Lord worked in Ruth's life He works in each of our lives. Nothing happens by accident. The words “accident”, “happenstance” and “coincidence” do not exist in God's dictionary He moves powerfully and providentially to bring about His will in your life and mine That is why we can have confidence as believer God is always working and moving in our lives to accomplish one goal: He is reproducing His Son in every saint of God.    Romans 8:28-31

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” 

Conclusion: There are some words that we can never use with the Lord.  He never says that He did not know that.  Also has every occurred to you that nothing occurs to God.

      Next time we will be looking at the person she is searching to find even though she does not know it.