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FLAWED HEROES | Week 4 | Full Service · Rewind

Rock Point Church

72 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Apr 3, 2023 · 4 min read · 72 min listen

The big idea

Quoting the message: Don't look for what's best in your eyes—look for what's blessed in God's eyes, end quote..

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 6The book of Judges shows what happens when people do whatever seems right in their own eyes
Point 2 of 6Ruth's story unfolds in the middle of that darkness as a hidden redemption narrative

Point 3 of 6Ruth chose the harder path of loyalty over the safer path home
Point 4 of 6Ruth's gleaning and Boaz's kindness set up the concept of the family redeemer
Point 5 of 6Ruth had to ask Boaz to redeem her, and the nearer relative refused when he learned the cost
Point 6 of 6Ruth and Boaz's line leads to David and ultimately to Jesus, the true family Redeemer
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

Judges 21:25
Ruth 1:8
Ruth 1:11
Ruth 2:2-3
Ruth 2:19-20
Ruth 3:8

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · Apr 3, 2023 · 72 min watch · 2 min read

FLAWED HEROES | Week 4 | Full Service

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Judges 21:25
Ruth 1:8
Ruth 1:11
Ruth 2:2-3
Ruth 2:19-20
Ruth 3:8

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Don't look for what's best in your eyes—look for what's blessed in God's eyes, end quote..

In the darkest days of Judges, when everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes, God was quietly weaving a redemption story through Ruth and Boaz. Pastor Bill shows that choosing the harder, less obvious path of faithfulness—rather than what looks best to us—positions us for blessings we may not even recognize until eternity.

Key points

1
1The book of Judges shows what happens when people do whatever seems right in their own eyes
Pastor Bill traces the repeating cycle in Judges where Israel drifts from God, gets oppressed, cries out, and is rescued, only to repeat it worse each time. He reads Judges 21:25 as the summary verse of the whole book and notes it ends in civil war, showing where self-directed living leads.
2
2Ruth's story unfolds in the middle of that darkness as a hidden redemption narrative
Pastor Bill sets up the famine, Elimelech's move to Moab, and the deaths that leave Naomi and her daughters-in-law widowed. He points out this bleak backdrop makes the story that follows even more remarkable.
3
3Ruth chose the harder path of loyalty over the safer path home
When Naomi urges her daughters-in-law to return to their own people for a better chance at security, Orpah goes back but Ruth clings to Naomi and commits herself to Naomi's people and God. Pastor Bill notes this wasn't the path that looked best, but it positioned her for blessing.
4
4Ruth's gleaning and Boaz's kindness set up the concept of the family redeemer
Pastor Bill explains gleaning as Israel's welfare system and how Ruth ends up, as it just happened, in the field of Boaz, a relative who can act as kinsman-redeemer. He defines the redeemer as needing to be both able (a free relative with resources) and willing to pay the price and marry the widow.
5
5Ruth had to ask Boaz to redeem her, and the nearer relative refused when he learned the cost
Pastor Bill unpacks the threshing floor scene as a formal proposal, not a seduction, and shows the unnamed nearer redeemer backing out once he realizes redeeming Naomi's land means marrying Ruth and sacrificing for her. Boaz, by contrast, willingly pays the price.
6
6Ruth and Boaz's line leads to David and ultimately to Jesus, the true family Redeemer
Pastor Bill traces Obed to Jesse to David, then forward through the genealogy in Matthew to Jesus, born in the same Bethlehem hills. He shows Boaz's mother was Rahab, tying the story together, and calls Jesus the ultimate Redeemer who is both able and willing.

Application

Pastor Bill frames the choice as whether you'll settle for what seems best in your own eyes or ask for what's blessed in God's.

Notice where you're doing what seems right in your own eyes
Examine the subtle areas—money, time, relationships—where you've quietly decided you know a better way than God's, even without openly rebelling against Him.
Choose the harder path when it's the faithful one
Like Ruth staying with Naomi or Boaz paying the cost, be willing to take the option that doesn't look best but is the one God is honoring.
Ask Jesus to be your Redeemer
Just as Ruth had to ask Boaz to redeem her, confess that you're a slave to sin and profess Jesus as Lord, turning from your own way and trusting Him to pay the price.
Take communion as a moment to reflect and return
Whether you're wandering like Naomi or have never surrendered like Ruth, use the bread and cup to confess, surrender, and remember what Jesus paid to redeem you.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“before we jump into Ruth, I wanna read the very last verse of the book of Judges. And that's right here. Judges twenty one twenty five says, in those days, Israel had no king. All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“So starting in chapter one verse eight, it says, but on the way, Naomi said to her two daughter in laws, go back to your mother's homes and may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me”
From the transcript
“So Naomi replied in verse 11, why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands”
From the transcript
“We're gonna be in a jump here to chapter two verses two and three. It says, one day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, let me go out in the harvest fields to pick up the stocks of grain left behind by anyone who was kind enough to let me do it”
From the transcript
“And if you look in verse nineteen twenty, she tells her, she goes, where'd you go? And so Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, the man I worked with today is named Boaz”
From the transcript
“so then if we jump into chapter three starting in verse eight, it says, around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet”
From the transcript
“I'm into chapter four verse three. It says, and Boaz said to the family redeemer. So he found him and he talks to him. He goes, you know Naomi who came back from Moab. She's selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech”
From the transcript
“And if you look down at verse sixteen and seventeen right near the end of this book, it says, they had this baby and says, Naomi took the baby and cuddled him. Cuddled him to her breast”
From the transcript
“In one Samuel 16, God tells And that's actually our next series, by the way, after Easter, we're gonna compare the first two Kings of I almost said England, like why would we do that? The first two of Israel”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

The book of Judges ends on one of the saddest lines in all of Scripture: 'In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.' Pastor Bill opened the story of Ruth against this dark backdrop, and it's worth sitting with that darkness for a moment before moving into the light. When everyone becomes their own final authority, the result isn't freedom — it's chaos, harm, and a slow drift away from everything good. The haunting thing is how rarely any of those people in Judges thought they were doing something wrong. They were simply following their own best judgment. That's the subtle trap. Most of us are not shaking a fist at God. We're just quietly trusting our own read on a situation a little more than His — choosing the path that costs us least, the one that makes the most sense from where we're standing. Before Ruth's story can mean anything to us, we have to be honest about our own. Is there an area of your life right now where you are living by what seems right in your own eyes rather than what might be blessed in God's? That question isn't meant to produce guilt. It's an invitation — the same one the whole book of Ruth is about to extend.

For reflection

Where in your life right now are you most tempted to trust your own judgment over what God might be saying?

Pray

Pray for honest self-awareness about the areas where you've quietly replaced God's direction with your own.

Day 2

Ruth didn't have to go. That's the whole point. Naomi herself gave her two daughters-in-law the release they needed — go back to your own people, your own gods, your own safety. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and left. No one blamed her. It was the reasonable thing to do. But Ruth stayed, and the words she spoke have echoed across thousands of years: 'Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.' Ruth was a Moabite. She had no ancestral claim on the God of Israel. She was choosing the harder road with nothing visible to gain and everything familiar to leave behind. Pastor Bill pointed out that this is precisely where the blessing was — not in the safe return to Moab, but in the less-obvious surrender forward. Ruth's words here aren't just beautiful poetry; they're a confession of faith and a declaration of loyalty at the same time. She's asking to be covered by a God she didn't grow up with, based only on what she had seen in Naomi's life. There is something deeply gospel-shaped about that. Faith often looks like choosing to move toward God even when the path home to comfort is still open.

For reflection

Is there a 'return to Moab' in your life — a comfortable path backward that you've been tempted to take instead of the harder road forward?

Pray

Pray for the courage to stay on the harder, less-obvious road you sense God calling you toward.

Day 3

Three of the most quietly remarkable words in the book of Ruth are these: 'as it happened.' Ruth went out to glean in the fields, and as it happened, she found herself working in the field belonging to Boaz — a man of standing, a family redeemer. The text doesn't announce trumpets or visions. It just says, as it happened. Pastor Bill made the point that this is how God's providence often works — not loudly, not obviously, but moving pieces into place in the background while we're simply trying to get through the day. Ruth wasn't scheming. She was doing the next faithful thing available to her: going to work, caring for Naomi, living honestly in a foreign land. And God was quietly threading her story toward something neither she nor Naomi could see from where they were standing. That's a word worth holding onto. The greatest blessings in your life may be the ones you cannot see right now. Faithfulness in the small, hard, ordinary moments is rarely wasted. God's providence doesn't require you to have the full picture. It only requires you to take the next honest step and trust that He is already at work ahead of you.

For reflection

Looking back, can you recall a moment that seemed like coincidence at the time but that you later recognized as God's quiet provision?

Pray

Pray for trust in God's unseen providence, especially in a season where His work isn't obvious.

Day 4

There is a moment in Ruth chapter 3 that the sermon lingered on carefully: Ruth goes to Boaz at the threshing floor and asks him to spread the corner of his garment over her — a formal request for him to act as her family redeemer. She had to ask. That's not incidental. Pastor Bill explained that a family redeemer in ancient Israel had two qualifications: he had to be able — a free relative with the actual resources to pay the full price — and he had to be willing — ready to pay the cost and take on the responsibility. But even if both were true, the one who needed redeeming had to come and ask. Boaz was able. Boaz was willing. But Ruth still had to make the request. This is the hinge on which the whole devotional week turns. The gospel pattern is right here in miniature. Jesus is fully able — He has already paid the complete price for sin. Jesus is fully willing — that is the entire story of the cross. But there is still a step that belongs to us. Redemption is not automatic. It is received. Confessing our need, professing His lordship — this is how we ask. You don't have to have your life sorted out first. Ruth didn't. She simply came, and asked, and was covered.

For reflection

Have you ever formally asked Jesus to be your Redeemer, or have you assumed the transaction happened at some point without ever really making the request?

Pray

Pray for the humility to come to Jesus exactly as you are and ask Him to cover you.

Day 5

The unnamed redeemer in Ruth chapter 4 is one of the most sobering figures in the whole story — precisely because he was so close. He was a legitimate relative. He had the legal standing. When Boaz first raised the question, this man was ready to step in. But then he heard the full terms: to redeem the land, he would also have to take Ruth as his wife, and that would 'endanger his own estate.' The cost was too high for what he could personally gain, so he handed over his sandal and walked away. He chose only what benefited him most. Pastor Bill didn't pile on this man — but he did note the consequence: his name isn't even recorded. He missed being in the lineage of Jesus. Now, the sermon wasn't suggesting that one financial decision costs a person their salvation. The point is subtler and more personal than that. Every time we decline the harder, less-obvious road because of what it might cost us, we risk forfeiting blessings we cannot yet see from where we are standing. The unnamed redeemer's story is an honest mirror. What are you holding back from God because the full terms feel like too much?

For reflection

What is something you sense God inviting you toward that you've declined because of what it might cost you?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to surrender whatever you've been holding back, and for trust that God's terms lead somewhere good.

Day 6

The book of Ruth ends with a baby in Naomi's arms and the women of Bethlehem declaring, 'A son has been born to Naomi!' The child's name was Obed. He became the father of Jesse. Jesse became the father of David — the king of Israel, the man after God's own heart, the ancestor of Jesus. None of that was visible to Ruth or Boaz or Naomi on any of the hard days this story records. They couldn't see what their faithfulness was building. They just kept choosing the less-obvious road, one step at a time, and God wove their story into the greatest story ever told. Pastor Bill brought this full circle with a single geographic detail: Jesus was born in Bethlehem — the same town where Ruth gleaned in a field, where Boaz showed her kindness, where Naomi returned from her bitterness and found restoration. God had been working in that place long before anyone knew what He was doing. This is the heart of what the sermon called the greatest blessings in life: the ones we cannot see from where we are standing. Your faithfulness today is not small, even if it looks that way. You are not the only one who will feel its weight.

For reflection

What might your faithfulness right now be building for people or purposes you won't fully see this side of eternity?

Pray

Pray for the long view — for faith to be faithful today even when the outcome is not yet visible.

Day 7

Related passageRuth 1:1-4:22

Looking back across the whole book of Ruth, a single thread runs through every scene: people faced with a choice between the easy, self-directed path and the harder, less-obvious road — and the blessings that came to those who chose surrender over self-protection. Naomi returned from Moab when she had every reason to stay bitter and hidden. Ruth clung to a God she had no ancestral claim on. Boaz paid the full price of redemption when someone else could have done it. Each choice was costly. None of them could see the lineage of Jesus on the other side of it. Pastor Bill's final call was straightforward: examine honestly whether you are living by what seems right in your own eyes or by what is blessed in God's. For those who already know Jesus, that might mean returning from a season of bitterness or self-directed wandering and confessing whatever you've been withholding. For those who haven't yet asked, the invitation is the same one Ruth extended at the threshing floor — come, ask, and be covered. Jesus is willing. Jesus is able. He has already paid the full price. The car of sin has already been stopped. What remains is simply your response: confess your need, profess His lordship, and walk daily looking for what is blessed in His eyes.

For reflection

After sitting with Ruth's story all week, what is the one honest next step God is inviting you to take?

Pray

Pray for the courage to take that next step — whatever it is — and to trust the Redeemer who is both willing and able to meet you there.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

The book of Ruth sits right in the middle of one of the darkest stretches in Israel's history — and yet it turns out to be one of the most quietly hopeful stories in the whole Bible. As we dig into what Pastor Bill shared, let's look together at why that is.

Discussion questions

1
Judges 21:25 ends with the phrase 'everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.' Pastor Bill said the trap is subtle — most people are not shaking their fists at God, they simply trust their own judgment a little more than His. What do you think that subtle drift looks like in everyday life?
2
In Ruth 1:16-17, Ruth chooses to leave her homeland and follow Naomi and Naomi's God rather than return to the relative safety of Moab. What do you think made that the harder road, and what might it have cost her to take it?
3
Ruth 2:3 says she 'just happened' to end up in the field of Boaz. Pastor Bill pointed to that phrase as a window into how God's providence quietly moves His plan forward even in the darkest times. What does that suggest about how we might look at circumstances that seem ordinary or even accidental?
4
The unnamed redeemer in Ruth 4:3-6 walked away because paying the price would 'endanger his own estate.' Pastor Bill held that up as a sobering picture of blessings forfeited when we choose only what costs us least. What do you think we miss — individually or as a community — when we consistently take the path that benefits us most?
5
Ruth and Boaz had no idea their family line would run through David all the way to Jesus, born in that same town of Bethlehem. Pastor Bill said the greatest blessings are often the ones we cannot see from where we are standing. How might that change the way we evaluate whether a choice is 'working' or not?
6
Pastor Bill drew a direct line between Ruth formally asking Boaz to be her redeemer and the invitation to ask Jesus to be ours. What does Ruth's posture in that moment — coming with need rather than self-sufficiency — tell us about what it looks like to receive redemption?

Pray together

Ask God to give us the courage to take the harder, less obvious road — and the trust to believe His eyes can see the blessings ours cannot yet

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Continue the series

FLAWED HEROES

Week 4 · 4 messages

Where these passages are preached

Judges 21 Ruth 1 Ruth 2 Ruth 3

Explore related topics

God's Providence Jesus as Redeemer Redemption in Christ Surrender Over Self-Direction The Harder Path

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