Ruth 2
Last week we began our journey through the book of Ruth. The title of last week’s message was “God’s Sovereignty when Life Gets Bitter”.
We talked about how God never wastes suffering in the life of a believer. That our suffering is actually achieving for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).
The book of Ruth is an excellent illustration of this truth.
We followed the story of a young woman named Naomi who flees Bethlehem with her husband and two boys in order to get away from a famine in the land.
They settle in a far away foreign land called Moab.
As if the famine and the move weren’t enough, Naomi faces more tragedy when her husband dies, leaving her a single mom of two boys.
Her boys grow up, marry Moabite girls, but then, tragically, both boys die too, leaving Naomi alone in a foreign land with her daughters in law.
So she decides to head back to Bethlehem.
Ruth, who becomes the namesake for the book of Ruth, decides to follow her mother in law to Bethlehem and begin worshipping the true God.
When they arrive in Bethlehem, Naomi has been through the ringer. She even says, ‘don’t call me Naomi anymore (which means pleasant), instead call me ‘Mara’ (which means bitter’) because my life has been so bitter.
She was convinced, and mentioned several times, that God had turned against her.
But, unbeknownst to Naomi, God had not abandoned her. God had not turned against her. Quite the opposite. As we find out today, God was working behind the scenes to bring about good beyond their imagination.
Naomi’s suffering set off a domino effect that would ultimately culminate in salvation, not just for Naomi and Ruth… not just for Israel… but for the world.
Today we are introduced to a new character in our story who becomes a type and a foreshadow of this salvation.
And through him we see that God is sovereign not just when life gets bitter, but also when life gets better.
So… as the scene opens, we are back in Bethlehem with Naomi and Ruth. A familiar place for Naomi, but a completely unfamiliar place for her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth. They’re back in the land of Israel, but they are still facing a whole lot of heartache and uncertainty about their future.
Ruth 2:1–23 (ESV):
1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
Why is Boaz significant?
First, he was a relative of Naomi’s late husband Elimelech.
In those days, a male relative could be in a position to really help a widow in the family… and we’ll get more of that later.
Second, it says he was a worthy man.
The New King James renders it “a man of great wealth”.
In reality, the Hebrew word ‘hayil’ just meant ‘of worth or excellence’... so it’s likely this man was a man of great character AND great wealth.
Which gives us as readers a little hint at what’s coming: This distant relative has the ability to be of great help to Naomi and Ruth.
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.”
Back then, God had commanded farmers in Israel not to completely harvest every corner of their field so that the poor and needy could go and collect the leftovers.
That’s what Ruth has in mind. She says, ‘let me go follow the harvesters who might be kind enough to drop some leftover grain for me.’
The word ‘glean’ appears 12 times in this chapter.
Repetition in the Bible is typically for emphasis. This is no exception.
In this way, gleaning becomes a symbol of her neediness.
Notice another repetitive phrase, which we talked about last week: Ruth the Moabite. Almost every time it mentions Ruth, we are reminded that she was a foreigner… someone who was far from Israel, which in those days implied she was far from God. Last chapter even mentioned her pagan gods.
So Ruth the Moabite is a needy, helpless person who was far from God and completely at the mercy of others to get what she needed.
But there’s something important about Ruth: She’s drawing near to God in her need.
She’s made her way all the way to Bethlehem. She declared in the last chapter, “your people will be my people and your God my God.”
And the Bible tells us that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).
And she (Naomi) said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers,
The fact that Ruth takes initiative and gets going is instructive for us.
Sometimes in our seasons of despair or uncertainty we can revert to idleness and passivity. It’s always better to err on the side of action than passivity.
Sometimes we need to get moving, take action, and trust that the providence of God will kick in and guide us as we move.
and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
Now, from her perspective she ‘happened to come to’ that field. But we know better than that. We know God was guiding her all along.
4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem.
And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.”
You can often tell the character of a man by how the people closest to him treat him.
This is a man of character. His workers love him. He’s respectable.
5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”
What does that say about Ruth? Hard working. Guys, this could be a quality you look out for in a wife. Diligent. Self-motivated.
It also is a good reminder for all of us that whether we realize it or not, people are constantly watching our behavior and making snap judgments about our character. They didn’t know Ruth, but they saw her work ethic and her diligence in the way she gleaned the field.
It has been said, “how you do something is how you do everything.”
Jesus himself said, Luke 16:10 (ESV): 10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter,
do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”
‘Stay here, Ruth. I want you in this field, not the field of some other guy. You’ll make friends here. You’ll be safe and protected here. You’ll be provided for here.’
This is exceptional kindness. Boaz is making it crystal clear to Ruth that he intends to take care of her.
10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
What a humble response. She could have just as easily quoted the book of Leviticus at him and said, ‘well I’ve been through a lot, and you know, God’s law mandates that I’m allowed to glean from anyone’s field I want so… if you don’t mind I’ll be on my way…’
No. There’s no entitlement. She knows she deserves nothing. She recognizes that even the bare minimum would be a gift.
11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.
15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”
Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”
So for Naomi, who knows about Jewish law, the lights are starting to go on… a bright-shining hope is beginning to crash through her darkness…
As Ruth is talking, she realizes that Boaz has the potential to be what is called a ‘kinsman redeemer’. That is a male relative (Hebrew word is go’el) who had a responsibility to help a vulnerable family member in need.
For example:
They could bail them out of poverty if needed.
They could redeem a person from slavery and purchase their freedom.
They could avenge murder on their behalf.
They could continue a family line through levirate marriage.
In Deuteronomy 25 it says that if a man died childless, his closest male relative could marry the widow and produce offspring, so redeeming the family line.
So Naomi thinks, ‘this is great! We may have found our redeemer!’
21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
What do we make of all of this?
As in many biblical stories, there are layers of meaning and layers of application.
On a surface level, this chapter brings a reminder of hope for those who are struggling. It reminds us that even in our darkest, longest nights of the soul, a happy turn of events could be right around the corner. God sees us. He knows our condition. He will provide for our needs.
Matthew 6:31-33 “So do not worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat?’... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Wherever you’re at in life, you need to know that God is not indifferent to your situation. He knows and He cares, and He’s working behind the scenes for your good.
But on a deeper level, this story is a great metaphor for the way God has met our greatest need through Christ.
In many ways, you and I are all Ruth.
Before God got ahold of us, we were distant from Him because of our sins.
We were pagan idolaters living in our proverbial Moab… we were given to our own desires… we were spiritually destitute, as it were.
In fact, in Ephesians 2 it says we were more than destitute… it says we were “dead in our trespasses and sins.”
But God sent a Redeemer when we needed Him most.
Much like Boaz, this Redeemer stepped into our world in the midst of our destitution. Loved us. Drew us toward Himself with irresistible grace. Made us His own.Not because of our merit… or because we earned it… but as a free gift of His grace.
He put us under His protective care so that…
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.. (Rom. 8:38-39)
He performed the rights of a Kinsman Redeemer for us…
He bailed us out of spiritual poverty
He purchased our freedom from slavery to sin by His own death on the cross.
He avenged the evil one by crushing the power of Satan
He transferred us into a new family… brought us from darkness into light… brought us from death to life…
What should our response be to all of this? To this unmerited favor?
Ruth’s response to Boaz’ kindness is a good template for us:
10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Should we not fall before our Redeemer daily with our face to the ground and cry out, “why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a sinner?”
Let’s close by considering some life application…
For Naomi and Ruth, a revelation of the grace of their redeemer changed everything.
How might a daily revelation of God’s grace towards us change our lives?
Think about it…
We often battle various types of insecurity… we wonder if we’re good enough… we wonder if we’re safe…
What would it do for your sense of security to know that your Redeemer is watching out for you?
What does it do for your sense of hope to know that you are held safely by your Redeemer?
What does it do for your sense of self worth to know that He has purchased you by His own blood?
Do you sometimes feel entitled to more in life?
Knowledge of the Redeemer is the remedy for entitlement… when we know that apart from the righteousness of Christ we are nothing.
Do you sometimes struggle with forgiving others?
It’s difficult to hold a grudge on others when we realize that our Redeemer has forgiven us when we least deserved it…. And that He’s commanding us to show others that same mercy.
Knowledge of the Redeemer changes everything for us, just like it did for Naomi. Just like it did for Ruth.