Ruth 2:1 – 12 “Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied. And Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” The foreman answered, “She is the Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.”
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls. Let your eyes be on the field they are harvesting, and follow along after these girls. Indeed, I have ordered the young men not to touch you. And when you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.” At this, she fell on her face, bowing low to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?”
Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
God’s timing is perfect! Just as Ruth and Naomi trudged into town wondering where they would sleep and how they would survive, the barley harvest was starting. Farms were small, and the workers from various households went out to harvest the grain.
Deuteronomy 24:19 says, “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Ruth and Naomi were both widows and sojourners, having just come to Bethlehem.
When Naomi sent Ruth out to glean, she knew that Ruth had the right to do so. But what about the young men working in the fields? Who would protect Ruth from being raped? God in His mercy led Ruth to the part of the field belonging to Naomi’s late husband’s kinsman Boaz. In the small town of Bethlehem, everybody already knew about Ruth’s dedication to Naomi, despite the fact that Ruth was from Moab and no Israel. By this point, the people of Bethlehem probably knew everything about Ruth and were favorably impressed. As soon as Boaz learned that Ruth was working in his field, he arranged for her to be protected and to have water and shelter with his workers.
APPLICATION: Many times, we feel as if all our efforts are fruitless! We strive to do the right thing; however, we are firmly convinced that nobody sees us and nobody cares. But God is omniscient, all – knowing, and God cares deeply about each one of us.
One of the most encouraging things about the story of Ruth is the way in which God provided and protected both Ruth and Naomi. They made a long difficult journey from Moab back to Bethlehem. Upon reaching Bethlehem, Ruth was able to find work that would help feed the two of them. And God gave Ruth favor with Boaz, here described as a “prominent man of noble character.”
Several years ago, a popular song told us that “God is watching from a distance.” But those words are totally inaccurate. God is not watching from a distance; God is as close to us as our heartbeats. God cares about each one of us as if we were His only child. It is rank heresy to claim that God is a distant Deity who is standing back waiting for us to make a mistake so that He can punish us. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Far from being distant and uninterested, God is passionately interested in every aspect of our lives. It is we who have created a gap between ourselves and God.
Each of us has a problem: we are sinners. By ourselves, nothing we can do will be sufficient for us to earn our way into heaven. But John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not die, but should have everlasting life.” That “whosoever” means that everyone who believes on God and the blood sacrifice that Jesus made for our sins will have eternal life. God has done what we ourselves were unable to accomplish. But there are conditions.
We must face the fact that we are sinners. We need to pray to God and confess that we are sinful and unable to help ourselves. We then need to ask God to forgive our sins and to help us to live for Him and not for ourselves.
PRAYER: Father God, we confess that we have continually done wrong things and that nothing good or noble that we do will get us into heaven. Thank you for sending Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, dying in our place. Please forgive our sins and help us to live for You the rest of our lives. Amen.
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