Introduction
I want to pick up with the though we ended with last time:
Lastly, a prayer (paraphrased from Tommy Tenny in the “God Chasers” :
Lord, break out of the box we try to put you in and destroy everything in our lives that is not of You. Mess up our schedules, plans, and preconceived notions of what a relationship with you should be and bring us into a real, vibrant, living relationship with You. God we are tired of knowing about You, we want to know You. We want more than just Your anointing, we want You, Your presence.”
The question is: are you willing to do what it takes to make this prayer happen?
Ruth started off well, she made the right choice. It was a hard choice but it was right. It is easy to stay in Moab. It is comfortable and familiar, and it is amazing how people will choose comfortable and familiar over what is different. Not wrong but different. They follow God as long as God agrees with them, but He dare not ask them to do something different! I have heard the cry before; the death knell of a church is something like this: we never done it like that before.
I was really in a church where the pastor said: let’s keep the Iron Gates open, the place looks like a prison when they are closed. Now mind you, we never actually locked the gates and there was no fence around the property, so these were strictly ornamental fixtures, but you think we were opening the entry to Fort Knox and inviting the criminals in! (or as my pastor use to say it was protecting the property from and blue rhinos that may be running around!) People would not listen and simply kept closing the gates. Yes we love you pastor. Yes you are the spiritual leader here, but I don’t like this change so even though it is not really a sin, we will not listen to you! After all we never did it that way before! Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft! What is in your heart will come out in the wash.
That is the difference between Orpah and Ruth. The time came for a change, to make the hard choice, Ruth said yes and Orpah went back. If we want to see positive changes we need to make the hard choices and follow God but it does not stop there.
Introducing Boaz
Ruth 2:1
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
Boaz was a man of honor, wealth, chivalry. It is apparent the Naomi knew of him but chose not to make a burden of herself to him.
Ruth’s Attitude
Ruth 2:2
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
It speaks ill of those in Bethlehem who knew Naomi as a desolate widow woman without son or husband to care for her and Ruth as a new convert, as stranger in a strange land, that nobody seemed to offer help or support. It is sad to say that the greatest danger to the lost sometimes is the so called Christians who act like the priest in the Good Samaritan and just walk on by when they can help.
We note of Ruth that she does not complain in her condition. She could have longed to go back to Moab and her father’s house where she could have had bread to spare. She did not walk the streets demanding a handout. Instead she seeks to provide food for her mother in-law and herself by seeking to glean the fields. Apparently Ruth had been studying the Bible:
Lev 19:9
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.
Lev 23:22
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Deut. 24:19
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.
So while harvesting the fields, the landowners were not to reap the corners since that was for the poor and stranger. If a reaper dropped something, they were not to pick it up, it then belonged to the gleaners.
She followed her heart, to follow after God.
God’s Direction
Ruth 2:3
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.
Just another chance happening? Not hardly, just another divine intervention as God was guiding the life that chose to follow Him. If we follow God He will direct our paths! (cf. Proverbs 3:5-6)
Following her heart led her into the field God wanted her in, if our heart is in tune with God.
Boaz Takes Notice
Ruth 2:4-7
And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
Whose damsel is this? Boaz noted the presence of a stranger in his field. Her appearance and dress were different from those of the girls he usually saw gleaning behind his reapers. 6. It is the Moabitish damsel. The reply was almost derogatory: "It is that foreigner who came back with Naomi from Moab!" 7. She came, and hath continued even from the morning until now. Ruth had asked permission to glean in the field of Boaz. When the overseer of the reapers gave her permission to do so, she worked diligently. She tarried a little in the house. These words probably refer to the time she spent in the hut erected in the field for rest and refreshment.[i]
Personally I think the man noticed the woman, that there was something different about her, and what the overseer meant as a jab or insult, he turned to good.
Boaz Provides for Ruth
Ruth 2:8-12
Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
-Boaz provides Ruth with food and drink.
-Boaz provided protection in the fields.
-She was reaping what she had sown in showing kindness to her mother in-law.
-He speaks words of blessing over her.
Ruth 2:13
Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
In following the typology and allegory where Ruth was the lost seeker and Naomi the disenfranchised Christian, Boaz it taking the role of the protector, redeemer, the Saviour.
In such he has protected her, provided for her, and shown kindness towards her.
Ruth 2:14
And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
Boaz Protects Ruth
Ruth 2:15-21
And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not:16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
Unknown to her Boaz commanded the men to allow her to reap with the harvesters and drop blessings of provisions on purpose. God does bless those that trust Him, follow Him, and obey Him.
The blessings were so large that Naomi questioned where Ruth went. She told her Boaz.
Naomi’s Council
Ruth 2:22-23
And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
Do as Boaz said and don’t let the maidens see you in anybody else’s field. I think lest they tattle on you and Boaz finds out about this.
The Lord God is a jealous God, and we should not be out in any other place but where God has sent us. And just as God would be jealous, so would have Boaz. And Naomi has something more in mind.
Wrap Up
We need to make the hard choices for God not just the first time but every time. We need not just to start of well and have people wonder “what ever happened to ____?”
We need to strive to have the right attitude no matter the circumstances. Flying off the handle at every little issue while still trying to praise and serve God just won’t work. Our good attitudes will draw God’s attention and favor.
Ruth follows her heart, and her heart is to follow God His way. That needs to be our desire also.
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[i] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press
