Last week, we began Ruth chapter 2 where a Moabite widow under the curse of the law went out one morning looking for grace. And God guided her steps into the field of the one man in Bethlehem who could give this woman with no lineage an eternal lineage.
5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
You spend your whole life in a little hamlet like Bethlehem, and it becomes pretty obvious when a newcomer shows up in town. So Boaz asks the overseer in charge of the reaping (as well as the feeding and paying of the workers) Whose damsel is this?
The word damsel means a servant or a child still at home. It isn’t a word for someone known to be a widow. So Boaz obviously does not immediately realize that this is the woman who recently returned to town with Naomi.
The typical ways of answering it would be, “She’s the daughter of So-and-So”, which would mean she’s still single, or “She’s the wife of So-and-So.” Every woman was expected to be under some man’s protection; later, upon hearing that she has no protector, he calls her my daughter, and then every instruction that follows is designed for her protection, which Boaz immediately assumes.
Now look at the answer in verse 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:
The servant uses the same word for damsel that Boaz just did – perhaps he is actually unaware of her marital status. Perhaps he is being careful not to correct his boss.
In just a few verses, we’ll see that Boaz had heard of this woman, as (no doubt) everyone in Bethlehem had. But now he’ll get to meet her.
The overseer says that she comes out of the country of Moab. Although Moab was only about 30 miles to the east, it would have been a journey of several days back then. It was separated from them by the Jordan River, and it was considered “enemy territory”. The only trade route passing near Bethlehem would have been the north-south route from Egypt to Asia Minor, and they would have not likely seen Moabites traveling on it. So anyone in Bethlehem would have had a natural curiosity about a Moabite woman coming to live among them. Some might have even considered her to be exotic.
In verse 7, the overseer continues telling Boaz about her:
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.
He says, “She just showed up today asking permission to glean in your fields, and she’s been going at it from morning till now, and only took a short break in the house” which would have been a tent set up in the field for workers to take an occasional water break from the hot Middle-Eastern sun.
He says from morning until now. The text does not tell us just when now is, but it’s apparently before the midday lunch which we see later in verse 14.
The point he’s making is that she’s no slacker. She works hard, she’s focused, she doesn’t cause trouble, she’s persistent. Like the Proverbs 31 woman, she worketh willingly with her hands... and eateth not the bread of idleness. In fact, King Solomon may very well have been thinking about his legendary great-grandmother Ruth when he wrote those words.
8 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:
Boaz calls her my daughter – the same as Naomi does. In fact, throughout the book, he never calls her anything other than my daughter. It’s an endearing term. This, along with his statement in 3:10, indicates that he is closer to Naomi’s age than Ruth’s – he is old enough to be her father.
Now if Hollywood were making the book of Ruth into a movie, they would be turning this into a romance novel. Boaz would not be her father’s age, he would be young and handsome – exactly the kind of fellow that Ruth 3:10 says she is not looking for. They would be turning this into a “boy meets girl” kind of love story.
Well, it’s a love story, all right, but not the kind that most people reading it imagine. Ruth is not seeking a handsome guy and a beautiful life for herself. Everything she does throughout this book, she does for Naomi. It’s her love for Naomi, declared in 1:16-17, that motivates her every action, from going forth to glean this morning, all the way to bearing a child that will inherit Elimelech’s estate, save the family farm, and care for Naomi in her old age. She doesn’t end up marrying Boaz because he’s young or handsome or rich or anything like that. The sole reason she marries him is because, old as he is, he’s the only Kinsman Redeemer able and willing to provide an heir for Naomi. And Naomi’s past child bearing age, so if she’s going to have an heir at all, it’s up to Ruth to pull this off for her.
Now it’s possible that not too long after she bears a grandchild for Naomi, in the natural course of things, Boaz may very well pass on, leaving Ruth a twice widowed and still relatively young woman who very possibly does meet a younger man with whom she makes a beautiful life – but I’m just speculating that for the sake of any starry eyed romantics who were really hoping for something a little more exciting for her. But that’s not this story – this story is all about the restoration of Naomi.
Consider this too: in their culture, romance didn’t precede marriage, it followed. Naomi told Ruth there’d be no marriage in her future if she came to Israel, and Ruth clearly isn’t seeking it. Boaz’ interest in her is purely as a new convert to their God. Both are simply focused on following His will for their lives, not finding a mate. Ruth determined to follow God and care for Naomi, and those choices are what led her to Boaz, not some fixation on finding a husband. She was content to be single and godly. And what happened? She sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else was added unto her. If you make the pursuit of God the great quest of your life, then He will bring into your life all the things and people and relationships that He knows you need.
She had gone out looking for grace, and now it comes to her. It’s out of grace that God makes the first move – He approaches sinners, foreigners, outcasts. He speaks to them, as Boaz approached Ruth and spoke to her. She would have never dared to speak to the Lord of the harvest on her own. God initiates the relationship with us – He convicts us with His Spirit, enlightens us with His word, orders circumstances to draw our attention to Him. And then He lets us respond out of our own free will.
I John 4:19 says, we love him because he first loved us.
Boaz warns Ruth to stick close to his people and glean only in his fields where she’ll be safe. God’s providence is leading her steps and guiding her way. Remember what the times of the judges was like!
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.
He says, “You keep your eyes on the maidens who work for me binding the fallen wheat into sheaves or bundles behind the reapers. Follow them. Glean where they go – you’ll be safe with them because I’ve ordered my workmen not to touch thee.”
These ancient fields had no fences dividing them, just unplowed paths between them. So Ruth could have easily wandered into a wrong field if she did not follow the lead of those who had learned to recognize the boundaries.
Boaz is promising to protect her if she’ll stick with his people, just as God promises those who come to Him. He commands His followers to love one another and watch out for one another. He says, in the world ye shall have tribulation, so come out of the world and be ye separate and forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. New believers find safety in following those who are older in Christ and have learned to recognize safe boundaries.
He also promises to provide for her. Sometimes kind landlords allowed the poor gleaners who did not really work for them to drink of the water provided for their own reapers. If these gleaners had to break work and travel to the well whenever they got thirsty, it would have reduced their time gleaning. To help Ruth maximize her gleaning, Boaz says, “drink from the waters that my people draw whenever you’re thirsty,” just as Jesus says to us today. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
The well of Bethlehem was by the city gate, as David would one day describe it in II Samuel 23:15 when he longed for a drink from his childhood well. There’s no telling how far from the gate the field of Boaz was, but it would certainly have taken a lot of effort for the young men to draw enough to keep all the hardworking, hot and sweating reapers hydrated – and that doesn’t even consider the transporting of the full water skins to the field. All of this effort would have made the water for Boaz’ workers most precious.
This is Ruth’s first day on the job in a new environment. Have you ever been somewhere on the first day and wondered what you were allowed to do and what you weren’t? Ruth may very well have wondered if the water drawn for the regular employees was as free to her, a poor scavenger being allowed to glean crumbs for survival, as it was to the workers who belonged here. Or would she have to trudge to the well and draw her own water? But Boaz invites her to help herself to the water that his 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?
In other words, “Why are you being so good to me? You don’t know me. I don’t deserve this kindness!” She set out looking for grace that morning, and that’s exactly what she found – undeserved kindness. And she fell down at the feet of the one who showed it to her. Just as we should fall on our faces before the Lord Who showed us the undeserved grace of salvation.
Now notice something here – Ruth is overwhelmed with gratitude toward Boaz for his promises. She’s found her guardian angel, and suddenly life seems full of hope. Now, is Ruth even one coin richer than she was when she started out this morning? No. Is she still dressed in a peasant’s garb? Oh, yes! Are she and Naomi still squatting in the old home place fallen into 10 years of disrepair? Absolutely! So on the outside, nothing has really changed for her, right? So why does she feel like she just won the lottery? Only one reason – she trusts Boaz’ promises.
And when we trust in the promises of Christ, we may look like the same people on the outside. Our circumstances may not seem to have changed. But our new relationship with Jesus has just transformed us on the inside, and that makes all the difference.
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.
What impressed Boaz was not her youth or beauty or alien mystique – it was the character she had demonstrated toward his kinswoman, Naomi.
Boaz was descended from Rahab (Matthew 1:5), a cursed Gentile from Jericho who turned from her own people to the God of Israel at great personal risk. No doubt, this greatly disposes him toward Ruth’s plight. It was the personal sacrifices Ruth had made to come with her mother-in-law to this land where she would continue caring for her.
And yet, in the first chapter we saw that Ruth did not view any of this as a sacrifice or a great display of selfless character. Indeed, her heart was so knit to Naomi that Ruth herself vowed that only death could tear her away. Her love is what has fulfilled the law.
And down the centuries Jesus still tells His followers, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
It is not uncommon to find in the Church of Jesus Christ those who’ve been outcast by their own families for following Jesus. We hear in our own day about Muslims who kill their own family members for turning to Christ. And yet those who follow Him have a much larger spiritual family that now spans the globe than ever their kin by blood or marriage – a family they will love forever. All who trust in Him are called out of their old life to seek a heavenly city.
And centuries before Christ said it, His great ancestor Boaz told Ruth the same thing in verse 12 – notice what he says:
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.
This is a picture of Christ and His Church – He provides and protects, she trusts and obeys. She repented of her idolatry and trusted in the Lord. And she showed her conversion by joining God’s people, serving others, and obeying what God said.
Boaz acknowledges that Ruth’s devotion to Naomi reveals a heart transformed by the grace of God – under whose wings thou art come to trust. It is a beautiful expression that immediately brings two images to mind – as a hen gathers her chickens under her feathers for protection, so Jesus said He would gather those who trust in Him.
And in the Old Testament, He pictured this in the holiest room of the tabernacle where the ark of the covenant was covered with a mercy seat overshadowed by the arched wings of two great cherubim. What was it that Ruth trusted in beneath those wings? The mercy seat was where the blood of an innocent sacrifice was sprinkled annually on the day of atonement to cover the sins of the nation – a picture of Christ’s blood that would someday take away the sins of the world. To trust under His wings was to trust in the cleansing blood of that sacrifice.
He says, the Lord recompense thy work. True trust beneath those sheltering wings always transforms the heart within and shows up in the work of the life that follows. If there is no change in one’s works on the outside, it is because there is no change in one’s worship on the inside. The new life is the proof of the new birth. II Corinthians 5:17 says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all thing are become new. Anyone who professes salvation in Christ but whose life has not been transformed by it does not truly know what salvation is.
He says, a full reward be given thee of the Lord. II John 1:8 says, Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Salvation is wrought by our faith, but rewards are wrought by our works.
Since true faith can never be lost, then our salvation can never be lost either. But losing our first love can compromise our service and cost us a full reward.
The blessing of Boaz included the prayer that this would not happen with Ruth. And even so, our High Kinsman in heaven charges us to hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown – Revelation 3:11.
13 Then she said, Let me find favor 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.
Ruth’s response is a perfect picture of how a believer responds to Christ. She calls him my lord. She says, Let me find favor in thy sight – the favor Boaz has just promised her, she says “Let it be so – I accept your grace.” He has just promised to protect her and provide for her, and she believes him, and finds comfort in his word.
And in the same way, Jesus promises to protect and provide for those who call upon the name of the Lord, accept His grace, trust His words and find comfort.
Have you ever noticed that kindness shown to a proud person is underappreciated? Because a proud person assumes they deserve kindness, therefore they are more offended if it isn’t shown than grateful if it is. On the other hand, kindness shown to a humble person will tend to make them even more humble. They truly appreciate the grace of others and marvel that it should be shown to them. That’s the attitude that Ruth displays throughout this story.
She accepts his kindness even though she is not like unto one of his handmaidens. Does she mean, “Because I am not your actual employee like they are”? No, the wording says, “I’m not like unto them, I’m not Jewish, I’m an outsider.” She has seen how outsiders are typically treated in a close knit society. No doubt, she saw how her own in-laws were treated in Moab.
But God told Moses that His people were to show kindness to strangers that came among them. In Exodus 22:21, He said, thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
And Jesus has welcomed Gentiles into His kingdom for the last 2000 years. Do you take His grace for granted, or does it humble you that the God of the universe should show infinite compassion to sinners who deserve nothing but His infinite wrath?
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.
He invites her to dine with him and his servants when they break for lunch in the field tent that verse 7 calls the house. What an honor for her, an outsider, not even one of his employees, but a poor woman who this morning came picking up leftovers from the harvest to now sit beside the lord of the harvest as one of His own.
In Matthew 8:11, Jesus said, Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. What a privilege for those in the church, called out of every nation, who came as spiritual beggars and outcasts, to be invited to sit with the patriarchs of the kingdom, at the head of the table, in the honored seat of the Bride next to the Lord of the harvest!
He sat close enough to reach her parched corn, some of the harvest just gathered on the spot, held by the stalk over the fire until the chaff was burned away, and thus roasted and ready to eat.
The verse says that she sat beside the reapers, and in Matthew 13:39, Jesus said, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. After this world is over, those who have come to Christ will dwell among the angels, and I Corinthians 6:3 even says that we shall judge angels. We’ll rule over them. And by the end of this love story, Ruth will be the First Lady over the House of Boaz.
Dipping the bread in vinegar may not sound all that delicious, but this is now the beginning of barley harvest. The grape harvest is long past, and the old store of grape juice has begun to sour. The point is that Boaz is giving her the best he has to offer. But in the world to come, where there is no decay or corruption, the best that God has to offer His Bride will be beyond anything this world has ever seen!
The last part of the verse says she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. That phrase, and left, means that she still had some left over, which as we’ll see in verse 18, she ends up taking home to share with her mother-in-law, Naomi.
And when God’s people spend time with Him in prayer and in reading and contemplating His word, He gives us more than sufficient strength and grace, and He wants it to overflow from us onto those around us.
15 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:
After rest and a good meal, she is strengthened to continue through the afternoon. But the abundance that follows cannot be explained in terms of her own strength. It’s who she was with that makes the difference.
And likewise God supplies for our physical needs, but the greatest blessings come from our relationship with Him – and that is the only way to explain the transformation He makes in the lives of those who know Him.
He warns his workers not to rebuke her for gleaning among the sheaves. Why might they have rebuked this? The harvesters would have gone through the field with sickles in hand whacking off the stalks of barley close to the ground and letting them lay where they fell. The women servants would have followed behind gathering the stalks and tying them into bundles, or sheaves. Letting Ruth gather among the sheaves would put her right behind the harvesters where the women were bundling and giving her opportunity to gather some of the stalks before the bundlers even got to them. This would not normally have been allowed, but it is clear that Boaz favors this woman and is giving her unusual privileges.
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.
Boaz prayed she’d receive a full reward, and now he works to make it happen. He is really going the extra mile for Ruth. Not only is he allowing her to glean harvested stalks before the bundlers can bind them, but he’s even telling the bundlers to deliberately leave some behind to give her more. He’s giving like an Acts 2 Christian, not like a Pharisee – out of love, not law.
Notice that God provides food for the needy, not money. Now some might wonder, if he wanted to send her away with such abundance, why not just let her take a whole sheaf home with her right then and there? But the law that allowed for the poor to glean thus enabled them to earn their own bread. He provides for those willing to work for it.
When someone is simply given a handout and sent away, it robs them of dignity and discourages industry. Givers and receivers both benefit by obeying. God does not forcibly play Robin Hood. The best employers seek their people’s protection. Neither Boaz nor Ruth would have wanted her to eat the bread of idleness, and a woman of Ruth’s character would have felt insulted at being treated like a charity case.
But since she has never gleaned before, she has no way of recognizing the generosity that is being poured on her by Boaz.
17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
She didn’t quit early when she saw how much she was gathering. She was in for the whole day, working all she could for as much as she could gather, unsure of how productive the next day would be, or how long her store would last for her and Naomi – working as one who senses an urgency to gather while the opportunity lasts.
She beat out that she had gleaned – to loosen the grain from the stalks. They could also do it by letting an ox tread over the grain as in Deuteronomy 25:4. And when she beat the barley kernels loose from the chaff, it turned out to be an ephah – roughly nine gallons, about as much as a person could carry. Exodus 16:36 says that an ephah was 10 omers, and verse 16 says that an omer was a day’s supply of food. So for these two women, Ruth has just gathered enough for each of them to feed on for five days. No wonder Boaz told his servants twice not to rebuke her. It would have been normal for some of them to have felt jealous seeing this poor widow taking home more than any of them earned in a day.
We mentioned earlier that Ruth’s experience with Israel’s God so far would not have seemed very encouraging to most people. All she had experienced from Him back in Moab had been the death of loved ones, poverty and discouragement. Now she has become an outcast among her own people and a stranger in this new land. It would have been so easy to have thought that serving Chemosh, the god of Moab, had surely been better than the trials of Israel’s God.
But Ruth’s faith was unwavering, and now the season of trial has shown her true nature, and she is getting to see that God does indeed reward His faithful ones with good measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing!
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.
You can imagine Ruth coming home with a completely different outlook than she had left with 12 hours earlier. She had ventured forth a poor widow in search of grace, she returns home with an abundance that amazes Naomi. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the grace they find is always amazing! She had gone out with nothing, she returns full – not only from the abundant gleaning, but also from the “takeout box” she brought home from the lunch she couldn’t finish. She had gone out in trepidation, she returns excited. She had gone out alone and a stranger, she returns the kinswoman of a wealthy landowner. What a difference seeking grace under the wings of God makes!
When we come to God with empty hands and humble hearts, He makes our cup run over, and His goodness and mercy follow us forever. Have you met the Lord of the Harvest yet – the Lord Jesus Christ? He has taken a liking to you... not because of your outstanding works for Him, but because of His amazing grace toward you.
If you’ve never come to Christ for salvation from sin before, then wherever you are, why not just bow your heart before God and tell Him something like this:
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner; I believe Christ died for my sins on the cross; I believe He rose to give me victory over death; I trust His sacrifice to pay for my pardon; I repent of my sins; I receive Your forgiveness by faith. I trust Your grace to deliver my soul on the judgment day – Amen!
