The Lord uses the unlikely. In Corinth Paul told the believers not many of you were influential or of noble birth when you were called. That was true for Ruth also. She was the furthest thing from nobility, and she had no influence. She was a cursed Moabite woman. Being one of the unlikely ones was even true of her great grandson King David. He was so unlikely to be King that even his father had ruled him out.
My how God uses the unlikely. He used King David, and he used Ruth. He uses us too, no matter how unlikely we may seem. He chooses the foolish to confound the wise and weak things to shame the strong.
Ruth goes to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi. It was all in the midst of a series of tragic circumstances filled with grief and anguish. It put Ruth in a place where she would need to put her total dependence on God. The hand of God was guiding Ruth and Naomi. It is seen from our perspective now. But for Ruth it was a matter of faith and obedience.
Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 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.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. (Ruth 2:1-3)
Ruth made a commitment that the God of her mother-in law Naomi would be her God. Ruth had put her faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Ruth and Naomi arrive in Bethlehem destitute. Ruth is going to the barley fields to pick the leftover grain. She is vulnerable and must hope that she is not harmed by someone who would pray on the downtrodden.
The first person we are introduced to in the book of Ruth Chapter 1 was Elimelek whose wife is Naomi. He has died and left Naomi a widow. Elimelech was from Bethlehem and now here in chapter 2 we are introduced to his relative in Bethlehem, Boaz. It says that Ruth “happened” to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz. By “happened” we understand that God is orchestrating everything.
Every tragic event in the life of Naomi was being used to bring glory to God. The famine in her town of Bethlehem. The death of her husband Elimelech. The death of her two sons. Becoming a destitute widow in a foreign land. Naomi went from having a pleasant life to a bitter life. But all will be redeemed by the Lord. This man Boaz is the kinsman-redeemer for Naomi and her family.
We see all though the Bible how the Lord is using all the circumstances to bring forth his salvation history. God is orchestrating events for his glory. Through the hand of God Boaz, a “worthy man” is brought into Ruth’s life. Ruth was destitute and outcast, and Boaz was just the opposite. He had standing in Bethlehem. Both Ruth and Boaz had faith in God.
There is hope for redemption in the worst of circumstances. In Moab Ruth trusted God. Now God is guiding Ruth to be in the right place at the right time, even when everything in her life felt forgotten and bitter. God is guiding Ruth and Naomi though the difficult circumstances.
Think about the events of your life, the good and the bad. They did not just happen. Are you having the eyes to see the hand of God in your life?
And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 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.” (Ruth 2:4-7)
Ruth has come to glean in Boaz field and now Boaz comes where Ruth is gleaning and sees her for the first time. There is a law found in Leviticus 19:9-10 which is referred to as the laws of gleaning. Those who harvest the fields are to leave some left in the fields to take care of the poor and the destitute. God has made a provision through the law to care for those of the poor and for the alien. This is just the situation of Ruth and Naomi.
Now Boaz has taken notice of Ruth. It is a little surprising that a well-off landowner like Boaz would take notice of a destitute woman gleaning in his field. But everything about the story of Ruth is surprising. This is not a predictable love story where you already know how it will end from the very beginning. Nothing like this has ever happened before.
Now the man in charge of harvesting Boaz’s barley crop explains to him who Ruth is and her background. It seems like Ruth’s faithfulness and the kindness she showed to Naomi was already known by many in Bethlehem. Ruth had already attracted the attention of Boaz, but now with the story of how he treated the widow of his own family member he is very interested and going to talk to Ruth himself.
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.” (Ruth 2:8-9)
Now Boaz is showing the kindness to Ruth that she showed Naomi. Boaz is going beyond what he is required by law to provide. Boaz is going from law to grace. He is caring for her wellbeing and even letting her drink from their own water from their vessels.
Boaz falls for Ruth at first sight. There is something attractive about her. He is all the more attracted to Ruth in the unique way she stayed with Naomi and made the Israelite God her God. This is different to Samson’s attraction to Deliliah. That was a case were Samson was following beauty to the detriment of his own faithfulness and calling to God. Ruth must have been a beautiful young woman, but she is more attractive by her godly character. As the story unfolds, we see that Boaz is trusting God the way Ruth had trusted God.
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?” 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.” (Ruth 2:10-13)
Ruth cannot herself believe her good fortune after all that has happened. Ruth’s motive to showed kindness to Naomi and put her faith in the God of Israel was never because she was expecting to gain such favor. It was faith in God alone. In response to the kindness of Boaz Ruth fell on her face at the overwhelming favor she has found.
We need to follow the example of Ruth. We need to put our faith in God and follow him come what may. We follow God not for materiel gain or because there will be no storms in our life, but we follow God because he takes us through the storms. Whatever God has for us we need to be overwhelmed like Ruth when she responded by falling down with gratitude. God has shown kindness to us by providing our salvation. We should fall on our face in gratitude.
When there are storms in our life and God seems far away, He may be orchestrating wonderful things to come through our circumstances. He may be growing us to trust him more.
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. (Ruth 2:14-17)
Boaz had gone beyond the law and shown grace to Ruth. This is overflowing grace. They are leaving bundles of grain for her that would normally be harvested. Ruth was able to glean more than ten times the amount of grain that would have come by harvesting based on the laws of gleaning.
Ruth had a thanksgiving harvest meal with Boaz. He gave her roasted grain meal. He made provisions to protect her and to provide for her and Naomi. The Lord had led Ruth to this field in fulfillment of his ultimate plan of redemption. The grace of God is poured out on Ruth.
Ruth would be gathering grain at subsistence level, but now she is gathering an overflowing abundance portion. Something extraordinary is happening to Ruth. When she returns to Naomi, she confirms this. Ruth has been blessed through Boaz and ultimately through the provision of God.
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.” (Ruth 2:18-19)
When Naomi saw all that Ruth had received through gleaning she said, bless the man who took notice of Ruth”. It was the provision of God through the kindness of this man.
By law she could glean grain, but by grace Boaz goes way beyond the law. He provided 30 pounds of grain. Naomi, whose field were you in? Ruth told her who it was. It was Boaz.
The remaining two chapters are going to paint a beautiful picture of our redemption. Ruth is redeemed by her kinsman redeemer. For us the curse of sin is broken by the grace of God.
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.” 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. (Ruth 2:17-23)
God is working behind the scenes. Every circumstance in the life of Ruth and Naomi are working out for good. God is working in your life. We need to see it. We can feel sometimes like our lives have gone from pleasant and bitter and we do not realize how God is using our situation, even the difficulties, to his glory.
God is using the unlikely. Paul said in Romans 5:20 where sin increased grace increased all the more. Ruth was a Moabite cursed to the tenth generation. Where the Moabite curse increased, grace increased all the more. Ruth changed history. Ruth has a Bible book named after her. Ruth is in the Genealogy of Jesus.
What is happening in your life? Are you unlikely to be used mightily by God? Do you know that God uses the unlikely? Are you able to see that God is guiding everything to His glory in your life?
