Ruth 2:1-13 New American Standard Bible 1995
Ruth Gleans in Boaz’ Field
2 Now Naomi had [a]a kinsman of her husband, a [b]man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and [c]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was [d]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 The servant [e] in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “[f]Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the [g]water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. 12 May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken [h]kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
How Well are we ready to Recognize God at Work?
Ruth 2:2 New American Standard Bible 1995
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
When you don’t have food, you search for it.
Ruth is going to glean the fields to find leftover grain, and God is also at work—not only to help her discover and find leftovers but to give a harvest of blessing.
Boaz is a distant relative to Naomi—and much more.
God is about to use an ordinary person for his extraordinary purposes again.
Through the kindness of Boaz, Ruth is allowed to glean until the harvest is finished. This journey is marked by the vast generosity and hospitality Boaz demonstrates in his work life and by the way he runs his farming business.
Today many of us will return to work after a weekend.
Whether we are running a business, work at an office, job site, factory, school, or elsewhere, we will enter into the world of others as we get back to work. How we supervise, do our work, will affect how others see the God we claim to serve.
Sadly, the praise we give God on Sunday can be blemished by our words and our actions on Monday through Friday. By the example set by Boaz, A true hero of the faith is called, summoned by our God to be faithful every day of the week.
A life of consistency of character is a sacrificial life that God can use to model and shape and mentor another person’s life and faith in God for all eternity.
God used Boaz and Ruth to eventually be the great-grandfather of King David.
And this means that Ruth—a Moabite outsider—became part of the family line of Jesus. (See Ruth 4:16-22; Matthew 1.)
Ruth 4:16-22 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Line of David Began Here
16 Then Naomi took the child [a]and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the generations of Perez: to Perez [b]was born Hezron, 19 and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, 20 and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon, 21 and to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, 22 and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David.
All this took place because the author of Ruth had recognized God was at work.
Do We Recognize The Tapestry of God’s Providence?
Ruth 2:2-4 New American Standard Bible 1995
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and [a]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”
What often appears to us to be an unworkable tangled mess of knots is just the back view of the tapestry God is busy weaving.
Naomi and Ruth had experienced their share of frayed threads in life.
They arrived in Israel widowed and penniless—a perilous position for women in a lawless society (see Judges 21:25).
In Leviticus 23:22 , the law allowed for the poor to enter the fields and pick up (glean) leftover grain as they followed the steps of the official harvesters. This law was established by God Himself and revealed His care and concern for the needy. But God’s law was not always—and not often—observed in this period.
Leviticus 23:22 New American Standard Bible 1995
22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the Lord your God.’”
Yet when Ruth resolved to go into the fields, through Boaz’s generosity, God worked through this law to abundantly, tangibly, provide for her and Naomi.
Ruth’s seemingly mundane moment of decision became an illustration of God’s providential plan for the two women—and for all of redemptive history!
Ruth ended up gleaning on the land of Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi’s deceased husband and a man of means and high standing.
Ancient Israelites clearly understood the family to be the basic unit of society, with members of the wider extended family having obligations to support and protect relatives who were struggling like Naomi.
All of this gives us the clearest hints at God’s hand in providing generously for Ruth and Naomi, even in ways that would seem unremarkable at first glance.
In fact, as we read Ruth’s story, we notice that many of its details unfold as if by accident.
Ruth happened to decide to glean that day.
Naomi happened to encourage it.
Boaz happened to pick that time to harvest his field.
Ruth happened to pick his field.
But when we carefully and studiously look at the story as a whole, we can see all of these happenings were the timed, precise, instruments of God’s providential care in unfolding His purpose of redemption.
After all, out of Boaz and Ruth’s lineage would soon come King David and, eventually, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself—a greater provider and protector who also “came from Bethlehem.”
As God carefully and precisely wove these threads into His beautiful story of provision, Ruth and Naomi surely would have thought they looked knotted, hopelessly tangled, disconnected, cut off, and so irreparably frayed at times.
Satan often wants us to stay focused on such seemingly jumbled, discouraging circumstances, leading us to an attitude doubting God and His good provision.
We so easily and casually forget that what appears to be an unrecoverable mess is just the back view of the tapestry God is busy weaving in all our backgrounds.
One day, though, when we get the chance to see His handiwork from the front, all of those strange, dark threads will prove to be part of His glorious pattern.
Today, as your life and workdays unfold, and even unravels, do remember that “coincidences” are no such thing, that all our uncertainties and difficulties are opportunities to trust in God, and that behind all of them He is weaving out His plans to prosper His people in faith and godliness, and to bring them all home.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear God, may I be a witness for you in all my words and deeds. And may I realize your providence, that you weave, use events in time to affect eternity. In Jesus, Amen.
Psalm 16 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.
A [a]Mikhtam of David.
16 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
3 As for the [d]saints who are in the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The [f]sorrows of those who have [g]bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my [h]mind instructs me in the night.
8 I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to [i]Sheol;
Nor will You [j]allow Your [k]Holy One to [l]undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 