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1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 Then she left, 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 family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you! And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!” ~ Ruth 2:1-4
Today, we return to our study of the book of Ruth where in our last study Naomi and Ruth had returned to Bethlehem the home town of Naomi. And, you will remember that when they arrived, it was the time of the barley harvest. When we have walked with the Lord long enough, we begin to recognize His faithfulness more and more. I have also noticed that often God holds off the arrival of His faithfulness in our lives so that the circumstances make it clear that it is He who was providing for our needs. This is the case here in Ruth 2.
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, 'Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.' And she said to her, 'Go, my daughter.'"
In Ruth 1 there was a famine in the land that drove this family to Moab. In Ruth 2 there was a family member who owned grain fields that were accessible to Ruth and Naomi. One of the provisions of the Old Testament law was that, during the harvest, poor people could glean. What that really meant was they could go behind the harvesters and pick up what the harvesters dropped or what the harvest didn’t cut. What fell off the wagon, they could pick up. And Ruth agreed to go gleaning in the field. Our transition into the second chapter of Ruth provides for us an example of how God uses all things together for the good of the believer in Him.
Humility positioned Ruth to be willing to go to Boaz' field to glean the grain. Ruth had lost her husband and her father-in-law. She also made the long arduous journey to Bethlehem from Moab. She was in a very foreign place. And she was untainted by it all. Due to her faith in the God of the Bible, she was not beaten down by the harsh circumstances of her life. She had every reason to be bitter, but she was not.
Self-sacrifice born from a humble heart is explicitly linked to following God. The Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:24-25 said, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." If we are desirous of finding our best life by follow the Lord, we must leave the "self-life" at the door. It is the self that inhibits the growth of humility in our souls.
Naomi offered Ruth a chance to have a life. Ruth’s husband, Naomi’s son, had died and left her childless. In that society, Ruth would be pretty much bottom of the food chain. Without a husband, there wasn’t much she could do to fend for herself. The best option to fix her own position would be to marry someone else. However, Ruth chooses to remain with Naomi and go to Naomi’s homeland. Ruth was a Moabite, and Naomi is an Israelite, so by going to Israel, Ruth further steps away from any life of ease.
In v.3-4 of today's passage we read, "3 Then she left, 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 family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, 'The Lord be with you!' And they answered him, 'The Lord bless you!'"
This is where Boaz enters the narrative and doubting Naomi will see the grace of God like she has never seen it. It is obvious from his greeting to his workers that Boaz was God-hearted and he was generous. This, I am sure, encouraged the faith of Ruth. Here, we see a course of seemingly normal events. A girl gleaning on the edges of a field. A man coming from the city to check on his work. A harvest in full force. It’s in everyday life that God does most of His work. It was true for Naomi and Ruth, and it’s true for you and me. God is always doing 10,000 things in our lives and we might see only a few. We might feel His absence, but He is ever-present. It is often His apparent absence in our lives that His presence is pronounced. We might wonder if He cares, but He is always at work in our lives to bring about good even out of the bad.
Naomi, on the other hand, held on to her bitterness that she had misplaced upon God. Her circumstances shouted to her that God was not aware and that He did not care about her. But there were whispers of grace rumbling in the background of her story. Naomi allowed herself to be consumed by her poor theology, and as a result, she had lost her ability to see the heart of God.
Following God is not always like walking a straight line upward and forward. Sometimes our circumstances push us way down low. But the low place is where we find our Him. He was born in a manger. He had no place to lay His head. He died condemned on a cross alone. But He is called the King of Glory. In God’s economy, the low place is the high place. The story of Ruth reaffirms that truth. It makes sense. Jesus came from this lowly woman—this poor outsider is the ancestral mother of the King.
In v.3 we read the words, "she happened to come." The Hebrew literally reads, "her chance chanced." She "chanced upon chance" to the field that this godly man named Boaz owned. What a coincidence! Here is a widowed foreigner who just so happens to come to the part of this big field owned by someone who understood the heart of God and His word. He knew that God’s law allowed for poor people and foreigners to glean from the fields by restricting landowners from scraping out every possible grain. The edges were to be left for the hungry according to Leviticus 19:9-10 which reads, "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God."
This was not coincidence. This was the sovereignty of God. And, when Ruth decided that God would define her life, she was positioned to be blessed like this. The greatest part of this story is that Ruth and Naomi were being given by God a story with Him that they could tell their children and grandchildren for years to come. So, the next time you are faced with an impossible situation, look to God and trust Him. Ask Him to work in your situation. You will be amazed at what He will do. Only those who look to Him see His handiwork in their lives, especially in the impossible situations that only He can remedy.
