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14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.” ~ Ruth 2:14-16
Today, we return to our study of Ruth which has three main characters which are all single and not married. This wonderful four chaptered story of Ruth expands our understanding and our appreciation of the astonishing grace of God. As we rejoin Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz, our vision of Boaz as a type of the Lord Jesus will increase. The more He increases in our lives the more our faulty understanding of Him decreases.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, 'Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.' So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back."
Ruth, a young lady of about twenty-five years old who grew up in the projects of Moab. She was granted a seat at the table with those who were from the other side of the tracks. Perhaps, Ruth thought to herself things like, "Which fork should I use with the salad?" and "When should I eat my dessert?" Not exactly, but I'm sure you get the idea; she did not belong there.
Since Ruth had entered into a personal relationship with God, she was gradually learning that God was known to take her into context where she knew she did not belong. The seat that Ruth was given at this meal was a spot that I am sure she had never anticipated she would have experienced. This is the way it is with the Lord. He takes believers of all stripes and plops us down in the most unexpected places. I have always taught my sons to act like they belong because we do not know where the Lord will lead them. Of course, He does this in order to further His kingdom in the lives of others through us as we share the gospel with them.
Perhaps Ruth thought to herself that she should not say too much since she had received her education from the rural province of Moab. But, God placed her where she was in order to further His kingdom in the hearts of those to whom she had been given relationship. I can imagine that Ruth felt most comfortable talking about things that she was most familiar with. And, this is just the way the Lord works. I have discovered that we can appear to belong even when we do not only if we enter into the conversations that are being had at points where we know something about the subject matter. All the while our motive is to somehow factor in on what God is doing in the context.
Notice after Ruth had eaten and was satisfied she stuffed some of the food away in order to take it home to her mother-in-law, Naomi who was as needy as Ruth. When we walk with the Lord and we have experienced His grace for ourselves, we will want to share His graciousness with others. It is the grace of God that causes us to go further in our walk with Him. And, the further we go in, the greater we will see His heart and the more He gives us His heart. Many miss a deepening walk with the Lord because they were unwilling to go to Bethlehem with Naomi. This is what Ruth is doing here; she was looking out for Naomi.
One of the truly fascinating developments in the story of Ruth is how Ruth draws closer and closer to Boaz throughout the book. It begins with Ruth in Moab and Boaz in Bethlehem. Then Ruth moved to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Then Ruth moved to the field of Boaz. Then Boaz saw Ruth and inquired about her. Then Boaz addressed Ruth, telling her not to leave his field but to stay near his women where she could continue to glean the grain that was dropped intentionally. This gradual but consistent diminishment of distance continues in today's passage as Boaz invites Ruth to share in their meal. This is a picture of our walk with the Lord.
In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, 'Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.'"
Ruth's distance from Boaz decreased as the blessings she received increased. Boaz, as we saw in the first half of this chapter, had already blessed her by acknowledging her, granting her a degree of status, and offering her protection. In the second half of the chapter, the blessings increase to a degree that can only be described as lavish. Here, Boaz invited Ruth to sit closer, he passed her roasted grain, he personally told his young men to let her glean not only where grain had been left behind but also "among the sheaves." He actually told his young men to pull stalks from the bundles and drop them for her to gather, and he personally forbade the young men to not harass or harm her.
This is a picture of Boaz’ growing affection for Naomi, and, it pictures the Lord's love for you and me. The blessings increase as the distance decreases. There have been times when I have complained that I am not being blessed of the Lord only to realize that we see His blessings best through the lens of our troubles. This, of course, was Ruth's secret. Our trials have as their design the role of pushing us closer to the Lord. As we simply seek the Lord in prayer and we read and immerse ourselves in His word, we will see Him more and more vividly. The heart that sees God best is the heart that seeks Him most.
The Lord Jesus obliterated all distance between us and God by going to the cross, yet we still try to keep Him at arm’s length. The closer we draw to Him, the more we are able to see and understand and receive and celebrate the amazing blessings He gives us. We are Ruth. We are the recipients of an embarrassing amount of God's grace! The Lord has opened the treasury to us in His Son and He daily gives us stunning amounts of love, grace, mercy, peace, hope, and joy! This is what enabled Ruth to live as she did, and, this is the only way to truly navigate in this dark world that we live in. His blessings increase as the distance decreases.
