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20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” 21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay 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, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law. ~ Ruth 2:20-23
Today, we conclude our study of Ruth 2 where the Lord has taken a difficult story of a woman named Naomi who lost her husband and sons to death and turned it into a tapestry. As the story has moved along, we now have seen the Lord lead one of the daughters-in-law of Naomi, Ruth, to a field owned by a man named Boaz who out of no where has shown the twenty-five year old Ruth, much favor. The faith of this young lady had made it possible for her to realize God's leading in her life to the point of experiencing many little miracles. As a result, her faith has impacted Naomi, her mother-in-law in such a way that she has turned from being a person who was bitter toward God to a person who is now grateful before Him. I find it very instructive that according to Romans 1, sinful man's departure from the Lord began with his inability to be grateful to Him.
In v.20-21 of today's passage we read, "20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, 'Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!' And Naomi said to her, 'This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.' 21 Ruth the Moabitess said, 'He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.'"
As we saw in our last study, Boaz, the owner of the field where Ruth had been led by the Lord, told his men to deliberately leave grain behind during their harvesting so that Ruth would have plenty of grain to carry home to her mother-in-law. By the time her day of working was done, Ruth had gathered somewhere between around 30-50 pounds of grain which was enough to feed both she and Naomi for at least five days!
When Ruth got home, Naomi saw her grain haul and arrived at the idea that God had not forsaken her. We all struggle like Naomi, thinking that when we do bad things that God is upset with us. It is at this point that we conclude that He is not there or He is mad at us. This is the product of faulty theology. Since the Lord Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not and He died the death that we could not, the Father looks at all believers in the Lord Jesus through the lens of the Lord Jesus. In the Father's mind we are perfect through His Son. Therefore, everything He does or allows in our lives is the best for us. We must simply trust this to be the case and live our lives accordingly.
In today's passage, Naomi referred to the Lord’s kindness. Using the Hebrew word "hesed" which is the Old Testament word for grace. Naomi's theology was improving. She acknowledged that God used Boaz’ generosity to remind her of His faithfulness. For the first time in a long time, the heart of Naomi began to be softened toward God. Naomi realized, in that moment, that God had done all this through a close relative who fit the bill of a "kinsman redeemer." God had, in the Old Testament, ordered that the "kinsman redeemer" was to be a close relative who was to "redeem" or "to buy back" his relatives if they fell into debt and had to sell themselves as payment for their debt. According to Deuteronomy 25, the "kinsman redeemer" was also instructed to marry the widow and raise up a child for the brother who had died childless. In this way, the family line and inheritance would continue to be associated with the name of the man who had died.
Even though Boaz was not a brother of either Mahlon or Chileon, it is clear by Boaz’ generosity that he was the kind of man who had the heart of God for the needy. His heart had been touched by God’s "hesed" and he merely treated Ruth and Naomi as he had been graciously treated by God. It’s also clear as this story unfolds that the reference to Boaz as a Kinsman Redeemer is meant to point us to The Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Naomi’s discovery wasn’t just it was Boaz who sought the outcast, and sheltered the weak, and served the hungry, and showered his grace on the needy, it was God is the overall point being made.
In Luke 19:10 we read, "Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost." He came reminding us of the words that He had given Isaiah in Isaiah 59:2 which reads, "Your sins have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." And yet, in Romans 5:8 we read that even "while we were sinners, Christ died for us," making it possible for us to be reconciled to God through the death of His Son on the cross.
Accentuated in v.21 are these words: Ruth the Moabitess. The writer of Ruth did this in order to reinforce the lengths to which the Lord went to save us. Ruth was yet again being shown to have a heritage which began in incest and did not measure up before God. This is the story that we all share for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We have no idea how far reaching the degradation of sin has corrupted us. And, if we view those who are the product of incest as less than we are, our theology needs correction. As I am, you are the worst sinner. We all are and that should create the greatest amount of gratitude toward God and humility toward others in our souls.
In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, 'It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.' 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law."
The concept of the "kinsman redeemer" has come to the forefront of the story. Naomi charged Ruth to stay close to the young women, implying that maybe a relationship could come out of this between Ruth and Boaz. We do not always know the leading of the Lord before we realize His will in our lives, but here in today's passage a principle pertaining to knowing the will of God is demonstrated by Ruth. As has been the case throughout this book Ruth, Ruth's trust in God was demonstrated as she submitted to the authority structure in her life.
The God of the Bible is, as Creator of all things, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. He has all power and all authority, and He entrusts roles of leadership and responsibility to individuals in the family, the body of Christ, the workplace, and the government. In Romans 13 we read, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."
Human authorities are accountable to God for how they exercise their authority. They are responsible to provide protection and direction for those under their care, to lawfully punish those who do wrong, and to praise those who do well. Those under authority are accountable to God for their responses to authority. Since God has placed authorities over each of us, we honor Him and His own authority as we submit to those He has placed over us. And, it is through the authority structures in our lives that God reveals His will for our lives to us.
