The Law of Gleaning — How God Cared for the Poor

Leave Some for the Poor

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Ruth did not beg and she did not steal. She gleaned. Gleaning was God's own plan for feeding hungry people in Israel.

The law. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest” (Leviticus 19:9).

What gleanings are. Gleanings are the stalks of grain that fall or get missed when the harvesters cut and tie the bundles.

Vineyards too. “And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:10).

The forgotten bundle. “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow” (Deuteronomy 24:19).

Who it was for. The poor, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. These were the people with no land and no one to provide for them.

Ruth fit twice. Ruth was a widow, and she was a stranger from Moab. God's law had a place for her before she ever came to Bethlehem.

Why God cared. God reminded Israel, “Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19). They knew what it felt like to be poor and far from home.

God watches over them. “The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow” (Psalm 146:9).

Love them like yourself. “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34). Strangers were not to be pushed to the edge.

Work, not shame. Gleaners worked for their food. The law gave poor people a way to provide for themselves with honor.

Jesus in a grain field. Jesus' disciples once picked heads of grain as they walked through a field (Mark 2:23). God's law let a hungry traveler pick a little by hand. Mercy was built into Israel's farming.

Farmers trusted God. Leaving grain behind meant less to sell. Farmers who obeyed were trusting God to provide for them too.

A promise of blessing. God said He would bless the farmer “in all the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 24:19).

What we learn. God's heart is tender toward the poor and the lonely. His laws showed His people how to share His care.

The gleaning laws come from Leviticus 19, 23 and Deuteronomy 24. They turned Israel's harvest into a way of caring for the weakest people in the land.

Three kinds of leftovers. Farmers left the corners of the field unreaped, left the stalks that fell during reaping, and left any sheaf they forgot (Leviticus 19:9; Deuteronomy 24:19). Olive trees and vineyards were treated the same way.

Gleanings. The Hebrew word for gleanings is leqet (say: LEH-ket), what is picked up after the harvest. Ruth gleaned from morning until evening (Ruth 2:7, 17).

The corner. The unreaped edge of the field is peah (say: pay-AH). Leviticus 23:22 repeats the command in the middle of the harvest feasts, so worship and caring for the poor belonged together.

The four groups. The poor, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow were the people without land or a male protector in Israel's farming world. God names them again and again.

The reason. “I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:10). The law flows from God's own character. Israel had been strangers in Egypt, and God rescued them (Leviticus 19:34).

Dignity built in. The gleaning law was not a handout. The poor did the work of gathering, and the landowner did the work of leaving. Both obeyed God.

Trust built in. A farmer who left his corners was trusting God for his future. Deuteronomy 24:19 promises blessing “in all the work of your hands.”

Grain by the road. Deuteronomy 23:25 let a hungry traveler pluck heads of grain by hand from a neighbor's field, though not with a sickle. That is what Jesus' disciples did in Mark 2:23. God's law built mercy into ordinary farming.

When the law was ignored. Later, when Israel neglected the widow and the stranger, prophets such as Isaiah and Amos rebuked the nation. Ignoring the poor was treated as a sin against God Himself.

Kept or broken. In the days of the judges many ignored God's law. Boaz kept it, and his field became the place where God provided for Ruth.

Psalm 146:9. “The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow.” God does not only command care for the poor. He Himself is their defender.

Application. God still cares about the poor, the lonely and the foreigner. When God's people share, they show the world what He is like.

A Generous Heart Like God's

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Boaz obeyed the gleaning law, and then he went further. His generous heart shows us something about God's heart, and about the heart Jesus gives His people.

Beyond the rule. Boaz told his men, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her” (Ruth 2:15). That was more than the law required.

On purpose. “Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her” (2:16). Boaz did not give the least he could. He gave on purpose.

The result. Ruth gathered “about an ephah of barley” in one day (2:17). Generosity changed what she could take home to Naomi.

God is the most generous. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

We are the poor. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Poor in spirit means knowing we have nothing to bring God but our need.

Grace, not wages. Ruth could not earn a place in Boaz's family. We cannot earn heaven. Jesus died for our sins and rose again so we could receive it as a gift.

Good news for the poor. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18). The gospel is good news for people who come with nothing.

Giving with joy. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Giving to Jesus. Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

Love in action. “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

God will provide. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Generous people can trust God for tomorrow.

Content, not grabbing. “Now godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). People who are content with what God gives find it easier to share.

Leave a corner. You may not own a field, but you can leave a corner. Share your snack, include the new kid, give part of your allowance, or help someone carry a heavy load.

What to do. This week, plan one generous act on purpose, just like Boaz. Do it cheerfully, and do it for Jesus.

The law set a minimum. Boaz showed what love does when it goes past the minimum. His generosity points to the even greater generosity of God in Christ.

Among the sheaves (2:15). Gleaners normally worked only where the reapers had finished. Boaz let Ruth glean among the bundles themselves, closer to the best grain.

On purpose (2:16). The command to pull out stalks “purposely” means Ruth's large harvest was not luck. It was a gift she did not know about.

Hidden generosity. Ruth did not see the dropped stalks as gifts. She simply found more grain. Jesus taught that our giving should not be for show (Matthew 6:3-4).

Rich became poor. 2 Corinthians 8:9 describes the gospel as an exchange. Christ gave up the riches of heaven, became poor, and died for our sins, so that we could share His riches. He rose again, and His grace still flows.

Poor in spirit. Matthew 5:3 calls people blessed who know they are spiritually bankrupt. Like Ruth in the field, they come empty-handed and are filled.

Good news to the poor. At Nazareth Jesus read Isaiah 61 and said He was anointed “To preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18). The Messiah's work begins with people who have nothing to offer.

The church shares. The first Christians shared their goods so that no one among them was in need (Acts 4:34), and the apostles chose helpers to care for widows (Acts 6:1-3). The gleaning heart carried on in the church.

Cheerful giving. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 the Greek word for cheerful is hilaros (say: HIL-ah-ross). God loves a giver who gives gladly, not grudgingly.

The least of these. In Matthew 25:40 Jesus treats kindness to His needy brothers and sisters as kindness to Himself. Generosity becomes a way of loving Jesus.

Love that acts. 1 John 3:16-18 grounds our giving in the cross: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.” Real love shows up in deed and in truth.

Contentment. “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:6-7). A content heart is a free heart, ready to give.

Bearing burdens. “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Christian generosity includes time, attention and help, not only money.

Application. Look for your field: your lunch, your time, your skills, your friendships. Leave a corner on purpose for someone in need, and give it gladly as worship.

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