Ruth Gleans in the Fields

Poor and far from home. Ruth was a widow from Moab. In Bethlehem she had no husband, no field and no money. She was a stranger in a new land. Ruth asked to work. She said, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor” (2:2). To glean means to pick up the grain the harvesters leave behind. God made room for her. God told Israel to leave some of every harvest “for the poor and the stranger” (Leviticus 19:10). Ruth was both. God had already planned a way to feed her. Humble and hard-working. Ruth did not demand anything. She asked, and then she worked all day long. She happened to come. “And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz” (2:3). To Ruth it looked like chance. But God was guiding her steps. God directs your paths. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). What this means for you. God is at work on ordinary days. When you trust Him and do the next right thing, He leads you, even when you cannot see it yet.

A man of worth (2:1). Boaz is “a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech.” The Hebrew phrase is gibbor chayil (say: gib-BOR KHAH-yil), a man of strength and worth. Boaz was wealthy, but he was also a man of strong character. Family matters (2:1, 3). Boaz belonged to Elimelech's family, and that matters. In Israel a close relative had the duty to help a family that had lost its land: “If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold” (Leviticus 25:25). Ruth the Moabitess (2:2). Ruth is called “Ruth the Moabitess,” and she knew she was an outsider. She asked to glean “after him in whose sight I may find favor.” Favor is chen (say: KHEN), grace that is given, not earned. “She happened to come” (2:3). In Hebrew the phrase reads, her chance happened upon the field. From Ruth's side it was chance. From God's side it was His plan. In Ruth's story God works through ordinary choices, laws and harvests, not loud miracles. All things together. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Application. Faith often looks like ordinary faithfulness: taking the next humble step, working hard and trusting God with what you cannot control.

Ruth and Naomi were very poor. They had no food saved up. Ruth did not sit and wait for help. She asked if she could go and pick up grain. Ruth was willing to do hard and humble work. She hoped someone would be kind to her. The field “just so happened” to belong to Boaz. It was not luck. God was quietly leading Ruth's steps. God cares about the small things in your day too. He knows where you go and what you need. You can trust Him to lead you.

Ruth went out to find food. God led her to the right field. God was taking care of her. God takes care of you too.

A godly greeting. Boaz greeted his reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!” (2:4). His faith showed up at work, not only at worship. A boss who cared. Workers who bless their boss usually have a good boss. Boaz treated the people who worked for him with respect. He noticed her. Boaz asked, “Whose young woman is this?” (2:5). Many people would have walked right past a poor stranger at the edge of the field. Boaz noticed. A good report. The servant said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab” (2:6). People in town already knew how loyal Ruth had been to Naomi. Faithful in small things. She “has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house” (2:7). Ruth did humble work with all her heart. Work for the Lord. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). A picture of Jesus. Many Christians see Boaz as a picture of Jesus. Jesus notices the people everyone else overlooks. What this means for you. Let your faith show in how you work and how you treat people. And remember that Jesus sees you.

The house of bread (2:4). Boaz “came from Bethlehem.” Bethlehem (say: BETH-leh-hem) means house of bread. In chapter 1 a famine drove Elimelech's family away. Now the house of bread has bread again. Jesus, the Bread of life, would be born in this same town (Luke 2:4-7). Faith in dark days (2:4). Ruth's story happened when the judges ruled. Those were days when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Yet in Boaz's field God's name was spoken every morning. “Whose young woman is this?” (2:5). In that culture a woman was known by the family she belonged to. Ruth seemed to belong to nobody. By the end of the book she will belong to Boaz's own house. The servant's report (2:6-7). He calls her “the young Moabite woman” and stresses that she came back with Naomi. Her loyalty in 1:16-17 was already known. Her request was humble: she asked before she gleaned “among the sheaves.” Seen by God. “For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God saw Ruth's faithful heart long before Boaz did. Work as worship. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). Ordinary work done for the Lord honors Him. Application. A Christian's faith belongs in the field, the classroom and the team, not just in church. Speak well of God and treat people well where you are.

Boaz was the boss of the big field. He did not come out shouting orders. He said, “The Lord be with you!” His workers said, “May the Lord bless you!” Boaz and his workers loved God together. Boaz also noticed people. He saw a young woman he did not know. He wanted to know who she was. His helper said Ruth had worked hard all morning. She had stopped only a few moments to rest. Ruth was faithful in a small and humble job. God sees when you work hard, even when nobody else does.

Boaz loved God. He was kind to his workers. Ruth worked very hard. We can work hard for God too.

Stay close. Boaz said, “Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women” (2:8). Kept safe. “Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you?” (2:9). A poor foreign woman alone in the fields could easily be hurt. Boaz made sure she was safe. Water for the thirsty. She could drink “from what the young men have drawn” (2:9). The stranger was served like one of his own workers. Why me? Ruth bowed to the ground and asked, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” (2:10). Favor is kindness that is given, not earned. That is grace. Her story was known. Boaz had heard how she left her father and mother and “the land of your birth” to care for Naomi (2:11). Under His wings. Boaz prayed, “The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge” (2:12). Refuge means a safe place to hide. The memory verse. “Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 36:7). What this means for you. God is not a hard master. He is a safe shelter. You can run to Him the way a chick runs under its mother's wings.

Grace beyond the rule (2:8-9). The law let Ruth glean. Boaz gave her far more: a place beside his own young women, protection from the men and water his servants had drawn. Grace does not stop at the minimum. Noticed (2:10). In Hebrew, “take notice of me” is nakar (say: nah-KAR), and “foreigner” is nokriyah (say: nok-ree-YAH). The two words sound alike. Ruth is amazed that the outsider has been seen and welcomed. A walk of faith (2:11). Ruth left her father, her mother and the land of her birth for a people she did not know. Abraham made the same kind of journey when God called him out of his homeland (Genesis 12:1). Wings (2:12). The Hebrew word is kanaf (say: kah-NAHF), wing. The picture is a mother bird covering her young. “He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge” (Psalm 91:4). Jesus used the same picture: “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37). Spoken to the heart (2:13). Ruth said, “You have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant.” In Hebrew, he spoke to her heart. Kind words from a powerful man gave a lonely widow hope. A prayer God answered. Boaz asked the Lord to reward Ruth. In time God answered that prayer through Boaz himself (4:13). Application. To take refuge in God means to stop trusting yourself and to hide in Him. Psalm 36:7 calls His lovingkindness “precious.”

Boaz was very kind to Ruth. He told her to stay in his own field. He told the young men not to bother her. Boaz made sure nobody would hurt her. He let her drink from his water jugs. Ruth bowed down low. She said, “I am a stranger.” She knew she did not deserve this kindness. That is what grace means. Grace is kindness we do not earn. Boaz said Ruth had come to God for safety. She was like a little bird under its mother's wings. God loves to cover His children like that. You can always run to Him.

Boaz was kind to Ruth. He kept her safe. God keeps us safe like a mother bird. We can run to Him.

A seat at the table. Boaz said, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar” (2:14). The foreigner was invited to eat with his workers. More than enough. “She ate and was satisfied, and kept some back” (2:14). Boaz gave so much that Ruth had food to take home. On purpose. “Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her” (2:16). Boaz made Ruth's work fruitful in secret, and he guarded her from shame: “do not rebuke her.” A big harvest. By evening Ruth had “about an ephah of barley” (2:17). That was about half a bushel, far more than one day of gleaning usually brought. Hope wakes up. Naomi said, “Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” (2:20). Naomi had felt that the Lord was against her (1:21). Now she saw His kindness again. A close relative. “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives” (2:20). A close relative could buy back a family's land and protect its widows. The next lessons show what Boaz will do. Safe all season. Ruth stayed with his young women “until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest” (2:23). What this means for you. God does not hand His children scraps. “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16).

At the owner's table (2:14). Boaz himself passed Ruth the parched grain. The outsider eats with the household. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Satisfied (2:14, 18). Ruth ate her fill and saved the rest for Naomi. The woman who came home “empty” in chapter 1 now has more than enough. Beyond the law (2:15-16). Leviticus 19:9-10 required farmers to leave the corners and the gleanings. Boaz had his men pull stalks out of the bundles on purpose, and he protected Ruth's dignity: “do not reproach her… do not rebuke her.” An ephah (2:17). An ephah was roughly half a bushel of grain, a huge amount for one day of gleaning. Boaz's grace showed up in the result. Hesed (2:20). Naomi blessed the Lord, “who has not forsaken His kindness.” The Hebrew word is hesed (say: HEH-sed), loyal, faithful love that keeps showing up. It is the same loyal love Ruth showed Naomi, and the love God shows His people. Goel (2:20). “One of our close relatives” translates goel (say: go-AYL), a family redeemer. A goel could buy back land, rescue a relative from debt and carry on a dead man's name. Boaz is a goel, and he has already begun to act like one. Application. Hesed is God's heart toward you in Christ: loyal, generous love that does not run out.

At lunch Boaz invited Ruth to eat with his workers. She ate until she was full. She even had food left over for Naomi. Then Boaz told his workers to drop extra grain. They did it on purpose for Ruth! Boaz gave much more than God's law asked. Ruth went home with a big load of barley. Naomi was amazed. She praised God for being kind to them. Boaz was a close relative who could help their family. Naomi's sad heart began to hope again. God is generous to people who trust Him. Jesus gives us even more than Boaz gave Ruth.

Boaz gave Ruth more than enough. Naomi had hope again. God gives us more than we need. Jesus is His best gift!