Ruth 2

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:34:05utc

3. The Harvest (2:1-23)

It is interesting to see how the author begins this new part of the story with the punch line. Boaz is the key to all that follows. But Ruth has no idea who he is and Naomi has probably not even thought of him. Part of her attitude of bitterness was probably that she had not even considered the question of redemption of what was rightfully hers. Why would she claim anything? There was no offspring to inherit and a marriage for Ruth was not in the picture. That is why this chapter starts with a note of hope in the midst of hopelessness.

There is also an indication in this that the Lord is at work. But the appearance is that things just happen by coincidence. But it is not so that God just throws everything into Ruth's lap, while she sits at home in idleness. Prompted by the need for food, Ruth suggests that she take advantage of the law that permits poor people to glean ears in the field at harvest time. Lev 23:22 states: "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. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God." Probably the custom was the same in Moab, or Ruth must have been aware of the Mosaic law. We don't know why Naomi had not set out to do some gleaning on her own. The lack of food applied to both. Naomi appears to be old in this story, but it is unlikely that she would have been more than in her middle forties. Probably shame played an important part in her attitude. Here she was, previous proprietor of land and cattle, behaving like a destitute. But Ruth has no such feelings. She has no reputation to loose in Bethlehem. The situation brings out the best in her. Later Boaz' laborers testify: "she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, without resting even for a moment." (ch.2:7)(RSV). There is no text in the Bible that says "God helps those that help themselves", but it is true that lazy people miss out on a lot of the grace of the Lord. Ruth caught the blessing, because she was where God wanted her to be.

It also shows that for a Christian there is no labor that is beneath him.I remember the beautiful illustration by Gordon Wishart about the pastor at a retreat where chores were divided up among the participants. He considered himself too important to accept the job of cleaning 'swivel buckets' (part of the septic system). But during one of the meetings the Lord convicted him of his pride. He came to the altar, crying: "I will empty the swill buckets, I will empty the swill buckets!" Of course the best example is found in the humility of our Lord Jesus Christ. "He humbled himself and became obedient to death; even death on a cross!" (Phil.2:7). After washing the disciples feet, we read: "When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" He asked them. "You call me `Teacher' and `Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet."" (John 13:12-14)

Ruth did not consider the work of gleaning ears to be beneath her. By coincidence she finds herself in the field of Boaz. Looking back upon my life, I am amazed to see how major turning points looked like insignificant coincidences at the moment I lived through them. Very rarely does the Lord let us see angels or hear voices from heaven to guide us. If we are obedient, He simply leads us along the way of every day happenings. If Ruth would have made a turn to the left, instead of to the right, or the other way around, she would never have met Boaz, would never have married him, David would not have been born and the Messiah would not have been the Son of David. It proves how dangerous life is, unless we follow the advice in Prov 3:5,6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Life is determined by little choices, or at least by choices that seem to be little to us.

Enter Boaz. No details are given about him. Evidently he was not too young anymore. At least that is what we deduct from ch.3:10 where Boaz says: "You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor." He may have been in his forties, but we do not know. Most likely he was married. It would have been improbable for a rich landowner to stay single so long. He could be a widower. We will have to look at the problem of Ruth probably being his second wife, when we get to the marriage.

Boaz is immediately impressed by Ruth. The testimony of his foreman has no doubt contributed to that, but it is obvious that he liked the girl from the very beginning, as he gives specific instructions to his laborer as to how she has to be treated. He specifically asks her not to go to someone else's field, but to stay in his. He tells her about the instructions he has given to the laborers not to 'touch' her and he offers the refreshments to her that are there for the crew.

This gives us some insight into what kind of people were working on the field. The NIV says: "I have told the men not to touch you." The KJV preserves the typical Hebrew construction: "have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee?" The RSV puts it much more realistically and probably closer to the truth, by saying: "Have I not charged the young men not to molest you?" The book of Judges paints us some rough scenes of how men treated women. And the preservation of Ruth's purity, even in the harvest field with people all around, was no forgone conclusion. Sexual harassment is no modern phenomena. Men may live in a dangerous world, the danger is much greater for women. The fact that the Mosaic law deals with rape, (Deut.22:23-29) evidently was not much of a deterrent in those days. Boaz's protection of Ruth is a perfect image of the protection God gives to those who go to Him to be protected against all attacks upon our person and our honor, both men and women.

Yet is does happen that Christian women are raped. An example is that of Carol Allen, an Alliance missionary in the Philippines, who was taken hostage in 1992 by Moslems. She gave a moving testimony during a seminar in Colorado Springs of the experience, in which she told how the Lord enabled her to forgive the man, even while he was doing it. Sometimes God lets us pass through experiences of that kind, the most humiliating of all, so that we get closer to the sufferings of Christ, who was dishonored to the highest degree, when He was crucified naked and mocked. But these experiences are exceptions. Generally speaking we can say, that God covers us, when we come to Him for protection. He does not expose us, except when there is no other way to victory.

So Ruth may not only glean to obtain food for Naomi and for herself, but she can also do it safely. Nobody is more amazed about this than Ruth herself. We read in vs.10 : "At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me; a foreigner?"" She did expect trouble and she was obviously aware of the danger when she suggested to Naomi to go and glean. In her own country the conditions would probably have been much worse. There were no God-fearing Boaz's to protect lonely girls. Also she expected prejudice and discrimination from the side of the Jews towards her, a Moabitess. Her humility is striking. Everybody around her has a high opinion of her, except she. She can only see herself as a foreigner, feeling out of place. She is not aware of the fact that she steals everybody's heart. Or maybe she knows and she had learned how to handle her feelings. She was probably a pretty girl. And as Shakespeare says: "If a woman is but young and fair, she has the gift to know it!" The indication of true spirituality in a Christian is that he is not aware of his holiness. As Oswald Chambers put it in Our Utmost for His Highest: "We want to be conscious saints and unconscious sinners; God makes us conscious sinners and unconscious saints."

Boaz admits that he was told more about Ruth than his foreman had told him. What this man said in vs.6,7 is only a fraction of what Boaz says here. Evidently the word about Ruth had travelled all through Bethlehem and Boaz knew everything about her before she was pointed out to him. The source of all this information must have been Naomi. She may have complained about the bitter way God had dealt with her, but she was not blind to what Ruth had done for her. Also the spiritual side of Ruth's commitment had been emphasized by Naomi. Ruth's words 'Your people will be my people, your God my God' had been repeated every time the story was passed on.

Little did Boaz know that the LORD would answer his prayer through Boaz himself, when he said: "May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." God often uses the one who prays to answer prayers. When we pray we have to be willing to be the answer.

The way Boaz puts it, that Ruth had taken refuge under the wings of the God of Israel, shows that he had a clear understanding of Israel's task in this world. That makes him one of the most outstanding characters in the Old Testament. Because, as we have seen before, there was very little mission consciousness among God's chosen people. Boaz understanding was probably one of the reasons why he showed so much kindness to Ruth.

Ruth's answer makes more sense in the RSV than in other translations: "Then she said, "You are most gracious to me, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not one of your maidservants." The NIV puts a little too much humility in Ruth's words. Some of the ring of amazement of these words sounds through in Mary's magnificat in Luke 1:26-55. But Mary puts it in a much broader context. What God does with humble women is a universal principle, which is practiced 'from generation to generation'. "He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty."

We have a real problem in that we associate greatness with social standing. God elevates people who have no place in the world's 'Who's Who' to eternal glory and significance. Paul says in I Cor. 1:26-29 -"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things; and the things that are not; to nullify the things that are, So that no one may boast before him."

We should not make too much out of the 'bread and wine' that was consumed during the mealtime in vs.14, other than that it was everyday common food. It was the daily bread and drink that Jesus took to symbolize the value and depth of His sacrifice on the cross. The fact that daily use makes things common, does not mean that they lose there significance. There is eternal value in ordinary things. The idea that things have to be new and sensational in order to give a thrill, is all in our head. The performing of daily duties may acquire eternal significance if they are done in the Name of the LORD. Boaz handed Ruth some bread and wine, because she had put herself under the protection of the God of Israel. Jesus says in Matt. 10:42 "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

So Ruth eats her fill and there is something left to share with her mother-in-law. The experience is satisfying, like all blessings that come from the Lord. And we never receive just enough for ourselves. There is enough to share. This doesn't mean that sharing with others should depend on how much we have left over. Sharing is an attitude that does not depend on surplus. There will be surplus, but that doesn't determine sharing. Sharing starts with an act of the will. The mention of the leftover in vs.14 suggests that Ruth thought of Naomi, while she was eating.

At Boaz' orders Ruth receives some help from the reapers in that they purposely drop some grain. So at the end of the day she turns out to have an impressive amount of barley. She thrashes it out on the field, probably using some of the equipment that is at hand and carries back to town one epha, approximately half a bushel. Noami immediately recognizes the LORD's hand in the fact that Ruth met Boaz. In vs.20 we read her reaction: "The LORD bless him! 'Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.'"

No reason is given as to why Naomi herself did not initiate the process of having her possessions redeemed. Probably the fact that it would have involved Ruth has something to do with this. It is true that as an elderly widow it would have been useless for her to get land back that she would not be able to cultivate. It could be that according to the custom of that time the widow could not take the initiative. But when Ruth comes back with her grain and her story, Naomi sees as in a flash the whole scheme. The mention of 'the living and the dead' indicates what she has in mind.

Here the first time the word 'kinsman-redeemer' comes up. The Hebrew word is 'gawal'. The law on redemption of possessions is found in Lev.25:23-55. Evidently Elimelech had sold everything he had before he left for Moab, otherwise it would have been impossible for any relative to buy it back.

Naomi does not immediately come up with the plan to pursue the redemption question, or at least does not talk about it at this point. For the rest of the chapter we find Ruth in Boaz' field and Naomi at home, turning things over in her mind. This can have taken as long as seven weeks, being the period between Passover and Pentecost. However in chapter 3 we hear that Boaz is winnowing barley, which he probably did somewhere in the middle at the end of the barley harvest and before the beginning of the wheat harvest.