Monday, May 18, 2009

Ruth 2

(1) Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named *Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.


*Boaz means in Him is strength. He is a type of the Lord of the harvest - Jesus Christ. Boaz was a "man of standing" (Hebrew: ’ish gibbor chail, implying Boaz was physically impressive and had noble character).


   During the famine, Elimelech took his whole family out of the Promised Land and went to Moab, but Boaz had stayed behind - and God provided for him. In fact, God made Boaz a man of great wealth. The people of Bethlehem had not perished from hunger. They were still there. And they were blessed more than Naomi’s family.


(2) One day Ruth *the Moabite said to Naomi, “**Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.”


*the Moabite - here to emphasize that she's a gentile just before we meet Boaz, the Jewish Kinsman-Redeemer.


**Let me: This must have been after discussion on how to get food and Naomi may have told Ruth about how God had provided in Leviticus the means for widows and the poor to lawfully get grain for food - but permission from the owner would have been required - especially a foreigner. This grain is barley - not the best grain (not wheat), but sufficient to prevent starvation. Barley bread was used by the poorer people (Judges 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42). Barley of the first crop was ready for the harvest by the time of the Passover, in the middle of April (Ruth 1:22; 2 Samuel 21:9). Jesus fed five thousand with "five barley loaves and two small fishes" (John 6:9).


Leviticus 23:22: “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

This was the Israelite version of social security. The Law mandated that the leavings of the field reapers were to be left behind for the poor and the foreigner to take. Ruth fit into both of these categories. She had no other means of caring for herself and Naomi. Notice that it's Ruth that takes action, not Naomi. Naomi is, perhaps, still feeling sorry for herself. But, Ruth asks Naomi's permission - she views herself as under Naomi's authority.


Matthew 15:27: She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”


   The harvesting of grain involved the following steps:



  1. The ripened standing grain was cut (usually by men) with hand sickles.

  2. The grain was bound (by men and women) into sheaves.

  3. The stalks of grain left behind were gathered (called "gleaning"). The gleanings were to be left to the poor.

  4. The sheaves were transported to the threshing floor.

  5. The grain was loosened from the straw (called "threshing") by the treading of cattle, the wheels of carts or toothed threshing sledges.

  6. The grain was tossed into the air with winnowing forks (called "winnowing") so that the wind blew away the straw and chaff, leaving the grain at the winnower's feet. The time of winnowing was also a time for celebration, since the task indicated that a successful harvest had been brought in.

  7. The grain was sifted to remove any foreign matter.

  8. The grain was bagged for transportation and storage, usually in silos.

  9. Using millstones, women ground the harvested grain into flour.


(3) So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And *as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.


*as it happened: There's no such thing as a coincidence when God is fitting things into His purposes (Romans 8:28). Was it just a coincidence that Rebecca was at the well when Abraham's servant arrived looking for a relative-bride for Isaac? Things don’t happen just by chance. They happen because there is a divine design. Accidents do happen, but they are not just accidents, for they are a part of God’s providence. God was holding her by the hand, and directing her to that field. She was going out wondering, "Where in the world am I going to glean? I don't know anyone around here." God was just leading all the way along. The significant point of the story is that she happened to pick the field which belonged to Boaz. The Hebrew says that she "chanced a chance" or "her chance chanced." There is a lesson here. It is that chance is not blind - its path is directed under the eyes of the Lord. God is not only concerned with kings and princes and great battles. He is also concerned with the mundane and the everyday happenstances. They are all within the realm of His plan.


   God is working behind the scenes, hidden from the eye. He is working behind the scenes for the good of His people. Boaz and Ruth and Naomi can’t see all of this, but we can. God is at work in the tapestry of your life even though the bottom has fallen out and dreams have shattered. God is involved in the day to day events in your life to accomplish His dreams for your life. When things go south, loved ones die, or when relationships end, and it seems that maybe we have been abandoned by God, rest assured that God is still working in our lives.


   Someday we may very well get to see the "tape" of our lives in heaven. And in heaven we'll see our life story completely differently. We'll realize that a conversation that seemed innocuous at the moment would lead to a significant outcome. We'll know that because we'll know the end of the story then. But God knows the end of the story right now. He is orchestrating things for us now, knowing what is important and what isn't. The perspective of the narrator here is the perspective God has on our lives at the moment. There is somebody who knows the future, even though we don't know it.


(4) While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said. “The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.


   Now Boaz does show many characteristics of a godly man. Just remember it's a time of spiritual declension and apostasy, the period of the Judges. But here's a man who's walking with God, who comes out and greets his servants by saying, "The Lord be with you!"


    What is striking about him is the way in which he related to his subordinates, to the little people in his life. When he came to the field, his first act was not to count or command or take inventory or direct. His first act was to bless his workers, to long for their spiritual health, and he received a blessing in return. He cared about the spiritual condition of the people around him. He loved God and he wanted others to love him.


   To Boaz, it was an ordinary day. He had no notion that he would meet anybody new or that anything unusual would happen. When he walked out to his workers, the first thing he did was call for the blessing of God in their lives. Boaz didn't know that this was the day when he would see for the first time the person who would be the center of the rest of his life. But he had a lifestyle of expecting God to use him to do good, and that created the opportunity. Do you see how the fingers of God had fashioned this man? He had been made ready to become a good husband, to have a good wife. He had been matured, and sensitized, fitted for the gift.


(5) Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”


    Boaz paid enough attention to the people under him that he could recognize a newcomer gleaning in the field. A selfish businessman would not have noticed the gleaners; he probably would resent them. But Boaz cared enough about people so that when he looked out on the field to bless his workers he noticed a new gleaner there. We can tell from his statements that he is immediately interested in her.


   Ruth didn't know that the two men, off in the distance, were talking about her. Boaz said to his foreman: "Who's that?" Without either of them knowing it, everything in Ruth's and Boaz's lives was going to change in just a moment. My wife and I often marvel at what great lengths God went to to bring us together.


(6) And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi.


(7) She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”


   The sheaves were handfuls of grain left behind the reaper and then gathered and bound, usually by children or women. The foreman is impressed with how hard she's been working.


(8) Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field.


   Boaz refers to her as "my daughter," indicating that he was considerably older than she. The female workers would come along behind those who cut the grain and bundle it up. Staying close to the female workers allowed Ruth to collect more grain than would normally be the case


(9) See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the *water they have drawn from the well.”


*water: While she had the right to gather left behind stalks, she did not have the right to drink from their well. Remember, that water is often a type of the Holy Spirit:

Isaiah 55:1: “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!

 John 4:10;4:13-14: Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” ... Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

John 7:37: On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!

Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.


   Boaz had heard the story of Naomi returning with Ruth. What's happening here is that God is acting as the "matchmaker". If you've seen the play or movie "Fiddler on the Roof", you understand what I'm talking about.


(10) Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”


   There is nothing in the Law that says Boaz has to go to the lengths which he has gone. Her question is a legitimate one.


(11) “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers.


(12) May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”


   The Hebrew word translated "wings" here, kenapayim, reads "skirt" in 3:9 (See Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalm 36:7; 57:1; 91:4).


(13) “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”


(14) At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.


   Ruth must have stood apart from them, knowing that she was not entitled to eat with them. Perhaps now, we see the first hint of a romance. Boaz showed great kindness and favor to Ruth at mealtime. It would be enough to have just invited her, but he also invited her to share fully in the meal, even the privileged dipping. I wonder what they talked about!


(15) When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her.


(16) And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”


(17) So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire *basket.


*basket: an ephah of barley, about 5.5 gallons - at least a two-week supply for the two women.


Matthew 14:20: They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.


(18) She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.


(19) “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”


(20) “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our *family redeemers.”


*family redeemers or kinsman-redeemer: The phrase "That man is one of our closest relatives" is literally, "He is our redeemer clan." It means that Boaz was, by virtue of his relationship with Elimelech, in the position to redeem the estate of Elimelech and to fulfill the duty of a kinsman redeemer (the go'el) by marrying Ruth.


Numbers 27:8-11: “And give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters. And if he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan. This is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”


(21) Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”


(22) “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”


(23) So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.



Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation of the Bible.



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