The Hand of God - Ruth 2

© November 17th, 2024 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Ruth

I’ve met many people who say they aren’t interested in the church or religion because they are angry with God. Whenever I meet those people, I always ask to hear their story, because usually there is some pain in their past for which they blame God. They find themselves questioning why God would allow such terrible things to happen to them, especially when they’ve tried to serve Him.

Some people’s stories are heartbreaking. In some cases, I don’t even want to imagine the hardships they have faced. Yet, I have discovered there is an almost universal mistake people make when they get angry with God for their lot in life. It’s this: we blame God for the bad things that happen, but we fail to give Him credit for the blessings we experience. Sometimes that is because we are so blinded by our pain that we do not see the blessings around us, other times it is because we want to take credit for our blessings but blame God for our hardships. It’s a common mistake—even one many Christians sometimes make.

I believe this is the mistake we see Naomi making at the beginning of the book of Ruth. Last week we looked at the first chapter of Ruth, where Naomi lost her husband and her two sons after moving to Moab to escape a famine in Israel. She found herself utterly alone in a foreign land and returned to her home empty-handed and empty-hearted. She was so empty that when she arrived back in Bethlehem, she told people not to call her Naomi anymore, but instead to call her Marah, which means bitterness.

In the midst of all of this, we find Ruth, who had committed to stay by Naomi’s side for the remainder of their lives. Ruth was in a similar position in Bethlehem. She was a widow in a foreign land and was living with a mother-in-law who was dominated by a bitter heart. It seems like a recipe for misery, but Ruth shows herself resilient.

It Just So Happened…

As we open chapter two, our narrator sets the stage by introducing a new character, Boaz, and then sets the story of chapter two into motion.

Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech. 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.” 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. (Ruth 2:1-3, NLT)

It seems somewhat strange that the author of Ruth tells us about Boaz, but then the story returns to Ruth. We are told Boaz was wealthy and influential, and a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, but that’s it. The writer is simply setting the stage for all that will come in the later scenes of the story.

After introducing Boaz, the author tells us that Ruth asked Naomi if she could go out into the harvest fields to glean what was left behind by the harvesters. This would have been a way for her to provide food for both herself and Naomi. We are reminded once more that Ruth was a Moabite, which should remind us that her presence in the fields would probably not be welcome.

Modern farming practices focus a great deal on efficiency and maximizing your yields and returns. We have expensive machinery that cuts the crops and separates the grain out, doing our best not to lose a single kernel.

In Ruth’s day, the harvesting was done by hand. Human beings often lack the precision and consistency of machinery, which meant that sometimes they would miss a plant or they would drop a stalk or two while they were collecting everything. Ruth was asking to go out into the fields and collect the things the harvesters had missed or left behind, so she could bring them home. This would have been hard work that would probably not yield a lot of grain, but it was a way for poor people to provide food for themselves.

Interestingly, the Lord had made provision for exactly this kind of practice to happen in Israel in the law.

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.” (Leviticus 23:22, NLT)

God had told the Israelite farmers to leave behind a bit of grain in their fields so that the poor, the widows, and the foreigners living among them could harvest them and provide for themselves. We don’t know whether Ruth was familiar with this Israelite practice or not, but this law was made for people exactly like Ruth, a poor, foreign, widow!

Notice that instead of simply wallowing in self-pity, lamenting that God had abandoned them, Ruth took it upon herself to do what she could to provide for her and her mother-in-law. Naomi gave her blessing, and Ruth headed out to the field.

The New Living Translation says, “As it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz…” In Hebrew, it says, “as chance chanced…” The writer is injecting some intentional sarcasm or irony into the story. Our narrator knows it wasn’t by chance that Ruth ended up in Boaz’s field that day, but by God’s hand. He writes somewhat tongue-in-cheek, telling us, with a twinkle in his eye that it just so happened that Ruth ended up in one of Boaz’s fields! His point was that Ruth was simply trying to take care of herself and her mother-in-law, but the Lord was setting up something far bigger than she could have possibly anticipated. She may not have planned to end up in Boaz’s field, but the Lord did!

Boaz Encounters Ruth

That moves into the next scene of the story, when Boaz just so happened to come and visit that particular field that day.

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. 5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?” 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.” 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. 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.” 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.” 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.” (Ruth 2:4-12, NLT)

Again, the writer intends us to see his tongue-in-cheek description of what happened. Not only did Ruth just so happen to find herself working in a field that belonged to a relative, but this rich and powerful man, who presumably owned many fields and had many workers just so happened to visit the field in which Ruth was working on the first day she went out to work. He wants us to see that though none of this was planned by Ruth, Naomi, or Boaz, it was planned by God.

The first words we hear from Boaz are telling. He greeted his harvesters by saying, “The Lord be with you!” and they responded in kind with, “The Lord bless you!” This may have been a common way of greeting people in Israel, but the writer introduces us to Boaz by using these words because he wants us to understand the kind of man Boaz was. Boaz was a man of God, a man who wanted to be obedient to the Lord in all he did, even in the way he treated his workers.

Despite the army of harvesters in his field, Boaz noticed Ruth. This rich and powerful man noticed the poor woman gleaning in his fields and took the time to ask about her. His foreman told him all about Ruth, that she was a Moabite and had returned to Bethlehem with Naomi. He also said that she’d been working hard all day, except for a brief rest. Rather than being angry that someone was cutting into his profits, Boaz went and took pity on Ruth. He went over and addressed her directly.

Imagine Ruth’s fear when she saw the owner of the field coming toward her. It’s not unreasonable to think that the other harvesters may not have appreciated her presence in the field, so when she saw the owner coming directly toward her, she surely worried about what was about to happen. But Boaz wasn’t coming to yell at her or kick her out.

He began by saying, “Listen my daughter…” This would not have been the address Ruth was expecting when she saw the owner of the field coming toward her. He didn’t talk to her like a foreigner (which she was), but as an equal. Not only did he speak kindly to her, he was incredibly gracious to her! He told her to stay in his fields because he would ensure she would be safe. (Remember, this was the time of the judges in Israel, so a single, foreign woman was certainly not safe on her own.) He also told her she was welcome to drink from the water he provided for his workers.

Ruth was overcome with gratitude and relief after speaking to Boaz. She asked what she had done to deserve such kindness. Boaz replied that he’d heard about her devotion to Naomi. And then he made an important statement to her,

May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.” (Ruth 2:12, NLT)

Boaz did not see Ruth as a foreigner any longer. Yes, she was from Moab, and she had probably been a pagan before. But she had declared that Naomi’s God would become her God. Boaz reinforced that idea and said that since she had come to the Lord, the God of Israel, the Lord would take care of her. It was an astounding statement and promise.

A Turning Point

After leaving Ruth, Boaz gave instructions to his workers to watch out for her and take care of her. He gave strict orders that no one was to touch or harass Ruth, so she would be protected. But then he gave another order that would have surely raised eyebrows. He told his harvesters to make sure they dropped some grain and left behind some bundles so Ruth would have plenty for herself. He told them to do a bad job harvesting so Ruth could benefit!

At dinnertime, Boaz once again did something unexpected—he invited Ruth to eat with them. I can only imagine the further raised eyebrows when his workers saw Boaz inviting a foreigner from Moab to share the table with them. But Boaz saw that Ruth was no longer who she once was, and invited her to join them. He gave her some of the leftover roasted grain (think a doggie bag) and sent her on her way with it and the grain she’d collected that day.

After this eventful day, Ruth arrived home to greet her mother-in-law Naomi, hoping her spirits would be buoyed as she told her the story of all that had happened during the day. The NLT says that when she finished threshing the grain for the day, she had a whole basket full of it. Scholars have debated just how much grain this would have been. Estimates range from 10-50 pounds of grain that Ruth may have come home with. It would have been enough food to feed them both for several weeks! It was vastly more grain than one would expect to collect by searching for scraps left behind.

This explains why Naomi responds as she does when Ruth comes in the door struggling with the huge basket of grain.

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.” 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. (Ruth 2:19-23, NLT)

Naomi’s attitude changed completely when Ruth told her the story. Once she heard that Ruth was in the field belonging to Boaz, the woman who had previously been complaining that God had abandoned her and asked people to call her “bitter” suddenly exclaimed, may the Lord bless Boaz! She then said, “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband.” The question is, who does “He” refer to? Is it referring to Boaz or to the Lord? I think the answer is both! Naomi was grateful for Boaz’s kindness toward her and Ruth, but she finally recognized that the Lord was orchestrating these events. It was not merely by chance that Ruth ended up in that field, nor was it by chance that Boaz chose to visit that day. It was the Lord working through a faithful man to provide for them. No longer did she feel abandoned by God—she felt seen, cared-for, and even loved!

This section of the story ends with Naomi telling Ruth she should continue to work in Boaz’s fields because she would be safe there. We learn that she worked through the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. She likely spent around 3 months harvesting in Boaz’s fields. If she continued to come home with similar quantities of food, she would have collected more than enough to feed them for the next year.

The last statement of chapter two sets the scene for what will come in the final chapters. The writer reminds us that Ruth continued to live with Naomi. You might have been tempted to think Ruth and Boaz would end up together, but the writer says that for the next three months, nothing happened on that front, but God continued to provide for Ruth and Naomi. And they were grateful for His hand upon them.

Conclusion

Like many of our lives, this story is an emotional roller coaster. Last week we saw Ruth and Naomi brought to their low point. They were left empty. Naomi responded with bitterness toward God, but then she was reminded that God still saw her. There are several lessons we should take away from this passage.

First, God is working, even when we can’t see Him! From a human perspective, Ruth simply picked a field at random and happened to encounter a man who was overwhelmingly kind to her. This is a reminder that we don’t see the whole picture. God does. All throughout the book of Ruth we see the Lord’s hand guiding and orchestrating events to bring about His good purposes. My favorite promise in the bible is that God promises to work all things for good for His people. A popular song today includes this line, “The story isn’t over if the story isn’t good.” We see this in Ruth. In the times when it feels like your story isn’t good, remember that it’s not over. Keep holding on. Just because you can’t see God working doesn’t mean He isn’t!

Second, faith is not an excuse for laziness. It would have been tempting for Ruth to say to Naomi, if your God is real, let’s see what He does. We’ll sit here and see if your God really cares about us or not. That’s a foolish approach to life, and it’s not a behavior God typically rewards. Instead, Ruth said, I’m going to do what I can and we’ll see what God does. This is the right response. We may look at the task before us and feel that it is too big for us to accomplish. Often, we respond with paralysis. But faith pushes us to look at things differently. It challenges us to say, I’ll do my part and trust God to do His. When we take action, even when it seems small, God often does too. As Dallas Jenkins of The Chosen is fond of saying, it’s not your job to feed the five-thousand, it’s just to bring the loaves and fish. Trusting God doesn’t mean doing nothing, it means trusting that He can use our meager efforts to accomplish His purposes.

Finally, we see the impact of generosity on others. Boaz likely didn’t know what God was doing either. He didn’t know just how greatly God was going to use him. But Boaz desired to be faithful to the Lord. He saw a person in need, saw that he was able to meet that need, and did what he could to help. He certainly couldn’t have foreseen how his generosity would rekindle faith in Naomi. He couldn’t have imagined where it would lead. He was simply trying to be gracious to those around him, believing that’s what God would want him to do.

Can I remind you that God can use you too? God enables us to meet the needs of others all the time. The challenge is that we actually have to see the people around us and be willing to use the resources we have to care for them. Too often we simply overlook those in need around us, or we conclude they aren’t our responsibility. Learn from Boaz’s example. Simple acts can make a huge impact. Pay attention to the people around you and look for ways to meet their needs. Maybe that’s financially, giving them a job, providing a ride, listening to them, spending time with them, or helping them with something they can’t do on their own. Recognize that even the little things we do can be used by God to make a big impact. You may be the answer someone else has been praying for.

Everything about this passage is intended to encourage us to hold on to the Lord and live out our faith. There’s instruction for us in the hard times, in the good times, and everywhere in between. The overarching message is this: God is faithful, so let’s live like we believe it!

© November 17th, 2024 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Ruth