The God Who Provides / El Dios Que Provee
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Introduction
Introduction
When we last saw Naomi she was overwhelmed with grief.
Naomi saw her life almost completely destroyed.
She had lost her husband, sons, and now she has returned to Bethlehem empty handed.
Naomi has expressed her despair by acknowledging that God’s hand was in the midst of the pain that she was experiencing.
Will the suffering never end?
We have all found ourselves in Naomi’s situation. It is possible that we have not experienced the exact same circumstance but we have had our fair share of difficulties.
God is about to teach Naomi and Ruth two important lessons:
God’s providence
God’s provision
I. God’s providence
I. God’s providence
I. La providencia de Dios
I. La providencia de Dios
The doctrine of providence is a very important and fundamental doctrine.
Providence refers to “the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power.” (Google)
The doctrine teaches us that God’s hand is superintending everything that happens.
God is in the midst of everything - even in the midst of the storm.
Providence refers to the fact that God is never absent but is always close to those who call upon him.
We immediately encounter the providence of God in .
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
Noemí tenía, por parte de su esposo, un pariente que se llamaba Booz. Era un hombre rico e influyente de la familia de Elimélec.
We do not know who Boaz is yet. All we know is that he is a close relative to Naomi’s deceased husband.
Although we do not know what role he will play, we start to see a glimmer of hope for these two widows in the land of Israel.
Naomi asks her mother-in-law to allow her to go the fields an glean so that she may gather some grain.
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
Y sucedió que Rut la moabita le dijo a Noemí:
—Permíteme ir al campo a recoger las espigas que vaya dejando alguien a quien yo le caiga bien.
—Anda, hija mía—le respondió su suegra.
This is unusual to us because we do not live in an Israeli agricultural society.
God had stipulated in Old Testament law that the Israelites were not to harvest the edges of their fields.
“ ‘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. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
»Cuando llegue el tiempo de la cosecha, no sieguen hasta el último rincón de sus campos ni recojan todas las espigas que allí queden.
»No rebusquen hasta el último racimo de sus viñas, ni recojan las uvas que se hayan caído. Déjenlas para los pobres y los extranjeros. Yo soy el Señor su Dios.
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The edges and any leftover product was to be given to the poor.
In this way, God was providing for the poor.
The people of God were commanded to consider the poor and less fortunate.
Ruth goes out into the fields hoping to find favor.
Providentially Ruth comes to the fields belonging to Boaz.
So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
Rut salió y comenzó a recoger espigas en el campo, detrás de los segadores. Y dio la casualidad de que el campo donde estaba trabajando pertenecía a Booz, el pariente de Elimélec.
Ruth 2:
Some people would call this event a coincidence.
Others would call it good luck.
The people of God do not believe in coincidences or good luck - we believe in God’s providential care. We believe God watches over his people.
Ruth has come to the fields of one of her deceased father-in-law’s close relatives.
However, Ruth has several strikes against her: she is a woman, she is a moabite, she is a foreigner. Nevertheless, she is part of God’s people. She has claimed the Lord God of Israel as her God - will God be faithful to Ruth? Surely, God will provide!
Ruth starts to pick grain that has fallen to the ground as she walks behind the harvesters.
II. God’s provision
II. God’s provision
II. La provisión de Dios
II. La provisión de Dios
As Ruth is gleaning the field, the owner of the field comes into the picture. It is Boaz!
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
“The Lord bless you!” they answered.
En eso llegó Booz desde Belén y saludó a los segadores:
—¡Que el Señor esté con ustedes!
—¡Que el Señor lo bendiga!—respondieron ellos.
Ruth 1:4
The first thing we notice about Boaz is that he is a truly pious man.
He greets his servants with God’s blessing and they answer in the same way.
However, there is a stranger in the field, and not just any stranger but a moabite, a foreigner!
Boaz could have easily driven Ruth out of the field.
Boaz knows he does not know her and starts to inquire as to her identify.
Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
—¿De quién es esa joven?—preguntó Booz al capataz de sus segadores.
The overseer tells the story of how Ruth had come to him asking to be allowed to gather grain behind the harvesters.
The overseer mentions the fact that Ruth is from Moab, at least twice.
The overseer describes how Ruth has been working from morning till now. We do not know how many hours have transpired but he is amazed that this woman has been working under the hot dessert son, with just a short rest.
After all, who could blame Ruth? She was desperate to feed herself and Naomi.
Ruth must have been so tired, so anxious that she could be thrown out of the field at any moment.
She was probably aware of the people looking at her, staring at her knowing that she was not an Israelite.
Boaz calls out to Ruth!
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.
Entonces Booz le dijo a Rut:
—Escucha, hija mía. No vayas a recoger espigas a otro campo, ni te alejes de aquí; quédate junto a mis criadas,
Just imagine what Ruth felt as Boaz called her. Boaz must have seemed like an extremely prominent man calling out to this poor female foreigner.
But Ruth need not fear. He actually wants her to stay in his field and continue gleaning alongside his female servants.
Boaz lavishes her with favor:
Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
Ruth 2:9-
fíjate bien en el campo donde se esté cosechando, y síguelas. Ya les ordené a los criados que no te molesten. Y cuando tengas sed, ve adonde están las vasijas y bebe del agua que los criados hayan sacado.
He guarantees that she will not be bothered. He has ordered the men and women to respect her.
Also, should she become thirsty she has no need to go to the well but rather drink from the water jars the men have filled.
Why would Boaz show her this favor? Ruth simply cannot understand that anyone would lavish this kind of favor upon her.
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
Rut se inclinó hacia la tierra, se postró sobre su rostro y exclamó:
—¿Cómo es que le he caído tan bien a usted, hasta el punto de fijarse en mí, siendo sólo una extranjera?
Ruth knows she does not deserve any of this blessing.
Ruth knows her place. Boaz is the powerful one. Boaz is the wealthy one.
She has no place being in his fields.
Boaz knows Ruth’s life story.
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 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.”
—Ya me han contado—le respondió Booz—todo lo que has hecho por tu suegra desde que murió tu esposo; cómo dejaste padre y madre, y la tierra donde naciste, y viniste a vivir con un pueblo que antes no conocías. ¡Que el Señor te recompense por lo que has hecho! Que el Señor, Dios de Israel, bajo cuyas alas has venido a refugiarte, te lo pague con creces.
R
Boaz knows the sacrifice that Ruth has made to journey to the land of Israel.
Boaz knows that Ruth has left her homeland in faith.
Boaz knows that Abraham the patriarch had done the very same thing. Abram had been called out of Ur of the Chaldees to a land he did not know. He journeyed far away from home in obedience to God’s commandment.
Boaz focuses on the fact that Ruth has come to find refuge in the God of Israel. Boaz recognizes that Ruth has come to find refuge beneath the wings of the Lord.
Ruth experiences abundant blessings:
Verse 14 Ruth is invited to eat at Boaz’s table, eat bread and roasted grain until she was completely full.
Verse 15 Ruth gathers among the sheaves.
Verse 16 Boaz orders that the men drop stalks from the bundles so that Ruth can pick them up for herself.
Verse 17 Ruth has gathered about 22 kilos of barley.
Eventually she makes it home with enough leftover food that she shares it with her mother-in-law.
It is now time for Naomi to witness God’s blessings:
Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
Ruth 2:19
Su suegra le preguntó:
—¿Dónde recogiste espigas hoy? ¿Dónde trabajaste? ¡Bendito sea el hombre que se fijó en ti!
Entonces Rut le contó a su suegra acerca del hombre con quién había estado trabajando. Le dijo:
—El hombre con quien hoy trabajé se llama Booz.
Naomi is overwhelmed with God’s blessing upon Ruth.
She immediately erupts in declaring God’s blessing upon the man that allowed her to glean in his field.
You know it was Boaz, Ruth knows it was Boaz, but Naomi has no idea!
Naomi hears Boaz’s name and her bleak future starts to look immensely bright.
Naomi erupts in praise and recognition of God’s provision in her life.
“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 guardian-redeemers.”
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—¡Que el Señor lo bendiga!—exclamó Noemí delante de su nuera—. El Señor no ha dejado de mostrar su fiel amor hacia los vivos y los muertos. Ese hombre es nuestro pariente cercano; es uno de los parientes que nos pueden redimir.
Naomi once more declares God’s upon the man who has blessed her and Ruth.
But now - notice how her expression regarding God all of a sudden changes:
She recognizes that God has continued to be faithful to the living and the dead.
She came back empty handed but now God has begun to turn her life around.
God’s hand is on the move.
God has provided.
God has not left her or Ruth. He has been faithful.
She knows that Boaz is the key to their blessing upon the land.
Ruth will continue gleaning the fields in Boaz’s fields. God’s hand is moving. God has provided.
So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Así que Rut se quedó junto con las criadas de Booz para recoger espigas hasta que terminó la cosecha de la cebada y del trigo. Mientras tanto, vivía con su suegra.
Conclusion
Conclusion
How many blessings have we recieved from God?
Do we for a moment believe we deserve God’s blessing?
Can we count the many blessings we have recieved from God?
Life
Children
Family
Work
Home
…etc...
It would be well for us to come before God’s presence, humbled at his overwhelming and lavish blessings that he has poured upon us - and simply say - Thank You! I do not deserve your blessing and nevertheless you have chosen to pour out your blessings upon my life.
Why? Why has God blessed us in this way? Because of his great love through Jesus Christ our Lord!