You Shall Be Satisfied

Review

We are looking at a Bethlehem story set over 1,000 years before the Christ child would be be born in that same little town. The two stories are tied together in God’s plan of salvation. Last week, we looked at Naomi’s Nightmare: losing her husband and both sons in a foreign land. We left the story just at the point where Naomi had returned home—empty handed, bitter, and believing that God was against her. However, as we saw last week, the loyal love of her daughter-in-law Ruth signaled that God still had good in store for Naomi.

The Barley Harvest

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. That’s why they had returned: the “house of bread” was being restocked. They needed food. They also needed family—which is why the narrator let’s us in on this little detail:

Ruth 2:1 ESV

1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

Boaz: “in him is strength.” Called a “worthy” man. Today, we might say “He’s solid.” He was a man of substance; a man with solid character.

He was also a relative of Naomi’s late husband, which means there was potential there for carrying on the family name.... But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. No one yet is thinking about wedding bells, finding a “solid” man, or babies—just food.

Ruth volunteers to go “glean” in the barley field of whichever landowner would allow it. (Gleaners would gather up whatever scraps remained after the hired harvesters were finished cutting and bundling the grain). God’s law for his people made provision for the poor, the widow (Deut. 24:19, 20), and the foreigner.

Leviticus 23:22 ESV

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Now, being that this was the “time of the judges” and coming on the heels of famine, not everyone was so generous toward the hungry. Gleaning was not super-promising; and apparently, it was downright dangerous for a young widow like Ruth to go out gleaning among the harvesters.

Ruth 2:3 ESV

So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.

“and she happened” - This phrase is the Hebrew equivalent of “as luck would have it.” You can almost see the narrator wink ;) — this is clearly the providence of God, though unseen in the moment.

Ruth has no idea whose field this is. She simply asked permission to glean, was allowed to, and so worked diligently at it all morning (v. 7).

Meet the Boss

Boaz came out to his field and greeted the workers: “The LORD be with you!” They answered, “The LORD bless you.” Boaz wasn’t the sort of boss that was all about the profit margin. He cared about people—even people who live in the margins of society.

He noticed a young woman among the gleaners and asked about her. The foreman filled him in: ‘She’s the Moabite who came back with Naomi’ (v. 6). So the boss goes out to meet her.

Ruth 2:8–9 ESV

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”

Boaz is looking out for her in a way that she never could have imagined.

Ruth 2:10 ESV

Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

Boaz explained that he had heard all about her—all that she had done for her mother-in-law and how she had left her home and people to come to Bethlehem with Naomi. And he speaks a blessing:

Ruth 2:12 NIV

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.”

Ruth is comforted by these words and stunned by the kindness and favor of Boaz. So she goes about her gleaning and Boaz goes back to whatever bosses do until lunchtime. I’m guessing she didn’t bring a lunch. If she did, it surely wasn’t much.

Ruth 2:14 ESV

And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.

This is a gospel picture. Can’t you hear the heart of God? Doesn’t it remind you of Jesus?!

In the Ancient Near East, eating together had great symbolic significance. So, it is says a good deal about Boaz that (1) he ate with the workers, (2) he invited a foreign woman from among the gleaners to eat with them, (3) that he served her himself (highlighted by a word used no where else in the OT), and (4) he gave her more than enough.

When she finished and went back to gleaning in the field, Boaz told his workers to let her glean. ‘Even if she gleans in the wrong places—don’t get on to her or rebuke her. Even more, pull some stalks from the bundles and leave them Ruth.’

Coming Home With A Haul

At the end of the day, Ruth went home with somewhere around 30 lbs. of barley grain. That is an extraordinary feat for a gleaner!

The gleaning of fallen grain was mere subsistence living, much like trying to eke out survival today by recycling aluminum cans. - R. Hubbard

Best we can tell, the average hired harvester would have received about a half-pound to a pound of grain for a day’s labor. Ruth took home more on the first day of gleaning than the hired workers would have got in a month! And to top it off, she had leftovers from lunch!

Ruth 2:19 ESV

And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

Naomi’s comments are as much exclamation as question: ‘Where in the world did you glean!!’ When Ruth names Boaz, it’s a turning point for Naomi. She realizes that God has not forsaken her after all.

Ruth 2:20 ESV

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”

“Redeemer” - one who takes on the responsibility to rescue a family member, to reverse their plight / Custom of established in the law. This gets the matchmaker wheels turning in Naomi’s mind. She tells Ruth to stay in the field of Boaz.

Ruth 2:23 ESV

So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Conclusion

Our posture toward the poor is meant to reflect that of God. We are called to embody his kindness.

Together We Can Holiday Food Drive - How important is feeding the hungry to me?

In the Kingdom there is a great reversal at work: Luke 6:20,21

Isaiah 58:10 Then your light shine

Perhaps you will see an opportunity this holiday season to help provide for the poor. I wonder what God may do with that kindness that you and I may not see!