The Lord: My Shepherd

Introduction

Have you ever got more than you bargained for? You decide to buy something for a particular purpose, and it’s only once you have it that you discover hidden benefits which you had never reckoned on, when first you bought it. That happened to us once, when my wife, Helen, lost a diamond out of her engagement ring. She asked the cleaners at the school if they had come across it. It was then that one of them said, “You’ll probably get it replaced on your house contents insurance.” Sure enough, when we checked we discovered that we were covered, and so we were able to have the missing diamond replaced. A real hidden benefit!

And that is what Ruth was about to discover about becoming one of the Lord’s people. There were hidden benefits - blessings undreamed of from the Lord’s hand which she had not reckoned on, as He worked all things to her good. Yet at first it did not appear that way.

Back in Bethlehem Naomi and Ruth knew what it was like to be destitute. Their welcome there soon faded. Poverty in ancient Israel was regarded as a sign of God’s displeasure. So people avoided them. They faced poverty and social stigma together.

Now, different people respond to adversity and the painful reverses of life in different ways. Some become passive and expect everything to be done for them. Others become self-centred. Only a few are able to make the adjustments that Ruth made and also look after someone else. This is not lost in the story. That is why, at the beginning of chapter two, the author reminds us that Ruth was a foreigner. She was a stranger in a strange land.

God’s Providence at Work

Yet behind the scenes things were already happening: God’s hand was active. Now His providence was working.  As Deuteronomy 8 says, You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. So, He had blessed His people with a bountiful harvest.

This providence of God’s, literally, His providing for His people, is a major theme in the book of Ruth. In general terms He had already provided for the poor in giving the law about gleaning, and now He also provided specifically for the needs of Ruth and Naomi in where she gleaned. “It happened” that Boaz was a relative of Elimelech’s, and that Ruth “happened” to glean in his field. God’s provision is always both general and specific. And it is in the specific, above all, that He shows His steadfast loving-kindness. You see, He is not just everyone’s God; He is my God. Not in a possessive way, but in the sense that each one of His people is the object of His special care. How that works out in a person’s life is described in the story of Ruth.

Ruth’s intention

God in His grace had brought Naomi and Ruth back to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. As soon as Naomi and Ruth had arrived in Bethlehem, Ruth, as an incomer, faced a problem. How would she support Naomi? Seeing the reapers going out to the fields, Ruth determined to join them. She takes the initiative. She realises that her commitment to Naomi in chapter 1 will mean hard work. But she still gives Naomi her place. Without waiting for any prompting, Ruth asks Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean.

Now, it would be an overstatement to call gleaning a right of the poor in Israel. The Law merely instructed the owners of the land not to harvest their fields too carefully, but to leave something behind for the poor and alien. Leviticus 23:22 stated, “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.” but hardhearted farmers and reapers put obstacles in the way of the poor, and some even prevented them from gleaning altogether. It was, at best, a customary right. And Ruth wished to take advantage of this right, but said that she would only do so, if she were allowed by someone “in whose eyes she found favour”. Ruth’s words suggest something of her attitude. Her success would depend on the goodwill of the field’s owner or his reapers. The Law’s provisions needed human implementation.

Ruth shows considerable loyalty and kindness towards Naomi. She risks abuse, even physical harm, to provide for the older woman, but Ruth’s steadfast loving-kindness merely mirrors that of the story’s real hero - God Himself. Her request to Naomi shows her to be a person of remarkable initiative and courage. Setting aside possible fears at being a Moabitess, a foreigner, she took considerable risks to show her devotion. Ruth’s situation held a built-in danger. To use the biblical phrase in verse 5, she did not belong to any man, and so she had no one to protect her.

All this brings us to consider the one ingredient that is indispensable to life, namely hope. People need, and in fact must have, hope. Without it there is only increasing discouragement and eventual despair. Ruth’s new faith in the one true God gave her hope, as she faced the uncertainties of her new life. As she rose to meet the challenge before her, she drew on inner resources. We should take our lead from Ruth. Our confidence in the Lord should help us to face life and overcome the setbacks that are a part of everyone’s experience.

Providence led her to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz. She is unaware of the fact that God, in His grace, is leading her to that part of the field belonging to Boaz, Naomi’s relative.  In seeking a place to begin gleaning, Ruth all unknowingly goes down to the field where his reapers are.

In the field

In the jumbled patchwork of subdivided property, she just “happened” to find the piece of farmland belonging to Boaz. The words “as it turned out” underline God’s providence, and at the same time show that Ruth was not acting deliberately.

In these verses we are given a graphic picture of an ancient harvest scene. The field is thick with waving barley. The reapers cut their way into it with sickles, grasping the stalks until their arms are full. Behind them the women gather up the armfuls and bind them into sheaves. Still farther behind follow the widows and strangers, who have come to glean after the reapers. The overseer is busy encouraging the reapers and granting or refusing admission to the gleaners. Skins filled with water hang from the branches of a nearby tree, kept cool by the shade and the soft breeze. A shelter is also nearby, where those who are weary from the heat and the glare of the sun may rest. Here, too, under the shade of some spreading tree, men and women gather at mealtime, and are given parched corn, which they dip in a cool and refreshing mixture of vinegar, oil and water.

What happened to Ruth was a surprise; it was not of her own doing. Here we get a brief glimpse of God’s hidden, providential hand behind the events. He had carefully guided Ruth’s steps to the right place. In the same way, we today would do well to look at events in our own lives more closely; there we shall find the same divine hand at work in our lives. For the Christian there is no such thing as luck.

This confirms that God’s unseen providence lay behind what happened - something of which Ruth is not yet even aware. How often is that true of us? How often in retrospect can we see that God’s hand has been at work in our lives, when we have not been even aware of it.

Boaz and the foreman

Then, verse 4 introduces another “surprise”. Coincidence followed coincidence: a while later Boaz arrived. Ruth not only found herself in the right place, but she found herself there at the right time.

One can picture the scene easily. Though scattered across the field, the workers would quickly recognise the boss. With a polite wave of his upraised hand he gave them a simple friendly greeting, “May God be with you.” Since Israelites normally greeted each other with a simple ‘shalom’, Boaz’s words were significant. They were both greeting and blessing. Behind the words stood a trust in God’s firm, often-repeated commitment to Israel’s well-being: I am with you.

Our first impression of Boaz is most favourable. He is gracious and good-natured. Behind his greeting to the reapers he shows himself to be a man of spiritual sensitivity. He also appears to be conscious of the fact that all blessing comes from the Lord. Boaz was a model of the God-fearing Israelite who took his social responsibilities seriously. Barring discovery of something unusual, Boaz would normally simply check on things, encourage his workers and go on his way. But something caught his eye. He asked his foreman a question. Boaz’s question is very indirect, and emphasises the social gulf between the wealthy landowner and the impoverished stranger. When he saw the foreign woman working in his field, he asked the servant in charge of his hired men about her, and received a very favourable report. Ruth had made an impression on the young foreman and he had been watching her. He was specially struck by Ruth’s modesty and hard work. Following behind the harvesters, she had gleaned the entire morning without allowing herself more than a very short rest. She exemplified Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Conclusion

Ruth provides a good model for us. Her experience shows how God graciously works behind the scenes to accomplish His purpose for us. God’s ways are past finding out. They are rather to be admired than fathomed. Although we may not be aware of His involvement, His guidance of us is as sure as His direction of Ruth’s footsteps to that part of the fields which belonged to Boaz. We may therefore trust Him to work in us as well as in our circumstances.