RUTH IS NOTICED - PART 2 (Ruth 2:1-23)
INTRODUCTION:
Two weeks ago, we began to look at the second chapter of Ruth and we began to look at daily life for Naomi and Ruth in Bethlehem. Up to this point the focus of the book has been on two people in particular, Naomi, who lost her husband and two sons while she was living in Moab due to a famine in the land of Israel, and Ruth, Naomi’s daughter-in-law, and widow of one of Naomi’s sons. Ruth was a Moabitess but had given up her family, her country, and her gods to return to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth had vowed to go where Naomi went, and to lodge where Naomi lodged, to make Naomi’s people her people, and Naomi’s God her God, and to die and be buried where Naomi died and was buried. Ruth went not knowing what was in store for her in the future, but she entrusted her future to the God of Israel who was now her God. They returned to Bethlehem because they heard that the famine was over, that the LORD had visited His people and had given them bread. They returned at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Chapter two opened by introducing us to a new character in the history of Naomi and Ruth, this new person is a kinsman or relative of Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech. We learned that he was a man of great wealth and that his name was Boaz. After being introduced to Boaz, the author returns us to Naomi and Ruth who have settled into Bethlehem, but they need food and Ruth ask Naomi if she can go out into the fields and glean barley. Naomi tells her to go and as the author writes, Ruth’s chance chanced to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz. We learned that this was not simply a stroke of luck for Ruth, but as we will see this morning even more clearly that this was the providence of God. For those who put their trust in the LORD there is nothing that happens by chance, what happens to us happens by divine appointment, not by accident or luck. This morning we will move on in this chapter to see what happens as Ruth gleans in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Let’s pray and then read our Scripture for today.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Ruth chapter 2, we are going to read the whole chapter again, but my message will begin in verse 4 where we left off last time and we will see how far we get this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God and follow along as I read.
Ruth 2:1-23,
“Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.’ And she said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, ‘May the Lord be with you.’ And they said to him, ‘May the Lord bless you.’ Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, ‘Whose young woman is this?’ The servant in charge of the reapers replied, ‘She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. And she said, “Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.” Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.’ Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.’ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’ Boaz replied to her, ‘All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.’ Then she said, ‘I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.’ At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.’ So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left. When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, ‘Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.’ So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied. Her mother-in-law then said to her, ‘Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.’ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, ‘The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.’ Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.’ Again Naomi said to her, ‘The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives.’ Then Ruth the Moabitess said, ‘Furthermore, he said to me, “You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.”’ Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field.’ So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.” (Ruth 2:1–23, NASB95)[1]
BOAZ NOTICES (Ruth 2:4-7)
Verse four opens with the words “Now behold…” shifting our attention from Ruth to Boaz, who has just arrived at his portion of the field where Ruth is, this use of behold not only shifts our attention but also expresses wonder at his arrival and the timing. In the providence of God Ruth is in the field at the time that Boaz arrives, this can be nothing but a divine appointment. The first indication of Boaz’s character is given to us in the way in which he greets his employees and how they respond to him. He says to them, “May the LORD be with you.” The employees respond, “May the LORD bless you.” Boaz from his words appears to be a godly Israelite and he has the respect of his employees, the first words from both are pleasant and cheerful words of greeting. As Boaz looks over his field and what has been accomplished, he notices a woman gleaning who has not been here before, a stranger. Is it chance that Ruth arrived at this man’s field, is it chance that Boaz comes to his field at this time, is it chance that Boaz notices Ruth? No, none of this is chance, again it is as if the author is screaming to us to see the work of God going on before our very eyes as He brings about the divine appointment that is about to take place between Boaz and Ruth. Things are going to change for Ruth as God begins to work to bring about the future that He has planned for her, life is going to get better for Ruth, because Boaz does notice her, and his curiosity is aroused.
Boaz seeks to find out who this young stranger is that is gleaning in his field, and he turns to his foreman, the servant who was in charge of the reapers. At first glance the question that Boaz asks his foreman seems odd. Instead of what we would expect, such as, “Who is this young woman?” Boaz asks, “Whose young woman is this?” Because Ruth is a stranger to him, Boaz wants to know her connection to the community of Bethlehem. He could be trying to find out if she belongs to another landowner, or he could be trying to find out whose daughter or whose wife she is. Whatever Boaz means, his questions shows that he knows she is out of place in his field and among his workers.
The foreman’s response gives us information that we know about Ruth and possibly that Boaz had heard, but had not yet seen the woman. Verses 6-7 say, “The servant in charge of the reapers replied, ‘She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. And she said, “Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves” Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.’ ” (Ruth 2:6–7, NASB95)[2] The foreman gives all the information that he has, he does not give her name, but he answers Boaz’s question, she belongs to Naomi.
Boaz is given a lot to think about here. Ruth is young, she is a Moabitess, she arrived with Naomi (so she’s related to Naomi), she is poor (which is why she is gleaning), she is humble and courteous (she politely asked permission to glean in his field), and she is hardworking (she had been working since she arrived, except for a short rest in the shelter built for the workers). Our first impressions of Boaz were positive, and his first impressions of Ruth seem to be positive. Again, this cannot be the result of chance, this is a divine appointment set up by God.
There is just one problem, and it is a serious problem for the man who desires to please God. The problem is Ruth’s ethnicity. As I mentioned a few weeks back, Israel’s relationship with the Moabites was a complicated one that went right back to the time of Abraham, when the founder of Moab was the son of Abraham’s nephew Lot and his incestuous relationship with his oldest daughter. Then Israel’s relationship with Moab became even more strained in the time of Moses. Remember the king of Moab had hired Balaam to curse Israel and when that didn’t work the women of Moab seduced Israel into worshiping their gods. As a consequence of what had happened during the time of Moses a permanent ban had been placed on the Moabites. They were never to be admitted into Israel, the Law of Moses forbade it. I read this a few weeks ago, but I believe it bears repeating, the Law says in Deuteronomy 23:3-6, “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. Nevertheless, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.” (Deuteronomy 23:3–6, NASB95)[3] Given this background, Boaz must decide what he is to do. How is he to honor and obey the LORD and yet keep the whole Law? What if he finds himself attracted to Ruth the Moabitess, this man must decide what he is going to do.
BOAZ REACTS (Ruth 2:8-16)
Boaz does not seem to hesitate but goes immediately to speak to Ruth. Boaz initiates the conversation as he should as the landowner and Ruth just a poor woman gleaning in his field. He begins by saying, “Listen carefully, my daughter…” His use of “my daughter” in addressing Ruth is remarkable and not only because this is the way Naomi addressed her and thought of her, but it is also remarkable because Boaz uses this address as a way to break down the barriers that naturally separate him from Ruth. This address is not in any way patronizing in this context, but it does reflect the age difference between Boaz and Ruth, and he uses this address out of the genuine sense of responsibility that he feels for Ruth.
Boaz says four things to Ruth initially. First, he tells her not to go to any other field to glean, she does not need to go anywhere else. Second, he tells her to attach herself to his regular female servants, Boaz goes on to explain what he means, she is to keep her eyes on which field his people are harvesting and she is to go to that field to glean. Third, Ruth does not have to worry about harassment or mistreatment from Boaz’s male workers because he will tell them not to bother her. Fourth, Boaz tells Ruth that she may drink freely from the water that is provided for his regular field workers. In all that Boaz says to her he shows her his kindness expressed in grace and compassion.
Ruth responds to this kindness by bowing down with her face to the ground before Boaz, she is amazed by the kindness that he has shown to her and asks, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10b, NASB95)[4] Ruth knows that because she is a foreigner and a despised Moabite foreigner that this kindness is extraordinary coming from this wealthy Israelite landowner. At this point we do not even know if Boaz knew Ruth’s name, but even so he acknowledged her. If Boaz noticed her, we can be sure that others in the field noticed her as well, but in kindness Boaz has offered her his protection and provision and in doing so he has dignified this destitute widow from a foreign land and treated her as a significant person. Ruth, who was obviously extremely self-conscious about the fact that she was a foreigner, cannot believe Boaz’s seeming indifference to the fact that she is a Moabite.
Boaz continues to dignify Ruth by responding to her question. He has heard everything about her, even if he didn’t know her name as soon as his foreman had told him that she was the Moabitess, the daughter-in-law of Naomi that had returned with her from the land of Moab he knew who she was. After all, Bethlehem was a small town and news like that would travel fast, this was the woman everyone in Bethlehem was talking about. The reports that Boaz had heard according to his response to Ruth emphasized two details about her in particular. First, her extraordinary kindness to her mother-in-law and second, her extraordinary courage in accompanying Naomi back to Bethlehem. In other words, she had shown kindness to her bereaved mother-in-law and had been willing to sacrifice her own prospects to do so. This is what Boaz find so impressive about Ruth and what moves him to show kindness to her in return. Boaz then speaks to Ruth of reward, that the LORD repay her for the kindness that she has shown to Naomi, that her reward be great which Boaz describes as wages from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge, a beautiful picture of a bird protecting her young under her wings. He speaks of Ruth’s experience as “coming to seek refuge, provision, and protection under God’s wings. Even though Boaz may be primarily thinking of the day when Ruth transferred her allegiance from Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, to the LORD (Yahweh), the God of Israel, her actions on this day represent a specific application of her looking to God for protection. God had led her to the field of Boaz and Boaz offered her his protection, in so doing he was personally functioning as the wings of God. By acting in this way Boaz was not only offering Ruth refuge but he was also honoring God, as seem in the Israelite proverb found in Proverbs 14:31, “He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.” (Proverbs 14:31, NASB95)[5] With this final statement made by Boaz, he raises the question of the link between reward and protection. Only time will tell how both will be experienced by Ruth.
Ruth responds again to Boaz in verse 13, “Then she said, ‘I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.’” (Ruth 2:13, NASB95)[6] Ruth expresses her gratitude for the favor or the grace that she has found in Boaz’s sight. She is thankful that he has noticed her and has spoken kindly to her. Ruth gives two reasons in this verse for her gratitude. First, she expresses her thankfulness to Boaz for calming her emotionally, “…you have comforted me.” This word translated comfort has a wide range of meanings, to comfort, to console, to bring relief. In this context it conveys the sense of relieving tensions, easing the mind. Ruth is saying to Boaz that his kindness to her has brought her great relief. His kind words have calmed her fears and she has found comfort and security under the wings of God, those wings are embodied in the person of Boaz. Second, she expresses gratitude for Boaz’s kind words. She says that he has, “…spoken kindly to your maidservant.” The literal translation is ”to speak on the heart” and can have quite a range of meanings but in this context means to speak compassionately and sympathetically. Ruth’s expression of amazement at Boaz’s kindness in her first response to him was based on racial considerations, he noticed her and paid attention to her even though she was a foreigner. Now the issue is class, he has spoken kindly to her even though she views herself the lowest class of maidservant, one that cannot even be compared to his other maidservants. Ruth is totally amazed that differences of race and class could not stifle Boaz’s compassion and kindness toward her.
So how was it that Boaz could show kindness and offer protection to Ruth since she was a Moabitess? I think we can begin to see Boaz’s thinking in the last statement he made to Ruth concerning her taking refuge under the wings of the God of Israel. It is true that the Moabites had been placed under a ban of eternal exclusion for seeking to curse and then seducing the Israelites into worshiping their gods. But what about a Moabite who abandons those gods, and embraces the LORD, the God of Israel? And what if she is poor, an alien, and a widow—one of the very people the Law commanded Israelites to provide for and protect? What does it mean to truly keep the Law in these circumstances? Would Boaz be wrong to embrace such a one? The answer that seems to be forming in his mind and showing itself in his words and actions is that he would not be wrong. And the rest of the history of this book confirms that he is right.
CONCLUSION:
I am going to stop here this morning. We will finish this chapter next week. I think from our passage this morning there is a great lesson that we can learn. That lesson is that applying God’s Word to the messy business of life requires great wisdom. All of the Bible is inspired by God and carries the stamp of His authority. So, all of the Bible is to be honored and obeyed. However, treating it as a set of absolute rules that must all be applied in the same direct way in every situation, regardless of the intention behind them or the complexities of particular cases, simply will not do. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes of His day for failing to distinguish between the lesser and greater matters of the Law, magnifying the lesser and neglecting the greater. He said in Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23, NASB95)[7] The result of how the Pharisees kept the Law was a harsh legalism that failed to express as Jesus said the divine concern for justice and compassion that was the real heart of the Law and what laid behind all the commandments. The truth is that the ban on the Moabites was given to prevent Israel from ever again being harmed by Moab, or seduced into worshiping its gods. It was never intended to exclude someone like Ruth who had abandoned those gods and taken refuge in the LORD, any more than the ban on the Canaanites was intended to exclude the harlot Rahab, who was in awe of Israel’s God and decided to cast her lot with Him and His people. If proof is needed, it is found in the way Ruth and Rahab are both included in the genealogy of Jesus that opens the New Testament in Matthew 1:1-16! The way that the history of Ruth ends, as we will see, with blessing upon blessing, leaves us in no doubt that Boaz was a lawkeeper, not a lawbreaker. In Ruth’s case he was absolutely right in letting his concern for the poor, the alien, and the widow take precedence over the ban on Moabites. This is something that we as followers of Christ need to note very carefully. We are right to honor the Bible as the inspired Word of God and make it the final authority and judge of our beliefs and practices. But we too, need discernment in knowing how to apply it to the complexities of life, lest we make the same mistake the Pharisees and scribes did and end up out of step with God whose Word it is. May God grant us discernment.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.