Ruth 2:1-23
1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.a
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hapb was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
4 And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
6 And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:
7 And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.
8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:
9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.
10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.
14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproachc her not:
16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.
18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meetd thee not in any other field.
23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
RUTH AND THE MAN OF GREAT WEALTH
(vv. 1-23)
Verse 1 of this chapter introduces us to Boaz, a man of great wealth who is clearly a type of the Lord Jesus. Besides being wealthy, he was a close relative of Naomi, though at this time Ruth did not know it.The Lord Jesus has a close relationship to Israel too, though Israel has for centuries ignored this, not realizing that all their blessings depend on this Redeemer.
Ruth, with lovely energy of faith, desiring support for her mother-in-law as well as herself, urged Naomi to allow her to glean heads of grain after the reapers had passed (v. 2).It may be she had learned of the provision God had directed to be made for the poor when the harvest was reaped (Leviticus 19:9). The harvesters were not to reap the corners of their fields nor to gather up any gleanings, but leave them for the poor and the stranger.
Obtaining Naomi's permission Ruth went out and happened (surely by the direction of God) to come to the field of Boaz where she gleaned.Her gleaning speaks of her gathering up small portions of the word of God, just as the godly remnant of Israel will find for themselves after the Church of God has been raptured to heaven, so that the truth will not then be proclaimed as it is today, though God will provide some measure of blessing for those whose faith is awakened to seek Him.
The name of Boaz means "in him is strength," and his character was most commendable, as verse 4 shows.In coming to the reapers of his field, he greeted them,"The Lord be with you," and they answered, "The Lord bless you!" He showed genuine respect for his reapers, and they fully respected him -- a relationship not often seen between an employer and his employees!As king the supervisor of the reapers who the young woman was who was gleaning grain, Boaz was told she was the Moabite woman who had come back with Naomi from the land of Moab. The supervisor commended her diligence in gleaning all day except for a short rest.
Boaz then spoke kindly to Ruth, encouraging her to continue gleaning in his field, keeping close to his young women (vv. 8-9). How good it is if we also discern the instructions of the Lord Jesus to us, to go to no other field, but glean in the place where He is acknowledged as Lord and in fellowship with those who are His servants. Boaz invited Ruth also to drink from the vessels of water that had been drawn by his young men.The young men speak of those with spiritual energy to minister the fresh, refreshing Word of God for the blessing of the Lord's people.May we take advantage ofsuch ministry.
The attitude of Ruth in her response to Boaz was surely refreshing to his heart (v. 10). In genuine humility she asked him why she, a foreigner, should be so kindly treated by him, a prominent Israelite.His answer to this was most gracious too.He had been given a full report of her kindness to her mother-in-law since the death of her husband, and that her devotedness to Naomi had been such as to leave her parents and choose to live in another land among people she had not known (v. 11).
Boaz recognized that this devotion of hers must spring from faith in the God of Israel, and expressed the desire that the Lord would repay her work with a full reward, for he said she had come for refuge under the wings of the Lord God of Israel (v. 12).
Maintaining her lowly attitude, Ruth expressed her deep appreciation of the comforting words of Boaz, reminding him that she was not like his maidservants and yet he had been so kind to her (v. 13).Such too will be the humble attitude of the godly remnant of Israel when they return to their land, feeling themselves to be no longer entitled to blessing from Israel's Messiah. Indeed, this is the right attitude for any sinner today, whether Jewish or Gentile, for none of us deserve the blessing of the Lord of glory. At mealtime he invited her to share with him, giving her parched grain, so she was satisfied and kept some (v. 14) for Naomi (v. 18).
The kindness of Boaz is further seen in his instructing his harvesters to let Ruth glean even among the sheaves and also to let grain fall purposely for her (vv. 15-16).Thus the Lord will encourage the faith of His people Israel during the time of tribulation.Boaz might have simply given a large amount of grain to Ruth, and save her the work of gleaning and beating out the grain, but he wisely left her with work to do, while encouraging her in seeing that her work was not in vain.
Working all day, Ruth then beat out the barley from the stalks (not easy work either) and found she had about an ephah of grain, which evidently amounted to about 7 gallons -- not a light load to carry home (v. 17). When she brought it home, Naomi "saw what she had gleaned," but Ruth gave to Naomi what food she had reserved from the meal Boaz had supplied (v. 18).In answer to Naomi's question as to whose field she had gleaned in, Ruth told her the man's name was Boaz (v. 19).This was pleasant news to Naomi, who was glad to hear that Boaz had been so kind to Ruth, specially since he was a close relative of Elimelech (v. 20).
Ruth also told her that Boaz had urged her to stay close by his harvesters until the harvest was completely gathered (v. 21).Naomi therefore confirmed this advice, adding that Ruth should not expose herself to the possibility that people might see her in another field (v. 22). Boaz had not said this, but Naomi's words illustrate the fact that we are often more affected by what people see us do than we are by the plain instructions of scripture. For Ruth, the words of Boaz would surely be enough, and God's Word ought to be enough for us.We should be gleaning in the Lord's field.If we should go to another field, we might be embarrassed in meeting someone there whom we would not want to influence in the wrong way and yet our example carries with it such an influence.We should obey the Lord out of love for Him, not for fear of the opinions of others.
Ruth therefore remained in the fellowship of the servants of Boaz, gleaning through all the barley harvest and the wheat harvest that followed.Thus she fully accepted the advice of Boaz and showed a faithful, devoted affection for her mother-in-law.