Ruth 2:1  And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
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 hap 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.

In chapter 2 God reveals some of the background details to the life of Naomi. God established an order for families that is far more effective and efficient than the many government programs that swallow up our tax dollars and give a very poor return on forced investments. We do not even have any say on how our tax dollars are spent. Politicians take great liberties with money that does not belong to them. They make promises that they say they will keep with our money. However, first they skim off a large amount of that money to help satisfy their greed.
In the Bible, there were no government programs. God designed the right way to look after family needs. In God’s plan laziness is not rewarded. The Bible declares:

II Thessalonians 3:10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

There were poor people on earth while Jesus was on this earth. Jesus declared that there will always be poor people on this earth. We need to understand the problem and address it in a Biblical manner.
In our text, Naomi had a legitimate need. She had come back to her own country without a husband and without sons. She had a daughter in law, but it was not expected that the woman should go out and find the food to feed the family. Naomi was not a run around. She was not a fashion diva. Ruth was neither of those either. They were two women who needed to find a way to survive in an environment where their husbands were dead. God had a way to look after such situations. We see that worked out in this book.
Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s. This man was wealthy. We will find that he was an honourable man. He did not get his wealth through deception or deceit. He was an honest farmer who was a respected man in his community. His name was Boaz, meaning “fleetness”. Fleetness is swiftness and rapidity. Boaz led by example. He was a godly man. Naomi knew of him, but she had missed out on ten years of his life.
In verse 2 Ruth was interested in getting busy providing for herself and her mother in law. She was not a lazy woman. She knew about gleaning. She asked Naomi for permission to go and glean wherever she would find grace to gather up some grain for them to eat. This was Naomi’s homeland and Ruth needed guidance to be sure that what she was planning was safe and good for her to do.
In the Old Testament, God commanded that the farmers were not to take all the grain off their fields.

Leviticus 19:9  And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

God expected the poor to do something to feed themselves. They might not be able to grow the crop. They could not just sit around and expect others to bring them everything they needed. Now there would be some people that could not walk, or were blind, etc. They were quite limited in what they could do. However, there were others who were poor, but they were expected to work to get their food.
Ruth was an honourable woman. She wanted to look after her needs, and also her mother in law’s needs. She was a humble woman as well. She would trust God to provide the field where she could glean. We see that Naomi gave her approval for what Ruth was intending to do.
In verse 3 Ruth came to a field and went into the field to glean after the reapers. The reapers cut down the grain by hand. They did not have combines. They did not have swathers. The reapers were hard workers. They would bundle the stalks into sheafs and let them stand in the field for a time to further ripen. Then the sheafs were taken to the threshing floor and thrashed out to separate the grain from the stalk. As the reapers would cut down the stalks and bundle them up. some stalks would break off and fall to the ground. Some of the grain would shake out of the head and fall to the ground as well. God taught the farmers to leave some of that on the ground for the poor to be able to come and gather that for their needs. The reapers were not lazy or careless. However, there would be some grain that would fall to the ground. The godly farmer was not greedy. He was thankful for the increase God would give him. He was efficient but he was also trusting in the Lord for the increase and was willing to help others to survive as well. He did not need to get every seed out of that field.
In verse 3 we see that Ruth’s “hap” was to light on a part of the field that belonged to Boaz. She did not know this field belonged to Boaz. The word translated as “hap” means chance or fortune. God does not teach the idea of luck. God had this all planned out. Ruth did not know this. She did not understand the importance of prayer yet. God was working behind the scenes to bless Ruth and Naomi. God is still doing that today for those who walk humbly with Him. There are many people running to and fro, trying to amass wealth at the expense of knowing the true God. They have no time for God. They are not interested in knowing Him and trusting Him to guide them in their pursuit to meet their daily needs. Boaz was different.
God had directed Ruth to glean in Boaz’ field. This was another step in the plan of God to provide the pieces needed to fulfil His promises. It is important for God’s people to be busy at what He wants of them. We do not always see all the details. For those that are saved, we know the big picture. God has given us His Word and we can know the truth. However, we do not know all the pieces that will be fitted into that picture before it is fulfilled.
The Scriptures were not completed at the time of Ruth and Boaz. Ruth was a Moabitess. She did not have the privilege at that time to know the Word of God even as Naomi could have known. However, Ruth was willing to do what she knew in regard to providing for them. She knew how to glean. She knew it was hard work, but she was not afraid of hard work. She would do what she could to meet their needs. God would intervene and reward both Ruth and Naomi for Ruth’s faithfulness. He would also reward Boaz for his humility and faithfulness to the Lord.
In verse 4 we read that Boaz came from Bethlehem and came to see how the harvest was going. He was the boss and likely had some business to take care of in Bethlehem. As we see here, he was not an abusive boss. He had a good relationship with his workers. We learn very quickly here, that Boaz was a godly man. We learn as well that the people he hired were also godly people. God fearing people make good workers. They do not need to be baby sat. They can be trusted to get out there and do the work required of them. Godly bosses will treat their workers with respect. There is no need for unions. There is a need to teach the Word of God and help people to see the importance of knowing the true God.
In verse 5 we see that Boaz knew what was going on at his field. He did not need to be there all the time to see what was happening. He observed what was taking place and he noticed a new face following after the reapers. Boaz had a big enough operation that he could afford to hire a servant to manage things while he was absent.
Boaz was not upset that Ruth was there. He just wanted to know who was working in his fields. In verse 5 the servant told Boaz who this damsel was. He told Boaz she was a Moabite and that she had come back to Bethlehemjudah with Naomi. The servant reminded Boaz that Naomi had left her homeland and travelled to the land of Moab under the direction of her husband. Boaz likely knew the situation with Naomi, but had not met Ruth yet.
In verse 7 we learn further that Ruth had asked permission to be able to glean after the reapers. The servant also noted that Ruth had been busy gleaning since the morning. She had taken a short break in the house, but she was an industrious woman. She was not a problem for the reapers. She was not getting in their way. She was just out there getting what grain she could for herself and Naomi.
Now we have seen character traits of an honourable person in both Ruth and Boaz. An honourable person is an industrious person. An honourable person is also a person who walks in the fear of the Lord. An honourable person is not seeking to take advantage of others. He or she has honourable goals and works to accomplish the goal.
We see that God blesses honourable people. He knows how to look after their needs. He works in ways we do not always understand or expect. The honourable person is also a humble person who is not ashamed to receive a blessing from the Lord. Ruth was industrious, but she was also thankful for the help that others were offering her. She had found this field that belonged to Boaz. His reapers had been very kind to her and even allowed her to rest in Boaz’ house for a time.
As we will learn, Ruth made a good reputation for herself in a very short time. Bad news spreads quickly, but good news also spreads quickly. Ruth was an honourable woman who proved to be a woman to be respected. A woman like that is worth a lot.
God directed Solomon to write about such a woman in Proverbs 31. Ruth was that type of a woman. She was not pushy and demanding. She was not someone who expected to be pampered. She was a busy woman who was not afraid of work. She would receive further blessings from the Lord. God’s way always works and it is always the best way. The walk of faith is worth learning. It begins with true, Biblical salvation and then is built upon trust in the true God.
Pastor Bartel