Ruth 2:14 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 reproach 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 meet 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.
Boaz continued to “lay down the law” for Ruth as she gleaned in his fields. Again, he was not being aggressive or mean. Ruth was not from Israel. She knew she was an “outsider”. Boaz took an interest in her because he knew her mother in law and he had heard a little bit about Ruth’s character. He was being directed by God to help Ruth to be able to live and provide for herself and her mother in law.
In verse 14, Boaz told Ruth she did not need to provide for her meals while she was gleaning in his fields. She was not a hired maiden. She came on her own and she was taking advantage of the grain that had fallen to the ground in Boaz’ field. She was not a demanding woman. She knew she was at the mercy of the farmers in what she was doing. God had already declared the law regarding gleaning and a godly farmer would abide by that law. Boaz was a godly farmer. He respected Ruth as a woman and was not going to make life difficult for her, but rather, he looked for ways to assist her as a woman.
Ruth was not too proud to accept a favour. She knew she did not deserve this kind treatment. She was not complaining to her mother in law about how difficult life was for her. Naomi complained about her lot, but Ruth did not follow that poor example.
Boaz was also at the table at mealtime, and he made sure that her needs were met. Ruth was allowed to eat until she was satisfied. There was no rationing of the food here.
As we have noted before, this entire account is a picture of God’s gift of salvation. The blessings of salvation are greater than we can fathom. Those blessings are not necessarily material. They are blessings that the world cannot know and cannot take away from us. At times we receive material blessings and we are grateful for them.
In verse 15 we read that after the meal, Ruth got up to go back to gleaning. After a good meal, sometimes it is just nice to stretch out and have a little nap. Ruth was not like that. She got up to get back to work. Boaz took the opportunity to command his young men to let her glean among the sheaves. They were not to scold her for doing so. Boaz was making it easier for Ruth to be able to gather the grain needed for their needs. Gleaning would not be an easy task in the first place. It would not generally provide much grain by the end of the day. However, gleaning among the sheaves would be quite profitable. There would be much to gather. Boaz knew that Ruth was not one to take advantage of a situation. She was not a greedy woman. She was not a thief. He would provide for her in a very generous manner.
We see here that in the spiritual picture, God provides the gift of eternal life to all who turn to Him in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. As we will see in our Sunday afternoon message, there is work for the saved person to do. God promises blessings for the true child of God. Those blessings are not just words. The are actual blessings we can have. We are told to keep ourselves in the love of God. We need to follow the truth and reject the lies. Christians cannot be lazy or careless. We need to be reminded that we are in a spiritual war. The enemy is not sleeping. He is always looking for a way to get a true saint to fall. He tried to do that with Job. He could not get Job to curse God and die. He tried that with king David and was successful at times.
True saints need to walk in the Spirit and not fulfil the lust of the flesh. We need to learn that and we need to be obedient to the God Who saved us.
Ruth was given special treatment by Boaz. She still needed to go and glean. He just made it easier for her to glean the grain needed for her and her mother in law.
In verse 16 we see further that Boaz commanded his young men to let some stalks fall to the ground on purpose as they were reaping the harvest. They were not to rebuke her for picking up those fallen stalks. They were to let her glean and leave her alone. There is no doubt that Boaz’ men and maidens would notice that Ruth was being given special treatment. The same is true for born again Christians. We are given special treatment. True saints can suffer and die of cancer. They can suffer and die of other diseases as well. However, true saints have a peace in their hearts that the world cannot know and does not understand. True saints have an outlook on life that the world does not have. It is not that others could not have it, but most do not want it.
In verse 17 we read that Ruth gleaned until the even and then beat out what she had gleaned. She discovered she had gleaned about an ephah of barley that day. In Exodus 16:16 we read that an omer was the amount of food a person could eat in a day. In verse 36 we read that an omer was the tenth part of an ephah.
Exodus 16:36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
According to that, Ruth had gleaned enough in that one day to supply for 5 days of food for her and Naomi. That was a good day. She ate all she needed that day and she took home enough to meet their needs for 5 more days. The other factor here is that Boaz was feeding her while she was gleaning. Thus in essence, that ephah of grain that Ruth gleaned would be for more than 5 days because she would not need much of that for herself. Naomi would be the main beneficiary of that grain.
In verse 18 we read that Ruth took that grain home to her mother in law. Naomi was quite impressed with what Ruth had gleaned that day. This was a good day for sure.
In verse 19 Naomi asked Ruth where she had gleaned that day. Naomi did not know at this time that Ruth had been staying in one man’s field only. She was wise enough to be thankful for God’s provision for their needs. Ruth told Naomi whose field she had been gleaning in.
In verse 20 we see that Naomi’s ears were now perked up. She knew that Boaz was a near kinsman to her. Naomi acknowledged the LORD’s hand in this matter. She could see that God was looking after them. Her tune changed from when she had first come back to Bethlehem. She knew that Boaz had an obligation to fulfil here and her mind was working in this regard. She understood that God had provided a safety net for widows.
We noted earlier that God’s provisions for His people are much better than any scheme a godless government can dream up. Our welfare system is very deficient in what it has promised to be able to do. It has “enabled” rebels to continue to live in rebellion against the Lord. Those who truly need help should understand the primary help they need is from the Lord. They need to be sure they are saved. Then they can rely on a true local church, of which they should be a member, to help them to live. That is how God designed things to work. Man is more than just bones and flesh. Man has a soul that must be fed. Our governmental system is designed to keep people away from God. It wants to be seen as god to the citizens. It has successfully caused people to ignore the fact that the government is a very poor steward and that the government does not make money. It can print money, which increases inflation. It is a great waster of taxpayer dollars. If we had an honest government, our taxes would be minimal. As it is, our taxes continue to go up but our deficit also continues to go up. The governments we have will never have enough. They will never lower the taxes. They will lie and claim to lower taxes, but they have other ways to take that which they claim to give us back.
God was looking after Naomi and Ruth’s needs in a way they had never experienced before and certainly would not have experienced had they remained in Moab. No one can outdo the mercy and grace of the true God. It is essential to know Him. True saints are not demanding. We do not demand our “rights”. We walk humbly with the Lord and trust Him to provide as we submit to His will.
In verse 21 Ruth further explained what Boaz had done for her. In verse 22 Naomi knew there was more going on here. She could see that it was a good thing for Ruth to remain under Boaz’ care in this matter. She warned Ruth not to go into any other fields but to listen to what Boaz had told her.
In verse 23 we see that Ruth was content to accept this good counsel. She had no reason to look elsewhere for an opportunity to glean. She was getting more than enough from Boaz’ fields. She would go and glean every day and she would live with her mother in law. God was providing for her needs.
This again is a picture of God’s salvation. There is no reason for a true child of God to look to the world for help. God has promised to meet the needs of His child. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He has proven Himself to be able to meet our needs. He gave the nation of Israel manna every day for 40 years. He provided enough on the sixth day so that they did not need to go out and gather any on the seventh day. In fact He did not give them any on the seventh day. He did not tempt them to sin.
Jesus took five loaves and two fishes and fed five thousand men besides women and children and they took up twelve baskets full of extra food from that meal. God provided all the comfort and support that Paul and Silas needed as they were locked in those stocks in the prison in Philippi. They could sing praises to Him at midnight, while the jailor slept.
The carnal Christian will be drawn to the world, but he will not find that which satisfies. He will be miserable and empty. He will try to fill that void with things and false doctrine, but if he is truly saved God will work to show him that what he is doing is wrong and will not satisfy. The lost will continue to dig their hole deeper. The saved will repent and get right with the Lord. Occasionally a lost person will see they are going the wrong direction and be saved.
It is important to be an honourable person like Ruth and Boaz. They were a blessing to others. They were able to help Naomi to change her view of the LORD, the Almighty. That is what is needed today.
Pastor Bartel
