Ruth (2)

A man named Boaz was looking across his field. He had a large field of barley and wheat, and he watched as his workers reaped the crops. Other people were allowed to pick up the pieces that fell to the ground. These people, the gleaners, were mostly poor people. As he looked, he saw among the gleaners a young woman whom he had never seen before. Who could she be?

When he asked his reapers who she was, they told him it was Ruth. “She came back with her motherin-law, Naomi, from Moab. She asked us if she could reap here, and we told her she could. She has been working here all day and has hardly stopped.”

Boaz went to speak to her. “You may surely stay and glean here,” he told her. “When you are thirsty, go have a drink just like my other workers.”

Ruth was happy that he was not angry at her. “Why are you so kind, when I’m just a stranger?” she asked.

“I have heard how much you did for your motherin-law,” he told her. “How you left your country to come here. God reward you for all you have done.”

Boaz was so kind that he even told her that she could eat lunch with his reapers. He also secretly told his reapers to purposely drop extra handfuls of barley, just so she could glean more!

Why was Ruth working in Boaz’s field? It was because she and Naomi had very little money, and when she went looking for a place to glean, the first field Ruth happened on belonged to Boaz. Ruth didn’t know it but Boaz was related to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Did Ruth really “just happen” to come to Boaz’s field? Was it really “by luck” or “just by chance”? No, God does not let anything happen “by chance.” He has everything under His control, and everything happens exactly as He wants it to—not by luck, not by mistake, only by God’s will. There was a reason why Ruth came to Boaz’s field.

When Ruth came home that night, Naomi was amazed at all the food she brought home. Then, when she found out that Ruth had been at her own relative’s field, she was humble and full of praise to the Lord. How wonderful He had been to lead Ruth exactly to the safest place for her.

Ruth kept working in Boaz’s fields until the end of harvest, but then what was to happen? She and Naomi still needed food, but her gleaning would be finished once the harvest was ended. Naomi told her, “Boaz, for whom you are working, is one of our closest relatives. Maybe he is the closest one, our near kinsman. Do you know what that means? By law, he would be the one to look after you.”

Ruth also knew about that Israelite law for the widows and the piece of land the Lord had given to each family in Canaan. A closest relative was supposed to buy the land the family owned, and if he did, he must marry the widow also. Maybe that relative would be Boaz. Naomi gave Ruth some instructions. “Tonight, when Boaz goes home to his barn, go visit him, and he will tell you what to do, but wait until it’s late and he’s settled down.” That night Ruth quietly hurried over to Boaz’s barn. How surprised he was to find someone near him.

“Who are you?” he asked, for it was dark, and he couldn’t see her well. Even if he could have seen her, a veil covered her face.

“I am Ruth,” she told him. Then she told him how he was possibly her nearest relative and would be able to buy their land, as the law said.

“No, there is a relative even closer to you than I am,” he said. “He is the one who must do the part of the near kinsman for you, to buy your land and take care of you. I will visit him tomorrow morning and see if he wants to or not.”

So, the next morning Boaz went to the gate of the city where most people came. Soon that relative came, and Boaz stopped him. Boaz picked ten men of the city as witnesses to listen and to make sure their conversation went according to law.

“Naomi has a piece of land that you may buy, according to law, because you are her closest relative,” Boaz said. “Do you want to buy it?”

“Yes, I will do that,” the man answered.

“Remember, that when you buy the land, you must also marry her daughter-in-law Ruth, whose husband died,” Boaz told him.

The man did not want to do that. “I do not want to buy the land then,” he said. “You may buy it yourself.” Boaz was happy to hear this. Their agreement had been heard by all the people around them, so Boaz went on his way.

Boaz did not wait long to marry Ruth. Soon afterward the Lord blessed them with a baby boy whom they named Obed. Naomi was a wonderful grandmother to him. Many, many years later Obed grew up and had a son named Jesse, and Jesse had a son named David. You may have heard of David, the David who became king and wrote many of the psalms that we have in the Bible.

Then David had children, and they had children, and from them the Lord Jesus Christ was later born. You can, therefore, see that all these things did not happen by chance. It was God’s will that Ruth be brought to the land of Israel, there to become the wife of Boaz, making them the ancestors of the Lord Jesus.

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