Thanksgiving Day in the Life of Ruth

In these words we would direct your attention to three thoughts: first, how much Ruth gleaned; second, what she did with it; and third, from where it came.

What a privilege we have when we with our families may come together in Cod’s house to acknowledge the Lord for the care and blessings bestowed on us in the past season. In Canada the churches this year will come together on October 14 and in the United States on November 28 for their annual Thanksgiving Day. It is a very special day, in which we are especially called to look back in our life, but are also called to look up, and to look into our hearts. We must confess, “Truly, the Lord has been good to us,” and must cry out with Jeremiah of old, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” This was also the language in the heart of Ruth.

We were privileged to come together on Prayer Day to seek the blessing of the Lord in the coming season, and now the season lies behind us. It was for many a season of trials, sorrows and disappointments. Empty places have come among both young and old, who were with us on Prayer Day, but who are no longer alive. I hope that the Lord may also give you a Thanksgiving Day in the midst of all your sorrows and afflictions. It would be an eternal wonder. We deserve nothing, but how little do we realize it. Unless the Lord brings us there, we will never come there of ourselves, but with the Lord all things are possible.

Rev. I. Spaans is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Norwich, Ontario.

For some the season was a disappointment in that the drought continued and the farmers looked in vain for rain. We hope also for you who were troubled by dry weather and a disappointing crop that you may ask the Lord to keep you from your own thoughts and ways. By nature we are such dangerous creatures. If it goes well, we can speak well of the Lord, but if it goes against us, we are inclined to show our enmity, one in a more refined way and another in a more open way. By nature we are all the same.

May it please the Lord to humble us also in the way of disappointments, trials and afflictions. It can be in the heart of Cod’s people that they have a desire to hold a Thanksgiving Day, but in the midst of the strife and trials of life they cannot see how it is possible to do so. Here in the book of Ruth we also find one whose ways were through deep waters, but she was enabled to hold Thanksgiving Day, even though it was but a small amount which she had received.

Think about the origin of our Thanksgiving Day. It was begun by our Pilgrim fathers with the desire to acknowledge the Lord for what He had done and to share the blessings which they had received from Him with their fellow-men. That too we can find in the life of Ruth.

The story of Ruth is a familiar story. We are told that “Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. 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.” Further on we read, “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. 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.”

This chapter gives us a day of Ruth on the field of Boaz. We could summarize: the season of Ruth on the field of Boaz. We are told how that first she had a Prayer Day, and then was active throughout the day. Think how she came on that field; it was with empty hands, as a poor and wretched creature from the land of Moab. It would be such a wonder if we were brought more often to that low place. It is such a wonder to be made a true beggar. In our deep fall in Adam we have desired to become a king, but we find here a Ruth who by grace was willing and glad to have the privilege of being a beggar.

I hope that there were some on Prayer Day who could feel with Ruth that it is an eternal wonder that we are not consumed, that our place was not yet in hell, but that we might start the new season which now has already run its course. Now we may be together on Thanksgiving Day. If there never was a Prayer Day, there never can be a Thanksgiving Day. Prayer Day must first come in our lives before there can be a Thanksgiving Day. Some think Thanksgiving Day is easier than Prayer Day If you were to ask this of God’s true people, they would tell you that Thanksgiving Day from our side is just as impossible as Prayer Day because for both we need a praying and thanking High Priest in heaven.

On the field of Boaz, Ruth began the morning with prayer, entering the field with empty hands. How much she gleaned is declared to us in the 17th verse. She gleaned in the field until even, thus, was busy all day, and beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Perhaps we would say, “Is it worthwhile talking about a bushel of barley?” I wish I could take you with me to Ruth, and ask her whether it was much or was too little. She would certainly have exclaimed, “It is much; it is above expectation.”

The law as prescribed in Leviticus could never give her a bushel, but in that bushel of barley there is a sermon about the gospel. Perhaps you will say, “Gospel in a bushel of barley?” Yes, in that bushel of barley there is a proclamation of that which the law could never give. The gospel through Christ Jesus can give more than we deserve, an abundance full and free, a gift of the Lord. The Lord is a wonderworking God.

Now notice what she did with it, after having received such a blessing. The 18th verse tells us, “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.” Here we find the true spirit of thanksgiving. She had a desire to share what she had received with her mother-in-law. That was also the desire of our Pilgrim fathers — to acknowledge the Lord and to share with their fellowmen.

“Gospel in a bushel of barley?” Yes, in that bushel of barley there is a proclamation of that which the law could never give. The gospel through Christ Jesus can give more than we deserve, an abundance full and free, a gift of the Lord.

Here is an important question for each of us in the midst of all that we have received in the past season. We hear out of the Bible what Ruth did with that which she received. I hope, with all that we may still receive, that it may humble our hearts, and that it may be our desire to help where help is needed — the church, the school, the mission, the poor, and wherever else there may be a need. The Bible teaches us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. To understand that we have to experience it.

If we may be led by the Holy Spirit to consider what we deserve, also in regard to the past season, then we must ask, “What is our life, and what has it been? What have we said and what have we done?” Then it can be no different than that our hearts are humbled and we cry out, “O Lord, if Thou shouldst mark our sins, who then could stand?” (Psalm 130).

Finally, let us notice where it came from. In the 19th verse we read, “And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? 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 today is Boaz.” It is a blessing when you may have such an instructor as Naomi. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, saw that which Ruth had brought home, and she was humbled under it, seeing the abundance. But before she partook of it with Ruth, she desired to know from where it came. What an important question it was which she put to Ruth!

It is an important question also for us, a question that we all should ask ourselves regarding that which we have received in the past year. From where did it come? Oh, that we might be directed to the Lord, the Giver of all blessings, and be reminded that it is not our doing or our wisdom, but that it comes from the Lord! Natural blessings, as well as spiritual, are all forfeited. That which we may receive, we may receive only because of the goodness of the Lord. Naomi had a desire to know from where it came. It was a blessing that she asked this question.

Fathers and mothers, speak about the blessings of this past season with your children. Ask your children from where those blessings of food, clothing, home, and all that we may have, come. It was not because “father” was so industrious; it was not because “mother” was so capable, but explain to your children that they are all blessings from the Lord, of which none of us are worthy.

I think that when Ruth gave her answer, it humbled the heart of Naomi before the Lord. She was reminded of that Greater Boaz. What a blessing it was, as we can read in verse 20. When Naomi heard that it came from the field of Boaz, she began to explain to Ruth who Boaz was. He is a near kinsman. I’m sure that at the moment the bushel of barley was forgotten and she was lifted higher. Oh, to see in Him not only a bushel of barley, but enough for time and eternity! They may know that in the Greater Boaz, Jesus Christ, there are blessings possible for this time, but also that which is necessary for eternity.

May the Lord remember individuals, families, church and nation, giving a turning from sin and a turning to His Word. If He draws us, then we shall run after Him.

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