Ruth 2:1-6 God's Calling for His People
The Text
Ruth 2:1-6 (CSB)
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?” Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.
5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab.
Some Considerations
Philippians 4:8 (CSB) Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.
- How would you describe your life right at this moment? Like the sadness of Naomi, the desperation of Ruth or this stability of Boaz? Or something else entirely?
- Think of a time this week where God has been gracious, kind, and merciful to you. Give him praise for he is good.
- Think of a time this week where God has provided for you. Give him praise for he is good.
- How have you been verbally blessed by others? Has it ever happened outside of church?
- Take the time to trace your life and see how God has been at work so that "you might seek God, and perhaps you might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."
The Introduction
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.
God Has Called Us: Faithful
The author of Ruth has now introduced a new person--a prominent man of noble character that is related to Naomi by the way of her deceased husband.
Up until now, we have taken a notice of Naomi and Ruth. The embittered despair of Naomi along with the desperate faith of Ruth. Here I think we now seen the family of God. Those who are despair, those with just enough faith to leave what's easy and familiar and those who are like Boaz like a solid ground of stability and peace and safety.
It would be King Solomon (the future great-great grandson of Boaz and Ruth) will build two bronze pillars at the entrance of the temple.
1 Kings 7:21 (CSB) He made the two pillars, and he set them in the front of the temple, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one Jachin and the other Boaz.
Jachin means, "God will establish". Boaz means, "In God's strength".
God has called us to be faithful. But dear Christian, know that he has not called us to do anything that he has not already provided for. Naomi and Ruth need provision. Not just any provision--more so than just a place to sleep. They need a home that is more than a building. They need the family of God. They need one another. We need one another.
That is the Christian life. That is what the local church looks like. That is what the family of God looks like. The local church is made up of believers who love and worship God. God has provided in such a way that we get to be a blessing to one another.
This noble and prominent distant relative of Naomi is a picture of provision in our lives. All that God has given Boaz--nobility, prominence, wealth, stability--whatever that might be was never intended to terminate on Boaz but rather for one another.
Some might push back, for whatever reasons, "Wouldn't some people take advantage of that?" To which I would say, "Yes, they would and I hope they do." Don't we take full advantage of God's grace? No. But we do take advantage of it because God is a good God with never-ending goodness, grace, mercies and love for us. He gives generously and without measure so that we can give generously. Our Source is infinite. God provides so we get to give.
Romans 12:8 (CSB) if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:13 (CSB) Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
God is not calling us to have your stuff together so you can be ready to be blessing. Life is hard and we go through hard things. But God has given His Son and His Spirit and each other to get through this life together so he can bring us all the way home.
How would you describe your life right at this moment? Like the sadness of Naomi, the desperation of Ruth or this stability of Boaz? Or something else entirely?
2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?” Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
God Has Called Us: Apart
We have made much of the alien status of Ruth because the author of this book makes it distinct by mentioning it five times total. But just like David prayed, "We are sojourners just like our fathers were" (1 Chronicles 29:15), Ruth is already falling in lock step with her father in the faith, Abraham.
Genesis 12:1–3 (CSB) The LORD said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
The nation of Israel came from Abraham but for all intents and purposes, Abraham was a Gentile just like you and me and Ruth.
But beyond our natural origin, God has called all the elect to leave their old selves and follow his son. For:
John 1:12-13 (CSB) Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
More distinctly, we are brand new creatures in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Your old self is dead. That means that the world has nothing for you. Trust in the Lord and he will guide you.
Romans 8:5-6 (CSB) For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
One of the attributes we see of Ruth is the lack of presumptuous or rather, her humility. The author makes it a point to let us know that she is a foreigner. And Ruth knows it better than anybody else. A stranger in a strange land. Yet, even with the law of God on her side, she is not quick to take advantage. For:
Leviticus 19:9-10 (CSB) When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not pick your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
And
Deuteronomy 24:19 (CSB) When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, you must not go back to get it. You must leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Here is the even a scarier thought, look at the prayerful request of Ruth. She asked her mother-in-law:
Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?
Do we all know that the laws of the land, even when based on Judeo-Christian principles, do not ensure born-again believers? The people of God lived in a theocracy--that is the Law of God was the law of the land. But that did not ensure that Ruth would not run into a harsh and wicked landowner who would set out to make her life a living hell while she was trying to provide enough for her and her mother-in-law to survive to the next day. She needed not only the law of God on her side but she needed the favor and the grace of the landowner and his workers just to survive.
Yet, we know that all of creation ultimately belongs to the Creator. For:
Psalm 24:1 (CSB) The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD;
And
Psalm 50:10–12 (CSB) for every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine.
What makes this so incredible is that all riches and power and wealth belong God but there is no possibility that God would be mean or cruel or selfish or unmerciful. God is kind. God is good. God is generous. God is merciful.
There are going to be times where we will be so desperate for God and yet God not for one second is going to without not one drop of his grace, goodness, loving-kindness, and mercy for his children.
Think of a time this week where God has been gracious, kind, and merciful to you. Give him praise for he is good.
3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
God Has Called Us: Diligent
1 Timothy 1:12 (CSB) I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry—
1 Corinthians 15:58 (CSB) Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (CSB) So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
Colossians 3:23 (CSB) Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
In no way shape and form that we can work to earn God's salvation or favor. But since he has saved us and called us his own, we get to go and do. We are called apart from the world whose seemingly sole desire is to do as little as possible. God's people work. The balance is work diligently but take that rest that God himself did on the seventh day of creation. We don't have to burn the candle at both ends or grind day and night. Put in a honest day's work and get a honest day's wage and rest well.
So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters
We see this in the life of Ruth. Ruth could work so she did. Each of us here can work and we do. Our jobs and paychecks come God himself. We do these things because we love our Lord.
That said, it ain't always easy. The curse of sin is real:
Genesis 3:17–19 (CSB) And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
God gives us science and technology. Praise be to God our work is not as hard as it could be. But computers work against you. Spreadsheets work against you. At work, I am trying to automate all the things and all that did is work to automate the little things so that I have time to do the big things. Praise be to God that he gives us more grace for the work that he has set out for us to do.
She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
But work is just part of God's provision. Don't we all know this? The right job at the right company can make all the difference. And I know some people here--myself included--pray for such jobs. Here we see that Ruth "so happened" to work in the field belonging to someone in her father-in-law's family. That is not chance. That is God.
Think of a time this week where God has provided for you. Give him praise for he is good.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The LORD be with you.” “The LORD bless you,” they replied.
God Has Called Us: A Blessing
Numbers 6:24–26 (CSB) “May the LORD bless you and protect you; may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
God blesses us. We are to bless the Lord. And we are called to bless one another. Never to curse even when others mean you harm, we are to bless them.
Luke 6:27-28 (CSB) “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
1 Peter 3:8–9 (CSB) Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.
To bless one another to pray for God's favor on them. I am struck by this verse. On the one hand, we know the power of a blessing from one person to another. Jacob literally schemed, lied and deceived for his father's blessing (Genesis 27). Every Sunday, we receive the Lord's blessing in every benediction. And often, with distant associates that I might not know so well, I have blessed others in messaging. But face to face? I am pretty sure I have not blessed my wife or my children or my friends or co-workers. I am not sure why it isn't in our vernacular.
I think often when we can't say with our hearts, "I love you", we can say to someone we don't know well, "May the Creator God of the heavens and earth bless you and keep you for all of your days."
May we bless one another as we love one another and pray for one another.
And here in this text, the power of an employer blessing his workers and the workers blessing their employer.
Of all the passages concerning our employment, I am first reminded of Philemon. Read the short letter of Philemon. Paul makes the appeal to Philemon not only to not punish the runaway slave, Onesimus, but to receive him as a brother and to receive him as he would Paul. Paul is asking Philemon to bless Onesimus--despite the fact Onesimus owes him a great amount of debt and working to pay that debt off. Paul is exhorting Philemon to bless his employee.
How have you been verbally blessed by others? Has it ever happened outside of church?
5-6 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab.
God Has Called Us: Boundaries
Acts 17:24–26 (CSB) The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.
Notice that Boaz didn't ask, "Who is this?" but "Who does this young woman belong to?" We could only speculate what was going through his mind. But Ruth did not work for Boaz. But he did know that she was poor and she was a hard worker. (I cannot tell you of Moabites looked like so it might be that obvious that she was a foreigner. More on that later)
The servant answered fully: "She the Moabite that came back with Naomi." In other words, God has brought Ruth here. This was not an accident but the will of God.
For each other us, we are exactly where God puts us. We were born at a certain time and date. He has placed us in this city and that town and that country by his will. We do not ever have to worry or fret whether or not this big move or taking this job is in the will of God because guess what--it is the will of God. For:
Acts 17:27 (CSB) He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
I was born in 1975. End of the Vietnam War. Those two historical moments in America has had a profound impact on my life. The Vietnam War is because my dad would be shipped off to Vietnam got into a drunk driving accident and the Army, instead, shipped him off to Korea where he met my mother.
Both of them got married and moved to the States. They had me and my brother. Then my parents got divorced when I was 5 and I haven't seen my mom since then. My dad only gotten more wicked since his drinking and driving days was unfit to raise me and my brother. So we got to be raised by my dad's mom--my grandmother in Haltom City, Texas, where she faithfully attended Bethesda Community Church. And all of that, the good and the evil, was the will of God in my life. And every decision I made, good and evil, was the will of God in my life.
Take the time to trace your life and see how God has been at work so that "you might seek God, and perhaps you might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."