Ruth 2:14-23 God's Abundant Grace for His People

The Text

Ruth 2:14-23 (CSB)
¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

¹⁵ When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her.

¹⁶ Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley.

¹⁸ She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the LORD bless the man who noticed you.” Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

²⁰ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the LORD bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”

²¹ Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’ ”

²² So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”

²³ Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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.

• Remember your place with God. Know that you have the Spirit of God and the heart of the God. Know that you have endless of grace. All because you have Christ our Lord.
• Remember the times where the words of God, however they came to you, gave you strength and hope in your times of need and despair. Or even added more joy on your joy. Or even convicted you of sin and then God granted you grace so that you could repent.
• Remember the word of God and the love of God for you.

God

Ruth 2:14–17 (CSB) At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over. When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.” So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley.

God Has Called Us: God has provided

At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

God has provided a seat at his table

Like David:

2 Samuel 9:5-8 (CSB) So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar. Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, fell facedown, and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth! ” “I am your servant,” he replied. “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.” Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me? ”

Like Christ:

Luke 14:21-24 (CSB) “So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ “ ‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’ “Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’ ”

God has provided the heart to fully obey his law

She ate and was satisfied and had some left over. When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.”

For:

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (CSB) Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

And:

Romans 2:29 (CSB) On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That person’s praise is not from people but from God.

Boaz, according to the law of God, could have done the bare minimum. But he chose to go above and beyond. One could argue that "Boaz was in love with Ruth." Sure. But what are we all called to do despite not being in love with the people we are called to serve?

The law of God represents the standard bearer of not what we can obtain on our own strength but rather, what we have failed to do because we were apart from God.

Christ gave us the law--the standard of sacrifices in the Pentateuch but the blood of bulls and goats cannot and will not cleansed us from our sins. God gave us the law and had to fulfill that law in order to save us from our sins.

This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake, which that he might discharge he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfil it, and underwent the punishment due to us, which we should have borne and suffered, being made sin and a curse for us

1689.8.4

It is Christ that set the standard. But even we think we are obeying the law, our heart was not fully into it. Boaz' example was a little example of having that full heart. Christ, in his coming into our world to take on flesh and to live for us and to die for us, was the ultimate example of doing the Spirit of the law--with the fullness of the heart, and not just the letter of the law.

Again, I say this over and over again--take joy: God knew we would fall short. He knows that we would not obey him with him with a full heart. That is why he sent his Son. Christ came to do that for us so that we will live unto him forever.

God has provided grace upon grace to do his will

So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley.

For:

Titus 2:11–15 (CSB) For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works. Proclaim these things; encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Whatever God has asked of you, he has given you a place alongside him, he has given you his Spirit and his heart, and he has given you the grace to do his will. All of these things are only found in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Remember your place with God. Know that you have the Spirit of God and the heart of the God. Know that you have endless of grace. All because you have Christ our Lord.

The Gospel

God Has Called Us: By the name of Christ

Ruth names her seemingly new boss. Apparently, she feels, and rightfully so, that she is now gainfully employed by this man. And Ruth calls out his name. His name is Boaz.

This is not unlike the name of Christ. For:

Matthew 1:21 (CSB) She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

And:

Acts 4:12 (CSB) There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

One of the things that people struggle with the doctrine of the Old Testament being about Christ (Luke 24:27) is that, at first glance, it seems like a stretch. Right off the bat: take your Bible search, look up Jesus or Christ and you don't see that until you get to:

Matthew 1:1 (CSB) An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

But it is the first line of the New Testament, right off the bat, every time God promised something, made a covenant with someone, it was always, always, always about his Son and was always going to be fulfilled by his Son. The Son is the Word with God and the Word was God. (John 1:1-2) Until the Son took on flesh, you would call him properly by his name:

• Jehovah
• God
• I Am
• Messiah

Wherever you see the name of God in the Old Testament, you can see the Son of God. For:

John 8:58 (CSB) Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”

And

John 10:30 (CSB) The Father and I are one.”

And

John 12:41 (CSB) Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him.

When God the Son took on flesh, he was given the name, Jesus, by his mother and father, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21) Our Bible search engines are not going to reveal the names, "Jesus" or "Christ" in the Old Testament. You have to change your search index. You have to then search for the names of God. And it is there you will see the Son of God.

God Has Called Us: To redeem us from our sins

Unknown to Ruth at the time, she has just met her kinsmen redeemer. That is, a relative, who can respond to her and Naomi's plight in times of need or danger.

If you ever seen this poster, hunt it down on the Internet. It lists out all 66 books of the Bible. Alongside each book name, it summarizes the book in one title of Christ. When you get to the book of Ruth, it will declare, "Christ is our Kinsmen Redeemer."

He is the relative that can respond to our plight and our need. Boaz responds with compassion, generosity, kindness, and speedily. As soon as Boaz realized who she was, he immediately responded to her need and her mother-in-law's need.

That's the thing. God is infinitely gracious, kind, generous to us. But he knew our plight and our danger before we were even born. And he responded to our sin before he even created the heavens and the earth. For:

1 Peter 1:18–20 (CSB) For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you.

And:

Ephesians 1:3–5 (CSB) Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

And:

Luke 18:6-8 (CSB) Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them? I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? ”

God always known how desperate we are without him. God was so quick that he made a covenant before Genesis 1:1 so that you could be a part of his family forever. Christ is our Kinsmen Redeemer.

God Has Called Us: From his own mouth

Look at Boaz here. He is not content for his overseers to give his commands. He gives the edict directly from his mouth to the ears of Ruth. This is the same way that God calls us to himself. He does not call us through a preacher or a Christian or a church. He calls us directly to himself.

There is the calling of preaching of the text that brings about faith:

Romans 10:17 (CSB) So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

2 Timothy 4:1–2 (CSB) I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.

And:

Mark 16:15 (CSB) Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

But these are the commands of mere mortal men even if they are reciting on the words of the page. These would be reciting words on a page if the text was not inspired by God. But they are:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (CSB) All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Or to sum up:

Matthew 4:4 (CSB) He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

When a preacher preaches, when we exhort and encourage one another, we are not speaking our own words. We are speaking the words of God to us and over us. This is why we are not to despise prophesies, that is, words of encouragement and exhortation, but to test them and receive them with joy because they are the words of God for your heart and mind and soul and strength.

This simple passage of Ruth remembering that Boaz spoke to her directly had huge implications for her life and in turn, gave Naomi hope.

Remember the times where the words of God, however they came to you, gave you strength and hope in your times of need and despair. Or even added more joy on your joy. Or even convicted you of sin and then God granted you grace so that you could repent.

Our Response

^22-23 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

God Has Called Us: all the way home

Boaz's instructions, "Do not go to another field" ensures the safety and welfare of both not only Ruth and Naomi as well. Ruth and Naomi are a packaged deal. Ruth and Naomi are bonded together for life. Not just because they are in-laws by marriage but by love and devotion to one another. Whatever happens to one will happen to the other. Naomi wants to live. Naomi does not want to perish but to live. Naomi, in her feeble old age, trusts her daughter and friend will do what she can so that they will both live.

That is a foreshadow of the people of God and when we say, the people of God, we are always talking about the church of the God and the Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are all synonymous. People of God is the Church of God.

We are connected to one another. And I know, in today's present age, when we can be so easily offended or something doesn't meet our expectation or to our liking, we can just leave our church body and go down the church in search of the next new thing. Even in the messiness of the local church, we were meant to be together with one another because of all that Christ did to save us to him and to one another. Even still, in the end, we will be together with him forever.

And that instruction for Ruth to the benefit of both Ruth and Naomi is a small micro picture of the word of God is for his people. This is meant for our safety and welfare and to keep us from going to the left and the right. And the people of God want to do the right things--but, we sometimes often do. We will end up in a ditch somewhere, spiritually, emotionally or maybe physically. I hope not. But it will happen. But no worries: Christ is our redeemer. He is the Good Shepherd that will leave the 99 to come after us because he loves us so much.

Remember the word of God and the love of God for you.