Ruth
At this harvest time I was reminded of the book of Ruth which has harvest at its centre. I have recently preached a series of sermons on Ruth but tonight I want to look briefly at the whole book. In it we see both the providence of God and the story of redemption. We also see a story of romance. But not one of sentimentality, rather one of true godly love.
The book of Ruth is set in the context of the Judges (Ruth 1:1). This was a terrible time in Israel’s long history. It was a time of trouble and departure from God only reversed on occasion by the Spirit’s grace. We shall consider this book using three headings:
[1] A poor decision.
[2] God’s provision.
[3] God’s promises.
[1] A poor decision.
Not all harvests are great. Times of famine and poor harvest were seen as the judgement of God. Of course, the outcome of a harvest is not in the hands of man. The rain and the sun are governed by the Lord. But man must do his part, of course. He must plough and till. He must root out weeds and stones. He must sow and water. But ultimately the fruit of harvest is all because of God’s grace. Now at this time in Israel there was “a famine in the land” (Ruth 1:1). We are not told why there was this famine. In other Scriptures we are told. For example, in the time of Ahab Elijah was called upon by the Lord to announce a famine on the land (1Kings 17:1). This was undoubtedly on account of the wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel at that time.
Now Elimelech made a very poor decision (Ruth 1:1,2). He decided that on account of the famine in Israel he would take his family to Moab. We all have to make decisions in life, but Elimelech’s decision was a poor one. He was leaving the land of promise to go to a land of people who hated Israel, who were often enemies of God, and whose ways were not of the Lord – they were a pagan people. Perhaps Elimelech thought that the ‘grass was greener’ in Moab? Elimelech’s name means ‘God is King’ but he seems to have forgotten this. He ought to have known enough of God and His ways to cause him to stop and rethink this course of action.
Remember that the Lord is always sovereign. He overrules in our mistakes. So Elimelech took his wife and his two sons to dwell in Moab. Consider the consequences of this action. Whom would his two sons marry? There were only pagan girls in Moab. They would no longer enjoy an Israelite God-given environment but one which did not follow God. And then in the course of time Elimelech died leaving his wife Naomi as a widow but still with her two sons Mahlon and Chilion. What was Naomi to do? Well, it appears that her two sons gained Moabite wives and they dwelt there for about ten years (Ruth 1:3,4). Maybe things will work out?
But then we learn that both the sons die, and Naomi is left a widow with two Moabite daughters-in-law who were also widows (Ruth 1:5). Three widows in distress. There was no welfare state. What a turn around in fortunes! From an Ephramite family of four living in Bethlehem, we come to a woman with two Moabite daughters-in-law destitute in Moab. It was at this point in her life in Moab that Naomi hears that “the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread” (Ruth 1:6). So she takes her two daughters-in-law and sets off to return to Bethlehem where she was from. On the way she stops and warns both of her daughters-in-law that there would be no hope for them (Ruth 1:8-10). Could she provide more sons for them as husbands (Ruth 1:11-13)? The idea is preposterous. Now after some tears we find that Orpah decides to go back to Moab but Ruth is determined to continue on with Naomi (Ruth 1:14-17). We need to remember that Israelite culture was very different from Moabite ways. So Ruth’s determination is something rather special. She pleads with Naomi not to send her back, she states that she will go wherever Naomi went, and she will lodge wherever Naomi was to lodge. This is nothing other than a wholesale giving up of her Moabite life for a life with her Israelite mother-in-law. She continues saying that Naomi’s people will now be her people, and that Naomi’s God will also be hers. Where Naomi was to die and to be buried, there too would Ruth die and be buried (Ruth 1:16,17). Such a series of statements amounts to a true confession of faith in the God of Israel. Ruth here makes a big decision and it is the right one!
As the two arrive in Bethlehem people recognise Naomi and there is some excitement but there is some sadness too. The people say: “Is this Naomi” (Ruth 1:19)? The rhetorical question has the thought of disbelief. She does not appear the same as when she went. The name ‘Naomi’ means ‘pleasant,’ but Naomi does not want to be known by that name anymore. She wants people to call her “Mara” because, she declaims “the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). she then adds that she “went out full,” but that the Lord has now brought her home again but “empty” adding that the Lord had “testified” against her, and had “afflicted” her (Ruth 1:21). The truth is that she only went out full in the sense of earthly blessings, but now she has been reduced and made low and she is back in the land of promise where the Lord will bring blessing. It looks bleak form her perspective but she does not yet know what God will do! Naomi and Ruth are two destitute widows. They have returned empty. What should they do? There was no social security nor welfare state. Ah but there was God and there was God’s man.
[2] God’s provision.
When thinks look the bleakest the Lord is always there. Jewish law provided for the poor in a wonderful way that other nations knew nothing about. There was this rule of ‘gleaning.’ Farmers and growers of crops were to harvest with an eye out for the poor. In this day and age every square inch of a field is harvested and all of the grain is hovered up by machines. But in these ancient days when the harvest was gathered by the hands of men it was always possible for parts to be missed, and for grain or fruit to be left behind. The law stated that they were not to “wholly reap the corners” of the field and they were not to “gather the gleanings” of the harvest (those bits that were missed) (Leviticus 19:9), for these left-overs were to be for the poor and for the stranger (Leviticus 19:10).
The Christian message is truly glorious. We can see in this account the wonderful providence and provision of God. It so happened that Naomi and Ruth returned “at the beginning of barley harvest” (Ruth 1:22). The doctrine of God’s providence is a wonderful thing for believers to hold. Creation is not simply time and chance as modern people believe, for God is Creator and Sustainer. All things are under His control. The sun, rain, wind, and the harvest are all His. Our times are in His hand and He knows His business of leading and guiding best. The Lord provides everything we need (2Peter 1:3). he brings the things we need across our path. Nothing happens by chance. All is according to God’s good will (Romans 8:28). There is a reason for things turning out the way they do, for with God things don’t just happen. We often only see the hand of God guiding when we look back at the events of life.
And so it just so happened that when Ruth asks to go and glean in the fields to provide for their needs, the very field she enters belongs to a man called ‘Boaz’ (Ruth 2:2,3). This man was a kinsman of Naomi. Was this chance? By no means! All things are in the hands of God. He promised to keep them and here they are gleaning in the field of a relative who is described for us as “a man of great wealth,” and “of the family of Elimelech” and so a near kinsman (Ruth 2:1). Now Boaz was a true man of God (Ruth 2:4). When Boaz sees Ruth it seems clear that he has an ‘eye’ for her (Ruth 2:5-9). He tells his men to give her respect and to aid her in her gleaning (Ruth 2:9,14,15).This whole account in Ruth 2 is one of great wonder and joy. A young woman who had no real hope and was so poor that she is reduced to gleaning for the left-overs is now being given honour and privileges. She even gets to have a meal with the regular workers and can drink the drinks provided for Boaz’s men (Ruth 2:9,14).
Now verse 12 is key: “the Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” Boaz acknowledges Ruth’s faith. Throughout this account in Ruth chapter 2 we see the hand of God’s providence. God is in control. She did not go anywhere else but stayed in the fields of this relative who was a true man of the Lord. We see also that a kinsman could act as a ‘redeemer’ buying back the land that was originally theirs provided in the land of Israel by lot. We can read about this right of redemption in Leviticus 25:25f. The land could not be sold permanently and when a person became poor they had the right and chance to redeem or buy back what they had lost. This was a great thing of grace and mercy, and it points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ who is our ‘Kinsman Redeemer.’
[3] God’s promises.
At the end of the harvest there was still a job to be done. The seed must be separated from the husks or the chaff. This was known as ‘winnowing.’ The grain was hoisted up into the air by a winnowing fork and the wind allowed to blow through the hoisted material. The wind would catch the light husks and chaff and blow them away, whilst the heavier grain would fall back down to the ground. It was also a time of much rejoicing and merriment.
At the end of the harvest when the winnowing was taking place, Naomi tells Ruth to do something rather strange and wonderful (Ruth 3:1-4). Ruth is told to go to the winnowing house where Boaz was busy and to present herself to him as a prospective wife! Ruth is told to make herself ready as only a woman knows how with her “best garment” on and all spruced up to boot (Ruth 3:3). She must not make herself known to Boaz, but find out where he was going to sleep (Ruth 3:3). Then, when he is asleep she was to go to his place and lie down at his feet having uncovered them (Ruth 3:4). Now Ruth is quick to obey (Ruth 3:5,6). After Boaz had had his fill of good food and drink he went to sleep by some grain and Ruth went to lie at his feet (Ruth 3:7). In the night Boaz awakes and sees a woman at his feet and on asking discovers that it is Ruth (Ruth 3:8,9). When asked Ruth declares her intentions saying: “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative” (Ruth 3:9). This was a proposal! She was asking to be Boaz’s bride. Boaz’s reply is truly wonderful and fully agrees to this plan (Ruth 3:10,11). However, there was another kinsman who was closer in relation than Boaz so he must first be consulted for he could redeem them first (Ruth 3:12). We discover something of Boaz’s appreciation of Ruth here. She is blessed of the Lord on account of her kindness to Boaz in not going after the younger men (Ruth 3:10). Boaz informs Ruth that everyone was aware that she was “a virtuous woman” (Ruth 3:11). We also see Boaz’s faith here (Ruth 3:13). Boaz is about to take things into his own hands and Ruth will be redeemed. It is just at this point we do not know whether this will be by Boaz or by the closer relative.
And so Ruth lays at Boaz’s feet until the morning and before anyone gets up she returned to Naomi and told her all that Boaz had done for her. Boaz had given her some provisions too to ensure that she would not return “empty-handed” (Ruth 3:14-17). Here we observe the kindness and faith of this man of God. Boaz immediately sets about the task of redemption. Before he can redeem Ruth he must first meet up with the closer relative, and it just so happened that this man was walking by the gate as Boaz was there to bring his case!
Again, we have the wonderful providential provision of God. Boaz goes to the gate to start proceedings (for the gate was where the rulers and elders met to make decisions), and then “Behold, the close relative … came by” (Ruth 4:1). How marvellous is our God!
Now Boaz tells this man that he could redeem the piece of land that once belonged to Elimelech (Ruth 4:3,4). He mentions also that if he does not want to redeem it then Boaz would. Presented this way the offer seems like a great deal, so the close relative says that he will indeed redeem the land (Ruth 4:4). And then Boaz adds something which gives the closer relative pause for thought. He states that when he redeems the land he must also take Ruth as wife to perpetuate Elimelech’s name in Israel. Hearing this the close relative changes his mind, and it appears that he is concerned that his inheritance will be affected by Ruth and Naomi’s presence. So, the close relative gives Boaz what he has hoped for – the chance to redeem the land and take Ruth for his wife. The deal is then legally ratified before witnesses (Ruth 4:6-10).
In all of these events we are meant also to see Christ Jesus as our Kinsman Redeemer. At this point we are shown that through Ruth will come first Obed and from him Jesse who was the father of David. In David we see the promise of the Christ. All of this story occurs in Bethlehem, where Christ Jesus was eventually to be born. Matthew records this genealogy we have in Ruth 4:18-22 as an important link in the chain which gives us Christ born of the virgin Mary. Some twelve centuries will need to pass by before we reach the Lord Jesus, but in this short story we see much of the grace and glory of the gospel. Christ is the one who redeems us from our sins and lost estate. We have seen not only that God overrules in the affairs of people in a wonderful way, and that He is also showing us how it will be that he will save us from our sins. In Ruth and her story of redemption by Boaz we can see the great goodness of the Lord’s redemption of lost sinners. She was a Moabitess, and so despised by Israel. But she came to faith in God and was given a lot more than she ever bargained for!
There is coming a greater harvest one day. May we be among those whom the great Kinsman Redeemer has chosen as His wife!
Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch 