Ruth 2:8-16 – “Wise Kindness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁸And Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter; do not go to glean in another field, and also do not leave from this, and remain here with my young women. ⁹Your eyes in the field which they (masc., plural) reap, and go after them (fem., plural). I have commanded the young men not to touch you, and you are thirsty and go to the vessels and drink from which the young men draw water. ¹⁰And she fell upon her face and bowed herself down [to] the ground and she said to him, “Why have I found grace in your eyes to notice me and me [being] a foreigner?” ¹¹And Boaz answered and he said to her, “It has surely been told to me all which you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband and you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and you went to a people which you did not know in the past up to now. ¹²May the LORD reward (intensively) your conduct and may your wages be complete from the LORD, the God of Israel, which you have come to seek refuge under His wings.” ¹³And she said, “I have found grace in your eyes because my lord has comforted me and because you have spoken upon heart of your maidservant and I, I am not like one of your maidservants.” ¹⁴And Boaz said to her at the time of the meal, “Draw near here and eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the vinegar and sit at the side of the reapers and he held out to her roasted grain and she ate and she was satisfied and she had spare. ¹⁵And she arose to glean and Boaz commanded his young men saying, “Even between the sheaves she may glean and do not humiliate her ¹⁶and also you shall surely draw out to her from the bundles and you will leave and she will glean and do not rebuke her.”

This passage is a goldmine rich beyond imagination! As I ponder over it, it seems a bottomless well of blessings.

Boaz is a very kind man. When he sees this young woman’s virtues, he is moved to shower her with kindnesses and encouragement. That in itself is profoundly instructive. May we be ever ready to minister a cup of cold water to any one in need, be they righteous or wicked, friend or enemy; but, on the other hand, may we, like Boaz, let our eyes ever be open for those who bear their poverties in virtue. Though we live under the duress of our own many poverties, yet may we do all in our power to encourage true virtue wherever we see it.  As it seemed for Ruth, this world can be an ice-house. May we, like Boaz, be ready to do what we can to bring a ray of sunshine into that cold world. The Lord’s March sun melts the snow and ice of winter and urges the plants to sprout and flower. When we find a person of virtue, though they be a poor, widowed foreigner, may our hearts be moved to shine some sunshine in their world and know full well, it will sprout flowers!

All that said, however, what is truly amazing me at this moment is how wise Boaz is in his kindness. I have been marveling over this for several days, and then I ran across the following quote from Lyman Abbott, D. D. which expresses so well exactly what I was seeing:

“You will see, in the first place, that Boaz does not give her the wheat. Generous as he is, she earns what she gets. He does not send her back home and send the young men with sheaves after her; he lets her work for what she receives. To give something for nothing is always a dangerous piece of business. Sometimes we must do it, it is true, but it is not the ideal kind of benevolence. If you desire to do something for the poor that will endure, let them do something to earn that which they receive from you. …Boaz thus allows her to earn what she receives, so that she is no pauper, no beggar, has no self-respect taken away from her … In our benevolence let us maintain the self-respect of those we aid; let us not make paupers of them; and strive how we can do the most good with the least possible display. That is not the ordinary rule, but it is a good one.

But this story of the benevolence of Boaz is also a parable. It indicates the way in which God does His good works among men. Did you ever think how true it is that God also maintains our self-respect when He gives to us--how very little He gives unless we do something to get the gift? When we pray for bread for our need, He does not give us the bread; He gives us a piece of land, and a plough, and a hoe, and we must sweat for the bread. … The world is full of wisdom, full of the resources out of which wisdom is gathered; but we must gather it; we cannot get our wisdom ready-made. It is not handed to us. And this is equally true in the spiritual realm. God no more hands the bread of life ready-made than He hands the material bread ready-made. … The world is full of God’s gifts. He only waits for us with pick and axe and hoe, with sweat of brain and sweat of body, to find a way to realise them.”

Lyman hits upon the very truth I was noticing. Boaz had it within his power (and wealth) to simply “fix” Ruth’s problem. He could have just said, “Here’s a bag of gold. Take care of yourself and Naomi.” But he didn’t. His giving provided Ruth with the opportunity to provide for herself and Naomi in her virtue.

And as Lyman points out, Boaz’s actions are not just some notable human qualities. They are godliness! … or should I say, God-likeness? God Himself doesn’t just hand out blessings. He proffers his kindnesses in wisdom. He would set us in a Garden of Eden, then charge us to “keep it and to till it!”

What an example to ponder, both in the workings of God and as illustrated in the life of this godly man!

Herein, of course, we see the great failure and foolishness of our American welfare system – a system that gives but in its giving only further impoverishes its people. Millions of immigrants poured into this country for centuries looking not for a handout but rather for an opportunity. We were never known as the “Land of Handouts” but as the “Land of Opportunity.” Virtuous people are happy, yea they expect to earn their own bread. They just often lack the opportunity. I’ve marveled for years at how Paul told Timothy to “honor those widows who are widows indeed” (I Tim 5:3ff). What he was talking about was supporting them, providing them with money or food or whatever they needed. But he said to do it only for those “well known for their good deeds.” In other words, those who’d earned it! It wasn’t a handout. It was an honor. To do that is not only a blessing to the woman herself but also a great blessing to those who can help, giving them the opportunity to say “Thank you” for so much blessing received. Sometimes what is needed is a little bag of gold, or a few sheaves of barley. But it needs to be given in ways that honor people and allow them to further express their virtuousness! It is so sad that in America, once the Land of Opportunity, we’ve now created what has been called a “Welfare Sub-Culture” – an entire culture of people who are in reality slaves to the whims of the government.

But, all of that aside, I want the Lord to make these truths from Ruth sink deeply into my own heart. I hope I can be a kind person. That I should be is and has been very clear to me from the Scriptures. But may I also be wise in my kindness. I feel I have very little to give, yet, whatever it may be, great or small, may my giving only serve to honor those I would help.