Ruth 2:1-3 – “Interesting”

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

¹And to Naomi one being known to her husband a man of great standing from the family of Elimelech and his name Boaz. ²And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me go (nah) [to] the field and gather in ears of grain after whom I find grace in his eyes.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³And she went and she arrived and she gathered in a field after the harvesters and her occurrence encountered the portion of the field to Boaz who [was] of the family of Elimelech.

These three little verses are so interesting. I’ll try to record a few of the things that stand out to me.

One thing is that these verses leave me wishing I could know more about Ruth. She is an amazing young woman. We already have seen her faith and her love in chapter 1, “And your God shall be my God ... The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” Now we see a young woman of amazing humility and courage. Note it is Ruth’s idea to go glean in the fields, not Naomi’s. It would take a huge dose of humility for Ruth to go out like a beggar woman and scrounge for grain in the harvested fields. Of course the Lord had made provision for this very thing in Israel, but still, to be one of those people I think you would really have to swallow your pride.

It also took a lot of courage. Although the Lord required the Israelites to leave the corners of the fields unharvested specifically so the poor could glean there, one still had to secure the permission of the landowner or the foreman in order to glean. No doubt many were abusive. Later Boaz tells her he has warned his men “not to touch her” (v9). She is not only a woman, but a young woman and a foreigner, and a girl with no one to protect her. That may be in part why Naomi didn’t ask her to go. The whole thing could have turned out very differently. But she went anyway. Ruth’s courage is really quite amazing.

She is also a very hard worker. Gleaning in harvested fields is no easy job and probably usually wasn’t very productive. It was back-breaking work in the hot middle-eastern sun all to gather probably at best a meager amount of grain. Yet the foreman tells Boaz in v7, “She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”  She definitely wasn’t afraid of work!

It all makes me wish I knew more about her. Is all this amazing character something faith has so quickly produced in her? I know faith is and should be transforming, but it usually takes time for it to build character in people. Goodness, I’ve known the Lord for over 30 years and I feel like He’s just beginning to help me learn humility and courage! So I just wonder if Ruth didn’t already have a lot of character before she same to know the Lord. If that is the case, I wish I could read about her life and what made her this way. I wish I knew more about her.

It’s also interesting to note that Boaz was a “man of great standing” and yet also a very admirable man of faith. It’s not often those two are found in the same man. It will always be true that God has “chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith” (James 2:5), yet once in a while there is a prosperous person who maintains their faith. That is always a wonderful thing because that same person has the wherewithal to do a lot of good in this world. It sure will be a blessing for Ruth as this story unfolds.

It’s also interesting to note that as late as David (Ruth and Boaz’s great grandson), the faith of Ruth and Boaz is still very strong in their descendants. Young David’s faith as he stands against Goliath is really much the same as his great-grandmother Ruth’s faith as she stood there in the road with Naomi and said, “Your people will be my people and your God my God.” We see in both of them the same humility and the same courage. God help us to be all we can for Him, and then, if this world lasts that long, may there be people generations from now living in faith perhaps in part from the example we left behind! Little could Ruth or Boaz have imagined what a blessing their faith would be to the world through the life of a great grandson probably neither of them lived to see!

It’s interesting to note that, in verse 1 we learn about Boaz but in verse 2 Ruth knows nothing about him. She has absolutely no idea she’s doing anything more than going out to scrounge up a few handfuls of grain. Verse 3 has a really unusual way of describing what happened: “her occurrence encountered the portion of the field to Boaz.” “Her occurrence encountered.” The impression is it “just so happened” that she ended up in Boaz’s field. Of course we all know that wasn’t the case at all. The Lord knew all along that is where He would send her. But how like life that is. “A man plans his way but the Lord orders his steps.”

Such an interesting few verses! So much to learn!