Ruth 2:8-16 – “Heart People”

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.”

There is one last thought I’d like to record before I leave this beautiful passage. This is one of the places in the Old Testament where we need to observe the effects of real faith. What I mean is that in the Old Testament, the people were “under the law.” At Mount Sinai, the Israelites had said, “All that the Lord commands us, we will do.” He responded, “Oh that they had such a heart in them” but they did not, so He gave them the Law. Since their heart wasn’t “in it” He gave them an extensive catalog of rules to keep. We know from the New Testament, the real purpose of those rules was to show them they didn’t keep them, yea couldn’t keep them, and to lead them to the Savior.

Another problem they had in the OT was that they were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He was there to help them but did not take up residence in their hearts like He does for us. The downside of all of this is that it would have been much more difficult for them to grow spiritually than it is for us. We have the Spirit living in us so that we can actually be free from law, free to in fact have “such a heart in us,” to actually embrace not just God’s “rules” but His heart. In this church age, we should be ashamed that we do so little with the treasures of grace we’ve been afforded. But, that said, what is amazing is that there were people in the OT who did “get it right,” people who did rise above “the rules” and, with what help the Spirit offered, did manage to become “heart” people. There are a number of people in the OT whose faith somehow helped them to so know God that they did become “heart” people, people who even challenge us who live in the NT. My point is that is what real faith always does – it makes us “heart people.”

David was one of those people. The Psalms are not the works of a man busying himself about “keeping the rules.” They are the celebrations of a man who truly knew God and lived in His presence. We could speak of Moses, of Abraham, of Daniel, and so many others. But today I want to consider Boaz and Ruth.

Notice how both Ruth and Boaz live out their faith in ways that go far beyond anything the law could (or even can) prescribe. Boaz was required to leave the corners of his field and to allow the poor to glean in the fields behind his harvesters. To simply allow Ruth to do so “fulfilled” the law. But Boaz isn’t about “keeping the rules.” His heart is in it. He has embraced God’s goals, God’s heart which produced the “rule” to begin with. He went far beyond anything the law could have required and not only “allows” Ruth to glean, but addresses her as “my daughter” and encourages her to stay with his servant girls and commands the young men to leave her alone. He provides her with water and then with his own hand provides her with roasted grain – and that so much that Ruth can’t eat it all. Ruth responds to it all in a gracious humility that simply cannot be prescribed. She isn’t just “acting” humble because somehow she’s supposed to. She has a humble heart. And she isn’t there working because she “has to” but because her heart is willing and she loves her mother-in-law. This is precisely what is supposed to happen for us NT believers. The fruit of the Spirit is supposed to be love and joy and peace – qualities which God Himself says, “Against such things there is no law.” Ruth and Boaz would be exemplary NT believers, heart-people. What is amazing and instructive is that they embraced all of this living “under the law.” But that is my point, I guess ... that this is exactly what faith will always produce, in any age or place.

From another perspective, think about it this way – for the Jewish people, the Pharisees always represented the “truly” religious. And what were they? Heartless, wicked men who whitewashed the outside of their tombs while their hearts went on rotten. They not only minded the 618 laws God gave them, they made up thousands more. Like pretty much everyone yet today, “religion” for them was about prodigious efforts “to keep the rules.” And what did that produce? Men who were, just like today, self-righteous, proud, mean-spirited, petty buffoons. Though they appeared to be “religious” the fact is they missed the point of it all. It didn’t change their hearts.

But was that the effect of living “under the law?” I answer “No!” the same then as now. It wasn’t that, in the OT, the best you could hope for were Pharisees. They were in fact the people who missed the whole point of faith! Boaz and Ruth were examples of people who had real faith even under the law. For Boaz and Ruth, real faith was about knowing God, it was about being like Him. It was about being changed into people of love and humility and genuine strength – “heart” people. And that has always been the point of faith … and always will be.

Unfortunately, even now, in the Church age,  in the age of the indwelling Holy Spirit, I would suggest that few people who would call themselves religious actually become “heart” people. Few really become people like Boaz and Ruth. We’re all too easily content to add a few “rules” to our lives (to make us look and feel “religious”) but then just go on living lives that really show little of Jesus.

Ruth beautifully says to Boaz, “You have spoken upon heart of your maidservant.” What she said obviously doesn’t translate well into English, but we get the point. What went on between them was between two “heart” people.

Lord help the rest of us to “get it right.” May we never be content to “keep the rules,” no matter how impressive they may seem and no matter how much others may approve of such a “faith.” May we ever be people whose hearts are Yours. Make us kind, humble, faithful people like Boaz and Ruth – and Jesus. Heart people.

My son, give Me your heart.

Above all else, guard your heart,

for out of it are the issues of life.