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1 RUTH Chapter 2 the Book of Ruth Is Truly a Beautiful Story. While Its RUTH Chapter 2 The Book of Ruth is truly a beautiful story. While its beginning is difficult and harsh, it is timeless in that it deals with some very contemporary issues. It addresses the poor and the disadvantaged in our society, work ethics, as well as other subjects like conversion and an array of bible doctrines. As believers in the Messiah, each of us may find a seat on the stage and perhaps may have more than a few lines to say or to act, within this complex script. Ruth may seem like a simple story, but it is loaded with great truths. How does the book start? It begins with the story of two widows reduced to poverty and left to themselves, without protection or much provision. Naomi is the older widow, who is perhaps too old to fend for herself and is being taken care of by the younger widow. After a long journey in a foreign country, Naomi comes back home, without her husband or her two sons, who have all died. When the people of the town recognized her, they were surprised to see her in this condition. They asked "Is this Naomi?" (Ruth 1:19) She answers them, as we read in Ruth 1:20, 21 "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, which means bitterness, for, she says, the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. "I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Life did not favour this woman. At least until this point, her fullness - her family - was no more. As time goes on, we do not hear of the people who saw her coming back. They had notice her, but it seems that none had come to help her, for we find both Naomi and Ruth hungry, in the next scene. To survive, Ruth goes among the poor of the land to glean for subsistence; that is to find some grain or barley that the reapers may have dropped on their way. But it was not easy for her, for she did not belong to this community. Even worse, she was from Moab, an enemy of Israel. Therefore she was not accepted, even among the poor. This is how chapter one begins, as it paints a thorny and hopeless situation, but, thank God, there are three more chapters to this story. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more, and God waits not longer to come to action in the beginning of chapter two. This chapter begins with a gleam of hope. Ruth 2:1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great power, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. This information was not yet known by Ruth or Naomi, but the reader is informed in advance. God is about to raise a man, Boaz, through whom He will save these widows. Boaz is called the goel, the redeemer, and with him begins the beautiful type or prophecy of the Messiah coming to save His people. Let us see how God intervenes in this story of salvation and how He moves in difficult times. One more time, we learn that God does not always save us from tragedies, but from within the tragedies. This is how it was with Joseph who was sold to the Egyptians, but God saved him there. Daniel was brutally taken 1 away from a crumbling Jerusalem, but God waited for him in the country of his captor. For all these, we will see again that faith is the fire that keeps our hope alive. Let us now go to the text and see that when God begins to act and to pour out His blessings, nothing can stop Him. Ruth 2:2, 3 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter." Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. First, verse 2 gives us the condition in which the two widows were living; it was at the poverty level. We have learned, back in Ruth 1:22, that it was the season of the barley harvest, which begins at the time of Passover. During the harvest, there was a law in Israel which commanded the reapers not to pick up whatever falls from their harvest, but to let the poor gather it. So Ruth asked Naomi if she could go and gather whatever grain she could find. The Mosaic Law contains many humane commandments. This law favoured the poor and all the disadvantaged people of the land, including the orphan and the widow. It was new at the time, even revolutionary from the predominant law of the time, the Hammurabi Code, which had no concern for the poor or those of a lower cast. It was an oppressive law. However with the Law of God, all men are equal . See how compassionate the commandment concerning gleaning is, in Leviticus 19:9–10: ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ‘And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.’ When you work your field, and some grain falls on the floor, don’t go and pick it up, leave it. It doesn’t belong to you anymore; it belongs to the poor. Furthermore, don't empty your field; leave the edges full for the poor. This is such a thoughtful, kind and caring law, based on love. We do not forget that the Mosaic Law brought back men and women to the position of those who were created in the image of God, where every human being is seen as God’s possession. There, every soul is so precious and laws abound for the protection of the oppressed. The Law was very generous to the poor. For instance, every seven years, the farmer was not allowed to work his field, but to let it rest, and whatever grew there was to be left to the poor. (Exodus 23:11) There is another law that I want to bring to your attention; this law is called the shikhah. It is about the forgotten sheaf. Deuteronomy 24:19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. If a worker somehow forgets a sheave in the field, it is no more his; it belongs to the poor. But this does not seem fair that if you forget something, you lose it. It seems unfair until one realizes that a sheaf is too big a thing to forget, and if they forget it, it is surely because they have so many of them. Therefore, let them share with the poor. This becomes even more interesting when we consider that the Mosaic Law says if something is found, it never belongs to the finder. If you find something, the law says it is never 2 yours, you shall keep it until the finder is found, but it does not say for how long. But if you forget a sheaf, you are too rich; give some away. Let’s go back to Ruth. Because of their lowly state, Ruth asked Naomi: please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain. So, she goes. But it was not going to be easy. Imagine the scene; the reapers are in the front collecting the harvest and following them were the poor. Perhaps many of them were struggling to pick up whatever grain fell on the floor. As we will find out later, it was much harder for Ruth, for she did not belong in this land; she was a stranger and she had a hard time finding her place even among the poor. But God had His eyes on her, for she was a woman of faith. It is at this point that we see Him act. One of His first miracles is right here in our text , as we read at the end of verse 3: And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. And she happened to come… This is one word in the Hebrew: mikreha. It is not a simple word; it is one showing that something unusual happened. The Targum has it: as chance befell. But it was the providence of God, who directed her to this field. It is the same word that Abraham’s servant, who was sent to find a bride for Isaac in Mesopotamia, prayed to God and said: O LORD God of my master Abraham, make it happen this day. (Genesis 24:12) He was praying for God to act, to perform a miracle that day. This is the same word here; and God made it happen that Ruth found herself right in the field of Boaz. Of all the many fields around Bethlehem, it is in this one, where she found herself.
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