Naomi and Ruth have come to Bethlehem and Ruth goes to work in a field of one she hopes "in whose sight I may find favor." And she just "happened" to come to the field that belonged to Boaz.
(4) Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "May the Lord be with you." And they said to him, "May the Lord bless you."
And Boaz comes from town to inspect the work being done, and blesses his workers with the Lord's blessing, and they also return the blessing to him. This looks like a very pleasant work environment.
(5) Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, "Whose young woman is this?"
Then Boaz sees this very interesting new girl in the group of gleaners, and asks the foreman over them who she is. I'm not surprised that he noticed her, after all, his own mother was also a foreigner, Rahab (Matthew 1: 5).
(6) The servant in charge of the reapers replied, "She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.
(7) "And she said, 'Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' Thus she came and as remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while."
Oh, she is the one he's heard about, no wonder he noticed her exotic appeal. So he goes over to talk to her.
(8) Then Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen carefully, my daughter.
He says to pay attention to what he's saying to her, and the affectionate term shows the difference in age that was between them.
Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids.
(9) "Let your eyes be on this field which they reap, and go after them.
He tells her to stay here with his girls, and not go into any other field.
Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you.
He acknowledges the danger she faces in gathering the grain, and assures her that as long as she stays in his field, his workers will not molest or mistreat her.
When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw."
Now this is something that was not usually available to one of her standing, but he grants her permission to get a drink from what the servants draw from the water jars for the reapers.
(10) Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"
All this attention is overwhelming to Ruth, and she made obeisance to him in respect, asking for the reason for his notice. She didn't expect to be treated even with common courtesy, as she was not of their culture at all, and here he is being so kind to her.
(11) Boaz replied to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.
Of course he had heard the news of their arrival, as Bethlehem was a small town, and was tumultuously stirred and everyone was talking about them. Now he gets to see who she is, and he was already impressed with her sterling character even before he met her.
(12) "May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."
And he gives her a blessing, also, not only for her sacrificial loyalty to Naomi, but especially for her acceptance of the God of Israel. This man is full of blessings from the Lord. The term he uses for wings pictures a tiny bird snuggling under the wings of its mother, and symbolizes God as the Protector.
(13) Then she said, "I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants."
Ruth responded with true humility and even surprise that Boaz, the owner of all this property, would speak such comforting and kind words to one who did not even have the standing of one of his lowliest servant girls, and calling him "sir."
(14) At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.
Then when lunchtime came around, he invited her to sit with his reapers, and he even served her himself. Some scholars have seen this act as ceremonial. And he was so generous with her that she ate her fill and had leftovers.
(15) When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her.
(16) "Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it so that she may glean, and do not rebuke her."
Then when she went back to continue her work, Boaz had his workers deliberately leave some out so she could pick it up, even pulling some out of the sheaves that were waiting to be bound. This would multiply the amount of grain she would be able to gather.
And he forbade them to talk her down or get in her way. He cleared the way for her.
(17) So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.
To beat it out was to separate the grain from the chaff, and what she had was about a third of a bushel of grain, between 29 and 50 pounds! Normally this gathering process of going after the reapers usually did not result in very much food, and would have to be done every day just to get enough to subsist. This amount of grain would provide enough food for herself and her mother-in-law for several weeks.
(18) She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied.
Ruth displayed to her mother-in-law the super-abundance of barley grain she brought home, as well as her leftovers from lunch.
(19) Her mother-in-law then said to her, "Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed."
It was obvious that someone had helped her, and even before she knew who it was, she blessed that person with God's blessing.
So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, "The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz."
So Ruth told Naomi that it was Boaz.
(20) Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn His kindness to the living and to the dead." Again Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives."
Now Naomi is starting to see how God has been orchestrating their moves all this time, as she blesses Him for His kindness to the living and to the dead, to everybody! And she informs her daughter-in-law that this man is none other than a very one who would qualify to solve all of their problems!
(21) Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "Furthermore, he said to me, 'You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.'"
And Ruth tells her that this man even advised her to stay with him working in his fields, and not go anywhere else, for the whole summer!
(22) Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field."
And Naomi agrees, that anywhere else she would not have Boaz's protection.
(23) So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
So she did. She went every day, all summer, to work in Boaz's fields, through both the barley and the wheat harvests, seeing him every day, and he watching her every day, learning more of her honesty and work ethic.
This story is beginning to get more interesting, now that we can see how God is leading everyone involved toward the conclusion He has planned all along.
O my Father, thank You for this charming little love story in Your written Word. Thank You that You have given it to us to show how You are working in each of our lives in ways we cannot see, but we can trust that You know all the details, and You are working them for our good! Only You can do that.
O Father, help each of us to trust You more every day, as we look to You for the answers to all of our questions. No matter if we're questioning our backgrounds, or our abilities and skills, or our families and friends, or our own plans for the future.
My Father, You have already made the over-arching Plan that all of our plans fit into. You have already mapped out every path our feet will trod, and every event that we will do or will happen to us. Everything, both good and bad, both profitable and disastrous, are parts of Your Plan for each of us, and we all, as Your children, will benefit eventually from it all.
Father, send us out. Let us tell the whole world how wonderful You are. Let every living person in all the nations of the world hear of Your unconditional love for all of us and for each one of us individually, no matter what we've done in the past. Nothing can change You or Your Plan for us. Show us how to bring all of Your embryos to the birth into Your family, to grow and develop in the real life, the Spirit, that You give us, that will last forever, through Your Son.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come!
