Field Of Gleans (Ruth 2:8-23)

On April 15, 1912, Captain Arthur Rostron was steaming across the Atlantic in the RMS Carpathia toward Austria-Hungary. A distress call came in: The Titanic, was sinking. Arthur immediately ordered his crew to turn around and sprint toward the disaster. He and his engineers brought the ship to the limit – pushing her to three and a half knots past her rated speed.^[1]

It wasn’t as simple as pulling up to the lifeboats. The Carpathia had to avoid the deadly ice floating in the water. Dining rooms were converted into hospitals. Crewmen were reassigned. Warm meals were prepared.^[2] Their sole focus was to deliver those about to perish in the water. The Carpathia rescued 713 survivors that night, nearly doubling the number of people aboard.^[3]

Arthur Rostron was a devout believer. When issuing orders that night, he was often seen with his eyes closed in prayer. When asked about the risks he took, and the success of their rescue mission, he said, “I can only conclude another hand than mine was on the helm.”^[4]

Arthur received many awards and accolades for his actions that day. The most iconic was given by a woman he pulled out of the water. She was none other than the Unsinkable Molly Brown, and the silver trophy she gave him is known as The Loving Cup.

In this text we see a man moving with haste to rescue a woman in desperate need. He was not motivated by pride or greed, or even just by duty or decency. This rescue is born out of the hesed love of God.

We must understand that this is not just a nice story. This story has been preserved for 3,000 years because God wants us to understand how He rescues us. You see, Christ is a Savior Who ran to our aid and Who pays so we can be saved. It’s not only a story of rescue, it’s a story of redemption. You see, God does not only help you, you must be bought back from the depths of your sin, from death itself. And, having bought you, the Lord then brings you into personal relationship with Him, making you a member of His family, not only saving you from death but giving you new life.

Ruth 2:8-9 – ⁸ Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. ⁹ See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

Boaz is a foreshadow of Jesus and His love for you, His work on your behalf. Right from the start we see that Boaz went to Ruth. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We were helpless and hopeless and at just the right time, Jesus came to us.^[5] He is not a God we work to appease, He is the God we can receive. He calls to us. He reaches for us. He moves heaven and earth to save us.

Boaz already knows about Ruth. He knows about her past. He could send her away, but he cares for her. He calls her “my daughter.” This is hesed love. He has already thought about her situation maybe more than she has. She’s there for grain, and he says, “Yes, of course I will give you grain, but you’re going to need water, too. And you’re going to need protection on top of that.”

And so, Ruth is given a choice. Boaz told her very clearly: “Do this, don’t do that.” He asks her to trust him to protect her and provide for her. But she must stay with him to receive it.

Jesus calls you to the same choice – to abide by His boundaries and directions. “Don’t leave this field.” Jesus said in John 15 that we cannot live unless we remain in Him. He said that when we remain in Him and His words remain in us, the result is life and blessing and love and joy.

But Boaz wasn’t only giving her boundaries. He invited her to become part of his household. Access to the workers’ water jars was a privilege not ordinarily permitted to people coming off the street to beg.^[6] He immediately offered her a place in the group and status in his house.

Jesus went on in John 15 to say to those who trust in Him, “No longer do I call you slaves, I call you friends.” God’s love has made it possible for us to become His children.^[7]

A couple applications for those who are already believers: First, Boaz said, “Watch my servants, follow them.” Christians are called to lead and encourage and instruct others as they walk with Jesus. We get to instruct those coming behind us and we need to learn from those ahead of us.

Second, Boaz commanded the young men to act correctly toward Ruth. We saw that they were Godly workers in the last passage. But they still needed to be reminded and commanded to act in a Godly way. Let me speak to the men here today: God has commanded you concerning your conduct toward women. If you are mistreating them, if you are objectifying them, if you are sleeping with them while you’re not married, that is ungodliness. You may claim to be a Christian but you are not obeying God. And He has commanded you to conduct yourself in Godliness.

Ruth 2:10 – ¹⁰ She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”

Ruth’s response is worship! Now, she’s not blaspheming, but her posture is grateful praise and humility and surrender, recognizing that Boaz did not have to do all this. She acknowledges that she is a hopeless beggar and an outsider. It is only by Boaz’s grace that she’s given this chance.

And that’s what we need to understand about what God does for us. We bring nothing to the table but brokenness and need. We, like the Moabites, deserve only judgment – to be crushed for our sin. But God loves us and wants to save. Let us never come to Him in pride or self-importance. Instead, may we come to this loving Savior in thankfulness and worship, understanding who we are and Who He is.

Ruth 2:11-12 – ¹¹ Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. ¹² May the LORD reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

Boaz is impressed with Ruth’s kindness toward Naomi, but that wasn’t why Ruth was rescued. The real point is that she had faith to seek refuge from Yahweh. In these words, Boaz explicitly echoes Genesis 12, verse 1, where God calls Abram out of Ur, from his family, to a land of promise.^[8]

You are saved by God’s grace through faith. Not of any work, not of any effort or deed of piety, but by faith. Ruth’s faith in Yahweh is what motivated her to serve Naomi. Not the other way around. Good works didn’t lead to belief in Ruth’s life. Her faith was operating through her choices.

Boaz presents God as always providing refuge for those who seek it. Of course she would find refuge under His wings. There was always a place for anyone looking for it.

This makes us think of Jesus saying He wanted to gather Jerusalem together like a hen with her chicks under her wings. But an Israelite in this era would have another image. What are the wings of the Lord? Well, the Ark of the Covenant had two cherubim whose wings stretched over the top. The mercy seat. There you will find refuge. There is always a place for you in the mercy of God. And with that mercy comes not just forgiveness, but a full reward – a life where you will be made complete, perfected, made whole by the powerful grace of God.

Ruth 2:13 – ¹³ “My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”

In the Hebrew, Ruth said, “My lord, you have spoken to the heart.”^[9] This was more than a legal transaction. There was heart work happening. That phrase, “spoken to the heart,” is used nine times in the Old Testament. One of those is in Isaiah 40, where we read:

Isaiah 40:2a – “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of hard service is over, her iniquity has been pardoned…”

The tender word of God pronouncing comfort, forgiveness, and a hopeful future.

Ruth 2:14 – ¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

Boaz was not just doing charity toward Ruth for a write off. He wasn’t just tossing a few coins because people were watching. He shows her real kindness and welcome here. Yes, she needed some grain for tomorrow, but he recognized that she would be hungry now. And so he brings her over and shares a meal with her. In fact, he served her the roasted grain himself!^[10]

This is remarkable. Not only has he elevated her from the status of beggar to being with the harvesters, remember that he’s the boss. He’s the CEO. But here he is, serving a destitute Moabite.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for you.^[11] He is the God Who washes feet. He is the God Who walks with you. He is the God Who poured out His blood so you could be saved. He is not afraid of your past. He loves you and reaches out to you, even now, to give you life everlasting.

Ruth 2:15-16 – ¹⁵ When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. ¹⁶ Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.”

God does not humiliate us. He humiliated Himself so He could lift us up. Jesus clothed Himself in humility, He bore the horror and the foulness and the shame of the cross so you could be saved. So your life could be transformed from ashes to treasure by His power and ability and goodness.

Boaz was going well beyond what the Law demanded.^[12] “Pull out whole stalks for her.” Our narrator uses an unusual term here. He uses a word that usually refers to the spoils of war.^[13]

Like Ruth, we would say, “But I didn’t win anything. I didn’t defeat sin or death.” But Jesus says, “I have, and I will share the spoils of victory with you. Walk with Me and enjoy all the things I’ve won.”

Ruth 2:17-18 – ¹⁷ So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley. ¹⁸ She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

Ruth came home with somewhere between 30 and 50 pounds of barley that day.^[14] This was an incredible provision – equivalent to a half month’s wages.^[15] In one day! Think about it this way: If you make the California minimum wage and you work 8 hours tomorrow, you’re going to come home with $130 before tax. But imagine as you clock out the boss came over and said, “Here’s your pay for the day,” and they gave you $2,000! That’s what happened here.

Now listen: When a person realizes they’re a sinner in need of salvation, often the thing they care about most is not dying and going to hell. You’re like a person bobbing in the sea after the Titanic sank. You don’t really care about what might happen five years from now.

But understand, the Lord doesn’t only pull you out of the water. He invites you into His family. He becomes your Friend and Provider and Father and Bridegroom and Teacher and Protector. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.^[16] He does exceedingly more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Ruth 2:19 – ¹⁹ Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the LORD bless the man who noticed you.” Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

Wait just a minute – Naomi said what about Yahweh? What did she say the last time she spoke about God? That God was against her. That God took everything from her. That God was cruel. She said those things because her heart was filled with sorrow and bitterness, but now she is starting to see what is actually true about God – not just what her feelings accused Him of. When she actually looked at God she saw He is compassionate. He is kind. He does provide, even for poor widows.

Ruth 2:20 – ²⁰ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the LORD bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”

Naomi has hope. “Ruth, you don’t know how good this turn of events is. The guy you think is going to be your boss for the next couple of months, well, hopefully he’ll become your husband!”

But there’s a problem. Two little words at the end of the verse. He wasn’t the family redeemer, he is one of the family redeemers. There was someone else. Someone with first dibs. There are obstacles here. Ice in the water. Boaz would have to not only deal with this other person, but he would have to pay to buy a bunch of property that belonged to Ruth’s dead husband.

The RMS Carpathia was not the closest ship when the Titanic went down. But she was the one who went the fastest. Captain Rostron put his engines on the line. He put his life on the line to try to save those dying in the sea.

Now listen: if you’re not a Christian, Jesus wants to redeem you, but understand that death, sin, and the Devil stood in the way. Nonbelievers are enslaved to sin and held captive by the Devil. Jesus had to go to war to save you. But He did it. He laid down His life for you. So He could offer you His love, in hopes that you would receive it and love Him in return.

Ruth 2:21 – ²¹ Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’ ”

The text never lets us forget that Ruth was a Moabitess. An outsider. What would happen? It’s great news that she had a job for the rest of the harvest, but what about the next season? The next winter? The next year and the year after that?

What is going to see you through the seasons of life? What will you rely on on the day of your death? What is your hope for the future? Do you have one?

Ruth 2:22 – ²² So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”

Outside of Christ you are not safe. With Him, you are not only safe and saved, it is good. Your version may say, “My daughter, it will be good.” A life with Christ is not only good now, it will continue to be good because God is good. He abounds in goodness toward you and works all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Ruth could look for another field, but it would not be good. There was nothing better out there. In fact, there was only danger in those other fields. No kindness, no compassion, no redemption.

Ruth 2:23 – ²³ Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

These two harvests would’ve lasted six or seven weeks.^[17] So we’re left on a cliff-hanger. What would happen next? Of course, we’ll see. But in this summary verse we see that Ruth believed and obeyed. She did stay in that field. She trusted that Boaz, who began this work of kindness and compassion, would be faithful toward her. Ruth didn’t know how it all would work out, but she knew this was the place for her to be. To believe and to trust and to yield her future to this man who was showing hesed love toward her.

That’s our choice. Whether you’ve been born again or you’ve never received Christ as Savior, we still are presented this choice. Will we choose to abide in Christ? To stay in His field, trusting that His direction, His provision, His boundaries, His activity, His methods, His plan is good and the only life worth living? The Redeemer is making each of us an offer of life today. Take Him up on it.