Ruth & Naomi - Part 2
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?” The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my Lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.” Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’ ” Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.” So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
-Ruth 2:1-23 NIV
Recap:
1. Ruth went to work.
2. Naomi gave her blessing.
3. She chose the field of Boaz.
4. Suddenly, he comes on the scene.
5. He blessed his employees and they blessed him.
6. Then, he asked about her.
7. They shared her story.
8. They had a conversation.
9. She asked, why me?
10. He explained, to honor her sacrifice.
11. He chose to take care of her.
12. He gave her food, water and safety.
13. She had some food to take to Naomi too.
14. She came back to tell Naomi this account.
15. Naomi explained who he was and how this was favor from the Lord.
16. She continued until this barley and wheat season was over.
17. She remained with Naomi throughout it all.
This story really hits me in such a deep way. Let me reset the scene. Naomi moved to Moab. Her sons found wives and for 10 years had good lives. Then tragedy struck. Naomi tried to send her daughter-in-laws back to their home county. One did. One didn’t. Ruth remained. Her with-ness was her witness. So, she is now a widow in a new land called Bethlehem and says, I’m going to go to work and see what happens. And she walks right into her destiny. Yeah, I like the sound of that. Her risk reaped eternal generational fruit. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves in the story here. ☺️
Next, Naomi gives mention to Boaz’s generous spirit and calls him one of our guardian-redeemers, which is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty. Ruth was told to stay close and so she did.
I have heard it said that Boaz was an Old Testament representative of Christ, of having a Christ likeness. He came into the picture and his first words started with a blessing. He took interest in the people who worked with him. He took time to listen to them. He gave instruction to them. He protected Ruth. He had ideas of how to allow her to gather more for her good. He did not want to add hardship for her. He wanted to guard and protect her. He had already started acting as her guardian redeemer whether he knew it or not. His heart was compassionate, generous, and tender.
When a man shows up like that, it would make anyone perk up, but especially a widow.
Take heart daughter! You are in the right place at the right time. You are walking with the Divine. Your story is about to get realigned, and for that I am excited for your future bloodline.
Stay tuned for next week’s chapter 3 review.
This story is so wonder-fully full of brilliant nuggets that need to be extracted. I can’t wait to explore the land of the more with you.
Until next time,
Keep gliding 🪁
Abiding 🙇🏼♀️
& Smiling 😁