A Diligent Heart, an Obedient Redeemer

Ruth became a gleaner.  She and Naomi were two widows living in Bethlehem with little means of support, and they had to be in need of something to eat.

And so Ruth put herself to work. She would enter into the practice of foraging in fields, collecting bits and pieces of fallen ears of grain. These bits could be ground into flour. Add a bit of olive oil, pressed from fruit collected in another plot of ground, and one could make a meal of sorts. It was a way to get the daily bread that was prayed for.

Gleaning was something of a social security policy instituted by the Lord in the Law of Moses. In Leviticus 19 and 23, the prescription from Heaven was for those who possessed fields were to allow for leftovers in managing their harvests. Not every grape, olive, or head of grain was to be scooped up. There wasn’t to be a thorough over-going of the fields so that nothing was left behind.

The instruction bid landowners to exercise a measure of care for those in need. Some bits here and some bits there were to be allowed to drop for the gatherers — those whose only means of provision was to pick up what they could find lying around.

God said that the poor and needy always would be a part of the community (see Deuteronomy 15:11; Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 12:8). Israel as a people was to supply an example for the rest of the nations. As the ones privileged to be rescued from their domination and enslavement by Egypt and also the ones chosen to receive the oracles of the Lord, the Israelites were commanded to reveal holy generosity as people of plenty.

What other nation had been afforded such an identity? None, says Psalm 147: “He shows His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel.  He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise the Lord” (Psalm 147:19-20).

Sadly, as the records of the Old Testament show, the Israelites mostly ignored the responsibilities bestowed on them via the sacred covenants given to Abraham and amplified through Moses.

Dignity in the Details

Ruth headed to the fields and happened upon those that belonged to Boaz. This man is no minor character in the story we’re studying.

Is anyone we read about in the Bible a minor character? I don’t think so. Every bit part played in the redemption record of the Lord carries the weight of glory, even if it seems like that part is just a drop in the bucket.

Think about this: God does instruct in Proverbs 6 that the sluggard is to take note of the ant. Maybe our assignment is to carry just a small crumb back to our colony. Such work matters and it really contributes to the whole health of the community.

Feeling lazy? How can you fix that? How could we develop minds to work as the wall-builders in Nehemiah? (Consider: The workers finished the wall in 52 days.)

Go to the ant. See her march out to snatch up a fragment of bread. She lifts up the crumb and steadily makes her way back home. That crumb shall serve to feed a warrior ant perhaps.

Go to the ant. See her march out to snatch up a fragment of bread. She lifts up the crumb and steadily makes her way back home. That crumb shall serve to feed a warrior ant perhaps. Share on X

In doing what she does, she helps serve in the defense and advance of her community. Her part in the division of labor seems so insignificant because it is so down to earth. But it is not insignificant in any way. It is precious and it is seen and valued by the Lord, just as the lily of the field is graced with beauty, so the ant is graced with diligence — single-mindedness even.

Small work, little details handled with care and dignity make a holy difference. It is rare thing for sure, for we as a people of this day and age love to mind high things. Small, low-level tasks are dismissed by many as being beneath them.

Capable ones conscious of the purpose of God in all things find something in their hands and they hold it fast. They do the work that is made available to them.

Noticed and Covered

What was life like for these widows during those first weeks back in Bethlehem? We see at the end of Ruth 1 that Naomi did bemoan her fate. She laid claim to a wounded identity. She clung to her sense of victimhood and labeled herself “Mara” — embittered because she felt God had let her down.

I can imagine that Ruth at times got tired of being stuck at home with “Mara.” The quick study that she was, she came to understand that there was a way open to her to do something to help.

Honor for Naomi as her mother figure presents itself in how Ruth sought permission to go and glean. I am certain that Ruth may have been concerned about how leaving Naomi alone with her thoughts could bring on deeper discouragement.

Remember, Naomi did tell Ruth to go home to Moabite relatives and their religion at one point. Now she had a chance to get Ruth out of the house and so she said, “Go my daughter.”

And so Ruth went out to the fields of Boaz. She joined with others in need there because this was field of plenty as far as gleanings go.

I am also thinking that Ruth may have met with some dirty looks and crude talk. Gossip and bigotry didn’t start with the coming of Facebook and Twitter.

The overseers of Boaz’s harvest took note of this woman. Her industrious manner may have been viewed as refreshing to these guys. Proverbs 18:16 does say that your gift makes room for you and brings you before great men.

Eventually, Boaz arrived to survey the operation. He too could see Ruth’s “ant” attitude in her usage of time. He asked about her and took an interest, inviting her to lunch with the other gleaners and workers. “Come dip your bread in the vinegar sauce,” he said. It seems to me he wanted Ruth to enjoy a momentary delight as a reward for her steady labor.

To some readers, Boaz may be seen as a man smitten. The story doesn’t indicate this right off, but he understood her history and her nationality. He knew that she could be someone targeted for abuse and oppression.

Note what he declared to Ruth: “… You left your father and mother and your native and came to a people you did not know before. The LORD repay you for what you have done, and full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:11-12).

A Kinsman Who Cares

Boaz was more that a man of means. He was a man who remained to true to the Word. And in his practice of Truth, he revealed the heart of the Lord. His fields were open and ripe for the needy. Under his watch, many found a way to feed themselves.

Even more, Boaz also was a relative of Elimelech, the deceased husband of Naomi. This made him a kinsman with the full right and power to redeem.

This man points us to Jesus, the Son. He took on our form. He entered into kinship with us in human flesh. He entered into what He made. He became one of us to save all of us.  That is how He spread His wings; He fulfilled all the Law; He gave His perfect life as the Ransom to redeem our souls. His just life was made ready for all justice to be served – on Him and Him alone.

In salvation, we choose to come under the covering of the Son.

Ruth shows us how to respond to such a covering as she experienced. “She kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests” (Ruth 2:23). She discovered the man of God and entered his fields.

May we do the same in obedience to Christ. The fields are ripe and ready. This means there are so many all over the place who need to know the Message of the Gospel.

We may live out our salvation like Ruth did. Let us glean and gather the lines, the sentences, the paragraphs of the Bible.

This is our food. It will give us the strength to bear witness to the Glory of the Lord.

We eat and feast as the Bride of Christ.