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What’s happened so far in the book of Ruth? Naomi has lost her husband and her two sons. Ruth has stayed with Naomi, and has made a covenant with her and God (1:16-17). Naomi is bitter (1:20-21), and blames God] Naomi feels empty, but we also saw that there was hope for her (which she couldn’t see), and that was in Ruth. We looked last week at looking at God differently depending on circumstances, and decided this wasn’t a good idea, since God is unchanging.
So that’s where we are, and the start of chapter 2, we see some more hope, and this comes in the character of Boaz. We’re going to hang our ideas off 3 headings today, and will look at the 3 main characters of this Chapter. They’re on your sheet, so we have ‘Law in a lawless land’ which will look at Boaz, ‘Faith in a faithless land’ which will look at Ruth, and then ‘God in a godless land’ which as you’ve guessed is about God!
Law in a lawless land - the character of Boaz
Flick back to Ruth 1:1 and we’ll see that
this story takes place in the time of the Judges. We mentioned last week, but what did we say
about the time of the Judges regards to the law? "In those days Israel had no king,
everyone did as they saw fit" Judges 21:25] This is not a time when law keeping was high
on the agenda, but in Boaz, we see someone who knows and keeps the law. Have a look at verse
1, and the strange way of introducing Boaz. There are 4 things we learn about him. He’s a
relative of Naomi’s, he’s a man of standing, he’s from the clan of Elimelek, and his name is
Boaz. We take the ‘What’s your name and where do you come from’ approach, whereas here, the
author is very deliberate to point out the importance of Boaz, which is his relation to Naomi,
through her dead husband. We as readers see that there is hope for Naomi and Ruth, since they
still have family. Boaz is very wealthy, so perhaps he could help Naomi and Ruth out.
Do you see the way he greets his workers in verse 4? "The Lord be with you!" The workers reply with a blessing of their own, and we can see that Boaz is a likeable guy. He has a good relationship with his workers, and lives up to his ‘man of standing’ description from verse 1. He immediately notices Ruth, and enquires about her. The response he gets sends him back to the law. Have a look at Leviticus 19:9-10. Does someone want to read that for us? Ruth is a foreigner, and has asked to glean/gather behind the harvesters. She is perfectly entitled to do this, but given the state of Israel at the time, some people would not let her, even though the law commanded it. Boaz is not one of those people, and is a man of the law. He stands out in the way he treats Ruth with amazing generosity. The letter of the law says he is to let Ruth gather the scraps and leftovers. However, all the way from Genesis to where we are now, we see that God loves people, including the foreigners, and that God provides for people in need. The spirit of the law then is to follow the example of God, and graciously provide for people in need. Boaz does just this, and out of his love for God, and love for people is gracious towards Ruth, and gives her much more than she is legally required too, or would ever expect.
We also notice that the cost is high for Boaz. If you have a look at verses 15 and 16, Boaz gives instruction to pull stalks from the bundles for Ruth. Notice how Boaz doesn’t tell the men to make sure they gather more on their way round so that the can give some to Ruth out of the extra they have collected. Rather, it is out of what he already has, so Boaz will lose out. I suppose a modern day equivalent could be if you were shopping in ASDA, and wanted to help someone out who needed food. Our natural response is to buy more than we need, and then give the extra to that person. However, if we are to follow the example of Boaz, then we will have a box in our trolley where we put things in that we would normally have, and give that box away, so we are at a loss. There is a sacrifice on the part of Boaz. A costly kind of love is shown. Boaz feeds Ruth, and we see Ruth eats all she wants (verse 18) and still has some left over. She takes the leftovers back to mum, along with all she had gathered during the day which amounted to about 13 kilograms. Again we see such provision on the part of Boaz. You wouldn’t gather 13kgs of food just from the leftovers! Imagine 13 bags of sugar!
To help with this idea, I have props!
As it stands, Boaz is a great man, who loves people because of his love for God. He’s gracious, and could make sure Naomi and Ruth were OK. However, they are still in destitution, and in a big need of help. The most important thing we find out about Boaz is found in the second part of verse 20. Naomi explains to Ruth "That man is our close relative; he is one of our family guardians." The idea of family guardians or kinsman-redeemers if you have an NIV Bible is another idea from the law books. If we flick back to Leviticus 25:25 which says, "If anyone among you becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold." So, if someone is in real need, as Ruth and Naomi are, then the closest family member is to come and bail them out, look after them, and provide for them.
Naomi and Ruth needed help, and it was Boaz, a man of God who provided that help. Boaz is a great example for us to follow because of his love for God, and His law. However Boaz goes beyond what the law says, but still follows the spirit of the law. When one of the Pharisees asked Jesus, "which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus replies with, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself." (Matt 22:34-40) We don’t have a ‘checklist Christianity’ where we tick off what we have done, but we are instead called to love God, and love people. We’ll think more about this idea at the end.
Faith in a faithless land - the character of Ruth
Before we jump in to look at Ruth, let’s just first remind ourselves of the situation of Israel
at the time. We’ve said it’s lawless, but it’s also faithless. Judges 2:10 says this,
"Another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel."
The Israelites don’t know a thing about God, and yet here is Moabite who has faith in God, and
shows that in her actions. Ruth once again showing what it means to be a faithful Israelite.
In verse 2, it is Ruth who takes the initiative. Naomi is still wallowing in self pity, but
Ruth is pro-active, and goes to find help. She goes to find someone "in whose eyes I find
favour" (verse 2). This phrase crops up 3 times in this chapter (verses 2, 10 and 13). This
word "favour" is the same word used in Genesis 6:8, when Noah found favour in the eyes of
the Lord. It’s the same word that’s translated 'grace'. Ruth is looking for grace. This grace
however will not be easy to find. Ruth does not who Boaz is, so she is entirely trusting in God.
At the end of the chapter in verse 22, Naomi is thankful it was Boaz she found "because in
someone else’s field you might be harmed."
Ruth is very humble when she does find grace. Most of her action is as a result of something Boaz has said or done, and she always responds in a humble and grateful way. Boaz tells her to stay with him and his women, and to get water when she wants it (verses 8 and 9), and her response is to bow down at such generosity "why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me - a foreigner?" (10) Remember this was what she was looking for when she went out, and now she has found it.
I think we’re quite proud people when we really think about it aren’t we, especially when it comes to supporting one another. We tend to be very quick to offer help when we see need, but when it comes to our need, and our struggles, we don’t like to accept help. We don’t what to put others out, and we convince ourselves that we can get through on our own, and that it is better that way. Naomi knows that there are family members who could help out, but is too proud to seek them out and find them. However, Ruth is humble when she is seeking help, and I think we need to be the same. Yes, we are called to serve, but we may sometimes need to be the ones being served, and allow others to do that, and minister to us. It doesn’t mean that we are always taking, and never giving, but it just means that we should be more willing to accept help if we need it. Again, we’ll think more about this at the end.
Let’s move on to our final section now, and this is looking at all the behind the scene stuff that’s been going on so far.
God in a godless land - the goodness of God You could read this chapter of Ruth, and think to yourself, ‘that’s lucky’. The fact that there is a family member who could help, that Ruth happens to work in his field, Boaz arriving just as Ruth is working, that Boaz is in a position to help, and is willing to do so. However, with God, there are no such things as accidents, only incidents. God carefully orchestrates everything, and is at work all the way through the book. Naomi and Ruth are in need of rescue, and God provides that.
He shows his love and goodness to them through Boaz, who reflects God’s character, and his hesed. God works through people. He shows his love for them through the love of others. In verse 20, when Naomi realises it is Boaz that Ruth has found, she says, "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." Commentators aren’t sure who this is talking about, whether it is Boaz or Yahweh. I don’t think it matters. It could be said of either character quite easily, and be perfectly founded. It can only be said of Boaz because of God and his blessings. Either way, God is intimately involved, and wants to provide for those in need. He shows his love through the love of others. He provides for us through the provision of others.
We notice that is the people of God who provide for Naomi and Ruth, and that should be the same for us today. As a Church, the people of God, we should be providing for others who are in need of help.