Ruth 2:1-23
Wednesday, 03 July 2024
So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” -Ruth 2:2
Ruth the Gentile widow from Moab went looking for favour as she went to glean from a field of a total stranger so that her mother-in-law and she could have a meal. Being a despised and rejected woman to the Israelite community that she came to, she is the picture of a sinner looking for favour. Verse 3 tells us that she found it! Though Ruth didn't know it then, God was directing her steps to bring her to a man named Boaz. By going to glean in his field, she was entering God’s field of Grace!
Boaz picturizes the Lord Jesus Christ. Boaz’s actions that day show us how the Lord Jesus acts toward those who are in His fold.
Ruth Was Searching for Food - Ruth’s search was mainly to find food and the permission to glean, based on God’s command (Lev.19:9-10 & Deut. 24:19-22). God had worked in her past to take care of her present need. The same is true for the believer. Our present standing in Jesus is made possible because of what God did in the past through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, providing our salvation. Everything we have and are today is through the past work of the Lord, and of His grace. God’s child born into His kingdom desires to know the Lord more and grow in Him. It is learning to partake of the food of Word of God that causes growth in the life of a believer.
Ruth Was Searching for Favor - "I may find favor" she said. Ruth was looking for a person (and place of acceptance) who would allow her to glean in his fields. In spite of her race, her past, who she was, she was looking for favor. She pictures the newborn child of God who always seek opportunities to please the Lord. Every problem is faced with asking: "What would Jesus do?" in a great desire to "please the Lord." Having the "first love" is the sign of a born-again believer.
Ruth Was Searching for Fulfillment - Her statement "Please let me go", shows that she is desiring to serve and be a blessing to Naomi. When a person is saved by the grace of God, they want to serve Jesus for the glory of the Lord.
Verse 3 says, “And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz..” From a human perspective—just coincidental; from God's perspective, it was sovereignty in action. The Lord was working in her life to get her in the right place at the right time. Just as the Lord worked in Ruth's life, He works in each of our lives. Nothing happens by chance! The words chance and coincidence do not exist in God's dictionary. He moves powerfully and providentially to do His will in your life and mine!
God is always working in our lives to accomplish one goal: reproducing His Son in His children (Rom. 8:28-31). Ruth went looking for a meal, but God’s plan was to introduce her to a man. She went to find some food, but God gave her a new family. Boaz is a type of Jesus Christ who became our "Kinsman Redeemer" that He might redeem us from our sins. And Boaz was "a mighty man of wealth" who possessed everything needed for the task of redeeming Ruth. Jesus Christ also is a man of sufficient resources to carry out the plan of redemption. He possesses perfect righteousness, everlasting love for the sinner, infinite grace, sufficient to save any soul that will come to God in faith and repentance. He completed God's plan for our redemption in its entirety and those who receive him are welcomed into His family!
Promise: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
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