New Blessings - Ruth 2:8-23

When Ruth went out to glean in the field, God providentially guided her to the field of Boaz. But at that time Ruth did not know who Boaz was. Little did she realize that one day she would be the wife of this mighty man in Bethlehem. We never know where even the so-called little decisions of life will lead us if we are in the will of God. 

Let's read Ruth 2:8. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from here, but abide here fast by my maidens: Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? 

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath been fully shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. 

Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. 

And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. 

Boaz, of course, is a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. The name Boaz means "mighty man." And our Lord Jesus Christ is mighty man, mighty God. No sooner did Boaz appear on the scene than Ruth became the object of his attention and his affection. I have a feeling that Boaz took one look at her and fell in love. Well, now that Boaz was in control, there was nothing for Ruth to worry about. 

Let's notice the blessings that came to Ruth's life because of Boaz, and at the same time we'll be noting the blessings that we have because we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior. First of all, she had the blessing of guidance. In verse 8, he said, Go not to glean in another field, neither go from here, but abide here fast by my maidens. Now Ruth needed guidance. You must remember that there were no markers, no mailboxes, no names and addresses in the fields of Bethlehem. The people knew where the boundaries were, but Ruth was a stranger. In fact, she found her way to the field of Boaz because of the providential leading of God. Now Boaz says, you stay right here in my field. He said, I'm going to guide you, I'm going to show you what to do, now you just listen to my word. 

I feel sorry for people who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. How do they get guidance? The Word of God promises Psalm 32:8, I will guide thee with mine eye. Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. God in His providence guides those who belong to Him and who submit to Him. 

There's a second blessing that she received, that's the blessing of protection. In verse 9, Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? Protection. Now Ruth was in danger. She was a young woman. We get the impression she was an attractive woman. She was a widow. She was a foreigner. There are some people who would not respect her because she was a foreigner. This was the harvest season. During the harvest season there was a great deal of joy and revelry and sometimes some misbehaving. And so Ruth was in danger. But Boaz protected her. He told the maidens to watch over her and he warned the young men. He told the young men that they should not touch her. Some of them might be tempted, but they knew that Boaz would act swiftly and surely. 

Now God protects us. God in His providence is watching over us. When the child of God is in the will of God, he has the protection of God until his work is done. He will give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

Well, Ruth had the blessing of guidance and the blessing of protection. She also had the blessing of provision. She had grain that she could glean. In fact, he told the young men, if she wants to glean among the sheaves, don't reproach her, and deliberately drop some grain that she can pick it up. Don't let her know you're doing it, but deliberately drop it. Don't pick it back up again, let her have it. So he provided grain for her to glean. He provided water for her to drink. Verse 9, when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels and drink. Food for her to eat in verse 14, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. 

Our God provides our needs. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. In Matthew 6, our Lord rebukes us for worrying. He says, your Father in heaven takes care of the lilies of the field and makes them beautiful, why are you worrying about clothes? And He takes care of the birds and gives them food, why are you worried about what you're going to eat or what you're going to drink? This is the way the unsaved Gentiles live. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. God provides for us. 

There was a fourth blessing that she had because of Boaz, that's the blessing of encouragement. In verse 13, Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid. The Hebrew reads, "thou hast spoken to the heart of thine handmaid." Boaz didn't just simply speak in her ears, he spoke to her heart. He said to her, you're not to be afraid, you're not to worry, I am in control and I will take care of all of your needs. He comforted her. He encouraged her in what she was doing. Where do we get our encouragement from Boaz? The Lord Jesus Christ encourages us through His Word. Thou hast spoken to the heart of thine handmaid. Romans 15:4, For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. She found her encouragement in his word, and we find our encouragement in God's Word. 

She had the blessing of guidance and protection, provision and encouragement, and in verse 14 the blessing of fellowship. Boaz said to her, At mealtime come. That's the gracious invitation in the Bible, isn't it? Come. Come unto me, I will give you rest. Come and dine. This is what he's saying to her. Come thou hither and eat of the bread and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and he, Boaz, reached her parched corn, and she did eat and was sufficed and left. She had the invitation to come and dine. She was seated with him at the table. You know, you and I are seated with the Lord Jesus Christ on the throne. Ephesians 2:6. Just as Boaz nourished her, so the Lord Jesus nourishes us. He gives us that food for our souls that satisfies us. 

There's a sixth blessing that she had through Boaz, and that was the blessing of acceptance. In verses 15 and 16, Boaz spoke to the young men and said, reproach her not. I like that, reproach her not. And in verse 16 he said, rebuke her not. In other words, don't treat her like a woman, a foreigner, a widow, a poor person; you accept her. Boaz said, I have accepted her. Now you treat her the way she ought to be treated. Don't reproach her, don't insult her, don't rebuke her. I rejoice that in spite of where I came from, in spite of what I did, and in spite of what I am, I have been accepted in the beloved, accepted in Jesus Christ. 

The seventh blessing I note is the blessing of satisfaction. In verse 14, she did eat and was satisfied. In verse 18, she was satisfied. The only satisfaction we can have comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. Her past was forgotten, she had now been accepted, she was not being treated like a stranger. Her future was full of hope because somebody cared for her. Her present needs were being met and she was satisfied. I doubt that she was ever satisfied in Moab, because the world does not offer any satisfaction. 

She was living by grace. When you live by grace, you have guidance and protection and provision. You have encouragement and fellowship, acceptance and satisfaction. In verse 12, Boaz said, under whose wings thou art come to trust. What happened to Ruth? She was living by grace through faith. That's the only way to live, by grace through faith. 

What a difference one day can make. Today can make a difference in your life, it all depends on what we do with it, the decisions that we make. Ruth's experience was not much different. She went into the fields one day to glean, and she found herself the object of the attention and the affection of a man named Boaz. At that time Ruth did not know who Boaz was, but she sure found out when she arrived home and gave the news to Naomi. 

Ruth 2:17. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought out, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law. 

Did you notice as I read the scripture that Naomi is starting to change? She no longer seems to be the bitter widow that we met in chapter one. Her life was falling apart. But now God is starting to put her life back together again. What made the difference? Boaz has arrived on the scene. 

Let's notice the three new factors that enter the story because of the arrival of Boaz in the lives of these two widows. First of all, I note that there is a new word on Naomi's lips, and that's the word "blessed." We haven't heard Naomi say "blessed," but she does in verse 19, blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. Then she finds out it's Boaz, and in verse 20 she says, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. 

Up till now Naomi has been a bitter woman. She had an empty heart becauseshe was not walking with the Lord as she ought to be walking with Him. And she was poor, and it looked as though there was not much of a future for Naomi. But now she's saying blessed. Why is she saying blessed? Well, for one thing, she saw the food that Ruth had brought from that day's labor. When Naomi saw the food, she said, blessed be he of the Lord. And when she heard the name of Boaz, that made a difference too. And she graciously admits that Boaz has been kind and the Lord is at work. Blessed be he of the Lord. And now the name of the Lord is back on her lips, but not with bitterness; the name of the Lord is back on her lips with blessing. 

Today you may be very discouraged. In fact, you might be bitter against God. You may be looking at your past and saying, I've wrecked everything, my whole life is just torn apart, fallen to pieces. Your present may be very uncomfortable, your future may be very unbearable, you just can't bear to think about the future. But remember this, when Jesus Christ steps into the picture, everything changes. The discouragement is turned into hope because there's a new word now on Naomi's lips, it's the word blessed. 

There's a second new factor in this story. Not only a new word on Naomi's lips, but a new hope in Naomi's heart. You see, they had every reason now to be hopeful. Well, they have three reasons at least. Number one, because of what Boaz is. He is their kinsman. Thirteen times in the book of Ruth you find this reference to the kinsman. What is it all about? Well, the law is given in Leviticus 25:25. This law states that if a Jewish person became poor and they had to sell their property, or had to sell themselves into slavery, one of their kinsmen could redeem them. They could pay the price and redeem their property and redeem their person. Now that's the law that she's referring to. 

There's a second law found in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 that has to do with marriage. These are two separate laws but they both apply to Boaz. In Deuteronomy 25:5, we are told that if a man dies, his brother can marry the widow and raise up children to carry on his name and maintain his inheritance. Now Naomi sees these two laws put together. Here is Boaz, their kinsman. He can marry Ruth and raise children in the according to the law of Deuteronomy 25. He could also redeem Ruth and redeem the property and follow the law in Leviticus 25. And so she has a new hope because of what Boaz is, he is a near kinsman. 

Secondly, she has a new hope because of what Boaz did. What did he do? He took a personal interest in Ruth. Out of all of the people who were there in the field, he noticed Ruth. He spoke to Ruth. He was especially kind to Ruth. He protected her. He told her to stay with the young women and he told the young men not to bother her. He provided for Ruth generously. He told the reapers to drop some handfuls on purpose that she might pick them up. And so she was encouraged by what Boaz is and by what Boaz did. 

And thirdly, by what Boaz said. In verse 21 we find that Ruth remembered the word that he had spoken to her. That's a good thing to do, isn't it? To remember the word that has been spoken to you. He said also unto me, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. He says now at the end of this harvest something is going to happen. Stay close to my men, they're going to protect you during the harvest, and you stay with them until the end of the harvest. And if he cared for her during the harvest, surely he had some special plans at the end of the harvest. Ruth remembered his words. We're going to protect you and let's wait until the end of the harvest. 

There's a third new factor that comes into the story, and that is a new motive in Ruth's service. You see, Ruth went back to the field and labored. She didn't sit back and say, well, Boaz will take care of everything. No, she went right back to the field and she labored. They've gone through the harvest now and for some three months she has been laboring in the field. But I have a suspicion that when Ruth went back to the field after her conversation with Naomi, everything was different. Now she knew the lord of the harvest. 

You know, you and I should follow Ruth's example. I've noticed in my Bible how Ruth is a beautiful picture of the ideal servant. In Ruth 2:2, she says, Let me now go to the field. Do you want to go to the field? Is God talking to you about finding a place of ministry? It may be in your own home, it may be in your church, your neighborhood. Are you saying, let me now go to the field? In Ruth 2:9, Boaz says to her, Let thine eyes be on the field. Jesus said, lift up your eyes and look on the field, for they are white unto harvest. Just keep your eyes on the field and keep working in the field because that's where God has put you. 

Now if today you are bitter and life seems to be falling apart, fix your eyes on Jesus Christ, the Lord of the harvest. He is our Boaz, our mighty man of wealth. Stop to consider all that He is to you and all that He has done for you. You see, if you and I will just keep our eyes upon the Lord Jesus, if we'll just do our work the way He wants us to do it, before long we'll be saying with Naomi and with David, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.