150816 The Unseen Hand

Ruth 2:1-7 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. ² And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. ⁴ And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”

This story is set during the time of the judges. There is no other time in the history of Israel that is more confusing or gloomy than the period of judges. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes and there was no central government. Anarchy reigned! Naomi and her husband had left the land of Israel to go to neighboring Moab because there was a famine in the land. Soon her husband died and her two sons married Moabite wives. Then, within a few years, her two sons died also. Now we find Naomi, along with Ruth her daughter-in-law, back in the land of Israel. Today we can see the unseen hand of God guiding through all of these difficult circumstances.

Setting the stage — one of her daughters-in-law had chosen to leave Naomi. Ruth, our heroine, had chosen to stay with her. Often when a person of Israel intermarried with the surrounding peoples they were led to follow the foreign gods. In this case, at least, Ruth had been led to follow Yahweh and bind herself to her mother-in-law! In the face of all the blessing that was coming upon them…

Naomi saw God’s hand crushing her. Let’s look back to Ruth 1:21. I went away full, Naomi said, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?

It is true that Naomi was faced with tremendous loss! Elimelech, her husband, had died after taking her into a foreign land. Her two sons each married foreign women against the clear instructions of God! In a period of about ten years Naomi had lost most of what she would consider important. Her property in Israel would by now have been passed into someone else’s hand. And now she would come back to Israel accompanied by Ruth, her foreign daughter-in-law!

With all that loss…

She had forgotten the grace of God. Naomi would have known the writings of Moses. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 32:9-14. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. ¹⁰ “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. ¹¹ Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, ¹² the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. ¹³ He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. ¹⁴ Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

This lengthy passage is taken out of the song of Moses. He sang this song at the very end of his life to give the people of Israel an ongoing reminder of the care of God. The Lord’s portion is his people! Israel was cared for by God — corporately and individually — and would be protected and provided for. Naomi just could not see it! What she should have been rejoicing in was the faithfulness of Ruth! She seemed to have thought of her as a problem rather than a blessing. So far as Naomi was concerned there was no hope.

She had forgotten that…

There was a kinsman redeemer. Let’s look at the law of Moses. She would have surely known this. Turn with me to Leviticus 25:25. If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.

God always intended that his people keep the things that he had provided for them. If anyone was found to be in debt or facing the loss of their property they could always turn to a near relative who would pay the debt and redeem the property. Apparently Naomi had simply forgotten that there was at least two men who could fill the role of kinsman redeemer. We know the name of only one — Boaz! The other, referred to in the story as “the redeemer”, is unknown by name and therefore not important. Instead we find ourselves looking at a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech. We will learn later that Boaz was a direct descendent of Judah. His grandfather was one of the leading men when Israel was in the wilderness. Boaz’s mother was a Canaanite prostitute who had helped the spies of Israel at the time of the invasion of the land.

Let’s carry the genealogy forward. The son he and Ruth produced was the paternal grandfather of David the king. So we can see that in all of this God’s unseen hand was at work.

When Ruth set out to provide for her mother-in-law, and herself that morning, the hand of God brought her to the field of Boaz. Ruth had left the house that day to find someone that she could find favor with and who would let her glean enough grain to take care of the little household. “She happened” onto the field of Boaz. Folks, there are no coincidences beyond God’s hand. She was guided that day to the right place. And to a worthy man because…

Boaz was a godly man. Let’s read again in Ruth 2:4. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.

When Boaz came onto the field he did not start out with, “how much grain have we gathered today? ” Or, “what kind of problems are we facing?”

He greets his workers in a godly manner. “The Lord be with you!” Boaz saw his work as being for God. He was a caretaker, or a steward, of the land that God had given him. As a godly man he was concerned about all those under his care. He saw a new person gleaning in his field. When he asked about her he was trying to decide what his responsibility was with regard to her. When he was told that she was Ruth, the Moabite widow who was Naomi’s daughter-in-law, he immediately knew that he had a family obligation to her.

But more than the family obligation…

Ruth found favor in Boaz’s eyes. Let’s read on in Ruth 2:8-10. Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. ⁹ Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

I don’t think she found favor because of her beauty. I find it hard to imagine that Boaz would have been able to get much of a look at her! There is no indication at all in the story that Boaz was looking for a wife. But he was well informed. He had heard the story of Naomi and Ruth.

So, Boaz took Ruth under his care by instructing his young men not to hit on her or make her uncomfortable in any way. He knew that if she went to some of the other fields in the area she would possibly have been insulted or even assaulted! There was something about Ruth that caused him to respond to her in a special way. Little did he know that she was God’s gift to him! He did recognize that…

Ruth came to the shelter of God’s wings. Let’s read on Ruth 2:11-13. But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ¹² The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

When Ruth questioned Boaz he had a ready response. He had heard her story and recognized that she had, not only come with Naomi, but she had committed herself to the God of heaven. She didn’t just change citizenship she changed her spiritual commitment. And when she did she brought herself under the shelter of God’s wings.

I am reminded of the words of Jesus as he was approaching the city of Jerusalem for the last time. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Throughout the Old Testament and into the life of Jesus sheltering wings of God are described as the place of refuge of God’s people. Boaz recognized that Ruth had come to the shelter of God’s wings. So he took her aside and explained to her that she would be safe with his young men. He showed her where the water was at so that she could be comforted in the heat. When questioned, Boaz had seen that…

Ruth respected and cared for Naomi. No surprise there! This was exactly what she had promised while they were still in the land of Moab. Let’s read on in Ruth 2:17-18. So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. ¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.

Just as she had been described, Ruth was a hard worker. She wasn’t hanging around trying to attract some young man to be her husband. She was working hard to take care of her mother-in-law without any concern for what other people might have thought. When she left the field that night she was tired and yet very happy. She had found favor in the eyes of an important man and had been able to glean an abundance of grain. The sack that she threw over her shoulder that night had in it about the equal of eleven two liter bottles. Not only was she bringing a large harvest she also was bringing leftover food from her lunch. She not only was allowed to glean among the sheaves of grain she was also invited to eat with the people working for Boaz.

Ruth must’ve been very happy at her “good fortune”. She may have been a stranger in a strange land but she was being blessed abundantly. When she told Naomi where she had worked Naomi recognized immediately that this was from the Lord. Naomi could see that things were going very well. She was slowly changing from a bitter old woman back to the pleasant lady she had been all her life.

It was very encouraging to Ruth know that she had been chosen…

Yet, it was not Boaz who chose Ruth. Turn with me to Proverbs 19:21. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Ruth did not come to the field of Boaz with some kind of scheme in mind. In fact, until she told Naomi where she was gleaning, she did not even know that he was a near relative of her dead husband. Naomi could have arranged this but she clearly did not. We will see in the next two chapters that God’s unseen hand had certainly been present. It was not the scheming of mankind that brought Ruth there. It was the purpose of the Lord that she should be brought into contact with Boaz. God’s purpose was to bring this woman in the Boaz’s life because she was chosen by God to be one of the female ancestors of the Messiah — the Lord Jesus Christ! It may be that God has brought you to this message today to help you understand that his hand is guiding your life. Please do not resist God’s direction for you.

I often find myself wondering what the thoughts and feelings were of the people we read about in the Bible. Naomi’s feelings are clearly set forth in the story. Ruth’s feelings are pretty clear also. But Boaz’s feelings are only hinted it. Little did he know that he was one of the links in the chain that leads to Messiah! Clearly, he would not have expected a woman of Moab to come into his life and consequently be, along with him, an ancestor of Jesus the Living Lord! No doubt, Boaz was a godly man who was careful to guard his life’s witness. He did this because of his faith in God. The question that needs to be answered by each of us here is, “What have I done with my life?” Friend, have you put your hand in the nail pierced hand of Jesus? Today can be your day of salvation. Put your trust in him he will not let you down.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society