Ruth Chapter 2: Ruth’s Refuge

 

Introduction

One of the questions I love to answer is:How did you and Caroline meet?

Now we don’t have enough time to answer that question right now but perhaps another time.

Instead, today we are thinking about Boaz and Ruth, how they met in a field, and how this meeting would one day lead to their being married. However, our passage is bigger that Ruth and Boaz.

In Ruth 2 we see God graciously provide a refuge for Naomi and Ruth as they returned to the Promised Land. In Boaz, God meets Naomi and Ruth’s desperate need with generous provision and gracious protection. And so, we learn that when God’s People turn to Him in faith He will provide a refuge and a redeemer.

Today we see that when God’s People come to Him they will always find:

The Provision of a Refuge…

…and…

…a Redeemer who provides.

Today we get a picture of God’s Covenant Love for His People- His special commitment to the People He has gladly made an unbreakable bond with. And we are once again led to Jesus- the true refuge of God’s People, the ultimate provision by a loving God.

So, let us firstly consider…

Provision of a Refuge

When was the last time you felt anxious about the future?

When was the last time you found yourself wondering how you would get through the next 24 hours?

 

To truly appreciate our story today we need to grasp just how desperate Naomi and Ruth’s situation is as Chapter 2 begins. We need to understand that these women were in dire straits. They did not know where their next meal would come from or if they would make it safely through the night.

Both these women appear helpless and hopeless.According to the culture of their day, Ruth and Naomi’s situation is dire and dangerous.Naomi, a childless widow, was cursed in the eyes of the culture. And Ruth, a foreign widow- a despised Moabite- would have been treated with suspicion, if not downright hostility.

Without husbands or sons there is no one to provide for them or protect them. Their future is bleak. They need help. And they know it. They need someone to step up and provide for them. They needed someone to step up and protect them from a world where ‘everyone does what is right in his own eyes’.

These women were in need. As they faced the difficulties and dangers of a fallen world, they needed God to provide a refuge for His People. And, as the story of Ruth 2 unfolds, we see God work in the lives of Naomi and Ruth to provide that refuge in the most beautiful of ways.

And so, in Ruth 2 verse 1 we read:

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

Right at the very start of the story we are being told: Keep your eyes fixed on Boaz, he is going to be important to our story. We are going to see that God answers the prayers of His People through a ‘man of standing’- a man able and willing to help a people in need.

Notice that throughout Ruth 2 we have a striking description of Boaz. He is a man of wealth and influence- he owns land and has workers, and he has the respect of his workers. He is also a godly man- he greets his workers in God’s Name and seeks God’s blessing upon them, and he faithfully obeys God’s Law in a time when very few did. Most importantly for the rest of our story, he is a relative of Naomi and a possible redeemer- more on that later.

So, we see that when Ruth and Naomi returned to God they found a man who was willing and able to help them in their time of need. In Boaz, a man of material wealth and moral worth, they found the refuge they needed. Or, more accurately, God provided for them at their point of need.

Our story, then, points us forward to this great truth: God, in Christ, has provided for us at our point of truest need. And His provision for His People is not random. From before the beginning of time God has always had a plan to rescue His People. And He works out that plan in the lives of each of His People to bring them to Himself.

God never leaves anything to chance as He works out His purposes for His People. Notice how we see this in verses 2 to 4. Here we see how both human responsibility and God’s providence go hand in hand. In faith Ruth goes in search of help- in search of God’s faithful provision for His People. And God rewards that faith in the most wonderful way.

We remember that in the Law God had commanded farmers to leave an area unharvested so that the poor could ‘glean’- they could pick up what was leftover from the harvest. And so Ruth, trusting in the provision of God’s Law, goes out to glean. She is faithful and kind to her mother-in-law. She does not wait around for a handout but rather trusts in the provisions of God’s gracious Law.

And God honours those who honour Him. In verse 3, what the NIV translates as ‘…As it turned out…’, literally means ‘…as chanced chanced…’; or, as we might say: ‘As luck would have it…’. We, and the narrator, know there is no such thing as ‘luck’ or ‘coincidence’. But we are told the story in this way so that we will sit up and take notice. Here we are reminded that our God is the God who is sovereign over all and is graciously working out His purposes in the lives of His People.

In verses 2 to 4 we see Ruth going out to work, ‘ending up’ in Boaz’s field, and Boaz appearing at just the right movement. Behind all these events we see the hand of God moving to provide a refuge for Naomi and Ruth.

And so we are called to trust in our God and remember that He is graciously sovereign and sovereignly gracious. That no matter what is happening in our lives God is working for our good and His Glory. That God can take any circumstance, even the horror of the Cross, and work it for the good of His People.

God Provides a refuge for those who recognise their need and turn to Him. God’s Will is always that His People would turn to Him and trust in Him to supply their need. In God’s provision of Boaz we see a picture of God’s covenant love for His People and how He provides.

In the story of Ruth and Boaz in Chapter 2 we also see…

A Redeemer Who Provides

When was the last time you were invited to a meal?

How did it feel? How did they make you feel welcome?

As Chapter 2 continues we see Boaz invite Ruth to join him and his workers for a meal. He makes her welcome and gives her more than she needs to eat. Here we see grace displayed and grace received and as we do so we get the sense that it is pointing to a deeper truth.

Ruth has gone out into the fields to find food. In that time this was a potentially dangerous endeavour, especially as Ruth was a woman and a hated foreigner. But Ruth is courageous, hardworking, loyal, and news of her sacrifice for Naomi further boosts her reputation. And so, in verses 4 to 7 we see how one man takes notice of the grace of God in her life.

Boaz, a godly man who is respected by his workers and honours God in a time when such behaviour is not common, takes note of Ruth. His question, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’, is, in actual fact, him showing concern. He is, in effect, asking who is taking care of her.

And when he realises that this is Ruth, the widowed foreigner who sacrificed all for Naomi, he is concerned for her and is moved to action. In the verses that follow Boaz expresses a remarkable commitment to give protection and provision. In these verses there is a superabundant supply provided, words of kindness declared, and Ruth, the outsider, is welcomed into the family of God.

Boaz goes far above and beyond basic requirements to care for the poor and include the outsider. He took time and care to provide for Ruth and Naomi. He displayed true kindness and overwhelming generosity.

And in this generous provision and profound kindness we are pointed to Christ. In the Gospel we experience the most generous of provisions and the truest of all kindnesses.

In Christ, our deepest need is met with His superabundant supply of grace. In Christ, we receive the wonderful welcome of adoption into the family of God. And words of love and grace are declared over us- we are now Children of God, Citizens of Heaven, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.

As we take time to ponder the generous provision we have in Christ it must provoke gratitude in us. Consider Ruth’s after hearing of Boaz’s generous offer in verses 8 to 9; in verse 10 we read:

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

Ruth responds with astonishment and gratitude. She was effectively saying: ‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart… but why me? What have I done to deserve this kindness?’. She was amazed by the grace that she had been shown and the generous provision she had received. The kindness, mercy, love and compassion of her redeemer provokes in her amazement and gratitude and a deep sense that she is receiving something she does not deserve.

Ruth is showered with kindness and it fills her with amazement. Ruth is lavished with provision and she is provoked to heartfelt gratitude. Ruth is amazed and filled with wonder at Boaz’s generosity to her, an utterly undeserving foreigner. We too, as we gaze upon the Cross and ponder the Gospel, ought to be deeply moved, in mind and soul, by the wonders of God’s love to us in Christ.

Notice also that Naomi shares her wonder. When Ruth returns home, with a 30-pound sack of grain no less, there is plenty to eat and plenty to talk about. Ruth recalls the events of the day while they feast- the empty are becoming full.

As Ruth brings out the plentiful supply of food, Naomi begins to grasp that this is practical evidence of God’s loving-kindness to her. Now Naomi’s heart begins to soften towards God; in verse 20 she cries out:

²⁰ “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.”

In the provision of a redeemer and in the generosity of that redeemer Naomi saw the covenant faithfulness of Boaz and, ultimately, of God.

In Boaz, Naomi sees that redemption and covenant kindness will be found and her prayers of Chapter 1 will be answered. Through Boaz God will show that only in Him can true fulfilment be found; that He is the One who provides for His People when they come to Him in repentance and faith.

The Lord was able and willing to provide for her after all. Boaz was the means that God used to show Naomi His goodness and this turned her bitterness into praise and gratitude. But more was to come.

As Chater 2 ends there is a sense of anti-climax; look again at verse 23:

²³ So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

We are left hoping, wondering if this is all there is between Boaz and Ruth.

Food was only one of the things these women lacked. Naomi and Ruth had received an abundance of food. But Ruth still needed a husband. Afterall, she was still living with her mother-in-law.

So we are left to wonder: if God can faithfully provide so abundantly for Ruth’s need of food, will He not also supply her needs in this other area? If Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, has been willing to meet one need, even at his own cost, will he also be willing to meet the other as well?

This ‘will they, wont they’ thought is how this part of the story ends and links this chapter with what is to come. For now it leaves us wondering and anticipating a greater redemption, a more wonderful conclusion.

Conclusion

Our story tells us how Naomi and Ruth returned to the Land of Promise empty but found a refuge in a redeemer named Boaz. In Boaz their needs were met, and they experienced the generous provision and loving kindness of their God.

And so, we are called to remember that in the Gospel we find the ultimate refuge in Jesus Christ. In Christ we know that God will supply our every need. In Christ we experience the generous provision of salvation- eternally planned and lovingly won for us at the Cross. In Christ we are welcomed into everlasting fellowship of the family of God. In Christ we experience the love and kindness of the One who gave His all for us to meet our deepest need.

Such generous provision and loving kindness calls us to deep gratitude and trust as we remember the ultimate provision and protection we have in Christ. So let us leave today amazed and grateful, and fully trusting in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord.