Ruth Chapter 2 part 1

Ruth 2:1-3

¹ There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. ² 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.” ³ Then she left, 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 family of Elimelech.

Now we come to the second chapter in the book of Ruth and Naomi and Ruth have made it back to Judah.  They have returned to Elimelech and Naomi’s family tiny hometown.  You may have heard of it before it is called Bethlehem.  You have to keep in mind when you read this chapter that Ruth and her mother in-law are poor widows.  They cannot work and provide for themselves so they have to do what other poor folks in their time would do to survive.

In verse 1 we meet a new character and his name is Boaz.  Boaz represents what we see all through scripture as what is called a “type of Christ”.  What that means is he redeems.  He does what nobody else can or will do.  Now this does not mean that the man Boaz is equal to Christ.  It is only and illustration and a picture of the coming savior who is the King of Kings.  What makes Boaz special? There are few things.  One is that he is of the family of Ruth’s late husband and that is important because the according to their custom they were to take care of their family by marrying widows to next of kin when possible.  Another thing that helps is that he is wealthy.  Ruth and her mother in-law need to be cared for and wealth helps.  One of the best qualities is found in verse 4 and we will look at it in the next post and that is he serves the Lord.

In verse 2 Ruth is going to get them food.  That is what the scripture means when she is going to “glean” the fields.  In their custom the fields after they had been harvested would have remnants of grain or fruit of what was grown there and the fragments were to be left for the poor.  They were not allowed to pick a field clean.  This is a way to make sure the poor and widows were provided for.  Ruth is going to go out and try and find a place to get them food and hopefully find a land owner that will be kind to them.

In verse 3 we see which field she ends up at and that is Boaz.  This begins the beautiful story of this book that Hollywood could never write.  How did Ruth end up in this field? Proverbs 3:5 says “⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct^[a] your paths.”  What Ruth does not know is that she is walking into the pages of Biblical history that will create a lineage that will change the nation of Israel!

Check back to see what happens next.

Jesus Saves,

RR