This short little book has been refreshingly timely in my life right now. Unexpected treasures continued to be discovered as the Lord continues to show me more and more of Him through this exciting little love story. Ruth is appearing to me to take on the look of an art gallery, showcasing various works of art featuring the Gospel. I just love it!
If this is the first post you’ve read, I encourage you to read the prior posts that build up to this one. You can find them all here.
This last half of chapter 2 proved to be so full and rich in reminders of Christ purpose in the church and for the church…to seek and to save the lost.
Let’s dive in!
Ruth 2:14-23 is our chosen passage. If you don’t have your bible nearby, you can use this link to read it. I encourage you to read it slowly several times. Have a pen or highlighter handy and mark anything you have questions about to want to remember.
The imagery verse 14 creates resulted in me writing 2 pages of notes. There is just so much here for us to explore.
Our last post left Ruth meeting Boaz for the first time. His kindness to her and her humility towards him painted a beautiful picture of our relationship with Christ. Now we find Boaz inviting Ruth to sit with him and the reapers. This struck me as significant because she wasn’t a reaper, she was a foreigner and a gleaner. They did not sit and eat with reapers much less the field owners. What a grand privilege this was for Ruth!
Picture this. Jesus Christ inviting you to sit with him, talk with him and feast on the goodness of his Word! We have that invitation everyday! But how often do we take it? Just as it was a privilege for Ruth to sit with Boaz and his workers, it is a privilege for us to sit with Christ, studying the Scriptures. It is an absolute privilege to be called one of his own. Do we live our lives like we believe that?
His mercies are new everyday!
“She ate until she was satisfied and then she had some leftover.” (vs 14)
I don’t want to move too fast past a very significant part of this verse. She was satisfied! In a world that places satisfaction is found in material things, this is a great reminder or lesson to us that our satisfaction will only be found in Jesus! I love a good Spurgeon quote and I found a fantastic one to better illustrate the meaning on this passage.
Your head shall be satisfied with the precious truth which Christ reveals; your heart shall be content with Jesus, as the altogether lovely object of affection; your hope shall be satisfied, for whom have you in heaven but Christ? Your desire shall be satiated, for what can even the hunger of your desire wish for more than ‘to know Christ, and to be found in him.’ You shall find Jesus fill your conscience, till it is at perfect peace; he shall fill your judgment, till you know the certainty of his teachings; he shall fill your memory with recollections of what he did, and fill your imagination with the prospects of what he is yet to do. You shall be ‘satisfied. C.H. Spurgeon
Boaz calls her out of her work, invites her to rest and eat and she was satisfied. Not only satisfied, but she couldn’t even eat all that he had given her.
This is also a reminder to us of the importance and purpose of the body of believers. I’ve often heard it said “I can be a Christian without going to church.” This mindset towards Christ people is so troubling to me. The fellowship of believers is a gift to us. Remember Ruth. She found companionship and relationship through those the Lord put in her path. This is the church. Through our membership with our church we should find companionship, support, protection and correction when needed. We are the “reapers”. And when a “Ruth” is brought in we should welcome her, love her, teach and encourage her in the ways of the Lord with gentleness and kindness the way Naomi did to Ruth.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
I understand there is also opportunity to be hurt by your church. I definitely do not want to paint a picture of a perfect church because that does not exist. The church is full of sinners in desperate need of a Savior! Often being member of a church requires great humility and grace. But the purpose of the church is what is pictured here in this passage of Ruth. Let this be a reminder of what the church should be for us.
Ruth found protection, understanding, compassion, instruction, hospitality, mercy and love from the actions of Boaz, Naomi and the reapers. Boaz invited her to sit with him and there she found what brought her heart satisfaction.
I could go on all day about how beautiful this passage is to me. But I’m going to move on.
In the following verses we find Ruth has finished her first day of work. Boaz has maintained her dignity by allowing her to work for her food, but also providing generously for her and Naomi. After a very exhausting day of gleaning, she then threshes her grain. This is just as hard a job as gleaning. If her body wasn’t aching from the gleaning, I’m sure it was after she threshed it. The scriptures tells us she ended up with an ephah of barley. That is anywhere between 30-50 lbs of grain! That would last 2 people about 3 months. She then carries this back to town where she and Naomi were living. I wish we knew how far she carried this, but we don’t. We are reminded though of her tenacity and grit. She was strong and determined to take care of her mother-in-law.
She makes it home and tells Naomi about her exciting day. Can you even imagine how fun that conversation was? As she listens to Ruth, I’m sure she’s thinking about how their circumstances are about to change in a really big way! She is no longer Mara…the Lord is restoring what was taken! They are going to be just fine! And we know that they were better than fine! God truly blessed these two women above and beyond what either could ever have expected.
Remember, we must have a biblical view of the purpose of the church or else we will look to the church to fulfill a longing that only Jesus can fulfill. As Christians, we can only find satisfaction in the precious truth Christ reveals to us. Our hearts will be content with Jesus, our hopes and our desires satisfied because the Gospel accomplishes it all for us!
Dana Bailey 