Ruth Chapter 2 2026 - Jared Skitt

Now, Naomi had a relative on her husband's side.

He was a prominent man of noble character from

a limalex family. His name was Boaz. Ruth the

Moabitess asked Naomi, Will you let me go into

the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone

with whom I find favor? Naomi answered her, Go

ahead, my daughter. So Ruth left and entered

the field to gather grain behind the harvesters.

She happened to be in the portion of the field

belonging to Boaz. who was from Elimelech's family.

Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said

to the harvesters, The Lord be with you. The

Lord bless you, they replied. Boaz asked his

servant, who was in charge of the harvesters,

Whose young woman is this? The servant answered,

She is the young Moabite woman who returned with

Naomi from the territory of Moab. She asked,

Will you let me gather fallen grain among the

bundles behind the harvesters? She came and has

been on her feet since early morning, except

that she rested a little in the shelter. Then

Boaz said to Ruth, Listen, my daughter, don't

go and gather grain in another field, and don't

leave this one, but stay here close to my female

servants. See which field they are harvesting

and follow them. Haven't I ordered the young

men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go

and drink from the jars the young men have filled.

She fell face down, bowed to the ground, and

said to him, Why have I found favor with you,

so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?

Boaz answered her, Everything you have done for

your mother -in -law since your husband's death

has been fully reported to me, how you left your

father and mother and your native land, and how

you came to a people you didn't previously know.

May the Lord reward you for what you have done,

and may you receive a full reward from the Lord

God of Israel, whose wings you have come for

refuge. My lord, she said, I have found favor

with you, for you have comforted and encouraged

your servant, although I am not like the one

of your female servants. At mealtime, Boaz told

her, Come over here and have some bread and dip

it in the vinegar sauce. So she sat beside the

harvesters and he offered her roasted grain.

She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered

his young men. Let her even gather grain among

the bundles, and don't humiliate her. Pull out

some stalks from the bundles for her and leave

them for her to gather. Don't rebuke her. So

Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening.

She beat out what she had gathered, and it was

about 26 quarts of barley. She picked up the

grain and went into the town, where her mother

-in -law saw what she had gleaned. She brought

out what she had left over from her meal and

gave it to her. Her mother -in -law said to her,

Where did you gather barley today? And where

did you work? May the Lord bless the man who

noticed you. Ruth told her mother -in -law, whom

she had worked with, and said, The name of the

man I worked with today is Boaz. Then Naomi said

to her daughter -in -law, May the Lord bless

him because he has not abandoned his kindness

to the living or the dead. Naomi continued, The

man is a close relative. He is one of our family

redeemers. Ruth the Moabitess said, He also told

me, Stay with my young men until they have finished

all of my harvest. So Naomi said to her daughter

-in -law Ruth, My daughter, it is good for you

to work with his female servants, so that nothing

will happen to you in another field. Ruth stayed

close to Boaz's female servants and gathered

grain until the barley and the wheat harvest

were finished, and she lived with her mother

-in -law. Well, we've been continuing in the

book of Ruth. And Ruth is a little bit unique

in that it's a narrative. And the author who

wrote the book of Ruth is really intentional

about how they continue the story. So last week,

we were in Ruth chapter 1. So I'm going to recap

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

that, and then we're going to pray before we

dive into the text. in Ruth chapter 2. So last

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

week we walked through famine, funerals, and

the fields of Moab. We met names loaded with

meaning. There was Elimelech, whose name meant

my god is king, even though he lived like he

was king of his life. There was Naomi, whose

name meant pleasant, and at the end of the story

she's like, call me bitter, call me Mara. There

was Malon and Kilion, whose names meant sickness,

and wasting. There was Ruth, whose name meant

friend, and more. But we watched this family,

this Israelite family, leave God's promised land.

And they went to the city from the city of Bethlehem,

which was the house of bread. And they left because

of famine, and they went to the land of Moab,

the place of compromise. And there, Naomi buried

her husband and her sons. And then Ruth, a Moabite

widow, made a stunning decision. She chose the

God of Israel. She chose the people of Israel.

She chose the land of promise. She chose to return

to God and nothing with Naomi. And Naomi returns

home and says, don't call me Naomi, call me Mara,

which means bitter or could actually even be

translated as rebellious. But still, Naomi believed

in the Lord. She interpreted the Lord through

her pain. She said, he oppressed and afflicted

me. And yet, at the very, very, very end of Ruth

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, it ends with this whisper of hope.

The author specifically, after this whole narrative

of everything that just happened to this family,

the death, the return to this land, the women

say, hey, is that? Is that Naomi? She's like,

uh -uh. Don't call me Naomi anymore. Call me

Mara. They come back, and the author ends with

this detail. They arrived in Bethlehem at the

start of the harvest. And we see this glimmer,

this whisper of hope in the midst of a dark time

for Naomi and for Ruth. And Ruth, the entire

book, is actually a whisper of hope in a really

dark time. This was set during the time of the

judges. And at the end of the book of Judges,

it says, and everyone did what was right in their

own eyes. And we see this ending of that book

where they're crying out for a king when God

was supposed to be their king. But they chose

to do what was right in their own eyes. So that's

where we're coming from. And now we come into

Ruth chapter 2. And we're going to dive into

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

that text together. But before we do that, let's

pray. Heavenly Father, you are good. We thank

you. We praise you that even in the midst of

famine, even in the midst of hardship, Lord,

we can still have hope in you. Lord, help us

to have eyes to see that. And as we look through

Ruth chapter 2 this morning, I just pray that

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

you would be at work in our hearts. in our minds.

Lord, draw out from your word what you would

have for us this morning. We pray this all in

Jesus' name. Amen. So, if you have your Bibles,

we're going to turn to Ruth chapter 2. If you

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

don't have a Bible, there are some back on those

response tables in the back with the black tablecloths.

Take that. Take it home with you. It's yours.

But we're going to be going verse through verse.

in Ruth chapter 2. And so as we come to this

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

chapter, we see this little bit of a transition.

There's this glimmer of hope, this whisper at

the end of Ruth 1. And now we come and we get

to start to see that in Ruth 2. And what was

amazing to me as I spent time preparing and really

just soaking in God's word this week, is that

God sovereignly works through ordinary faithfulness

to accomplish his covenant kindness. God sovereignly

works through ordinary faithfulness to accomplish

his covenant kindness. So as we work through

this narrative, I want to focus on three paintings

of the characters from our story. So a few weeks

ago, Carissa, my wife, and our kiddos, they went

to an art class, and they had to paint a picture.

And my three -year -old, Micaiah, was ready to

just like dive in, and he's like, when do I get

to paint the black? And so we're like, okay,

hold on, buddy. But there was a process that

they had to follow. And the person who was instructing

said, hey, first, we're going to take our pencils.

And we're going to put down this charcoal sketch.

And we're going to see these outlines. And then

we're going to come back after we have this outline

and we're going to start to fill in a little

bit more detail. And then we're going to start

to put color onto this. And then after we put

color onto it, now we're going to come back.

We're going to add more detail with the color,

with the pencil, and with all these different

tools. We're going to paint a picture together

this morning because there's three characters.

I'm going to introduce you to them now. Boaz,

Naomi, and Ruth. And we're going to look at their

pictures a little bit this morning. So we already

have some basic sketched outlines of two of these

characters from chapter one. We've got Naomi

and we've got Ruth. And so if we were just putting

down those kind of initial lines of the sketch,

Naomi is a widow who lost everything and everyone

that might protect and provide for her. But she's

a woman whose daughter -in -law wants to follow

her anyway. And with a love for God that was

an example to Ruth so that she chose God and

not the gods of her homeland in Moab. At the

end of Ruth chapter 1, we see Naomi's returning

Ruth 1 · chapter mention

to Bethlehem with Ruth. She is leaving Moab and

coming back to God's promised land. And the women

in the town in Bethlehem, they say, is this Naomi?

And Naomi says, no. Call me Mara. Bitter, rebellious,

but she still recognizes the Lord. She knows

he's real, but she's struggling with what he's

allowed, how he's opposed and afflicted her.

Those were her words. She's also pretty open.

She's honest. She's vocal about it. But she has

returned to God's promised land, though she hasn't

returned with hope. So that's that rough sketch,

that rough outline that we have of Naomi. Then

we have Ruth. Ruth was a foreign widow. She was

from the land of Moab. Her husband died. But

she's faithful to the Lord. When they're on the

road, they're coming back to Bethlehem in chapter

1, and Naomi says, hey, you should go back to

her two daughter -in -laws. You should go back

to Moab. Because there's no chance I'm going

to have another kid for you to marry. And even

if I did right now, what, are you going to wait

for him to grow up? Like, no. Go back to where

there's a chance for you in Moab. Because if

you come to Israel, You're Moabite women and

widows. There's no hope for you here. Orpah argues

for a while and says, no, no, no. But she goes

back. But Ruth, Ruth says, no. I choose God.

I choose the God of Israel. I choose your God.

He will be my God. Your people will be my people.

So Ruth doesn't just follow Naomi because Naomi

was this fantastic mother -in -law. Seems like

maybe there was something there, right? But Ruth

chooses God. She leaves her homeland and comes

to God's promised land of Israel for Israel with

Naomi as a foreigner. Not just a foreigner, but

actually a foreigner that the people of Israel

particularly didn't like. And she seeks God.

And she's learning, or she's already been learning,

about his words and his laws. And we're going

to see that because she knows what to do at the

start of chapter two. So we have this really

kind of outlined sketch. There's a tiny bit of

detail in these pictures, these portraits of

Ruth and Naomi. And right when we get into chapter

two, the author introduces us to our next character,

Boaz. So Ruth chapter two, verse one. It says,

now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side.

He was a prominent man of noble character from

a limalex family. His name was Boaz. Now, I find

this interesting because the author tells us

about Boaz, but Ruth and Naomi don't really know

about him yet. And so the author is doing this

intentionally, I believe, but... Let's see what's

the rough sketch we get from just this one, this

first verse about this guy Boaz. He was a prominent

man of noble character. So the Hebrew word there,

Gebor Chael, actually meant like wealthy, well

thought of. He was a man of standing. So this

guy is pretty well off. He's a relative of Elimelech,

which if... We read this, we're like, oh yeah,

cool, fantastic. If you were an Israelite that

read this, you're reading this, you're like,

oh, he could be a redeemer. We don't get that,

right, in our culture, but the Israelites reading

this, when they would work through it, are like,

oh man, that author just slipped up big time

and told us a big detail. But Ruth and Naomi

don't know about this. We also see the implication

that Boaz stayed in Israel during the same famine

where Elimelech and his family chose to leave.

Boaz said, you know what? I'm going to trust

God, even in the face of the famine, and I'm

going to stay here. And then it's also implied

that the Lord blessed him. we see this rough

sketch, but I believe the author brings this

picture of Boaz up the very start of the chapter

before we get into any other part of the story,

because he could have just as easily introduced

him later. I think it's intentional. See, before

Ruth does anything, before Naomi has any hope,

before any conversation even happens, Boaz exists.

God's covenant kindness, his chesed, we introduced

that word last week. It's this word that we can't

really quite translate into English, but it's

this covenantal loving kindness is already positioned.

And so we get to see that before Ruth and Naomi

realize it. And the readers in Israel who would

have read this would have said, there is a chance.

So as we continue, we're going to fill out a

little bit more on our paintings. Because as

this narrative unfolds, the author does such

an amazing job of layering in this detail. So

verses 2 and 3, Ruth chapter 2, verses 2 and

Ruth 2:2

3. Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, will you let

me go into the fields and gather fallen grain

behind someone with whom I may find favor? Naomi

answered her, go ahead, my daughter. So Ruth

left and entered the field to gather grain behind

the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion

of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from

Elimelech's family. So what's interesting here,

right off the bat, we get a little reminder about

Ruth. And we're going to see this reminder time

and time and time again in these first chapters.

She is a Moabite. Which means she's not of God's

people, but what's really interesting here is

she knows about this practice of gleaning. And

if we read that and don't have any context, we

say, okay, whatever. Well, this was actually

a law that God had set for his people in Israel,

where he told those who had land, who were farmers,

who had people who were farming for them, hey,

you know what? When you go out and you harvest,

don't take everything. Leave the corners of your

fields. And if you drop things in the field,

don't pick them back up. And if you happen to

forget an entire sheaf of wheat out there, you

can't go back for it because I will give that

to the sojourners, the foreigners, to the fatherless,

the orphans, and to the widows. And this was

something that God told his people to do in the

land. And if you are interested about more, you

can see a little bit about that in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 24:19

chapter 24, verse 19. But what's really interesting

is Ruth knows this. She's not an Israelite, so

either she has been dedicating herself to learning

God's laws, or maybe Naomi told her, or she heard

about it. Whatever it is, Ruth says, you know

what? Can I do this? And she takes a step in

act of obedience. See, she trusts the law that

God put forward for the sojourner, the fatherless,

and the widow, and that it would provide, and

that she would need to walk in faith. She would

need to glean in faith, and so she goes out.

And then it's really interesting because it says

she happened to be in the portion of the field

that belongs to Boaz, who happened to be from

a Limelech's family. So, I kind of laughed as

I read this. I just feel like the author's like,

and it just so happened, wink, wink, that she

ended up in this field. It just happened. That's

how the narrator says it. But there's no such

thing as just happened with God. Last week, we

talked about God's providence. And when we unpacked

God's providence, we said it's his sovereignty

and his kindness, his loving kindness. See, the

narrator says it just happened, but really it's

the providence of God. It's not coincidence.

Providence. I came across an interesting definition

of the providence of God, which was natural means

in a natural world. accomplishing God's sovereign

purposes. See, Ruth chooses to walk in ordinary

obedience. She knew about this law for provision,

and she says, I'm going to do that. I'm going

to step out actively, faithfully, and I'm going

to do that. But then God directs the field that

she lands in. Pretty cool. So this painting of

Ruth, we're adding in these splashes of color

of a woman who, though she's a foreigner, she's

saying, I want to know more about God. And I

want to step out and allow him to provide for

me. And so she goes and she gleans. Now, let's

set aside the painting of Ruth for a minute.

Let's pick up the picture and painting of Boaz.

So, Verse 4 says this. Later, when Boaz arrived

from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, The

Lord be with you. The Lord bless you, they replied.

So, one verse. I'm going to pause there. It's

so interesting to me that the very first words

that are recorded that Boaz says are about the

Lord. The Lord be with you. Now, remember the

time period we're in here. This is the time of

the judges where there's this constant cycle

of the people of Israel living in sin. God submitting

them over to the judgment. The people cry back

out to the Lord. The Lord sends someone to rescue

them. He sends a judge. The people say, we will

follow the Lord. And then the next generation,

they're like, eh, not really. And it was this

constant cycle. We don't know exactly whether

the book of Ruth is set in one of the times when

they may have been kind of back walking with

the Lord. There's some indication, if you track

back genealogies, that this probably was a time

when they weren't. But we don't know that for

sure. But it's interesting to me. That what we

learn about, what the author intentionally tells

us about Boaz, is the first thing out of his

mouth is about the Lord. He's speaking a covenant

blessing over the people in his field. In the

time when everyone did what was right in his

own eyes, violence, idolatry, moral chaos, but

here, a man whose first words in the narrative

are covenant blessing. The response of his servants,

the Lord bless you. Now, yes, that was kind of

a common phrase and greeting that would be used

back and forth. But what I see is a man whose

mind was set on the Lord and whose servants also

call on the name of the Lord because of his example.

Now, contrast that with Elimelech. who chose

to go to Moab for provision. And now we have

this man, Boaz, who chose to stay in Israel for

his provision. Now, as we continue, we're going

to look at verses 5 through 9. So Ruth chapter

Ruth 2:5–9

2, verses 5 through 9. Boaz asked his servant

who was in charge of the harvesters, whose young

woman is this? The servant answered, she is the

young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from

the territory of Moab. She asked, will you let

me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind

the harvesters? She came and has been on her

feet since early morning, except that she rested

a little in the shelter. And then Boaz said to

Ruth, listen, my daughter, don't go and gather

grain in any... And don't leave this one, but

stay here close to my female servants. See which

field they are harvesting and follow them. Haven't

I ordered the young men not to touch you? When

you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the

young men have filled. Boaz notices Ruth. He

notices someone new in his field, and he goes

and he talks, but... But through this, I see

that Boaz trusted God rather than giving into

the temptation of harvesting his field entirely.

Because you know why? There was something to

glean in his field. Ruth comes and his was a

field that she could glean in. It wasn't picked

bare. In this time with everybody doing what

was right in their own eyes. pretty likely that

there were a lot of fields where the people didn't

obey God's law of leaving something to glean.

But Ruth notices, hey, there's a field I can

glean in, and she goes. So we see that Boaz is

faithful in that he trusts God more than his

own work and plans, where this wasn't commonly

the norm in this season. So Boaz then recognizes

this foreigner, And without any benefit for himself,

but for a family connection and duty, he provides

protection. So when he sees her, I've heard this

read and taught like, oh, it was this beautiful

romantic scene. It was sunset and the barley

fields were rustling. And Boaz comes out and

he looks and he sees this beautiful woman. And

he says, I need to know who she is. No. Actually,

no. Gleaning was not glamorous work. Okay? This

is not this like little romantic book meet cute

that's going on. Boaz is actually in tune enough.

with the people who work under him, that he notices,

hey, who's that really dusty, sweaty, like bent

over in the dirt foreigner gleaning over there?

He cares about who's in his field. So this isn't

this. Scripture actually tells us nothing about

what Ruth looked like, about her beauty. You

know, you can take that for what it is, but I

don't see any indication that it's this beautiful

romantic scene. We just see a man who's faithful,

and he goes to the person who's in charge of

all the servants, and he's like, hey, what's

going on? New person over there. And what's really

interesting is that Boaz sees and notices her

faithfulness. Not only does Boaz notice that,

but also the person who was in charge of the

people harvesting. Ruth made some form of impact

on him. He mentions one of the first things is,

hey, well, you know, first he's like, by the

way, that's that Moabite woman. But she actually

came and asked me if she could glean here. We'll

talk about why that's interesting in a minute.

But Ruth is there, and Boaz, without... really

any benefit to himself. He happens to know that,

yes, this is the widow who came back with Naomi.

So there was some cultural level of wanting to

try to make sure he could help and provide as

a part of Elimelech's family. But he offers protection.

He also tells her to drink from the water jars

that the men filled. Culturally, a Moabite woman

drinking from the same jars as Israelite workers

would actually have raised a couple of eyebrows,

could have potentially actually made things unclean.

But what's interesting is Boaz treats her not

as an outsider to be managed, but as somebody

to be welcomed near. So we're going to set aside

that portrait of Boaz for a minute, this guy

who notices who's in his field, who is faithful.

who cares about this woman, not because she's

some really attractive woman in his field, but

because he sees faithfulness. Let's set aside

that picture of Boaz for a minute, and let's

fill in a little bit more on this picture of

Ruth. Not the, like, sweaty, dirty, unkempt,

dusty one that I just painted, the one we've

been talking about before about her character.

So, just to step back to verse 6 and 7 again,

I think it's really interesting that the servant

answered, she's the young Moabite woman who returned

with Naomi from the territory of Moab. She asked,

will you let me gather fallen grain among the

bundles behind the harvesters? She came and has

been on her feet since early morning, except

that she rested a little in the shelter. I mentioned

we're going to come back to this because First,

he does call attention that Ruth's a Moabite

woman. So last week, Caleb mentioned a little

bit about the Moab being on the short list for

the people of Israel that they're not supposed

to really have any association with. See, Moab,

the country of Moab, was the descendants of an

incestual relationship between Lot and one of

his daughters. And a little more color, because

that's already like, oof. That's not so great.

A little more color. In Numbers chapter 25, the

Numbers 25 · chapter mention

Moabite women actually led Israel into sexual

immorality and idolatry, enticed them into it.

And as a result, 24 ,000 Israelites were struck

dead. by a plague from the Lord, and God told

Moses to go and systematically kill the leaders

of the people of Israel who were either actively

participating or passively standing by to let

this happen. That is the people that Ruth comes

from. They were not supposed to be in the assembly

of the Lord all the way to the 10th generation,

which didn't just mean 10 generations and then,

yep, Moab's good. No, that was a way of saying

like, no, no Moab anyway. But Ruth is different.

So he's saying, it's that Moabite woman, but

then the servant recounts her words and what

was probably a bit of surprise. See, under God's

law, Ruth actually legally had the right to come

glean in the field. She didn't need to ask. Under

God's law, her legal right was to come, to follow

along, to be able to pick up what was dropped

and left as a way of provision. But first she

comes and she asks permission. She seeks to honor

God and her life is an example. Her hard work's

noticed. The servant is like, yeah, she's been

gleaning since early morning. She's taken like

one little break, but she's still at it. Her

loyalty, her work ethic, and her trust in the

provision of God through his law is visible.

She chooses God's way. So you guys, it was rough

for her as a Moabite widow. Naomi tried to convince

her, hey, go back. It's not going to be super

nice here. Ruth came and she could have sought

provision in other ways. She could have pursued

survival through manipulation or seduction. Instead,

she chooses to trust the Lord and she chooses

to glean, which was real hard work for basically

just enough wages in food to try and extend your

life a little further out. Gleaning was not this

abundance. Typically, if you were gleaning, you

maybe might get enough to carry you food -wise

to like the next day, maybe one more as a general

rule. And this is what Ruth chooses to do because

she chooses to trust the Lord. And then in verse

10, It tells us, she fell face down, bowed to

the ground, and said to him, why have I found

favor with you so that you notice me, although

I am a foreigner? She honors Boaz. That fell

face down, it's not just because she was like,

oh, she was like actually giving honor. She's

saying, what is going on? Another way of translating

favor there is acceptance. Why have I found acceptance?

She knows who she is. She knows she's a Moabite

widow. Why have I found acceptance that you notice

me even though I'm a foreigner? Keep in mind

at this point, Ruth doesn't know that Boaz is

a relative. She doesn't actually, from all indication

from Scripture, know that this is part of a limilex

family. She just faithfully set her head, went

out to glean, and she just happened. to be in

Boaz's field because of God's providence. So

she doesn't know Boaz is a family redeemer. She

just sees that there's something different, something

honorable. And then verses 11 through 13, we're

still painting this picture of Ruth. Boaz answered

her, everything you have done for your mother

-in -law since your husband's death has been

fully reported to me. how you left your father

and mother in your native land, how you came

to a people you didn't previously know. May the

Lord reward you for what you have done, and may

you receive a full reward from the Lord God of

Israel under whose wings you have come for refuge.

My Lord, she said, I have found favor with you.

you have comforted and encouraged your servant,

although I am not like one of your female servants.

See, what I find so interesting as we paint this

picture of Ruth is people know what she's done.

She is living a life that it is an example to

the others around her. And one that for some

of the Israelites was probably a little bit of

like a kick in the pants. in this season, or

maybe it wasn't, maybe they just didn't care.

But here's this Moabite woman who is choosing

to follow and to honor God. And regardless of

what the people thought, they noticed. They're

like, yeah, that's the lady who's been taking

care of Naomi. Bitter Naomi? Yeah, like she's

still sticking with her and helping. And so people

noticed. And Boaz then speaks blessing over Ruth.

That piece where it says, under God's wings,

there's a bit of a parallel, and I want to read

Matthew chapter 23, verse 37. And this is when

Matthew 23:37

Jesus is lamenting over Jerusalem, when the religious

hypocrites are being denounced. This is right

before the destruction of the temple is predicted.

So Matthew chapter 23 verse 37, Jesus says, Jerusalem,

Matthew 23:37

Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones

those who are sent to her. How often I wanted

to gather your children together as a hen gathers

her chicks under her wings, but you were not

willing. This imagery of gathering someone under

their wings. Boaz, back in Ruth chapter 2, when

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

he's speaking this blessing, he says, may you

receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel

under whose wings you have come for refuge. See,

the significance of under his wings, that could

also actually be translated to under the corner

of his robe. But regardless of whether it's a

wing or your clothing, it requires first a decision

to be close to God, and then second, to make

that the place that you find hope and rest, to

make that where you abide. And Boaz is saying,

you have made God your resting place. You have

come under his wings and you've come there for

refuge. Jesus was lamenting for his people that

they have not done that. And what's so cool is

Ruth has chosen that here. So we're going to

continue in our text at verse 14, but we're going

to pick up both pictures of Ruth and of Boaz

for a couple of minutes. And we're going to be

layering in more color here. So Ruth chapter

Ruth 2:14–18

2, verses 14 through 18. At mealtime, Boaz told

her, come over here and have some bread and dip

it in the vinegar sauce. So she sat beside the

harvesters and he offered her roasted grain.

She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered

his young men, let her even gather grain among

the bundles and don't humiliate her. Pull out

some stalks from the bundles for her and leave

them for her to gather. Don't rebuke her. So

Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening.

She beat out what she had gathered. It was about

26 quarts of barley. She picked up the grain

and went into town where her mother -in -law

saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what

she had left over from her meal and gave it to

her. So we're going to pick up both these portraits

of Ruth and of Boaz. We see here that Boaz is

seeing this picture of Ruth a little bit. Her

character, her love for Naomi, her active obedience

of the Lord. And so he offers protection and

provision. He invites her to the table. He feeds

her until she is satisfied and allows her to

take from his table for another. And then he

goes above and beyond God's law. in the gleaning

and is saying to his people, actually, like,

leave some for her. I've invited her among the

sheaves. The people were supposed to come behind

that and glean what was dropped. And he's saying,

like, hey, anything that's there, let her in

and don't make fun of her. Boaz is offering protection

and provision. And for her to come and eat at

his table until she was satisfied, I found a

really interesting parallel because at the end

of chapter one, Naomi says, I'm empty. In the

middle of chapter two, Ruth is leaving full and

satisfied. But I saw, as I was thinking through

this, such a beautiful parallel in the Lord's

table. See, God provided his son, Jesus Christ,

for us. His body was broken for us. His blood

was shed for us. We were provided for and brought

under his wing. And something that I was convicted

about as I thought through this was, do I experience

satisfaction and fullness in the presence of

the Lord when I come to his table? Ruth here

was with the Lord of the field. and remained

at his table and ate until she was satisfied.

Note, Scripture doesn't tell us how long that

was. She was working hard. My six -year -old

can put down a lot of food. I can't imagine what

a really, really hungry person who had not had

a lot of food for a long time, how long it took

to be satisfied. But regardless, she remains

at the Lord of the Fields table in his presence

until she's satisfied. And the question I asked

myself was, do I remain with the Lord? Do I eat

of what he provides until I'm full? Or do I rush

off after a bite of devotions and just pursue

my own way? That's what I was convicted about

this week, guys. But back to our text. Boaz commands

his men in verses 15 to 16 to go above and beyond

compliance with the law. He says, pull out some

of the stock from the bundle and leave them for

her to gather. Again, not just compliance, but

this chesed, this loving kindness. He goes beyond

the minimum without really any benefit to him.

Guys, there's nothing that indicates that he

did this with strings attached. He wasn't hoping

to win her to his bed with roasted grain and

bread dipped in vinegar. He does this because

he honors God. And then Ruth brings back... And

we see 26 quarts here. This was probably somewhere

in the ballpark of 30 to 50 pounds of already

threshed, ready -to -go barley from a day's gleaning.

That was unheard of. And she also brings back

food that's already cooked that she saved for

Naomi. Yeah, that's right. Ruth brought back

a doggy bag from Boaz's table for Naomi. Also,

little aside, Naomi, super bitter, you know.

I don't know if I would have the same character

as Ruth for like a super bitter mother -in -law

that would be like, oh yeah, I'm going to save

some of these leftovers of food. I'm so hungry.

I ate until I was satisfied. I'm going to remember

to bring it back to her. But Ruth thinks about

that. Ruth cared and loved for Naomi even as

another provided for her. She thought of Naomi.

What's more, Ruth did so for that bitter woman.

Now, we're going to set down those pictures of

Ruth. And of Boaz, we haven't picked up this

picture of Naomi all the way since the beginning

of the story when we talked about what was loosely

sketched there. Verses 19 through 23. Ruth chapter

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

2, 19. Her mother -in -law said to her, where

did you gather the barley today and where did

you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed

you. Ruth told her mother -in -law. whom she

had worked with, and said, The name of the man

I worked with today was Boaz. Then Naomi said

to her daughter -in -law, May the Lord bless

him, because he has not abandoned his kindness

to the living or the dead. Naomi continued, The

man is a close relative. He is one of our family

redeemers. Ruth the Moabitess said, he also told

me to stay with my young men until they have

finished all of my harvest. So Naomi told her

daughter -in -law, Ruth, my daughter, it is good

for you to work with his female servants so that

nothing will happen to you in another field.

Ruth stayed close to Boaz's female servants and

gathered grain until the barley and the wheat

harvest were finished and she lived with her

mother -in -law. Guys, this is Naomi. Naomi who

believed in God but was struggling. Naomi who

was bitter. Who recognized her bitter and her

rebellious heart. She owned it. Who blamed the

Lord for oppressing and afflicting her. And she

sees God's amazing provision. A month's worth

of food in a single day of gleaning. The woman

who is bitter sees God's providential provision.

And before she knows anything else, before she

knows any redemption option, before she knows

where Ruth got this, she says, may the Lord bless

the man who noticed you. That word noticed in

Hebrew carries a bit more. Doesn't just mean

like looked up and happened to see you. That

word means who discerned, recognized, and paid

regard to. Naomi says, the man who noticed that

which God is doing in you. Naomi tells her, this

could only be a work of the Lord. May the Lord

bless this man. And then Ruth tells her, Naomi's

like, who was it? Ruth goes, oh yeah, this old

dude Boaz. Okay, she doesn't say that, but we'll

learn more about Boaz later that might make that

make a little more sense. But Naomi, bitter Mara,

rebellious Mara, says, may the Lord bless him

because he is not forgotten. Chesed is actually

the way that translates. His covenant loving

kindness. Naomi, who said, the Lord has afflicted

and oppressed me, now recognizes God has not

abandoned his covenant love. Her theology is

being reformed by God's providence. Where do

you feel this text most personally right now?

Are you Naomi, believing but bitter? Are you

Ruth, walking in obedience but not yet seeing

the outcome? Are you trying to be Boaz, be faithful

in the midst of darkness? Or are you simply trying

to trust God's providence in something that you

cannot yet see? Verse 22. It says, so Naomi said

to her daughter -in -law Ruth, my daughter, it

is good for you to work with his female servants

so that nothing will happen to you in another

field. First glance, this might just seem like

Naomi is saying, you know, hey, there's some

food, some protection. You should stay with that.

But really, the wisdom that Naomi is imparting

to Ruth is stay close. To the Lord. Stay in the

place where he has providentially provided for

you. Don't look for provision in other places.

Stay where the Lord is working. Don't be tempted

to look for your provision in other fields based

off your own powers of observation. A lesson

she learned firsthand from that exact thing with...

Her family's move from Israel to Moab. She says,

stay there. Stay near your Redeemer. Do not wander.

Guys, as we finish chapter two, that's it. That's

the end of where chapter two brings us. Redemption

hasn't happened yet, but we see this next whisper

of hope, slightly more than a whisper, that there

may be something coming. See, redemption hasn't

happened yet, but it's unfolding. Nothing else

really happens apart from Ruth continues faithfully

in obedience. And she goes and she continues

to glean. But there's more to come. In chapter

3. So I guess you need to come back next week

for that. So, as we close, I want to revisit

those portraits we talked about at the beginning.

See, we're a bit beyond these rough, sketched

outlines now. There's a little bit of color.

There's some more detail. In Naomi, we see a

life -worn face. Lines from carrying the weight

of bitterness of a hard life. some sunkenness

from hunger, but with eyes that though they have

seen a hard life still have a softness and light

in them because they see what God is doing and

that he does remain faithful even in the face

of our bitterness. In the portrait of Ruth, we

see just the glimpse of hardship and hunger,

the tint of color from hard work in the sun,

but with vibrancy. and assurance that comes from

her trust in the Lord. The beginning of upturned

lips in knowing and a knowing smile of God's

blessed providence and determination to remain

close to him. In Boaz, we see the joyful face

and laugh lines of a man who's lived many years,

but through all those years, whose mind is set

on the Lord. His eyes twinkle with compassion.

and with kindness. Guys, the real main character

here, the one sovereignly working through every

single scene, is God. See, God sovereignly works

through ordinary faithfulness to accomplish his

covenant kindness. There is a redeemer introduced

in the story of Ruth. But there's an even greater

redeemer introduced in the story of God. And

that's Jesus Christ. See, Boaz is not Jesus,

but he anticipates. Boaz provides grain. Jesus

provides himself. Boaz protects temporarily.

Jesus redeems eternally. Ruth chapter 2 ends

Ruth 2 · chapter mention

with provision. Not with redemption. Not with

marriage. We have hope. but we don't have completion.

But guys, we live where redemption is complete.

We do not strive toward covenant kindness. In

Christ Jesus, we live from it. His covenant sovereign

kindness for us. So, which portrait do you see

yourself in? Bitter, wishing for relief, wondering

why the Lord has afflicted and oppressed you?

Obedient, but uncertain? Yearning for provision

and favor? Do you long to be faithful for your

mind to be set on the Lord? In all of that, no

matter where you are, come under the wings of

Jesus. Come to his table, eat until you are satisfied

because his covenant kindness has not failed.

Guys, we're going to move towards a time of response.

We're going to respond in singing, respond in

remembering the Lord's table through communion,

and we're going to respond in giving. I'd like

to invite the music team up. And on the response

tables in the back, those tables with the black

tablecloths, You'll see there's some wooden offering

boxes. And if you say, hey, Radiant is my church,

we respond by giving our gifts and offerings

in active obedience, trusting that the Lord will

provide for us as we give. And don't hold so

tightly onto our things, to the corners of our

fields, but we trust in his provision and blessings.

We're going to respond in the singing of three

songs of praise to the Lord. And as we do that,

at any point during that time, if you know the

Lord as your savior, as your redeemer, take your

family, go with your GC, walk up with some other

brothers and sisters in Christ, and together

take the bread, which represents his body that

was broken for us. Take the juice that represents

his blood that was shed for us. Guys, Jesus is

our redeemer. Ask. for fullness in him as you

remember the fullness of work that he has done

for us. And if you don't know the Lord as your

redeemer, don't come to the table yet. First,

meet him. He invites you to come under his wings,

to come close to him, to allow him to be your

protection, to be your savior. He sent his only

son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross from your

sins, to be raised for dead. and to intercede

for you, the right hand of God. Let's pray. Lord,

you are good. Thank you for showing us how you

work. Lord, thank you for your providence, your

sovereignty, your kindness. Lord, thank you that

we were able to see examples of that in Ruth.

Lord, I pray that you would help us to see examples

of that throughout this week. Lord, for those

who are hurting, for those who are bitter, I

pray that you would give them the ability to

trust in you in a way that maybe they've been

struggling with. That, Lord, you would bring

people across their paths that would point them

to you. And that, Lord, they would see you work

in amazing ways in their hearts and lives. Lord,

for those who desire to remain faithful, to be

a light in the midst of darkness, to be radiant

reflections of you, I pray for boldness. Lord,

thank you that you do work sovereignly, that

you're loving, kindness is good. We thank you.

We praise you. We pray this all in Jesus' name.