1

The Kindness of God

Ruth 2:1-23

Picture yourself in Ruth?s sandals. Here you are a Moabite, worse yet a Moabite woman, worse yet a Moabite woman who is a widow, worse yet you are now all those things living in a land who was supposed to consider the Moabites sworn enemies!

 

You have no standing, no support system, no friends, no hope, and no future. Why should you expect anything? Why not just lay down and die? But here in this beautiful love story of God, the Lord shows that he loves the unlovable, cares for the outcast, shows kindness to the undeserving, and brings salvation to the hopeless.

 

1 ? 3

 

Boaz was from the clan of Elimelech, so he was a relative. It?ll turn out that he is not the closest relative to Naomi, but this is important as we talk about what Boaz can do for Ruth.

 

Gleaning was a part of God?s Law (Leviticus 19:9-10, 23:22, Deut 24:19-21). Even though it was the law, land owners didn?t take too kindly to the idea and so gleaning could often become a long process for very little gain. As we humans search for that which will supply what we need, we can go from field to field ? religion to religion, pleasure, intellect, money, beauty, philosophy ? all trying to find satisfaction. But the gleanings are very little in those fields. Its only when we come to God?s field that we find true riches.

 

Ruth just happens, by ?accident? onto Boaz?s field. There is no accident, of course, to when you encounter the Savior. It might be while riding down the road when you radio happens to ?glitch? onto a Christian station, or you happen to be talking to a friend when you find out they are a believer.

 

4 ? 7

 

Notice the greeting Boaz gives?this shows us his character right off the bat. Instead of ?get to work you lazy bums,? he is not only kind but also very transparent as a lover or God: ?the Lord be with you.? I think that?s a great word for all us bosses out there! We think that because we are in charge we need to be gruff in order to get the work done and not appear soft. Boaz is just one example of a man who can represent the god given character of kindness while still doing well.

 

Colossians 4:1 Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

 

Philippians 4:5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. NIV

Can you mirror the character of Christ and not be a wimp or a Bible-thumper? Yes. Live His character in you?every day in every situation. You don?t have to quote Bible verses or preach at people. Remember the Golden Rule: treat others as you want to be treated. Did you like when your boss was unduly harsh with you?

 

So Boaz is a kind man. I think that one of the things that keeps us from the Lord is the perception that he is mean and judgmental. We have this image in our minds of the man in the long white beard (what age is God, by the way?) with his finger outstretched ready to strike us down with heavenly lightning.

 

Don?t misunderstand, God is pure and nothing can exist in His presence that is not pure and anything that is not like Him will be wiped away. Don?t try to say ?who is God to tell us what is pure??

 

Isaiah 45:9-10 \"Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, \'What are you making?\' or \'Your work has no handles\'? 10 Woe to him who says to a father, \'What are you begetting?\' or to a woman, \'With what are you in labor?\'\"

 

But in reality God is love. That love is what drives Him to destroy anything that is not pure because evil is the opposite of love. Love builds, evil destroys. God loves us. He loves us so much that He personally gave up that which was most precious to Him and volunteered to take the judgment for our evil on Himself so that we could be with Him forever.

 

So as Boaz asks about Ruth he learns something about her character. He must have heard about the two women who had returned from Moab but had not met them. He learns that she is courteous and a hard worker.

 

8 ? 13

 

Doesn?t this sound a lot like us coming before the Lord? We are foreigners. We have left that which held us captive (our sin) and have put all our trust in this new God called Yahweh. He in turn wraps His wings around us like a protective bird of its young. The Lord answers to us and says ?come glean in my field only, come drink from my well, you will be protected and have come under My wing?. How grateful to the Lord are we for all He has done and all He will do for us?

 

14 ? 16

 

Something beyond just kindness is happening here. Now Ruth is invited for a time of more intimate fellowship with Boaz. To have a meal with someone in that culture meant you had a relationship with them. God not only provides for, saves and protects us, but invites us to draw close to Him in close fellowship.

 

She also received special permission to not only glean but actually harvest. This is far more than the Law required and shows he has a real interest in her well being. God doesn?t give us the leftovers either but has his eye on us and wants to give us from the ?riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.? (Phil 4:19)

 

17 ? 23

 

Ruth got between 29 to 50 pounds of grain (v 17). This is a sign of how hard Ruth worked and how generous Boaz was. It makes me wonder: how hard working are we to glean wisdom from the Lord? Here He lays out this incredible field of riches like Boaz and leaves grains of truth for us to pick up. But for our part, we need to bend over and receive that wisdom. A lazy gleaner can come home from a field of bounty with very little to show for it.

 

Here the concept of the redeemer is introduced. Also known as the ?kinsman-redeemer?, the person had special rights and responsibilities:

 

1. Avenge the death of a murdered relative (Num 35:19)

2. Marry the childless widow of a deceased brother (Deut 25:5-10)

3. Buy back family land that had been sold (Lev 25:25)

4. Buy a family member who had been sold as a slave (Lev 25:47-49)

5. Look after needy and helpless family members (Lev 25:35)

 

We?ll see the kinsman-redeemer play out in the coming chapters and talk about how the Lord Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer who purchases us back from our bondage to Satan and takes us into His family.

 

Naomi wisely counsels Ruth to stick with Boaz, which she does through the harvest of the wheat and barley, which would have ended in early June.

 

Lessons

 

1. We need to recognize that there is a God out there who has riches and love in store for us.

 

We are so dazzled by the bangles of the world that when God doesn?t reward us with worldly riches we think He doesn?t love us. But God?s riches are in the ?glory? of Jesus Christ?His character, His love. It?s worth far more and lasts longer.

 

1. Let your love for the Lord be what people find when they encounter you and kindness be the thing they remember about you.

 

1. Don?t be demanding of God but grateful for what He has done

 

1. Be a diligent worker to glean what the Lord has for you