Remember the Poor-7

We left Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz. God orchestrated the events so Ruth would find his fields, which were safe and hopefully bountiful for Ruth. This whole story reveals God’s plan for the poor.

Ruth 2:14  At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left. 

Boaz took special interest in Ruth due to his own kindness and the fact that Naomi was within his extended family.

Ruth 2:15  When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. 2:16  "Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her." 

Another kindness was his provision and protection. He wanted to make sure Ruth would have enough to provide for both herself and Naomi. He could have just given her wheat, already beat out and ready to use. But, Ruth had to work, just as the Lord commanded.

Ruth 2:17  So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 2:18  She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied. 

So after working in the fields all day, she now had to beat out the heads until she just had the wheat. This was a long hard day of work, not a day of waiting for someone to give them all they needed.

Ruth 2:19  Her mother-in-law then said to her, "Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed." So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, "The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz." 2:20  Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the LORD who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead." Again Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives." 

Naomi and Ruth both considered it kindness that Boaz allowed her to work all day in his fields. This was the first time Naomi knew what field Ruth had gleaned.

Ruth 2:21  Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "Furthermore, he said to me, 'You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.'" 2:22  Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field." 2:23  So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law. 

Naomi cautioned Ruth as she knew that not all fields were safe. The fact that Boaz enforced his field hands to be respectful of the maidens, speaks alot about him. So Ruth’s hard work seems to be providing for their immediate needs.They won’t starve, but Ruth has to work.

Our society, government, and churches don’t require this of those who come to them for money. They require nothing of the poor, who never learn the value of work or the reqrds of work. This is not loving.

More next Saturday

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