February 10, 2024

If you were poor in biblical days, you could go into the fields after the harvest and pick what the harvesters had left. Ruth had some idea where Naomi’s husband, Elimelech’s wealthy relative, Boaz, had a field. So she went out to find his field and glean after the harvesters. Side note: Boaz was the son of Salmon, the son of Rahab, a great-grandmother of Jesus, which also made Boaz a relative of Jesus. Knowing this helps you see how the Bible is carefully knit together, showing that it all leads to Jesus. 

When Boaz came to the field from Bethlehem, he saw her and enquired about who she was. When he found out that she was the daughter-in-law of Elimelech and Naomi, he told his servants to treat her well, let her pick from some of the rows they hadn’t harvested, and leave some behind in the rows they were harvesting. He told her not to glean in any other field and, when she was thirsty, to drink from what his servants had drawn and to sit down and eat with them when it was time. Boaz is pictured in the likeness of Jesus, making sure even the poorest of the poor are taken care of. The timeline in my mind from reading this scripture in the past was relatively quick; however, she first gleaned behind the harvesters in the barley fields, and then on into the wheat harvest, so there was plenty of time for her to get to know Boaz. 

Like Ruth and Naomi, we may go through some hard times, even losing loved ones, but God never plans for us to stay sorrowful and sets us on the path that will eventually lead to our redemption.

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Ruth 2:11-12