Life Lessons from the Book of RUTH

Ruth 2:15-16

And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

In that day the ripened standing grain was cut with hand sickles, usually by the young men. The cut grain was then bound into sheaves, usually by the young women, ready for carrying to the threshing floor.

“Handfuls of purpose” – Boaz could just have given her some grain, but there was a real kindness in this. It is wise, when we help the needy, if we can give without seeming to. It helps to keep a person’s self-respect if they can feel that they have earned what they receive. This is something that our welfare society seems to have forgotten today.

Ruth 2:17-18

So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.

An ephah was about 3/5 bushel (27-29 pounds), an unusually large amount for one day’s gleaning. “That she had reserved” – her doggy bag of leftover lunch that she had saved to bring home to Naomi. “Beat out” – a small amount of barley could be threshed with a heavy stick of wood.

Ruth 2:19

And her mother-in-law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou? Blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother-in-law with whom she wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought today is Boaz.

“Wrought” – that is, “worked.” “Where did you get all that grain?! Someone had to have favored you in some way. You couldn’t get that just by ordinary gleaning!”

Ruth 2:20

And Naomi said unto her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin to us, one of our next kinsmen.

Naomi really got excited when she heard the name of Boaz! This man is a close relative. “One of our next kinsmen” – that is, one of our Kinsmen Redeemers (NIV).

In Bible days, the kinsman redeemer was responsible for protecting the interests of needy members of the extended family. This included:

1. Providing an heir for a brother who had died (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
2. Redeeming land that a poor relative had sold outside the family (Leviticus 25:25-28)
3. Redeeming a relative who had been sold into slavery (Leviticus 25:47-49)
4. Avenging the killing of a relative (Numbers 35:19-21). “Kinsman-redeemer” and “avenger” are translations of the same Hebrews word, ga’al meaning “redeem,” that is, “to buy back,” “redeemer,” the “one who buys back.” This word is used everywhere in Ruth except 2:1. In 2:20, the Hebrew for “near of kin” is quorob basa – “near flesh.” In 2:1, it is yapa, “to know” (as a relative).

As we look at the book of Ruth and see first the emptying and then the filling of Naomi and how God used Boaz to accomplish his redemptive purposes in the lives of Ruth the Gentile and Naomi the Jewess, we see a picture of how God used His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, our kinsman-redeemer, to bring redemption to us. In His birth, He became our kinsman. In His death and resurrection He became our Redeemer.

Notice the change in Naomi from chapter 1, verses 20 and 21. There is excitement and hope, and praise and thanksgiving to God. She recognized God’s hand in what had happened. This verse marks the turning point in the story.

Dear God, Thank You so much for Jesus, my Kinsman Redeemer! How amazing it is, that You planned for my redemption from before time began, and that You stuck with Your plan so that I could be reconciled to You. Jesus, I receive You as my Kinsman Redeemer. And I am forever grateful! Amen.