Boaz invites Ruth to lunch
September 18, 2019
Commentary
Boaz invited Ruth to eat lunch with him and his workers (v. 14). They would often tie a few stalks of grain together and roast it over a blazing fire. Ruth had all she wanted to eat and still had food left over. Her being able to eat with Boaz and the reapers was a mark of special favor. After the meal Ruth returned to the field to glean. The law gave the gleaners the right to go over the field after the reapers had taken all they wanted. However, Boaz instructed his reapers to drop some grain along the way for her (v. 15). At the end of the day, she had about three fourths of a bushel (vv. 16-17).
She took what she had gleaned and went to where Naomi was staying (v. 18). It also appears that Boaz had sent along a quantity of food so that Ruth was able to present this to Naomi. Naomi realized that some special favor had been shown to Ruth and she looked for the source (v. 19). When Ruth shared that Boaz was responsible for this special favor Naomi broke out in praise to God (v. 20). She then told Ruth that Boaz was a relative and a next of kin. She then advised Ruth to stay with Boaz’s maidens and glean to the end of the harvest (vv. 21-23). Ruth continued to live with Naomi and worked in the fields until the barley and wheat was all harvested.
Application
I need to look for any widows whom I could help by showing special favors to them? This is something that is greatly neglected by many families and churches today (1 Tim 5:16).
Ruth 2:14– 23 (NET)
14 Later during the mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have some food! Dip your bread in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the harvesters. Then he handed her some roasted grain. She ate until she was full and saved the rest. 15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz told his male servants, “Let her gather grain even among the bundles. Don’t chase her off! 16 Make sure you pull out ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!” 17 So she gathered grain in the field until evening. When she threshed what she had gathered, it came to about thirty pounds of barley.
18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much grain she had gathered. Then Ruth gave her the roasted grain she had saved from mealtime. 19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be rewarded!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. She said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be rewarded by the Lord because he has shown loyalty to the living on behalf of the dead!” Then Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours; he is our guardian.” 21 Ruth the Moabite replied, “He even told me, ‘You may go along beside my servants until they have finished gathering all my harvest!’” 22 Naomi then said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you should go out to work with his female servants. That way you will not be harmed, which could happen in another field.” 23 So Ruth worked beside Boaz’s female servants, gathering grain until the end of the barley harvest as well as the wheat harvest. After that she stayed home with her mother-in-law.
Illustration: Howard Hughes All he wanted was more
At one time Howard Hughes was the richest man in the world. All he ever really wanted in life was more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood scene and soon became a film maker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid handsome sums to indulge his every sexual urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political favors so skillfully that two US presidents became his pawns. He was absolutely convinced that more would bring him true satisfaction. Unfortunately, history shows otherwise. He concluded his life emaciated; colorless; sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches long corkscrews; rotting, black teeth; tumors; innumerable needle marks from his drug addiction. Howard Hughes died believing the myth of more. He died a billionaire junkie, insane by all reasonable standards. (Bill Hybels in Leadership, Vol. X #3 Summer, 1989, p38).