Vazquez Counseling

Today, our Blessed Holy Spirit led me to Ruth 2:

“There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.’

And she said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’

Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, ‘The LORD be with you!’ And they answered him, ‘The LORD bless you!’

Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, ‘Whose young woman is this?’

So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, ‘It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said, ‘“‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’”’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.’

Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.’

So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’

And Boaz answered and said to her, ‘It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.’

Then she said, ‘Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.’

Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, ‘Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, ‘Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.’

So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.

And her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.’

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, ‘The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.’

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!’ And Naomi said to her, ‘This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.’

Ruth the Moabitess said, ‘He also said to me, ‘“‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”’

And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, ‘It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.’ So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.” (New King James Version)

If you have never read the Book of Ruth, please take the time to read it. It’s only four chapters, so it won’t take you too long. In fact, why not do that right now? Go ahead, I’ll wait…

Ok, got it? It’s a beautiful story, isn’t it? The reason I chose to focus on Ruth 2 is because this chapter paints a beautiful picture of our LORD’s faithful provision. As human beings, we are often very short-sighted when it comes to God’s provision. We often don’t see God working in our lives. The beautiful thing is that our Blessed LORD often provides one of His followers to help us in our time of need. I know this has happened beautifully for me many times in my life. Our LORD has often provided my needs for me, even when I least expected it. This has become such a regular occurrence in my life, that I think I will write a book about it, not to brag about what God has given me, but to give Him all the glory for what He has provided.

The main thing that I want you to notice in this narrative is just how faithful to our LORD Boaz and Ruth were. Ruth had lost her Husband, and so had her Mother-in-Law. In that time, it was not good for women to be widows because their provision came from their Husbands. Women in that time tried very hard to have children because if the Husband passed away, then the children took care of them. Naomi, Ruth’s Mother-in-Law, and Ruth both had lost their Husbands, and they had no children. They were in a very precarious position in that culture. They could have very easily starved, which is the reason that Ruth worked so hard to glean in Boaz’s fields.

Boaz was from nobility, and he was a faithful man of God. If you read the whole story, you will see that he was never inappropriate with Ruth. There is no way to know this fully, but I imagine Ruth was young and very attractive, and Boaz was an older, wiser businessman. He could have very easily taken advantage of Ruth, but he didn’t. Why? He didn’t do it because he was a faithful follower of God, and he knew that taking advantage of any woman would have most likely forfeited his soul. I know that sounds intense and harsh, but how many men do you think are in Hell right now because they preyed on young women? Those of us who understand that women are highly favored by God, that He loves them deeply, would never take advantage of any young woman. We may be tempted, but we rely on the Holy Spirit to keep us pure.

In the story of Ruth, we see that Boaz was attracted to Ruth, but he did things properly. He approached the nearest relative of Ruth, the one who had the right to take her as his Wife, as was customary in that culture. The man, realizing that this would be inconvenient for him, opted not to take Ruth as his Wife, which cleared the way for Boaz.

I want you to notice how Boaz first loved Ruth. He talked to her as a “Daughter,” and that is how all of us men who are older should see younger women. I have met many young women in my life, some of them very beautiful, and I always think, these could be my Daughters, and more importantly, they most likely have a Mom and Dad and a Family who love them very much. I also consider how much God loves them, and, honestly, it terrifies me to think about facing the wrath of God, for He says in his Word that it would be better for us to have a millstone tied around our necks and be tossed into the sea than to face the consequences of harming a little one who belongs to God. Our LORD is not to be trifled with. When you read that vengeance belongs to God, He is not kidding. He will avenge every innocent person who is harmed by an evildoer.

Of course, the story of Ruth and Boaz is not only a beautiful love story, but it is a great story of Redemption. Boaz is a type of Christ, and Ruth is a type of Christ’s Church. The picture of their relationship, wherein Boaz falls in love with and eventually marries Ruth, a foreigner, who had lost all hope due to the deaths of her Husband and her Father-in-Law, is a story that foreshadows the relationship between Christ and His Church. This story is not only a story of Redemption, it is a story of God’s Great Provision.

If you read the end of the story, you will see that Boaz and Ruth were the Great Grandparents of King David, the direct ancestor of our LORD Jesus Christ. I think this shows that when people are faithful to God’s Word, He will bless them abundantly. Our LORD provides for His people; He gives us every good and perfect gift from Heaven, even when we’re not expecting it. Amen.