The Kinsman Redeemer: A Study Of The Book Of Ruth. Day 5, Boaz Shows Special Kindness To Ruth

In Friday's passage we found Boaz inviting Ruth to keep gleaning in his fields and urging her not to glean in anyone else's fields. This is because he gave strict instructions to his male workers not to harass her in any way. He can ensure her safety on his own property but if she goes to work on someone else's property she might find herself the target of those who think a foreign widow with no male protector is easy prey. Boaz doesn't want anyone trying to take advantage of her.

In today's passage he continues to show her special kindness. "At mealtime Boaz said to her, 'Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.'" (Ruth 2:14a) This "wine vinegar" is believed to have been a refreshing beverage that replenished electrolytes. The Roman soldiers of Jesus' era were supplied with daily rations of wine vinegar and it's commonly accepted by mainstream Christian scholars that this is what was offered to Jesus on the cross when He said He was thirsty. (John 19:28-29) When a person has been laboring and sweating in the hot sun, as in Boaz's barley harvest, they need more than just plain water to refresh them because they have lost sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, and calcium. Wine vinegar contains small amounts of these substances and it was used to help the workers feel refreshed and revived. That's also why it was given to soldiers in the Roman army, to replenish minerals lost while they sweated when marching or when fighting a battle.

Next Boaz wants to make sure Ruth gets a meal in her before she goes back to gleaning. Hired workers would be provided a meal by their employer but a person who shows up to glean behind the workers would either have to bring their own lunch or go without eating until they returned home in the evening. Boaz does something that the typical landowner of his day wouldn't do: he gives her something to eat out of the food he brought for himself and his workers. "When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, 'Let her gather among the sheaves and don't reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her.'" (Ruth 2:14b-16) The poor were allowed to come and gather dropped stalks from the ground after the sheaves had been bound and stood up, but not before. Ruth is being granted a special privilege by being allowed to pick stalks from the ground before the sheaves were stood up. Extra stalks are to be dropped for her on purpose so she can take home more than a person usually would when gleaning. 

Boaz knows Ruth is the sole provider for herself and her mother-in-law. He wants her to have plenty to eat and plenty to take home to Naomi too. We learn that the lunch portion he gave her was so large that she had half of it left over to take home to Naomi. "So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough." (Ruth 2:17-18) Scholars disagree somewhat on the weight of an ephah but most agree that it was enough to supply Ruth and Naomi with food for several days. 

Naomi knows an ephah is more than a person would normally glean in a day. She realizes that the owner of the field must have caused this to happen on purpose. She's surprised but grateful that he not only allowed Ruth to pick up extra stalks but that he also shared food with her---enough food for two people. "Her mother-in-law asked her, 'Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!'" (Ruth 2:19a)

Boaz genuinely cares about Ruth's wellbeing; he isn't just putting on a show of kindness in order to win her affections. As a prosperous landowner who is "a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek" (Ruth 2:1) he would be considered a very eligible bachelor by any of the marriageable young ladies of Bethlehem. He doesn't have to put on a show for anybody in order to get a wife. He's being good to Ruth because he's a godly man who is concerned for the needy. The Lord commanded His people to be concerned for the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners and we find Boaz living in obedience to the Lord when he supplies the poor widows Ruth and Naomi with food. He's being kind to Ruth because he's a kindhearted person.

In addition I think he's drawn to her as a person. He admires her for her commitment to the Lord, for her commitment to her widowed and childless mother-in-law, and for her commitment to hard work. She displays the qualities of the type of woman whose virtues will be extolled later in Proverbs 31, whose worth is said to be far above that of rubies. Boaz could have had the most beautiful young woman of Bethlehem for his bride but he's looking for a woman whose inward beauty is even more radiant than her outward beauty. The author of the book of Ruth never describes Ruth's looks to us but we can safely conclude she was beautiful to Boaz, not just on the outside but---more importantly---on the inside. 

Boaz woos Ruth with kindness because he is a kindhearted man. He displays a heart like the Lord's in his interactions with Ruth, for the Lord woos us with kindness. The Lord makes the first move toward us, just as Boaz made the first move toward Ruth. The Lord supplies our needs and more besides, just as Boaz gave Ruth more than her daily bread. Boaz invites Ruth to return to his barley field day after day because he knows that is where she will be safe. In this same way, the Lord wants to establish a lifelong relationship with us and to keep us close to Him every day because that is where we are safest, spiritually speaking. Boaz isn't looking for a casual relationship when he begins his courtship with Ruth and the Lord isn't looking for casual spirituality from us. 

The book of Ruth is a true story about two people who were providentially put together by the Lord. But it's also much more than that! It illustrates the way the Lord pursues us in love. It illustrates how we are to respond to that love. Boaz, in this story, symbolizes the Lord. Ruth symbolizes the Lord's people. The story is beautiful in itself but becomes even more beautiful when we consider its deeper meaning.

Join us tomorrow as Naomi finds out who has been so kind to Ruth and realizes he is a kinsman of her late husband. That's when it begins to dawn on her that the Lord, who in her bitterness she accused of having turned against her, is actively working on her behalf and on Ruth's behalf. Ruth isn't the only person in this story being pursued in love (both Boaz's and the Lord's). The Lord is pursuing Naomi and proving to her that He never has turned His back on her and never will.