Bible Verse: “She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’” (Ruth 2:7)
Scripture Reading: Ruth 2:1-23
The unexpected heroine of this story, a widow from the enemy nation of Moab, has pledged faithfulness to her Israelite mother-in-law, demonstrating the commitment that Israel herself should be the model of.
And Ruth is not all talk. She lives out her declaration, moving to Israel with Naomi.
To supply herself and Naomi with food, Ruth goes to glean. Gleaning is the practice of gathering wheat that the harvesters have missed. God’s Law commanded landowners to purposefully leave such gleanings for the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10).
Ruth works in the heat of the day for a few stalks of wheat in an attempt to get enough to make bread. Hunched over, picking up the few precious heads that have been dropped or overlooked, Ruth toils away to get enough to survive.
Her dedication catches the eye of the field’s owner, Boaz. Here, we finally find an Israelite who might demonstrate some semblance of morality and goodness. He invites Ruth to stay in his fields and continue to harvest along with the other women working in the fields.
Generous even beyond the bounds of God’s command, Boaz provides Ruth with food and water during her labors in the field. But what grabs our attention are Boaz’s instructions to his workers. Not only does he instruct them to leave grain out for her to gather and not reprimand her for gathering in places not traditionally appropriate, but he also instructs his employees not to “lay a hand” on her.
This instruction highlights just how different Boaz is. The fact that Boaz has to instruct his workers not to touch her reinforces the setting of this drama. The days of the judges were characterized by everyone doing as he saw fit. Unfortunately, people seem to have seen fit whatever their passions dictated in the moment. An environment where molestation was the expectation and had to be deliberately prohibited, even for a foreigner, is a startling scene.
This backdrop makes Boaz stand in stark contrast to the culture around him. Here was a man who chose to stand out among his contemporaries, doing what was right.
Prayer: God, it is difficult to do the right thing when no one else is. Even when we know the right thing, fighting the culture around us is difficult. Give me the strength to both see the right thing and to do it. Amen.
Reflection: When have you seen the necessity of standing up for something that is unpopular? How have you made your stance? How might you need to change something right now?
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