¹⁹ So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

²⁰ “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. ²¹ I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

²² So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

2 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.

² One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” ³ So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.

⁴ While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said.

“The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.

⁵ Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”

⁶ And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. ⁷ She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”

⁸ Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. ⁹ See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.”

¹⁰ Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”

¹¹ “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. ¹² May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”

¹³ “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.

¹⁵ When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. ¹⁶ And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”

¹⁷ So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. ¹⁸ She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.

¹⁹ “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!”

So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

²⁰ “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”

²¹ Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”

²² “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”

²³ So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 1:19-2:23

Dear God, I’ve read this story several times, but it’s amazing to see what I never noticed before. Today, what stands out to me is that they arrived in late spring for the barley harvest (1:22) and she worked through the early summer of the wheat harvest (2:23). And it makes a point that she lived with Naomi the entire time. I don’t know what her options would have been and why she wouldn’t have lived with Naomi, but the author is pointing out that she was working hard and she was loving on Naomi.

Again, there was seemingly no guile in her. She was just loving Naomi and working hard. People were kind to her. She was grateful to them and for them. I am curious that Naomi wasn’t out in the field with her. I suppose Naomi was probably in her 40s at this point, and maybe she was infirm for some reason, but I know a lot of 40-, 50-, 60-, and even 70-year-old women who would be capable of gleaning in a field. And maybe there were cultural reasons Naomi wasn’t out there. I don’t want to judge her ignorantly. My point is, “Mara” was getting good care from you through Ruth.

Let me spend a little time with Boaz for a moment. Coming off a famine, he now had fields with plenty. I would imagine this harvest was much more enjoyable than the previous years. He was able to employ men. He was probably anxious to gather the crop, sell some and then save some just in case this year was a one-year aberration. But then he was a hardworking woman who was loving one of his family members and he appreciated her. He literally gave from his harvest to her and Naomi and he expected nothing in return. His first instinct was to reach out in love. A legacy of honor to pass to Obed, Jesse, and David later.

Father, I will have choices to make today. Help me to make the ones that turn loose of my own ambitions or even self-preservation, but do what is right by those around me. You know the needs I have at home. You know my needs at work. Even my needs in the things I do in the community like Rotary and Christian Men’s Life Skills. Help me, Father, be the man you need me to be in each of these areas. My wife needs a man who will love and serve her. My coworkers, clients, volunteers, and donors at work need a man who will love and serve them. My community needs a man who cares for it and will serve it. Make me that man, but do it for your glory and not mine. When people see me, I pray they simply see a reflection of you and are drawn to know you, worship you, and serve you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen