[Rth 2:1-23] Why have I found such favor?(Lim)

Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner?

Ruth 2:1-23

John Lim

The key word that summarizes the 2nd chapter of Ruth is “grace.”  

God’s grace is at work in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.

Coming back from Moab, two destitute women were greeted by the whole town of Bethlehem.  There was quite a stir as women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”  And Naomi told them, “Don’t call me Naomi, call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.”  “I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty.  Why call me Naomi?  The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

In this brief passage, we get a glimpse of Naomi’s deeply troubled heart and soul.  Naomi means pleasant whereas Mara means bitter.  She is a mere human being with overwhelming challenges that have struck her hard and she feels cut down by her circumstances.  

When troubles come our way, we may feel like the way Naomi feels.  When everything turns out horribly, we may question and become quite depressed at our situations.  Sometimes in times like this, we may want to simply quit living.  But you know something.  There is still life to live.

 As long as we are alive, we have a life to live.  As long as there is a breath in our nostril, we go on living and see what tomorrow brings.  As difficult as life was for Naomi and Ruth, they have to go on living.  Yes, it is difficult and challenges seem monumental but life continues.

 Look at verse 2.

“And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”  Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

 They have to eat in order to sustain themselves.  They did not expect someone to provide for their needs but sought a way to take care of their sustenance.  

Look at Leviticus 19:9

“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest or pick up the grapes that have fallen.  Leave them for the poor and the alien.  I am the LORD your God.”  

(Also in Leviticus 23:22)

“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.”

Deuteronomy 24:19-22.

“When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.  Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.  When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.  Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.  When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again.  Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.  That is why I command you to do this.”

This is perhaps God’s way of allowing people to take care of the poor, widows, and aliens among them.  Because of this well known and well practiced custom of their society, Ruth ventures out to the field to glean the field, harvesters have gone through.

Look at verse 3.

“So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters.  As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.” 

Isn’t it interesting that somehow by the grace of God, Ruth is working in a field that belonged to Boaz?  Since we know already the end of the story, we need to step back a bit and see how God works in a very special way.  

Nothing happens by chance or coincidence but by the grace of God.  God’s providential leading takes place every step of our way.  It is not by chance that Ruth found herself working in Boaz’s field but somehow God had led her steps to this place at this time.  

Although she did not know, she is working in the field belonging to Boaz.  We see how God brings these two individuals together in His time. 

Look at verse 4.

 “Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!”  “The LORD bless you!” they called back.  

 Isn’t it amazing how God brings people together?  Ruth was working and Boaz was visiting his workers in the field to see how they are doing.  And while he was there, he notices someone different from his workers. 

Look at verse 5-6.

“Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is that?”  The foreman replied, “She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi.  She said, Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.  She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”  

 And look what Boaz does in verses 8-10.

“So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me.  Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here.  Stay here with my servant girls.  Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls.  I have told the men not to touch you.  And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”  

Boaz provides Ruth with a safe haven in which to work and earn her keeps.  What Boaz does is what God does for us.  Not only does Boaz allow Ruth to glean the field but provides much more.  What God does for us is not only saves us but He provides His mercy and grace we cannot comprehend. 

Ruth is completely flabbergasted.  All that she expected was to be able to glean the field after the harvesters have gone through in the hopes of picking up few grains here and there so that she and Naomi may eat the grains and not go hungry.  That was their expectation.  That was all that they had wished for.  But how much more is given to Ruth by Boaz!  This is the grace of God at work in our lives as well.  

Do you remember when the prodigal son came back home after spending all his inheritance?  He merely wanted to be treated like the other servants at his father’s house but what did the father do?  He put a robe on him and had a fattened calf killed so they could have a party.  

God’s grace abounds in this passage of Ruth as well.  Look at Ruth’s reaction in verse10.

“At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.  She exclaimed, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me a foreigner?”

What Ruth says here reminds us of what is said of Noah.  Genesis 6:8.  “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

What is just as important in this passage is Ruth’s basic attitude in life.  She didn’t expect anything from anyone.  All she expected was an opportunity to take care of herself and her mother-in-law whom she promised not to abandon.  So, when she was shown this grace by Boaz, she is caught off guard.  She was thankful and deeply touched by this measure of grace but she didn’t know why. 

Who are we that we should receive such forgiveness from God for our sins through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ?  In the quietness of our heart, when we wonder sometimes how we could have been forgiven of our crimson sin that stains us, are we not overwhelmed?  Isn’t it a wonder that we are saved?  How could God forgive such a sinner like me?  How could He possibly die on the cross for someone like me?

To this question of Ruth, Boaz gives an insightful answer.  Look at verses 11-12.

“Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.  May the LORD repay you for what you have done.  May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Boaz acknowledged Ruth’s courageous commitment and openly commends her for grace shown to Naomi from Ruth.  Though Ruth has nothing of any material value, she had shown grace to Naomi by not leaving her but accompanying her and now working hard to care for her mother-in- law in midst of this desperate circumstances.  
 
Boaz makes a connection with what Ruth has done as something more than simple pity for her mother-in-law but for a decision formulated based on her faith in God of Israel as she is said of seeking refuge under the wings of God of Israel.

There is spiritual connection here.  Ruth didn’t simply come to Bethlehem because she felt sorry for Naomi or simply because she wanted to have a means to live and not go hungry.  Ruth was a woman of God who believed in God of Israel and has made a decision to worship and serve this God of Israel even though she is from Moab.

At Boaz’s magnanimous spirit, Ruth makes the following statement in verse 13.

“May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant-though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls.”  

At the unexpected showing of mercy and grace by Boaz, Ruth responds in similar way by acknowledging who she truly is and how grateful she is at Boaz’s mercy.  Ruth does not take anything for granted.  She once again emphasizes her own standing as nothing more than the least of the servant girls.  

 Does the grace shown by Boaz end here?  No, it goes even beyond.  Look at verses 14.  Boaz invites her to his own table so that she may have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.  

 She sat down with the harvesters and ate roasted grain which he offered to her.  

 Does the grace shown by Boaz end at this point?  
  No.  Look at verse 15.

“As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don’t embarrass her.  Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”  

Isn’t that amazing?  Boaz goes above and beyond of showing grace and mercy to this poor widow by the name of Ruth.  He has been not only gracious but extremely generous.  

At the end of the day, Ruth returns home with all the barley she had gathered.  Obviously, Naomi sees very successful day at work for Ruth questions her daughter-in-law.  Look at verses 19.

“Her mother-in-law asked her, Where did you glean today?  Where did you work?  Blessed is the man who took notice of you!”  Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working.  “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.”

Look at verses 20-23
 
“The LORD bless him!  Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.  He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.”  She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.  Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.”  Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed. So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished.  And she lived with her mother-in-law.”

 Naomi, the older woman of God who saw the hand of God at work in their lives quickly recognized that this was not by chance or coincidence that her daughter-in-law happened to be working that day in Boaz’s field but that there was a direct intervention of God.

She advises Ruth to obey Boaz’s counsel that she stays with his girls until they finish harvesting the grains.  At this point, these two women have no idea where their lives are headed.  Two destitute women living day to day in dire circumstances wondering what tomorrow will bring.  

 In midst of this uncertainty, Ruth and Naomi find comfort and encouragement in God’s provision for their lives.  Today, all they are concerned about is surviving one day at a time.  They have no great aspirations for tomorrow.  They have no dreams about how their lives will turnaround.  They are simply grateful for their daily grace shown them from Boaz and ultimately from God.  They were two simple widows trying to scratch out a living while maintaining a bit of their dignity and respect.  What will happen to them?  

As a woman of God, Naomi, the older woman vaguely sees something more when she says that Boaz is their close relative and that he is one of their kinsman-redeemers.  We’ll find out in next chapter what this means but for now, we see two women huddling together, grateful for their sustenance and beyond all hope trusting that God is with them even in midst of their struggle for life.  

Grace is at work in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.  Soon this grace will find its ultimate expression but as chapter 2 ends, we see Ruth and Naomi living because of God’s grace at work in their lives, shown by Boaz.  Boaz is also introduced to Ruth, a beautiful woman of God by the grace of God shown him.  As chapter 3 ends, we see three precious people of God who in their own way show their faith in God.    God’s grace is at work in our lives today also.  Though we may not recognize sometimes how God’s grace is at work in our lives, God who knows all things is working out His will in our lives.