Pictures of Grace
Rev. Josh Hartog
Text: Ruth 2:1-23
Seeing grace in action is something beautiful. I remember taking a toy off Zac because he kept throwing it his sisters. Of course he became really upset when to my surprise Bethany gave him her toy. She saw his pain, and even though he didn’t deserve it, in fact even though she was the target of his bad behaviour, she took something precious to her and gave it to him. That’s a picture of grace. Actually, it wasn’t all that intelligent, he threw it at her.
Last week we looked at how messed up Naomi’s life had become because of the questionable decisions of her husband Elimelech. But we also saw how she found hope in God even in the midst of her bitterness and grief. And we saw that in the midst of the mess how Ruth’s faith grew from something she admired in Naomi’s life to something personal, something that gave her the strength to step out into the unknown.
This morning we’re going to take a look at where that step of faith takes her. It’s a classic question: what if I do step out in faith, what if I do decide to step into the unknown, will God prove to be trustworthy, will I sink or will God uphold me?
That must have been running around Ruth’s mind as she arrives in this foreign land, with its foreign culture and its foreign religion. Will Naomi’s God actually come through? Is Naomi’s God worth trusting in? As the writer of this story reflects on Ruth’s experience in this new land with her new faith he paints three pictures of God’s grace towards Ruth, three images that answer the question of whether God is faithful.
1) God’s Gracious Providence
The first picture is an image of God’s gracious providence. There’s two ways people tend to look at their circumstances. Either everything that happens to you is just random chance, or some divine being is in control, that there is purpose in everything that happens.
As Christians we believe, ‘That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …still upholds and rules [creation] by His eternal counsel and providence… I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and He will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because He is almighty God; He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father. (Heidelberg Catechism, Answer 26)’ The truth is that takes faith. It’s not always easy to see God’s provision and care in the midst of the adversity of life.
The story of Ruth is a classic example. It’s a story of everyday events, there’s nothing miraculous, nothing that proves God’s intervention, and yet the author sees God’s hand in everything that happens. Let’s take a look at this first section of Chapter 2, ‘1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. (Ruth 2:1)’
a) Boaz
The writer introduces Boaz, why? We met him in a few verses anyway, so why introduce him right here at the beginning of chapter 2? Ruth doesn’t even know he exists at this point, and it seems Naomi hasn’t really given him any thought, so why do we as the readers need to know about Boaz up front?
The reason is because Boaz is God’s answer to Ruth and Naomi’s dilemma. The writer wants us to see that God is working out His purposes here. Ruth is a poor foreign widow, with no family, no food, and no future. But wait… there’s Boaz!
Firstly, Boaz is Naomi’s relative, which in Old Testament times means a lot. Family meant everything.
Secondly, Boaz was a man of standing. The Hebrew word means he was a man of substance, but like the English word it’s a bit ambiguous, it could mean either a man of moral substance, he was a good man, or a man of material substance, he was a wealthy man. In fact, it probably means both, and as we get to know Boaz it obviously means both, he is both a good person and wealthy one. Isn’t that every woman’s dream, to find someone who is rich and has integrity? Well that’s the man God has in store for Ruth.
b) Law
So back to the story, ‘2 …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.” 3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. (Ruth 2:2-3a)’
Not only do we see God’s providence in Boaz, but we also see it in God’s Law. The law says, ‘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. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God. (Lev 19:9-10)’
In the law God provides for the poor and for foreigners, or aliens, and in Ruth’s case she is both. This law flows out of God’s character. God says, this is the sort of God I am, so this should be the sort of people you are. God cares about the plight of the poor, so God’s people ought to care for the poor. Ruth experienced God’s providential care through people like Boaz living out God’s character and obeying his law.
c) Guidance
But, Ruth also experienced God’s providence through his guidance. Verse 3 continues, ‘3 …As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. (Ruth 2:3)’ The writer makes it sound so happenstance, ‘as it turned out…’ But at the same time we know this isn’t just chance, this is God’s plan.
Remember the guy who could solve all Ruth’s problems in verse 1, well now she happens to find herself working his field. What seems mere coincidence to Ruth is in fact God’s providence, the outworking of God’s gracious care. Ruth ends up exactly where God wants her to be.
d) Timing
And verse 4 continues with God’s providence, ‘4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”… (Ruth 2:4a)’ Here we see God’s impeccable timing. Ruth turns up where God wants her to be and ‘just then’ Boaz arrives. Is this another coincidence?
Of course it’s not, there’s no such thing as coincidences when the Almighty God is in control. God knows Ruth’s dilemma and so he works everything together for her good. He has provided food for her through his law, and he provides the right field and the right man at the right time. Everything neatly falls together according to God’s plan. God’s activity is all through this story, but it’s hidden from sight. There are no direct revelations, or angelic visitors, or visible miracles, but God’s activity is evident to those with the faith to see it.
I mentioned this last week, but it’s worth exploring further. God’s sovereign control does not limit our personal freedom. We see Ruth deciding to go and gather some food, we see her choose a field, we see Boaz turn up from Bethlehem, these are all examples of people exercising their free will. But we also see that all these things happen exactly according to God’s sovereign plan. The same is true in all of life.
We choose to believe or disbelieve, we choose to put our faith in God or not, we choose to repent of our sins or not, we choose to obey God or not. But on another level Jesus says, ‘16 You did not choose me, but I chose you… (Jn 15:16)’ and ‘8 …it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Eph 2:8)’ The Bible even says that, ‘4 …God’s kindness leads you toward repentance. (Rom 2:4b)’ in fact ‘13 …it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Phil 2:13)’
The truth is that all of our free choices are part of God’s sovereign plan, all the seemingly random events of life are in God’s hands. Even when life appears a tangled mess, like it must of done with Naomi and Ruth, we can put our faith in the gracious providence of God, that the tangled threads are only the back of the tapestry, the front of which spells a message of hope and grace.
2) God’s Grace in Others
So the first picture of grace is a picture of how God provides for Ruth in her time of need, how God works everything together for her good. The second picture of grace focuses on the character of Boaz, it’s a picture of God’s grace at work through the lives of other people. Boaz turns up at his field and he spots this young woman working and finds out its this Ruth he has heard so much about.
And in verse 8 he says to Ruth, ‘8 …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. 9 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. (Ruth 2:8-9) In Boaz we see God’s grace working out into Ruth’s life.
a) Boaz welcomes her as family
Firstly, we see it in his opening words. Boaz calls her, ‘my daughter.’ His welcome is more than just polite, he welcomes her as family. In fact, he tells her to stay with his servant girls. In Old Testament times servants were regarded as part of the family, not as property, you couldn’t sell your slaves. Ruth goes from being a foreigner to being family.
b) Boaz provides for her needs
But Boaz doesn’t just welcome her as family he treats her as family. He makes his field her field. The law required of Boaz to allow the poor and foreigners to glean the edges of his field, but we don’t see a legalistic obedience to the law in Boaz, rather we see him displaying God’s character that lies behind the law.
He doesn’t act out of a sense of duty, rather he’s motivated by compassion. He not only tells her to stay in his field, he tells her to follow along after the girls. What he’s really saying is, ‘Don’t glean along the edges of the field, but glean right behind the harvesters.’ Not only that he tells her ‘whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’ Boaz provides for her needs. He provides her with food and water.
c) Boaz provides her with protection
Thirdly, Boaz provides her with protection. He says, ‘I have told the men not to touch you.’ For a single woman with no family to protect her those words must have been of great encouragement to her. Again Boaz is going beyond the letter of the law to God’s character behind it.
You see God’s character scattered throughout the law in comments like, ‘18 [The Lord] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. (Dt 10:18-10)’ Boaz isn’t just obeying the law, he’s loving the poor and the foreigners because that’s what God does.
d) Ruth’s Humble Response
Boaz treats Ruth like family, he provides for her and he protects her. Ruth’s response is worth noting, ‘10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10)’
Ruth responds with humility. She bows down to the ground, and says that she is unworthy of his favour. Ruth is intensely aware that she is a foreigner, that she isn’t part of God’s covenant community, Israel. If the roles were reversed and Boaz was a foreigner in Moab, there were no such laws, let alone such grace.
In fact we learn four things from this picture of God’s grace. Firstly, God’s grace extends beyond the nation of Israel. God’s grace was just as available to a widow from Moab, as for a Jewish man like Boaz. Secondly, those who receive God’s grace respond with humility. That’s the point of grace, it’s an undeserved gift and Ruth knows it.
She knows she doesn’t deserve Boaz’s kindness, and she is immensely grateful. In fact there’s a bit of a play on words in the Hebrew. What amazes Ruth is that Boaz would respect a reject. And that’s the point of God’s grace. God pours out his love on us when we don’t deserve it. God shows respect on rejects like us.
The Bible says, ‘23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Rom 3:23-24)’
Thirdly, Boaz is a picture, a dim shadow, of God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus. Like Boaz did with Ruth, Jesus welcomes us into God’s family. Like Boaz provided for Ruth, Jesus gives us everything we need. Like Boaz protected Ruth, so Jesus saves us form sin and death. And like Ruth responded with humility, so too are we called to humble ourselves before God.
Finally, in Boaz we see a picture of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. But also in Boaz we see God’s grace at work in the lives of others. Just as Boaz showed God’s grace to Ruth, so we are called to show God’s grace to others. People who have experienced God’s grace become gracious people.
3) God’s Grace in Abundance
The third picture in this chapter is a picture of the abundance of God’s grace. We’ve already seen a hint of this in Boaz’s attitude towards Ruth, the fact that he isn’t just doing his duty towards her, but that he genuinely cares about her and her situation. But in the next section we get a glimpse of the extravagance of God’s love.
a) God’s reward
Firstly, we see it in God’s reward. Boaz says to Ruth, ‘11 …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. 12 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.” (Ruth 2:11-12)’
That’s a bit of a difficult idea, the idea that God would repay us, or reward us for our actions. On first sight it looks as if we can earn God’s favour. But you need to see this in the proper context. Boaz makes a point of her leaving her parents and her homeland, in fact he is comparing her faith with the faith of Abraham, who like Ruth left family and homeland because of his faith in God. Boaz sees Ruth’s behaviour as flowing out of her relationship with God, just as his behaviour flows out of his relationship with God.
This isn’t about being rewarded because of obedience, but about the reward of living life in relationship with God. That’s Jesus’ point when he says, ‘12 Rejoice and be glad [when people persecute you], because great is your reward in heaven… (Mt 5:12a)’ and ‘4 …your Father, who sees [your giving and praying and fasting] done in secret, will reward you. (Mt 6:4,6,18)’ ‘42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple… he will certainly not lose his reward. (Mt 10:42)’
The Bible tells us that ‘6 …God rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Heb 11:6b)’ These rewards are not rewards that we can earn, they are rewards given as expressions of God’s grace. They are the rewards of living in relationship with God. In fact, our ultimate reward is having a relationship with God.
That’s what God meant when he says to Abraham, ‘1 …I am your shield, your very great reward. (Gen 15:1b)’ What Boaz is praying for Ruth is that her relationship with God will grow and deepen, that she will know the riches of God’s blessing as she lives in relationship with him.
b) God’s wings
And that comes out even more by the fact that it is under God’s wings she has come to take refuge. That phrase underlines the whole theme of the book of Ruth. Everything that happens to Ruth is because she has taken refuge under God’s wings. It’s a beautiful picture of God’s love for his people. God’s wings describe a place of safety (Ps 17:8-9), a place of refreshment (Ps 36:7-8), a place of calm in the storms of life (Ps 57:1), a place of help (Ps 63:7), and a place of hope (Ps 91:1-6).
It’s a picture of finding peace and wholeness only in relationship with God. It’s only in God that we find the safety and strength we need. It’s only in God that we find help and hope. It’s only in a relationship with God that we find peace in the storms of life. God’s love and grace is more than just giving us what we need, it’s giving us more than we need. God’s love is extravagant, life lived beneath God’s wings is life full of joy and hope and confidence, even in the midst of the storms.
c) God’s blessing
Actually, it’s fascinating but Boaz becomes the answer to his prayer for Ruth. We’ll see it most clearly in the next two sermons, but we see it here as well. Look at what he does next, ‘14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. (Ruth 2:14)’
Boaz gives her lunch, and not just a little bit, she eats all she wants and has left over. And then Boaz says to his men, ‘15 …Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don’t embarrass her. 16 Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” (Ruth 2:15b-16)’
Boaz not only lets her glean behind the harvests, he tells them to deliberately leave grain behind for her to pick up. In fact by the time Ruth get’s home to Naomi she has gathered an ephah of barley. That’s about the equivalent of her own body weight, that’s enough grain for a month, in one day. Through Boaz Ruth experiences God’s rich blessings.
In fact, Boaz’s actions are a picture of God’s extravagant love for us. The Bible says, ‘1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 Jn 3:1a)’ It’s no wonder Paul prays that we might ‘18 …grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Eph 2:18b)’
God shows us his abundant grace in Jesus Christ, who came to die in our place, in order to restore us sinful people into a relationship with God. It’s no wonder Ruth exclaims ‘why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me.’
Are we still amazed at the abundance of God’s grace? Are you still surprised that God would notice someone like you? But God not only noticed you, he sent Jesus into the world to rescue you. Jesus died so you could have eternal life. Jesus suffered so you could know joy and peace. In Jesus you can know God’s abundant grace.
As Ruth steps out in faith, as she faces the unknown she must have wondered if God would prove himself faithful, if she could trust him. And God wastes no time in assuring her that she has made the right decision. We see God’s gracious providence as he provides for all her needs. His law means she can glean for food, and it’s no coincidence that she turns up at Boaz’s field, on the day he comes to inspect the harvest.
We see God’s grace in Boaz as he welcomes her as family and provides for her needs and her protection. We see the abundance of God’s grace as Boaz prays that she might know the blessing and peace found in relationship with God. In fact Boaz shows Ruth the abundance of God’s grace as he gives her more than she needs.
Have you seen God’s grace in your life? Have you seen the extent of God’s love for you in the person of Jesus Christ hanging on a cross and dying so that you could become a part of God’s family? Have you experienced the joy and peace and hope of having a personal relationship with God? If you are willing to step out in faith, and take refuge under God’s wings, he will prove himself faithful. Amen.