The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Kindness” it comes from the Hebrew Word “chesed” which means “loyal, covenant kindness.”
Looking for a way to provide for herself and Naomi, Ruth happens to end up in exactly the right field. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Ruth 2.
Naomi has a wealthy relative on her husband’s side named Boaz, and Ruth asks permission to go glean leftover grain in the fields, following the provision God had commanded in the law for the poor and the stranger. As it happens, “her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz,” and when Boaz arrives, he greets his workers warmly, “The LORD be with you,” and notices Ruth immediately, asking his servant who she is.
Learning that this is the Moabite woman who returned with Naomi, and hearing how faithfully she has worked all day, Boaz speaks kindly to Ruth, instructing her to glean only in his fields, stay close to his young women for safety, and drink from the water his young men draw. Overwhelmed, Ruth falls on her face and asks why she, a foreigner, has found such favor in his eyes. Boaz explains that he has heard fully of everything Ruth has done for her mother-in-law since her husband’s death, leaving her own family and homeland to come to a people she did not previously know, and prays that the Lord would fully reward her, “chesed” in Hebrew, describing loyal, covenant kindness, under whose wings she has come to trust.
Boaz invites Ruth to eat with his workers at mealtime, and secretly instructs his young men to let extra grain fall deliberately for her to gather, without rebuking her for it. By evening, Ruth has gathered an unusually large amount of barley, and when she returns to Naomi and explains whose field she worked in, Naomi recognizes God’s hand at work immediately, since Boaz is one of their close relatives, “one of our next kinsmen.” Naomi encourages Ruth to continue gleaning in Boaz’s field throughout the remaining harvest season.
Ruth’s simple, faithful decision to go work in whatever field would have her turned out to be providentially guided all along, landing her in the exact field belonging to a close relative capable of caring for her family. Ordinary faithfulness, this chapter shows, often unknowingly walks straight into the very provision God has already arranged.
Visit Us At: www.youtube.com/@BibleLifeBasics
Support Us On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/BibleLifeBasics