Sermon Tone Analysis

Review

We are looking at a Bethlehem story set over 1,000 years before the Christ child would be be born in that same little town.

The two stories are tied together in God’s plan of salvation.

Last week, we looked at Naomi’s Nightmare: losing her husband and both sons in a foreign land.

We left the story just at the point where Naomi had returned home—empty handed, bitter, and believing that God was against her.

However, as we saw last week, the loyal love of her daughter-in-law Ruth signaled that God still had good in store for Naomi.

The Barley Harvest

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

That’s why they had returned: the “house of bread” was being restocked.

They needed food.

They also needed family—which is why the narrator let’s us in on this little detail:

Boaz: “in him is strength.”

Called a “worthy” man.

Today, we might say “He’s solid.”

He was a man of substance; a man with solid character.

He was also a relative of Naomi’s late husband, which means there was potential there for carrying on the family name.... But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

No one yet is thinking about wedding bells, finding a “solid” man, or babies—just food.

Ruth volunteers to go “glean” in the barley field of whichever landowner would allow it.

(Gleaners would gather up whatever scraps remained after the hired harvesters were finished cutting and bundling the grain).

God’s law for his people made provision for the poor, the widow (Deut.

24:19, 20), and the foreigner.

Now, being that this was the “time of the judges” and coming on the heels of famine, not everyone was so generous toward the hungry.

Gleaning was not super-promising; and apparently, it was downright dangerous for a young widow like Ruth to go out gleaning among the harvesters.

“and she happened” - This phrase is the Hebrew equivalent of “as luck would have it.”

You can almost see the narrator wink ;) — this is clearly the providence of God, though unseen in the moment.

Ruth has no idea whose field this is.

She simply asked permission to glean, was allowed to, and so worked diligently at it all morning (v.

7).

Meet the Boss

Boaz came out to his field and greeted the workers: “The LORD be with you!”

They answered, “The LORD bless you.”

Boaz wasn’t the sort of boss that was all about the profit margin.

He cared about people—even people who live in the margins of society.

He noticed a young woman among the gleaners and asked about her.

The foreman filled him in: ‘She’s the Moabite who came back with Naomi’ (v. 6).

So the boss goes out to meet her.

Boaz is looking out for her in a way that she never could have imagined.

Boaz explained that he had heard all about her—all that she had done for her mother-in-law and how she had left her home and people to come to Bethlehem with Naomi.

And he speaks a blessing:

Ruth is comforted by these words and stunned by the kindness and favor of Boaz.

So she goes about her gleaning and Boaz goes back to whatever bosses do until lunchtime.

I’m guessing she didn’t bring a lunch.

If she did, it surely wasn’t much.

This is a gospel picture.

Can’t you hear the heart of God? Doesn’t it remind you of Jesus?!

In the Ancient Near East, eating together had great symbolic significance.

So, it is says a good deal about Boaz that (1) he ate with the workers, (2) he invited a foreign woman from among the gleaners to eat with them, (3) that he served her himself (highlighted by a word used no where else in the OT), and (4) he gave her more than enough.

When she finished and went back to gleaning in the field, Boaz told his workers to let her glean.

‘Even if she gleans in the wrong places—don’t get on to her or rebuke her.

Even more, pull some stalks from the bundles and leave them Ruth.’

Coming Home With A Haul

At the end of the day, Ruth went home with somewhere around 30 lbs. of barley grain.

That is an extraordinary feat for a gleaner!

The gleaning of fallen grain was mere subsistence living, much like trying to eke out survival today by recycling aluminum cans.

- R. Hubbard

Best we can tell, the average hired harvester would have received about a half-pound to a pound of grain for a day’s labor.

Ruth took home more on the first day of gleaning than the hired workers would have got in a month!

And to top it off, she had leftovers from lunch!

Naomi’s comments are as much exclamation as question: ‘Where in the world did you glean!!’ When Ruth names Boaz, it’s a turning point for Naomi.

She realizes that God has not forsaken her after all.

“Redeemer” - one who takes on the responsibility to rescue a family member, to reverse their plight / Custom of established in the law.

This gets the matchmaker wheels turning in Naomi’s mind.

She tells Ruth to stay in the field of Boaz.

Conclusion

Our posture toward the poor is meant to reflect that of God.

We are called to embody his kindness.

Together We Can Holiday Food Drive - How important is feeding the hungry to me?

In the Kingdom there is a great reversal at work: Luke 6:20,21

Isaiah 58:10 Then your light shine

Perhaps you will see an opportunity this holiday season to help provide for the poor.

I wonder what God may do with that kindness that you and I may not see!