Taken from the book, Reflections on the Book of Ruth, by A. B. Saint
Chapter 6
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, “Let me now go to the field,
and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace.”
And she said unto her, “Go, my daughter.”
Ruth 2: 2
In the second chapter of the book, Ruth the Seeker now becomes Ruth the Gleaner. Her faith is now quickly put into action. It is important that she gleans, she knows that. Her life depends on this and so does the life of another for she has not only to feed herself but also has Naomi to take care of too. At the end of every day, she will carry home what she has gleaned and help feed another, therefore, it is important that she gleans in the right place. It is important that she gleans in the right field.
She is setting out now on a new path with a new goal in life. She stops and surveys the area. We can imagine her lifting up her eyes and looking at the immense field before her. Where, as a woman, will it be safe to glean? Where will she have good success? As we continue to observe we find that Ruth just doesn’t stumble into the field set before her, rather she was being led by Almighty God.
There was absolutely nothing serendipitous about her actions as if she in some way accidentally found herself in the right place just at the right time. No, in her heart she was trusting in Providence and Providence is surely with her, for not by happenchance does she end up gleaning in that part of the field owned by the man of wealth whose name was Boaz.
Actually, unbeknown to her, her path is already being mapped out for her; it is even now being carved out by unseen Hands. The world trusts to ‘lucky breaks,’ the ‘game of chance,’ ‘coincidence,’ or simply knowing the right people. However, things are different for the people of God, and things were different for Ruth for she had thrown her lot in with Naomi and Naomi’s people, and Naomi’s God which means she had the privilege, that wondrous blessing of having her future planned by her Heavenly Boaz.
Please let me add this, for those children of God who are afraid at times to make any decisions in life just in case they prove to be the wrong ones. Let us remember that if we are wont to please our Saviour and Redeemer, we will not miss our way. When I look back upon the earlier days of my own life I do not think I had much of an inkling really on what guidance was all about. It was also clear to me that other young people that I spoke to felt the same as me. It was as if we were all waiting for that particular moment in time when all would be revealed, as though the whole of our lives would be mapped out in a second and Heaven would send down a blueprint of what was going to come to pass. Would we hear His voice as He spoke or was it possible that we could inadvertently miss it, and if this were the case would He speak to us again, or would that Divine moment be lost forever? I know this is foolish thinking now but then it was very real, not only to me but also to others.
Let me bring reassurance here that if we take on the Pilgrim walk and if we are desirous of seeking after God with the whole of our heart and if we be found amongst the gleaners, then we too shall know clear direction even through the mist. We may not always know it at the time, but coming through it and looking back upon the path we have just walked along we will see the Hand of God in it all. This happened for Ruth, and this will happen for us.
In the first verse of our chapter, we are introduced by the writer to a new character in the narrative by the name of Boaz. The man Boaz will play a very active part in the life of Ruth, but she doesn’t know it yet. At this moment in time, she hasn’t even met him for in God’s evaluation He has deemed it right at this point to have Boaz ‘waiting in the wings.’ God knows about him, we know about him, but Ruth as of yet does not. How encouraging to know that God knows what things we have need of even before we ask (Matthew chapter 6 and verse 8).
Dear One, if you are waiting for a someone or a something in your own life, continue on as did Ruth in humble faith and all will be revealed to you. It is amazing what God has in store for those that love Him.
Never upon herself, Ruth’s thoughts were always upon her mother-in-law. She really had no time to focus too much upon herself and quite honestly this is a good place to be in spiritually, for the time passes quicker and greater the surprise at the end.
In chapter one she is Ruth the Seeker. She has come from a far land, footsore maybe and perhaps a little weary with the journey, maybe a slight perspiration resting now upon her forehead, but she has come. What a picture of the genuine seeker after Christ, and thank God we too can come just as we are to the God who loves us no matter how far and how long we have travelled in our journey towards Him.
In chapter two she is portrayed as Ruth the Gleaner. Not shy of hard work it seems, but in humbleness of heart she prepares to enter the field and spend many hours along with others gleaning those stray heads of barley.
I hadn’t realised that the art of gleaning in someone’s field still goes on even today as I always equated it with ancient times, but it was only recently that I read an article in one of our daily newspapers on this very subject which caused me to think again. As I read on, I found out that it wasn’t until the eighteenth century that farmers actually began to disallow people from entering onto their land and gleaning in their fields. At this time people were seen as ‘trespassers.’
However, of recent times and sometimes to help to reduce wastage, teams of people in different parts of the country collect leftover crops growing in fields and then distribute them to those in their community who are needy. On one occasion a group of gleaners actually collected 66 crates of small, albeit perfectly formed, little cauliflowers which were then distributed to the poor. It wasn’t only ‘wonky’ carrots that were collected, but produce which had been left behind after the main harvesting where it would honestly have been too expensive for the farmer to go back again onto the field to collect any leftovers. Everyone involved in these modern-day ‘gleaning’ projects seem to have a real joy in what they do, in giving up just a few hours of their time each week in helping to support others.
As we know, over in the books of both Leviticus and Deuteronomy, God is very clear that the poorest of the land are not to be ignored but to be fed. There is something good about doing something for someone else isn’t there? I’m sure that Naomi was very much on Ruth’s mind as she laboured in that field, bending her back time and time again to gather handfuls of barley grain left over from the harvesters and the binders. In spiritual terms it is important that each saint of God realises from very early on that they too as individuals must learn to glean with others. We are not all called unto great works for God, for some of us are just gleaners, nevertheless we are all workers in the harvest.
Surely, gleaning is the next stage in the Christian life, but we must be careful where we glean. Gleaning is gathering. Sage advice was once given on this particular subject to us when we were just young people by an old minister who I knew well. He said, “Be careful where you gather, you could be gathering straw. You can gather in bulk, but not in grain. If you are not careful you can gather the stubble but not the wheat.”
I have never forgotten his advice. What was he saying here? In a way he was saying we are all of us gathering something or other in our daily lives. For instance, if we take a book, we have to be careful as to who its author is, for in reading their book we are taking upon ourselves their thoughts and the spirit which is behind it. Are their thoughts pure? Will they lead us in the right direction in life or may they cause us to stumble? With whom do we keep company? Will they keep us on the straight and narrow or lead us down the dark path of no return? Where do we spend our hours? Do we labour for that which profits us nothing or are we labouring for the Kingdom? At which altar are we bowing? Where are we receiving our spiritual nourishment? Not every Church in the land preaches Jesus.
Notice how in verse seventeen that Ruth ‘beat out’ what she had gleaned. The bible says: “So she gleaned in the field until dusk and beat out that which she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.” What does this mean for us today in a spiritual sense? It means that when we find ourselves looking at or thinking upon, or hearing the Word of God, we must ever use the Berean attitude at the same time.
Who were the Bereans? To read about them we have to go to the book of Acts chapter 17 and verses 10 to 12, where we read: “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore, many of them believed; also, of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men not a few.” These Bereans had an eagerness for the Truth, and when they heard it they then proceeded to search out the Scriptures to see if it was indeed the Truth being told them.
I once heard someone, and I cannot remember now who it was, who encouraged the people of God in bible study not to accept everything which they heard, but learn to compare it with the Scriptures. He said, “Think of the birds in your garden, do not be swallows and swallow everything you have heard, but rather be like the little house sparrow, which before taking the morsal of food in its mouth, beats everything so small until he has that which he enjoys and that which is good for him.” In other words, whatever preaching or teaching we hear from others, and whatever we receive for ourselves, we must place it on the anvil of God’s Precious Word and let it rain down its hammer blows to see what will remain and what will survive. Will it be good grain or just wood, hay, and stubble? Dear friends, it behoves us to compare with Holy Writ whatever we see, whatever we read, and whatever we hear. This is the acid test.
In verse 19, Naomi asks Ruth where she had gleaned that day. Naomi knew the importance of this act for depending upon the field lay the outcome of the harvest. Not everyone is called to gather large bundles of corn from every nation, not everyone is gifted with a huge ministry, but each of us as individuals are called to labour somewhere in Christ’s vineyard. All of us can glean somewhere and feed someone just as Ruth did for Naomi. If you can, labour amongst your own folk, even the smallest morsel can satisfy and bless another and bring them into even greater truths which the Holy Spirit can reveal unto them. Every action done in the Name of Jesus brings with it its own rewards.
Use me God, in Thy great harvest field,
Which stretches far and wide like a wide sea,
The gatherers are so few; I fear the precious yield
Will suffer loss, Oh find a place for me!
A place where best the strength I have will tell,
It may be one the older toilers shun,
Be it a wide or narrow place, ‘tis well,
So that the work it holds be only done.
Christina Rossetti.
THOT: Was this verse I found a happy coincidence or was it like Boaz, just waiting in the wings?
Taken from the book, Reflections on the Book of Ruth, by A. B. Saint
LIFE ON THE ALTAR 