“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
The last verse of Ruth speaks so plainly to us of the God we serve. He truly knows our ever need and longs to provide for those He loves. Verse 22 of Chapter 1 tells us in part, Ruth the Moabites, her daughter-in-law, arrives in Bethlehem (House of Bread) as the barley harvest was beginning. Look at our Lords faithfulness to those who seek Him with humility and their whole heart. Both Ruth and Naomi have been traveling from Moab to Bethlehem some 30-60 miles over rugged terrain; approximately 7 to 10 days traveling by foot to make this journey back into what appears to be an ambiguous situation. But God has gone before them and made a way where there was no way for these two faithful servants much like that described by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:13-14, “It is God who is at work in you to both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” God was about to show Himself strong to the recent convert in Ruth, and as both El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient, All-Bountiful God found in Genesis 17:1-2, and to both women He comes as Jehovah Jireh, Yahweh-Yireh… The Lord Will Provide, referenced by Abraham on the mount. And that was the plan of God for these two women and He would use Boaz, Naomi’s kinsman through her husband’s Elimelech royal line. Through this triune relationship we will see the words spoken in Ecclesiastes 4:12 manifested. “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
“Ruth is a type of the Bride of Christ.”
In verse 2 we hear Ruth, the one who has left all behind, forsaken family, country and home ask in complete submission, if she in essence may lower herself to the status of a beggar. She says to Naomi, “May I go and to the fields and pick up the grain behind anyone in whose eyes I may find favor.” She had no idea being a foreigner and gentile that what she was asking was her right as stated in (Leviticus 23:22). When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God.” Imagine what is going on in Naomi’s mind, she has done all she could to dissuade this young woman to leave her. But Ruth’s steadfast love and devotion knows no bounds, certainly no shame. She clings with all she has to her beloved, Ruth is a type of the Bride of Christ, one that must leave all to follow His call. One who must humble themselves and come as a child in faith believing, leaving all behind and cleaving only to The Beloved, Christ Jesus our Lord. And in recognition of her devotion and love Naomi concedes and gives her blessing for Ruth to go and glean. As Divine order and intervention would have it Ruth ends up in the fields owned by Boaz, kinsman to her deceased husband from the line of Elimelech, Naomi’s husband.
“Love is patient; love is kind; it does not envy or boast.”
Do you see the Words spoken 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 taking on life and form amid Ruth’s willingness to humble herself in love determining Naomi as greater than herself and her need far more prevalent than Ruth’s own? “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” What would have become of our Noami had Ruth, like Orpha, walked away from her returning back to her country and family? We will never know the answer because our God knows the hearts of men. He knew, seeing the heart of man and not his outward appearance, that Ruth’s heart was pure. And straightaway in Chapter two we see our Lord showing himself faithful as Jehovah Jireh. When you read this text it is implied that Naomi doesn’t know what to expect when she returns to Bethlehem. She left a woman of prominence and stature in her community, but returns with no husband, no sons, no possessions and a foreigner in tow as a daughter-in law. You just know that the town is a buzz! The women are most likely tripping over themselves to get a look at Naomi and this strange woman with her.
Do you see her?
So thin isn’t she?
Yes, and bringing nothing with her, אוּמלָל יְצוּר [poor thing].
That’s what their outward whispers were saying, but inside God heard: Huh! Her and that husband of hers got what they deserved, El (God) smote them for leaving their people during the famine, serves her right! Little did they know that is exactly how Naomi felt. She carried the unseen burden of weight commonly known to us as guilt. And she carried not only hers, but her dead husbands and sons as well. It’s okay to eaves drop we’re all family here. Don’t take my word listen for yourself, it’s okay to ease drop, we’re all family here. “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1:20). See what I mean about the weight of her guilt? It’s as though she read their minds. But lets not forget Ruth, there she is talking to Boaz in the corner of his field. He is telling her not to leave his field, to stay with his servant girls. He has seen she is no common gleaner who come as much for gossip and a bit of begging as they do for the left behind grain. But not our Ruth, she carries herself proudly, after all she represents her mother-in law, though she doesn’t mention Naomi to Boaz out of concern for her mother-in laws reputation. She heard those catty villagers and she’ll not take part with their like. Besides, Boaz is the first kindness she has witness since entering Bethlehem and to be offered potential friendships with his servants and protection from the coarse and insolent pickers is of great comfort to her. And now he’s offering me a foreigner who does not know his God to drink from the same cistern as those who are Hebrew, as he himself! And with that last act of kindness Ruth falls to Boaz feet to show her gratitude as servant and to question why he is favoring her so. In Boaz’s reply we know that he too has not only taken in all that his foreman ha told him of Ruth, but meeting and speaking with her himself he has read between the lines to unearth a heart that is pure love, devoted to her beloved mother-in-law, strong, of great character and integrity. Listen to his words, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge,” (Ruth 2:11-12 [Paraphrase]).
“But it was not sufficient for our Precious Saviour to give just enough.”
Now listen to her reply, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants,” (Ruth 2:13). They are at the evening meal now and Boaz dips a piece of bread in wine vinegar and hands it to Ruth. Do you hear our Saviour’s words here? The Last Super, Jesus is talking to His disciples, listen… Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Neither of them could have realized the significance of that moment. Not Boaz his in his action, which represented the breaking of His Perfect Body for us as sinners, which He freely offered for the forgiveness of our sins and to offer us reconciliation with the Father. Listen to how the psalmist speak of this favor of the Lord, “The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever. But it was not sufficient for our Precious Saviour to give just enough, after all, our God is who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever,” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
“Where promises are made and lives changed in the blinking of an eye!”
This chapter comes to end with Ruth heading home after a full day in the fields, head spinning with joy over the kindnesses shown her by Boaz and his maids servants and the unimaginable favor lavished on her, a foreigner… the Word tells us she gleaned approximately 3/5 of a bushel or the weight of 5-6 gallons. And let’s not forget that she also brought with her, her left over lunch of bread and roasted grains! She tells Naomi all about her experience with Boaz and finds out that he is their kinsman redeemer! Naomi is seeing the start of something greater than she could have hoped for happening…She is very familiar with the responsibilities of a kinsman redeemer. She tells Ruth to follow what Boaz has instructed her and stay close to him and those who are close to him. And in yet another allusion to Christ she comments, “That He has not stopped showing kindness to the living and the dead,” (Ruth 2:20).
Come back next week as we continue to follow this three strand cord to the threshing floor. Where promises are made and lives changed in the blinking of an eye!
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