"And Ruth Said" Part 2...

Ruth 2:1 - 2:19

The Worst of Times...

The Bible really stresses the fact that Ruth was a Moabite woman. After doing research, I learned that Moab and Israel during this time period were very bitter enemies, and Ruth took an enormous risk immigrating to a land that might treat her as an outsider, or despise her as a "foreigner". You would've thought that Ruth was crazy, but she wasn't. She was just good hearted.

Ruth Meets Boaz...

So Naomi had a relative on her husbands side who's name was Boaz. Ruth decided that she was going to go work in the field and pick up leftover grain, from the people who may have forgotten it. As it turned out, the very field she was working in belonged to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

When Boaz arrived in the Field and said " The Lord be with you, May the Lord bless you".
He noticed Ruth and asked the foreman who she was. The foreman explained that she was the Moabitess, and that she had worked in the field from morning to night, with just a short rest in the shelter.

Then Boaz told Ruth not to glean in another field, and not to go away. He asked her to stay with his servant girls.

Ruth could not believe that Boaz, a stranger, was offering this great favor. She asked him "why?" "why have I found such favor in your eyes?" Boaz explained how he had heard everything that she had done for her mother-in-law (Naomi). He then offered her dinner with the servant girls and wine. Ruth was extremely grateful and blessed him.

When Ruth returned home to Naomi she explained to Naomi that she had worked in the field belonging to Boaz. Naomi explained to Ruth how Boaz was a close relative, and that he had a good heart.

Ruth:
She arrived in Israel with no money, a outsider and a widow, with her mother-in-law as her only friend. Considering that her home country of Moab was often at war with Israel, and that the two nations worshipped two different Gods, Ruth hardly figured to thrive in Israel. Yet she went to work without anything daily.

Even though she was a foreigner she showed herself as a model Israelite woman, modest, hardworking, and deeply loyal to those she loved.

Ruth Never complained about hardship, she actually responded with gratitude when anyone showed her even the least bit of kindness.

I know that I said I would finish up Ruth tonight, but I don't think I can express all that I feel in one post. I will try to finish up Ruth tomorrow.

Kale