1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
2:1
There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.
Boaz was a near relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech. Boaz was a man of standing in the community (litearlly, a mighty man of valor). He was capable and a man of valor in the area.
2:3
So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi,
The book of Ruth refers to Ruth as “the Moabitess” five times. This emphasizes the grace of God to a Gentile.
“Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
Ruth’s suggestion to Naomi had to do with the right of the poor to gather grain after the harvesters finished their work. Corners of the field were to be left for the poor (Lev 19:9-10; 23:22).
2:3
Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.
God allowed Ruth to go to Boaz’s field by divine design. This was no chance encounter. Theologically, we call this the providence of God. We see both Ruth’s action and God’s providence working together in this verse.
PRINCIPLE:
God uses both human responsibility and divine sovereignty in the events of our lives.
APPLICATION:
Our times are in God’s hands. We can do nothing without His permission. We make our choices but God puts those choices through the grid of His will. Sometimes He allows us to decide our future and sometimes He does not. Nothing can happen to the child of God without His permission.
We often do not realize the significance of our decisions. We make our decision and move ahead. Later we find God’s purpose in them. Joseph did not know why his brothers sold him into slavery, but he later recognized that it was the hand of God. God did not give him a blueprint ahead of time; he recognized the will of God after the fact.
Ge 50:20, But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
What looks like “chance” in our lives is the providence of God at work.
