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Ruth went to work There was a law in Israel that benefitted the poor and the strangers in the time of harvest:“ When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God”( Leviticus 23:22).
Both Naomi and Ruth were poor widows, and Ruth was also a stranger in the land. So if anyone had the right to glean in the fields, it would be Ruth. And so Ruth told Naomi she would glean in the fields, and she did so for the remainder of the harvest. The field in which she gleaned belonged to Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi’ s, and Ruth found favor in his sight. Boaz had heard of Ruth’ s selfless actions in that she had left her parents and her homeland and had returned with Naomi( Ruth 2:11).
Boaz showed remarkable kindness to a foreigner and spoke to Ruth the most encouraging words she could have heard:“ The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge”( Ruth 2:12). Boaz must have understood Ruth’ s background and situation. In Matthew 1:5, we see that Boaz’ s parents were Salmon and Rahab. His mother, Rahab, was the harlot who had escaped the destruction of Jericho( Gill’ s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Matthew 1:5). Rahab and her family had come into Israel as strangers and foreigners, and in time Rahab married Salmon. So Boaz would have known what his mother experienced— being a foreigner in Israel.
The unique marriage proposal As the harvest season was coming to a close, Naomi wanted a better life and security for Ruth. So Naomi conceived a plan for Ruth to approach Boaz and propose marriage. Ruth obeyed her; and as Boaz slept on the threshing floor, she came and lay down next to his feet. When Boaz awoke, Ruth said,“ Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative”( Ruth 3:9). It was the custom of the times in Israel that a near relative marry a widow so that the name of the family would not die out( Deuteronomy 25:5-10). Ruth trusted her mother-in-law that this action of proposing marriage needed to be done. It took courage and trust for Ruth to execute this bold plan, as she just thought of herself as a lowly servant.
Boaz pronounced another blessing upon Ruth when he heard her wedding proposal at the threshing floor:“ Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not
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