What you do when you lose reveals who you’re becoming. Ruth shows us how to lose without losing your soul: serve, stay faithful, and seek shelter under God’s wings.

1) Instead of Self-Pity, Ruth chose Service (Ruth 2:6–7)

“Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves… She came… and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest.” Ruth 2:7, NIV

• Humble initiative: asks permission; starts early; works hard.
• Theology in work clothes: serving Naomi is serving God (cf. Colossians 3:23–24).
• Covenant thinking: not chasing applause; living before the God who sees (Genesis 16:13).

2) Instead of Bitterness, Ruth remained Faithful (Ruth 2:8–10)

“So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here… I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.’” Ruth 2:8–9, NIV

“At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?’” Ruth 2:10, NIV

• Between the lines: harassment risk was real; she was tempted to leave the very field God provided.
• Boaz’s countercultural generosity: protection, proximity, provision (water usually drawn by women/foreigners).
• Ruth’s posture: humility and gratitude, not entitlement or rage.
• Principle: injustice does not grant a pass from faithfulness. Obey anyway.
  
  

3) Instead of a Broken Shelter, Ruth ran to God (Ruth 2:11–13)

“Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law… May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’” Ruth 2:11–12, NIV

• Two things Boaz sees:
  • Her faithful work — “All that you have done…” God crowns His own gifts (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58).
  • Her refuge — she ran under Yahweh’s wings (cf. Psalm 36:7; 57:1; 91:4)
    .
• Rewards are real, but on resurrection timing, not vending-machine timing (Galatians 6:9).
• Faith is a location: hiding under God’s wings, not feelings that flicker.
• When life is unfair, don’t cave inward—serve, stay faithful, and seek refuge under God’s wings.

Study Notes

Here are five bad moves that our hearts can make when life isn’t fair:

1. Self-pity. Nourishing an internal-feeling world of victim; compassion turned inward.
2. Bitterness. A simmering demand that God make my world just.
3. Cynicism and mocking. Restoring balance by mocking the other person.
4. Gossip and slander. Creating a community of empathizers who see my pain.
5. Emotional revenge. Withdrawing my heart to punish the other person.

All rob joy. In America, where we have incredible abundance, we are becoming increasingly cranky. Our touchiness is fed by an outlook on life that… enshrines the self. When feeling happy is the goal, we always end up testy because life conspires against us. Stephen Marche, reflecting on how our pursuit of happiness is leaving us exhausted, observes, “The more you try to be happy, the less happy you are.” But when love is the goal, we reap joy because no one can steal love. The cure for a cranky soul begins by repenting, by realizing that my moodiness is a demand that my life have a certain shape. Surrendering to the life that my Father has given me always puts me under the shelter of his wings. That leaves me whole again, and surprisingly cheerful. – Paul Miller

V.9 The phenomenon of sexual language or contact that could make a woman uncomfortable existed in the realities of the ancient world, just as today. That Boaz orders/commands his young male workers not to touch or hoot at Ruth confirms this interpretation. The command of Boaz to his workers in 2:16 as a warning against even a remark that would make Ruth uncomfortable reinforces this interpretation. Cf. also the incident of the shepherds driving away Jethro’s daughters from the well until Moses’ arrival (Ex. 2:17). - Carasik, “Ruth 2,7,” 494.

According to Deuteronomy 16:9—12 and the Gezer Calendar, the time period from the beginning of the barley harvest to the end of the wheat harvest was normally seven weeks, concluding at Pentecost. If Ruth averages the same each day (i.e., one ephah, cf. 2:21 below) and works the entire seven weeks, she gleans enough barley and wheat to feed the two women, at the minimum rate, approximately two-thirds of a year, or at the maximum rate, more than an entire year. Thus, it is most likely that ancient hearers of this book would have perceived the import of this gleaning detail as heightening the generosity of Boaz toward the two widows on a scale greater than modern readers of the story have even begun to perceive. – Younger

Specifically, Boaz would order them not to lay a hand on you What precisely was meant? Though ngʿ basically means “touch (with the hands),” the context here demands something harmful to Ruth. Elsewhere it means “beat violently” (Gen. 32:26, 33; Job 1:19; Josh. 8:15, Niphal), “inflict injury” (Gen. 26:11, 29), and “have sexual relations” (Gen. 20:6; Prov. 6:29; cf. 1 Cor. 7:1).38 If vv. 15–16 report Boaz’s actual command, however, the verbs klm (Hiphil, v. 15) and gʿr (v. 16) suggest that ngʿ probably has the figurative (and strongly pejorative) meaning “bother, treat roughly,” or even (with minor physical violence implied) “rough up.” Perhaps a common scene during harvest time lay behind his command. One can imagine enthusiastic gleaners, desperate for food, who ignored repeated verbal warnings, overstepped the line between “gleaner” and “reaper,” and had to be forcibly restrained by workers. Recall also that Ruth’s request sought precisely a waiver of the gleaner’s normal limits. Hence, to head off such potentially ugly incidents, Boaz would inform his workers of the freedom granted Ruth and order them to suspend their customary protectiveness. Ruth was neither to be “shooed away” nor “mistreated.” Here reappears a patriarchal motif, the protection of the “elect woman” from abuse. Like Sarah (Gen. 20:6) and Rebekah (Gen. 26:29), both foreigners living on alien soil, Ruth was to experience special protection in advance of some as yet unknown destiny. – Hubbard

Pastor Sam Sutter //Sam@bbcconline.org

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