Slices
Prepare
Consider a time when you have been aware of God’s provision in your life. Praise God for his abundant generosity.
Bible passage
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’
20 ‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
Ruth meets Boaz in the cornfield
2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’
Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’
‘The Lord bless you!’ they answered.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, ‘Who does that young woman belong to?’
6 The overseer replied, ‘She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’
8 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. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. 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.’
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me – a foreigner?’
11 Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 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.’
13 ‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’
Explore
‘It’s my lifeline. I couldn’t survive without it.’ This is one mother’s response to a social enterprise project in Southampton. Called Marketplace,* this charity provides an empowering addition to the established food banks. For a weekly £5 membership, each family not only selects quality food provisions, but becomes part of a welcoming and supportive community aimed at improving health and well-being.
God’s compassion for the poor, the oppressed and the foreigner is expressed through socio-economic laws reflecting his concern for the vulnerable. In Deuteronomy we read that God ‘defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing’ (Deuteronomy 10:18). Levitical law required edges of fields to remain unharvested, not to collect fallen grain and never to strip vineyards bare, therefore providing for ‘the poor and for the foreigner’ (Leviticus 23:22).
Returning to our story today, Ruth, a poor widow and a foreigner, is found gleaning behind the harvesters (v 3). We discover that, by God’s grace, this field belongs to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelek. Boaz, reflecting God’s generosity and recognising Ruth’s faithful companionship to Naomi (v 12), offers further provision through female friendship, protection and refreshment (v 9). What a wonderful example of an ancient ‘Marketplace’.
Respond
Pray: ‘Loving Father, show me how I can both be a voice for the voiceless and offer practical help. Amen.’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 33,34; Hebrews 2
Pray for Scripture Union
Give thanks with National Mission Partner Festive for the hundreds of sixth-form and college students who want to live for Jesus and share him with their friends. Pray that Festive staff and volunteers may have wisdom as they equip and inspire these young people.
