Finding Safety in God's Care, the Story of RuthSample

A glimmer of hope

“And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ Naomi also said to her, ‘The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.’” (Ruth 2:20)

When Ruth comes home with the wheat she has gathered, Naomi is surprised that she was able to gather so much. She becomes even more excited when she hears that Ruth was in Boaz's field and that he has been so good to her. She praises God for His kindness to herself, Ruth, and their deceased husbands (or, if we translate this verse slightly differently, she wishes Boaz to be blessed by the Lord because he has shown them kindness). Naomi knows that Boaz is a close relative of theirs, making him a potential ‘redeemer’.

God's laws for Israel provided that a ‘redeemer’ had a duty to protect relatives from poverty and from the extinction of their family. For example, he could buy back a field that relatives had sold out of necessity. Thus land ownership remained within the family, which was very important in Israel's society both emotionally and economically. Boaz's generous and kind attitude gives Naomi hope that he will be willing to play his role as a ‘redeemer’ and rescue them from their poverty and difficult situation.

Have you ever been in a difficult situation and then suddenly received a glimmer of hope? Did you see God's guidance in that?