Daring With Ruth: 7 Days Of CourageSýnishorn

Before we dive into what the text says, we have to do some rearranging first. After digging into a handful of books, it seems that we have been reading verses 2-7 a little out of order. 

At first, it appears that Ruth immediately finds a field and begins working. That field happens to belong to Boaz who notices the hard-working woman when he arrives back home. But this isn’t exactly what happens.

Verse 3, the one which says that Ruth began to glean, acts more like a summary of what will happen, not what did happen. If verse 3 is the summary, then verse 4 is actually where the scene begins. 

Boaz arrives home, greets his harvesters, and immediately asks who the young woman is. Why would he turn his attention to her so quickly? The answer is simple – she was standing right there.

Why was she just standing there “all morning?” I promise, by diving this deep into the text, you are going to discover more about Ruth than you ever have before.

She was standing there because she asked for something extraordinary. It was Israelite law that the impoverished could glean in the fields. What that meant is that they would follow behind all of the other workers and pick up what was left behind. Harvesting the crops was a multi-person, multi-group operation. The gleaners were at the very back and would pick up the scraps the harvesters didn’t see as valuable enough to pick up. 

Ruth didn’t want to be at the very back. The original text leads many scholars to believe that she wanted to be somewhere closer to the front where she could pick up incredibly more grain. 

Was Ruth greedy? Not in the least. Trying to live off the gleanings back then would have been like trying to live off recycled aluminum cans today. You may be able to buy a meal, but there’s no way you could support a loved one and keep a roof over your head. 

Ruth was bold, courageous. She asked for the opportunity to provide for herself and her mother-in-law in a significant way and stood there waiting until the man in charge gave her an answer.

This scene is not just about Ruth being a hard-working woman. It’s about her patience, her humility, and her persistence. When you think of Ruth, don’t have a quiet, reserved woman in your mind. She is a beautiful combination of respect and fearlessness, and we can learn much from her actions.

The most prevalent lesson in the book of Ruth is that God wants our deep prayers to be met with bold action. It is our courage which invites His goodness, our small effort which paves the way for His great movements.

Takeaway: Deep prayers and courageous actions invite God’s incredible goodness into our lives.

Prayer: I am powerless on my own Lord. But with You all things are possible. My God is mighty indeed!

If you're interested to continue the journey with Ruth through the book Daring with Ruth, learn more here!