The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Just a neato observation

I was doing my devotion this AM, tracking down some things that had captured my interest, when during this reading of Ruth 2, it suddelnly dawned on me that this is a beautiful allegory of the coming of Christ and His salvation, and of His church:

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. (the name Boaz means, His name is Strength)

2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor."
Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." 3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. (the providence of God brings her into proximity with Boaz, a Christ-type, though she does not know it)

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!"
"The LORD bless you!" they called back. (Look at where Boaz comes from! Look at how he greets the laborers in the fields of harvest, and look at how they recognise him! Just like the laborers in Christ's harvest, who bless and are blessed as they recognise him!)

5 Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is that?" (Christ takes notice of us first)

6 The foreman replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter." (Christ approves of our looking to Him and finding our sustenance in Him)

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 my servant girls. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled." (Note how Boaz invites her to stay and be fed in safety, and how he admonishes her to drink from good water provided in safety--what does this remind you of?)

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me-a foreigner?" (Notice her humility, of the kind that all true seekers express in coming to Christ)

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." (Remember the blessing that Christ gives to all who take refuge in Him)

13 "May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord," she said. "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant-though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls."
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar." (A picture of our acceptance and communion with Christ!)

When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. (A foreshadowing of another work of Christ!)

15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, "Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her. 16 Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her." (This is how the church of Christ is to encourage its new ones in Him: we help them and make it easy for them to be fed, not rebuking them in their diligence, nor standing in the way of their work--work being encouraged)

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. [1] 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. (note how the fed can in turn feed others, even when they are poor)

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!"
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.
20 "The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers." (The kinsman-redeemer inference is obvious, but look at how Naomi says that Boaz has shown kindness to both the living and the dead: it reminds me of all the places in which God shows mercy because of the faith of the fathers, beginning in Exodus 20:5,6, for example)

21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "He even said to me, 'Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.' "
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed." (A spiritual truth if ever there was one. Note the empahsis of safety for one who is totally defenceless)

23 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
*****

I dunno, I just thought all this was cool. What a wonderful God!

Well, I have been taught that Jesus is out Kinsman Redeemer.


But I would be a bit careful here, especially at this point:


Does Boaz accept Ruth because of what SHE did or because of
Boaz's own desire and love?

Sure, none of this is a direct parallel, but I can see what you are saying about the big picture <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

E F Grant,

I like your observation <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Thanks for posting this

Michele