Boaz, Met by Chance

8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go to glean in another field, and don’t go from here, but stay here close to my maidens. 9Let your eyes be on the field that they reap, and go after them. Haven’t I commanded the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink from that which the young men have drawn.”

10Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before.

12May Yahweh repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” 13Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, because you have comforted me, and because you have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not as one of your servants.” 14At meal time Boaz said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.” She sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left some of it. 15When she had risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and don’t reproach her. 16Also pull out some for her from the bundles, and leave it. Let her glean, and don’t rebuke her.”

People of the world take a great interest in chance and luck. They say that someone they happened to meet or something that happened to them changed their life, altered their plans, and brought them to the life they now live. Some say it was bad luck that they happened to go to a certain place; others say it was good luck that they did. Seeing life through chance and luck like this, many people strive to chase good fortune.

People marry someone they met by chance, and others suffer all their lives because of someone they met by chance. But all these events and relationships are merely things that happen in this life. What the world calls chance is a word people use to console and excuse themselves, because they do not know how God works or know the eternal world. Those who belong to God and those who belong to the world both work hard, but because their purpose differs, their fruit differs too, whatever the outcome.

Those who believe that God is at work know that what the world calls chance or luck is in fact providence. Knowing that God uses times, places, and relationships to accomplish his purposes, they strive to live wisely.

Through Ruth, Scripture tells us that chance or luck as the world speaks of it does not exist. Ruth’s marrying a Jew, her gaining Naomi as her mother-in-law, her following Naomi to Bethlehem, and now her happening to come into Boaz’s field — the book says all of it was God at work, because the whole life of someone who believes in God is led by God.

Looking at Ruth’s meeting with Boaz, the world will say that Ruth just happened to wander into Boaz’s field, luckily caught his attention, and married him — a remarkably fortunate woman.

But Scripture says that God, who rules over every life, used Ruth for his work of salvation, and that Boaz was the instrument by which Ruth was made one of God’s people. Only when we believe in God’s work of redemption can we see the world for what it is, and turn every chance in our lives into providence.

Suppose you think that this opportunity you now have at Watercourse Church — to hear the word and see God in a new light — is a coincidence, made possible by your own decision. Then God will no longer work for your spiritual growth. For however deeply he involved himself in the life of someone who says everything is chance and luck, that person would plainly say in the end that they had just been lucky.

Only if you can see the God who labors to establish you as his mature children can you give thanks that the word you heard did not come to you by chance, but was the plan God made to use your faith as he used Ruth and Boaz. Chance and luck belong to the people of the world. When we see every event and every person as one God has brought across our path, and do our utmost to make each one an opportunity to share the word of life, God helps that effort bear fruit.

Ruth 2:1

1Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz.

Ruth went out to find food to support her mother-in-law Naomi and happened to come to the field of Boaz, Elimelech’s relative. Just then, as it happened, Boaz came out to the field, and he showed an interest in Ruth, asking the workers who this young woman was. The servant told him that she was the Moabite woman who had come back with Naomi from the country of Moab, and that she had been following the reapers and working steadily from morning until now. Hearing this, Boaz kindly told Ruth not to go to another field but to glean here, and to drink, when she was thirsty, from the water the young men had drawn. Up to this point it looks just as the world would say: Ruth went to Boaz’s field by chance and met Boaz by chance.

But because you know that God’s purpose is to save Israel, you will see the God who led Ruth to Boaz. From Ruth’s point of view, though, knowing little of how God works, all of this was chance. She had gone out to find food for her mother-in-law, wandered into Boaz’s field, and might well think she had simply had the good luck to gather so much grain.

In every sermon I urge you to look wide, look high, and look far, because I know how great the spiritual difference is between those who see only what is in front of them and the saints, who see the world through God’s eyes. If you always put on the glasses of God’s purpose when you look at the world, the future, and your problems, you will find them far easier to solve than you expect.

Had Ruth seen only what was before her eyes, she would have rejoiced at her great luck in gleaning so much that day, and been glad to have escaped hunger for the moment. But God’s heart was set on blessing Naomi’s resolve to come home, and he had to continue his work of salvation through Ruth; so he led her to Boaz, a man well prepared in spirit and in body, there in Bethlehem.

If you have the wisdom to see Ruth’s entry into Boaz’s field in two ways — as God’s blessing on Naomi, who had come back to the Father’s arms, and as part of his work of salvation — then you can judge rightly in a fast-moving age and not be swept away by its currents.

Do you see now that for those who belong to God there is no such thing as chance? When you meet a problem and solve it, yes, you worked hard to solve it. But it is God who gave you the life, the resources, and the circumstances to solve it and to spend time working at it. Had God not protected you with circumstances, life, and resources, you could not have made the effort however much you wanted to, and any effort would have been in vain. Whether you forget this or remember it as you look back on your life is how God divides people into those who know grace and those who do not. So make a habit of giving thanks for small things: God exalts those who do not forget his grace.

God led the poor widows Naomi and Ruth to the wealthy Boaz because, to restore their standing, he needed Boaz, a man of kindly character, wealth, and ability. In the same way, God always uses those who are prepared. That is why we teach you the word of God, so that you may become instruments God can use, and why we teach you to grow in noble character and live good lives.

If you have resources, gifts, ability, and faith, God will use them to begin the work of saving souls. Boaz, who had much yet always lived humbly, had the spiritual eyes to recognize Ruth, whom God had chosen. Had Boaz lacked spiritual wisdom, he would have seen her only as a poor Moabite woman gleaning in his field. And had he been hard-hearted and shown her no kindness, God would have cast off Boaz, spiritually wicked as he would then have been, and led Ruth to the field of someone else with a good heart.

We must always keep our spiritual eyes open, hold on to spiritual discernment, and keep the word at the center. Only then, when God allows a meeting that looks like chance, will we seize the opportunity rather than let it slip, and act according to his will.

In Genesis 18, Abraham, at the oaks of Mamre, happened to see three men standing there. At once he ran to them, bowed himself to the ground, and pleaded that, if he had found favor in his lord’s sight, his lord would not go away from his servant. Then Abraham hurried to have Sarah make bread and cook a tender, choice animal, and he entertained the three men lavishly.

Did Abraham really recognize the three passersby as angels? From their conversation we can tell that Abraham had spiritual wisdom. And if he did not recognize them but simply welcomed strangers as the word commands, that too would be a wise act, one that turned chance into an opportunity for blessing, because he had striven to obey God’s word.

When the meal was over, the angel, without even asking Abraham his wife’s name, called Sarah by name at once: “Where is Sarah, your wife?” Abraham was not startled to hear his wife named, which suggests that he knew they were angels. Having met the angels, Abraham received the blessing of Isaac’s birth, and also the grace of rescuing his nephew Lot from death.

Like Abraham, you will have been given many opportunities by God, and he will give you many more. When God sends someone to help your faith and your life, if you are too hard-hearted to welcome them, or you look down on them for their shabby appearance and treat them carelessly, you may miss the opportunity for blessing. So you must always act with these questions in mind: how does God want me to judge and decide in this moment, and what wisdom does he want me to learn? As you handle everything with such wisdom, God will see that your judgments and decisions are good, and he will bless you.

Abraham served the angels the fattest, finest calf he had. In the same way, what you give to God must be the most honest and the dearest of all you have, given from the heart. That does not mean you should iron your banknotes before you give them. When you bring offerings to God, the grace you receive differs depending on whether you give because a pastor pressed you or of your own accord. So you must know the word and act in faith.

When I intercede for you, God sometimes asks me whether I think that person truly loves him. Then, because I long for you to receive God’s favor, I tell him that you are striving to offer him faithful trust, your time, and your means. We do our best to do well in this life. We pray to God for success, and we pray that we will not fail as long as we live here.

Yet sadly, you begrudge what you give to God. I see it in how time for reading the word and praying, for worship, for giving — all of it — is always pushed aside by personal circumstances. God gives you work and means so that your homes and children may grow healthy and wise, and he answers all your prayers, yet your gratitude stays hard, and even when you give a little, you calculate and agonize. You say you are too busy now to give your time; you know you should tithe, but the amount is too large, so you will think about it some more. When a prayer for great wealth is answered, the tithe naturally grows as well, yet you want only to receive and hesitate to give.

The possessions you gain in this life are like pearls, and the tithe is like the string that threads them. Loose pearls can be lost one by one, and however many you have, you cannot wear them around your neck and show them off. But strung on a thread, they become a valuable pearl necklace. If you do not know the grace of God, who rescued you from death, you will not give yourself to him however rich you are, and the richer you grow, the less you will be able to take up God’s work.

If it pains you to give back to God what he has given you, you will not be able to ask the Father for help when trouble comes. If you are truly among those who will go to God on the last day, you must set aside time to pray to the God who has kept you in this harsh world, labor for the salvation of souls, and know how to serve him with what you have been given.

Ruth was a Moabite woman, but because she had resolved, “If I perish, I perish,” she was able to return to Bethlehem. She was already penniless, yet she did not hope for a stroke of luck; she longed only to become one of God’s people. I hope you will grasp the heart of God, who saw Ruth’s faith and led her to Boaz’s field. God led Ruth, who had shown him her faith, to a place where she could find food so that she would not suffer, and, as if in answer to her good decision, he made her an ancestor of faith.

Ruth 2:2

2Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor.” She said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Ruth had come all the way to Israel to care for her mother-in-law with all her heart, but now that she had to go out among the Israelites to glean, she would have needed courage more than ever. She was afraid, but her heart was full of love for God, and that fullness carried her out into the world. In the same way, we who believe in God can go boldly into the world to save souls only when we are filled with faith.

She could go out because she was determined to serve her mother-in-law even if she met hatred and persecution, and she could be bold because she believed God would protect her. Like her, we must have a faith that resolves to serve God and trusts that he will keep us.

Ruth 2:11

11Boaz answered her, “I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother, and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you didn’t know before.

Everything I have said to you so far is contained in these words Boaz spoke to Ruth. Her husband, her shelter in the world, had died, and yet she served her mother-in-law devotedly. In the same way, the moment we receive Jesus, Satan, who until then sat in the husband’s place, becomes like a dead husband.

But because the Holy Spirit is with us, we need not fear the world; we need only serve God the Father with all our heart. Ruth followed her mother-in-law, left Moab, where her country and her parents were, and came to Israel. That is just what we do when we follow Christ, leave the world we were born into, and transfer our citizenship to the Kingdom of God. Because Boaz knew the goodness of this widow, he helped her without condition; in the same way, the Holy Spirit blesses our resolve and becomes a safe fence around us.

Ruth 2:12

12May Yahweh repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

The two who met by chance became husband and wife. Had she stayed in Moab when her husband died, saying she no longer owed her mother-in-law any support, or had she forsaken God, declaring she would serve the god of Moab, and not come to Israel, she would not have received such a blessing. Seeing this, we who have received God must strive to make good choices and decisions. It may seem that no one knows of our good resolve, but God is watching with care, and so it leads to a reward.

To Ruth, who did her utmost to draw closer to God, God brought Boaz, a man who had everything. Boaz was rich in the eyes of the world and stood upright spiritually as well, so he was a man a woman from Moab could never have met. But when God is at work, a Moabite woman easily meets a man like Boaz, whom she could never otherwise have met, and God makes him her protector.

Do you see how easy life becomes when we entrust it to God? The world says success comes to those born with opportunity, fortune, and chance, but the Bible says it is those who have shown God their faith who enjoy peace. May you, like Ruth, lay aside your own righteousness and be faithful to God with all your heart, strength, ability, and faith. God will see that faithfulness and work in his own way.

When Ruth strove to live with God, Boaz, a man of great possessions, remarkably gave her of his own without holding back. When the saints live a life of faith directed toward Christ, God grants them the gift of long life, material plenty, and eternal life, and supplies everything. God will never forsake those who do their utmost to live by Christ’s word, nor put them to shame. Ruth knew that God is all-knowing and all-powerful, so she did not calculate; her mother-in-law had no power at all, yet out of gratitude for the love that had brought her to know God, Ruth resolved to lay down her own life for her.

Do you have a faith like Ruth’s that loves God without condition? If, even as you look at the cross of the Lord, who was stripped bare and exposed in shame before the world, you still calculate how to gain the world, yours would be an evil heart. We must be ready to give ourselves for God without calculating. If you prepare such faith, wonderful things will happen, just as in verse 14 Ruth ate bread with Boaz and had her fill of parched grain, with some left over. Ruth, a woman of cursed Moab — and a poor widow at that — received a blessing beyond imagining.

If you truly believe in God and simply live by his word, you will never regret it, and your life will not be one of shame. Should I do this or not? What if I live entirely by God’s word and lose out? I am a rational person, after all, so I will judge and decide well on the basis of what I know and leave to God only the parts I need to — that kind of faith is frail and easily stumbles. Sitting in church does not make you one of God’s people. Only when you live out a life of faith for God, as Ruth did, do you become a child of God, protected under his wings.

Psalms 81:10

10I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

God says he will bless his children with a love that comes wholly from his side. Having promised to pour out his grace, he will surely work. But opening your mouth wide is what you must do. To receive and enjoy all of God’s grace, you must be diligent, honest, thankful, and obedient — a faith large enough to hold it.

Just as Ruth became an ancestor of Jesus through Boaz, whom she met by chance, all of us have received new life through Christ, whom we heard of and met by chance. May you, like Ruth, be blessed in spirit and in body, and, like Boaz, be used as God’s instrument and become a precious saint, an ancestor of faith.