Ruth 2:17-23: a reflection

17So she gleaned in the field until evening; and she beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18She took it up, and went into the city. Then her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought out and gave to her that which she had left after she had enough. 19Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? Where have you worked? Blessed be he who noticed you.” She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not abandoned his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.” 21Ruth the Moabitess said, “Yes, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, and that they not harm you in any other field.” 23So she stayed close to the maidens of Boaz, to glean to the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth returns to her mother-in-law Naomi at the end of a long day of gleaning, carrying an abundance of barley, more than an ordinary day's gathering. When Naomi asks where she worked and hears the name Boaz, something shifts. Naomi, who had earlier declared herself empty and bitter, breaks into blessing: may he be blessed by the Lord, who has not stopped showing kindness to the living and the dead. And she reveals a crucial detail: Boaz is a close relative, one of their kinsman-redeemers.

This is a turning point in a story that began in famine, death, and bitterness. Naomi had come home to Bethlehem convinced that God's hand had gone out against her, but now, through Ruth's ordinary work in an ordinary field, hope begins to dawn. The mention of a kinsman-redeemer, a relative who could rescue and restore the family, is the first light in Naomi's darkness. God had been quietly at work through the humble circumstances, and only now does his kindness begin to become visible.

There is deep encouragement here about how God works. Naomi could see only her emptiness, but God had been weaving redemption through Ruth's daily gleaning and a seemingly chance meeting. His kindness had not stopped, even when Naomi felt abandoned. And a redeemer was near, closer than she knew. When you feel empty and bitter, unable to see God's hand, remember Naomi. God may be quietly working your redemption through the ordinary details of your days, and a Redeemer, the true Kinsman-Redeemer, Christ, is nearer than you think.

Lord, through Ruth's ordinary gleaning and a seemingly chance meeting, you began to turn Naomi's bitterness toward hope, and a redeemer was nearer than she knew. When I feel empty and unable to see your hand, remind me that you may be quietly weaving my redemption through the ordinary details of my days. Thank you that my true Redeemer, Christ, is near. Turn my bitterness toward hope, and open my eyes to your unstopping kindness. Amen.