Ruth 06: Handfuls On Purpose

Ruth 06: Handfuls On Purpose Ruth 2:14-17 14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. 15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: 16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. 17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. Review It has been several weeks since we last studied the story of Ruth. I m going to take a few minutes this morning o and kind of refresh your memory on where we were in the story. The story of Ruth starts with a Hebrew husband and wife o named Elimelech and Naomi. When hard times come and a famine settles on the land. o Elimelech decides to flee the promised land because he heard things were better in Moab. o We talked about how poor of a decision this was. God had promised to sustain his own people in the land that He gave them. o Yet Elimelech displayed his lack of faith in God by taking his family to Moab. It was a costly journey. o Elimelech died in Moab. o His two sons married Moabite women but soon they, too, passed away. At this point in the story Naomi, in her grief and brokenness, o decides to return to Bethlehem. When she sets out on her journey o Both of her daughter s in law vow to go with her. However, Naomi decides it would be better for her if she returned alone. o Do she encourages the young ladies to return home But they refuse. o She tries again, only this time she tells them how the law of God Will affect them as widows. The law of Moses declares

o that if a man dies without leaving a son, his widow is forbidden to marry o outside the family. o Instead, her husband s brother takes her as his wife and performs the duty of a husband. The first son that she bears to him is then accounted to the dead brother. This way the dead man s legacy, lineage, and, most importantly for this context, o his widow, are given protection o in a dangerous world. The law was intended to o Preserve the family lineage. So, according to the law, o if Ruth and Orpah return to Bethlehem with Naomi, their prospects of ever marrying again are very slim. o First of all, Naomi has no other sons. Secondly, she believes that she is too old to remarry. o Beyond that she tells her daughters-in-law that, even if she remarried immediately and quickly became pregnant, o that they, themselves, would be old women o before any son of hers was old enough to marry them. She does her best to convince them o that it would be utterly foolish for them to return with her. o If they did, they would likely never marry again but, if they stay in Moab, o where they will not be bound by the law of Moses, o they could remarry again without problem. This argument, apparently, convinces Orpah, who turns back. o But Ruth clings to Naomi, refusing to be turned back. Her words, at this point in the story, o are some of the most poetic in all of scripture. She says:

o Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: o for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: o thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: o Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: o the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. With those strong words, she convinces Naomi o The two, together, return to Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, Naomi sees the evidence o of the blessings of the Lord all around her. The Hebrews have not been broken by the famine o that she and her husband fled. Rather, they have been blessed through it o and everywhere she looks the blessings of the Lord are evident. This causes her to bemoan the fact o that she left Bethlehem full but has returned again empty. Finally we make it to Ruth s first full day in Bethlehem. o Naomi is poor and destitute, and there is no food for them to eat or any resources for them to live off of. o So Ruth volunteers to go work in the fields, during the Barley harvest Gleaning among the gleaners In an effort to get enough grain to provide a living for her and Naomi. When she goes to the field, she just so happens o to pick a field owned by Boaz. Don t you love how God uses o what appears to be happenstance to bring about his perfect plan? To make an already lengthy story a little shorter o When Boaz comes out to the field, to check on his workers, Ruth catches his eye. o Immediately he is smitten by her and determines that she should not labor in anyone else s fields. o So he goes to her and tells her to fasten herself to his maiden s, his hired help. o He says that wherever they reap,

that s where you should reap also. Because they will be reaping in one of my fields. o If you stay in my field, Boaz says, I m going to extend my hand of protection over you. o I have instructed my young men not to harass you and I ve told my people to allow you to drink from the water that has been brought to the field o for my laborers. In response Ruth bowed herself to the ground, o and said unto him, Why have I found grace in your eyes, seeing as I am just a stranger? Boaz probably surprised her with his answer. o He said, I ve heard how you ve taken care of your mother-in-law. Your kindness and generosity towards her is commendable. o This is the Lord s way of repaying you for your kindness to Naomi. He tells her that, whether she realized it or not, o she has now come under the wings of the almighty! That pretty much brings us back up to verse 14 of chapter 2. All of this has gone on in Ruth s first morning in the field. o The day is not even half way spent yet. But now the scene shifts to noon time. Ruth 2:14-17 14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. 15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: 16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. 17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. Come Eat At My Table One of the things that we have said about this story, o is that the role of Boaz is typical of the future role of Jesus Christ. We see that reflection in the way o he makes Ruth, the Moabittes, his bride. The love story that play out between them,

o mirrors the story of Jesus and his bride, the church. We see that parallel come into play here, o at the beginning of today s passage. After his initial exchange with Ruth, o and after she has toiled all morning long in his field, when the time comes for the noon break, Boaz approaches her again. Now what should happen here o Boaz s servants should go eat from a meal that he has prepared for them and had brought to the field. o But they should be the only ones partaking of the food. Just like the water, which Boaz has already invited Ruth to drink of, The food is for his hired laborers only. o The gleaners, the folks who are working for themselves, have to provide for themselves. So when the workers come out of the field o and go to Boaz s table, the gleaners would simply find a place to rest and eat their own sack lunch. o But here s the problem, Ruth and Naomi are destitute. o It is very likely that Ruth hasn t brought any lunch to the field with her. But Boaz goes out to her o and extends to her a remarkable invitation. Come and dine at my table! This is significant, in the culture of the Middle East o Meals were seen as expressions of hospitality And Boaz s invitation to come eat at his table, o with his hired help o is a significant move of hospitality towards Ruth. Ruth comes to sit at the table o and eat of the bread and vinegar that has been brought to the field for the workers o and Boaz sits at the same table in close enough proximity to her that he can hand her parched grain to eat. This is remarkable on several fronts: o First it probably wasn t expected for the field owner to eat with his laborers. o The very fact that Boaz sits down to eat with them that day is probably remarkable. o But what he does next

probably caught everyone by surprise. He served her roasted grain o to go with her bread and vinegar. OK, so here s the picture. The laborers that Boaz has hired o get to eat of the bread that he has brought to the field. This bread is the dark, crusty, o hard bread, of the day. And, in order to soften it back up and make it good, o they dipped it in a soup of sorts which the scripture here calls vinegar. o Perhaps you are familiar with the term, sopping the bread, that s what they did. o So, when Ruth is invited to join them at their table, this is what she is expected to receive. She will sop her bread in the vinegar o like all the rest of Boaz s people. However, there is another practice o that sometimes happens in the field. The best heads of barley, were set aside. The ones that were not too ripe o and not too green. Those that were just perfect. o They left the stalks on those and they would tie them together into a small bundle. o Then they would build a fire, on the edge of the field, and roast the fresh barley over the fire. o This was considered to be a delicacy. It was a very special treat, and most likely was reserved o for those of higher station. o Not everyone, among the paid labor, got to partake of this special treat and certainly none of the gleaners o were allowed to have any. But Boaz does the unthinkable. o When this special delicacy is delivered to him, at the table, He serves it to Ruth. o All of a sudden everyone realizes

that Ruth s station in life has shifted. o First she was an outsider, then she was a poor girl that the boss had mercy on. But now, it becomes obvious that she is more than that. o Boaz is giving the best that he has to her. This goes beyond generosity and kindness. This has a personal kind of feeling to eat. It wouldn t be that hard to imagine o the boss inviting the girl to eat at their table, especially after they way she has taken care of her mother in law. o But it s a stretch to think that Boaz would sit at the table with her and feed her from the special stuff o that was prepared just for him. Not only did he feed her, o he gave her more than enough. When she got done eating there was food left over, o for her to take back to Naomi. Here we see the type of Christ. o Boaz says, come and dine at my table. Then gives her the good stuff, the best there is o And he gives her more than she could ever eat! Eating until you are more than satisfied o is often used in the Bible to symbolize God s generosity. He doesn t just give you enough to get by o He gives you more than enough When you come to his table, you will not leave hungry! He will fill your cup to overflowing! We see this in the ministry of Jesus Christ o He repeatedly fed folks bread until they had more than enough. This was normal for him o Those who looked to him for help soon discovered that he provides more than enough! We see that parallel played out in this story. o God is providing for Ruth, through Boaz. Who, interestingly enough, before this story is over,

o will become her redeemer. o When you ve tried everything and nothing satisfies your soul Try Jesus! o He will always be more than enough. 15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: 16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not. This scene ends with a final interchange o between Boaz and his workers. As Ruth was getting up to return to her gleaning, o he gave his regular harvesters one final reminder. He commands his workers emphatically o to permit Ruth to glean among the sheaves. In fact, they must intentionally o pull some of the stalks from the bundles and leave them lying for her to pick without effort. The law gave the gleaners the right o to go over the field after the reapers. But that is the point. o They must do so only after the reapers had finished their work and had taken all they wanted from the field. o Boaz was now going beyond the legal rights of the gleaners and allowing Ruth to glean with the reapers o before they were through. Ruth does not even need to cut o or pull out the grain she is gleaning. As the harvesters cut the standing barley, they were to intentionally leave o handfuls on purpose for her to pick up. Remember, she is now among the folks o who make the sheaves. They take large bundles of the grain and tie them together. However, as they are doing this, o Boaz instructs them, to intentionally let handfuls of the grain to fall to the ground for Ruth to pick up.

These handfuls on purpose put more grain in her path to glean. o God is still doing this for His people. He puts handfuls of purpose into our lives. o When we work in his field and we labor for him, He causes the work of our hands to be multiplied. He blesses what you do for the kingdom. o When your faithful in your giving and the company gives an across the boards pay raise, before you just chalk that up to good luck, o you need to recognize where that blessing came from. These are God s handfuls on purpose. The many blessings you encounter, o while working in his field, are not an accident. There is some intentionality to it. Just as Boaz has commanded his workers o to make sure that Ruth has enough. So the Lord has made it his business o to watch over you o and provide for you o and protect you o and bless you! This morning, I want to remind you o that when you see those handfuls of blessing in your life, you should thank the Lord for his goodness. Then Boaz goes a step further. o He instructs his laborers not to rebuke her. What s that about? o First of all gleaners were normally not permitted to glean around the sheaves. The stalks that fell on the ground in making sheaves o belonged to the farmer who owned the field. To glean around the sheaves o was infringing on the owner s claims. Ruth is given permission to glean there, however. Secondly, the extra stalks of grain left for Ruth o could bring a rebuke because of a tradition among the Jews that a gleaner was only permitted o to pick up two stalks of grain at the most in any one place. If three or more stalks were lying together,

o the gleaner could only take two by law. The gleaner must leave the third stalk o for the farmer or another gleaner. With the extra that was intentionally being left for Ruth, o there would be more than two stalks of grain together. She would be picking up handfuls of grain. Hence, Boaz told his men not to condemn her o When she picked up more than tradition allowed her to pick up. Ruth, a foreigner, would not be aware o of all the Jewish traditions and she would not know that she was going against them o when picking up the extra stalks of grain left on purpose for her. o And, basically, no one was to tell her any differently. No need to tell her she isn t supposed to get that much grain o Because the Lord of the harvest has left it there specifically for her to get! Boaz wants her to have the grain! o And because of his generosity, she has a very fruitful day. 17 So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. Ruth gleaned nearly a bushel of grain that first day o which was 20 to 25 pounds. That was a very productive day for a gleaner. This would provide for both Ruth and Naomi o for a week or more. All in one day s labor. It really matters what field you labor in! o When you are working in harmony with God s plan and God s purpose for your life o he multiplies the little things and makes them much. o Ruth started the day picking up one stalk of grain at a time. Here a little, o there a little.

o But she ended the day picking up whole handfuls. Don t give in when its just o a little here and a little there. o Don t throw in the towel. If you stay faithful and you stay in his field o Before its over, he turns a little into a lot! Close Today s lesson revolves around a meal. o The Meal gave Ruth enough strength to go on gleaning. o When the noon meal arrived, she had not yet had her breakthrough. She was still gathering grain one stalk at a time. o But after the meal the breakthrough would come and the blessings in her life would be multiplied. Had she neglected the invitation to eat at the Master s Table, o she might not have had the strength to go on and had she gotten tired and gone home o she would have missed the blessing. o The meal is critical, because it gives her the strength to continue on o and she s still in the field when her breakthrough finally comes. Let me tell you why you need the Word of God, o the bread of life, in your life. It gives you the strength to stay in the field. It will sustain you until your breakthrough comes! But, if you don t eat the bread, o you will lose strength before the task is done. If you do not regularly read o and study the Word of God or hear it taught and preached, the labor becomes overwhelming. But if you will take advantage of the Lord s table o When he spreads it before you You will discover that he gives you

more than enough to sustain you There s an invitation echoing o through this house this morning. The Lord is saying to his people, o the same as Boaz said to Ruth, Come and dine! Come and drink of fountains of living water. Come and be refreshed and renewed! Come and sit at the master s table!