Redeeming Love - Studies in the Book of Ruth
8 - Strangers and Foreigners
Naomi and Ruth have left the land of Moab and are now living in Judah, in Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem. Whilst in Moab, Naomi’s husband and two sons had died. She had had sad times there, but Naomi continued to trust God. She refers to Him as “Shaddai”, the Almighty One, the faithful Lord. God is faithful to his people and because He is almighty, He is able to look after them even in times of distress. Back in Bethlehem she saw that God was beginning to provide for her and for Ruth through a close relative called Boaz. He was a relative of Naomi’s late husband, Elimelech and is described as “a man of standing”. In Boaz we have a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in his behaviour towards Ruth that we see an illustration of the redeeming love of Christ. If a mere fallen man can act in compassion and kindness as Boaz did, how much more will the Lord who is full of grace and compassion. As we continue to look at Ruth’s story, and the developing relationship between Boaz and Ruth, I want us to discover how it pictures the love of the lord Jesus for you and me.
In Ruth chapter two verses eight and nine, Boaz considers Ruth’s need. We read, “My daughter, listen to me. do not go and glean in another field and do not go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where they are harvesting, and follow along after them. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you get thirsty drink from the water jars the men have filled”. Boaz offers care and provision for Ruth. He acts kindly towards her. Here we see this wealthy landowner considering the needs of a poor, destitute foreign girl. Why should he do this? It was because of his concern and compassion. This is even more remarkable when you consider that the Moabites were formerly fierce enemies of the Israelites. When the Israelites were on their wilderness wanderings after leaving Egypt, the people of Moab would nor allow Israel to pass through their land. This would have shortened their journey to Canaan. They were rebels against God’s people, Israel.
The Bible teaches that when you were without Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, you were strangers and foreigners where God was concerned, and more than that you were alienated from Him and from his promises. You were in rebellion against the Lord. For the true believer this has all changed. We read in First Peter chapter two verse ten, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not the people of God, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”. Why is this? Because of God’s love and compassion towards you. God is the wealthy owner of all things. He says, in Psalm fifty verse ten, “For every animal in the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills”. This same God looked upon you with deep compassion in your sin and need. He showed marvellous grace to you. He showed you much kindness and goodness. We read in Ephesians chapter two verses one to five, “And for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins ... but because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ ... It is by grace you have been saved”.
Before he became a Christian, John Newton was a cruel slave trader and a drunkard with a foul mouth. Then God saved him and he came to experience the joy of sins forgiven. He became a changed man. He once admitted, “I am not what I might be; I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I wish to be; I am not what I hope to be, but I thank God that I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, ‘By the grace of God, I am what I am’”. His testimony has been declared in the hymn he wrote. He recognised the cause of his salvation in the first verse, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see”. As you read these words, do you know anything about the amazing grace of God in your life? Are you a true Christian? Has there been a time in your life when you recognised your need of Jesus Christ to be your Saviour from sin? Can you say because of God’s grace and compassion that you are not what you used to be? Has your life been changed because Jesus is now your Lord and is living in you by his Holy Spirit? If this has not been your experience, then just where you are, ask God to forgive you, and place your trust in the Lord Jesus who on the cross took all the punishment due to your sins. If you do this you are placing yourself under the redeeming grace of God who loves you and you will be cleansed of all your sin.
We are considering the grace and compassion that Boaz showed towards Ruth. Notice the love and care that we see in his words to her as he tells her that she may glean where she will and she is under his protection. We read in chapter two verse ten Ruth’s response to this: “At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground; she exclaimed, ‘Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me, a foreigner?” She was overwhelmed with gratitude that Boaz should treat her in the way he had. In writing about grace, the Christian writer A. W. Tozer said, “Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving”. Stop and think about all that God has done for you, how He has shown the exceeding riches of his kindness in Christ Jesus. Consider what you were before Christ saved you, yet God still loved you and reached out to you in compassion and love. He showed you his favour. He noticed you in your hopeless condition and moved to help you.
Our response to God’s grace should be the same as Ruth’s was to Boaz. We should be full of wonder and thankfulness. Ruth bowed down with her face to the ground. So we should bow down in humility and worship before our God. We do not deserve the least of his blessings, but He has poured them upon us in abundance. Why have we found such favour? Someone has put it like this, “There is no reason to be given for grace, but grace”.