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A Good Candidate

             So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. 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.

             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.

            “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 guardian-redeemers.” (Ruth 2:17-20)

            Ruth went home with what she gleaned plus what she was given, and Naomi was impressed but maybe a little apprehensive. Who was being so generous to Ruth? Was he some reprobate who would try to take advantage of her because she was a foreign woman? According to Jewish law, the brother of a deceased husband was to provide offspring for the widow so that the widow would be cared for. Relatives were also expected to redeem property belonging to family members who have become so poor that they had to sell it. There’s no indication that Boaz was Naomi’s brother-in-law, but it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that the law as given was being adapted as needed.

            I wonder how many microseconds it took Naomi to shift from protector to matchmaker. I also have to wonder how long it took Naomi to start to see God at work in her life for the good. As nearly as the research I’ve done can indicate, Naomi and Ruth arrived in Israel at the beginning of April, and according to verses that follow, Ruth continued to glean in Boaz’s fields until the end of May. That means Ruth had six to eight weeks to watch him in action and listen to the gossip the workers and other gleaners shared. Naomi would have had time to check with her contacts to verify his suitability. And as the passage today ends, she effectively says, “He’s a good choice.” And her statement isn’t just because he’s a great guy. It’s also because Ruth has a right to turn to him. She’s able to approach the situation from a position of power.

            So what about us? As children of God, we have the right to approach God and situations from a position of power. That doesn’t mean we get to be arrogant and demand things from God, but it means that He is a good candidate for our requests and should reasonably be expected to at least recognize our right to ask. Thinking that way will take a change on my part.

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