When Naomi and Ruth came back to Bethlehem empty, yet determined to be filled, they were in the right frame of mind, and heart for revival and fullness.”Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.”
In chapter 2 of the book of Ruth the hero of their story is first mentioned. His name is Boaz, and Boaz is a kinsman redeemer, and of course, is an Old Testament type of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s important to understand that the principle of redemption is connected to the reality of revival. Redemption means much more than just forgiveness, because it is always connected to restoration and fullness (revival). In light of that, a proper definition of redemption is to not only forgive, but to restore, and to overrule for good all the loss occasion by sin and brokenness. Naomi had heard of the visitation of God in the city of Bethlehem and she and Ruth had come in the hopes of redemption and the fullness that true redemption brings.
As they came into Bethlehem Ruth reminds Naomi that they have no food and thus she must go out into the fields as a gleaner so they could have provision. The two lowest forms of workers in the days of Naomi were that of reapers, and underneath reapers were the gleaners. As the reapers gathered the crop from the fields of the landowners, the gleaners would come last and gather what was left over lying in the fields. The gleaners were the poorest workers of all. Only the crippled, lame, and were beneath them because they were reduced to begging. In Ruth 2:2-3, she exclaims that she will be going out hoping to find a place where she can find favor in someone’s sight who will allow her to glean. She was hoping that she would find someone, who knowing everything about her (thus, “in whose sight”) would still give show her favor. Remember, she had a past. She was a Moabitess. It says in verse 3 that when she went out she happened upon the fields of Boaz. The Hebrew word there translated “happened upon,” is actually a word that means her “chance, chanced upon.” It’s so encouraging to know that no matter where you’ve been, or what you’ve done, if you come back empty, your chance will always chance upon the fields of grace owned by our kinsman redeemer Jesus, who is waiting for us, knowing everything about us, longing to show us favor. He so wants to be the Hero of our story.
