In chapter 3 of the book of Ruth we find Ruth empty, desperate, and determined to find favor, wandering onto the fields of Boaz. As her chance, chanced upon the fields of Boaz it happened on a day when Boaz has come out from Bethlehem to check on his fields personally. He speaks to his servant and asks about the woman that he notices gleaning in his fields, and the servant identifies her as the Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. Beginning in Chapter 3:8 an amazing dialogue between Boaz and Ruth takes place. What is so amazing about this dialogue is that Boaz didn’t just tolerate Ruth’s presence in his fields, he welcomes and celebrates the fact that she has come to his fields to glean. He even tells her to go to no other fields but his. In response to his kindness and grace, Ruth falls down her face before him in verse 10, asking him why she has found favor in his sight since she is a foreigner.
He tells her that all that she has done for her mother-in-law has been reported to him that he knew that she had come into the land of Israel seeking to find refuge under the wings of God. Simply put, he tells her but he knows everything about her already; but he knows she has a past, but what he sees is her tender heart, and her longing for God. In verse 13, she thanks him for not only not rejecting her, but for comforting her, and showing kindness to her, in light of who she was, and where she had been. He actually seemed glad she had come to Him. He seemed grateful. He never once, in this entire book, speaks to her about her past. The word Moab never comes out of His mouth when speaking to her. Doesn’t it make you want to, like Ruth, fall down on your face before Him in surrendered worship to realize that in His kindness He sees us on the inside and acknowledges our longing for Him, even in our failure and brokenness, as genuine holy desire, and true love.
Maybe everybody around you can only see where you’ve been and how you’ve lived, and what you’ve done, but our Boaz who knows it ALL, sees what nobody else can see, and welcomes us into His Fields of Grace where redemption and revival take place. YES HE IS OUR HERO.
