Ruth Day 11: 2:14-17

14: And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.

Boaz continues to look out for Ruth by making sure that she is fed. Not only does he feed her, but she is given enough food to be full and have left overs. (This reminds me of the miracles of feeding the 5000* and feeding the 4000** in the New Testament. Not only did the people have enough to be full, but there were baskets left over. Of course this was Jesus performing a miracle, but the same sentiment of caring for those around him is shown.)

15-16: When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

Boaz takes it another step further by telling his men to make sure that Ruth gleans plenty of grain. He did his familial duty by telling her to stay in his field where she would be safe, but he was a worthy man and a man of God, as we saw earlier in the chapter. He took it further by deliberately making sure that she was fully cared for. This also reminds me of the phrase: “go the extra mile.”

17: So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.

An ephah of barley is about 22 liters. That is a lot of barley. Make note that this is just from one day of gleaning. Most of chapter two takes place over one day.

Boaz continues to care for Ruth, just as we are called to care for one another. He looks out for her and provides for her much more that what people would expect. He had no obligation to take those extra steps, but he chose to. His actions show us why he is called worthy and reaffirm that he is a man of God. We can learn to look out for one another by learning from Boaz. We may not be able to do anything to the extent that he did, but we should care for one another, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can also learn from Ruth and her diligence to care for who she could, even when she didn’t have much. She worked hard and put Naomi before herself.

* Feeding of the 5000
Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15
** Feeding of the 4000
Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10

Ruth Day 10: 2:8-13

8-9: “Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”’

Boaz recognizes that Ruth is a relative and seeks to care for her. There is no mention of him being attracted to her by her beauty (as some may say), but instead he notices her diligence and character. He looks out for her by telling her to stay in his field near the women who work for him.

10: Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in our eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

Ruth expected people to be indifferent towards her because she is not from Israel, but instead has received kindness from Boaz.

11-12: But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told ot me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

As mentioned earlier, Boaz has taken notice of Ruth because of her actions. She may or may not have been extremely beautiful, we are not told. We are told, however, that she cared for her mother-in-law and left everything behind. She worked diligently and was kind. Those qualities are what drew Boaz to notice her, although we are not told whether his interest was just familial or something more. Boaz also asks God to give her a reward because she has taken refuge under Him.

13: Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

Ruth is very grateful for Boaz’s kindness towards her.

God is looking out for us, even when it seems hopeless. Ruth was determined to care for her mother-in-law and found herself in the field of a relative of Naomi’s. This relative, Boaz, took notice of her and after hearing all she had done, decided to take the extra step and keep watch over her. We can learn that our actions speak to those around us, even when we don’t realize it. Ruth was doing what she knew was right and God allowed Boaz to take notice. This paved the way for what happens in the rest of the book.

Semi cheesy/serious side note: if you are looking for your Boaz (as people like to say), instead of focusing on your beauty, focus on your actions. What are you doing to glorify God? Although Ruth probably wasn’t that familiar with God at this point, her actions to care for her mother-in-law by leaving all behind and choosing to follow Him regardless of what happens, honors God. Ultimately our Boaz is Jesus Christ who is the perfect one who died for our sins and made us whole. He came to us and rescued us regardless of who we were or what we have done and made us His. Whether God chooses to gift you with marriage or not, Jesus is our Boaz.

Athanasius

The first person that I have chosen to write on for Black History Month is a man by the name of Athanasius. Many people may not have heard of him, but he is one of the early church fathers. Athanasius was born in the year of 296 AD. He was a dark skinned Egyptian and was nicknamed, “black dwarf” as well as “the noble champion of Christ.” There was a heresy going around known as Arianism where people believed that Jesus wasn’t eternal, but that he had been created by God at some point in time. Arianism was taking over and Athanasius would not have it. He wrote many works against Arianism, On the Incarnation being a prominent one in the battle against Arianism, and was at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The council sided with Athanasius and many others and declared Arianism to be heresy. He became the Bishop of Alexandria in 328 AD, but had been exiled five times spending seventeen of his forty-five years as Bishop in exile. Why was he exiled? He was falsely accused of murder, illegal taxation, treason, and sorcery because he stood up for the deity of Christ. In 367 AD, Athanasius also listed the 27 books he saw to be divinely inspired and believed should make up the New Testament canon. Athanasius died in 373 AD. All of those books make up the canon that we use today. This is just a short biography of this hero in the faith and there is so much more to learn about him and many others heroes in the faith.

Resources:

131 Christians Everyone Should Know – Christian History Magazine

Contending for our All – John Piper

The Great Theologians – Gerald R. McDermott

First Post

This will be my first official post. I’ve been “sitting” on this blog for a few months because there are so many different things to write on that I had a hard time choosing where to start. I have finally decided that it’s time to stop lollygagging and to start writing.

With Black History Month starting up, I’ve decided to study up on racial reconciliation. I am not well studied in this area mainly because I did not see why I needed to. I figured that blacks now have the same rights as whites and that all the bad history was behind us. I never really separated blacks from whites because I had grown up with diversity around me since my dad was in the military. I have black friends and didn’t really see why there were still issues because we got along so well. The subject never even crossed my mind until I heard about it in seminary. I didn’t realize that although things have been corrected, not everything has been reconciled. I naively believed that everything was fine. I did not see that there was still pain left in my brothers and sisters. To honor Black History Month I will study racial reconciliation throughout the month and write on what I have learned at the end. I will also publish a few posts about Black Men and Women who have influenced Christianity.

God has created us all in His image. The different colors of our skin are just His creativity shining through. The Bible tells us that every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship God (Rev. 7:9).