Bible Study with the Cincottis – Ruth, Chapter Two – 05/10/2026
Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur Cincotti.
Listen to our Bible Study Discussion at: Ruth, Chapter Two Audio Podcast
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Ruth, Chapter Two
“My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Jn. 5:17
The theme I’d like to draw out of Ruth chapter two is that God is working in the midst of our circumstances even when we think nothing is happening. The psalmist says, “I will say to God my Rock, ‘Why have You forgotten me?’” Isiah records, “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me,’” Is. 49:14. This is a common response in time of trouble, and this, most likely, is Naomi’s thinking about her present condition. She has made her way back to Bethlehem with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth with very little expectation; perhaps to scratch out a meager existence. Jewish law and customs had some provision for the poor but it would be a considerable step down from what she experienced as a married woman with two sons.
This scene is very much like the Saturday of Passion week. Jesus is dead, all hope has vanished. For Mary and the disciples it will soon be time to put back together the pieces of their broken little existence. There is no expectation of something great happening. As I said last week, this is just the sort of circumstances wherein God displays His glory. Into the scene appears Boaz.
It would be inappropriate to suggest that Naomi was thinking about this in the back of her mind all along. Remember, she was discouraging her daughter-in-laws from returning with her. If the thought even slightly occurred to her it would have been most likely extinguished because Ruth was a Moabitess. Boaz would never touch a Moabite woman.
It’s also good to make a few observations about Boaz. Apparently he stayed in Bethlehem during the famine when Elimelech took his family and left. Not only did he stay, but it seems as though he also prospered. This is a valuable principle about, “hanging in there,” which might could be applied to our study from two weeks ago about leaving a church. Boaz also seems to have a sense of God. He greets his reapers, in vrs. 4, with, “The LORD be with you!” and they know enough to reply, “The LORD bless you!” His godliness has also given him a moral framework. He says to Ruth, “Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you.” vrs. 9. Peter says, “...add to your faith, virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” II Pe. 1:5-8. Perhaps Boaz crossed his mind when he wrote that.
“So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.’ And she said to her, ‘Go my daughter.’” vrs. 2. How simple and yet how beautiful. Ruth respects her mother-in-law and asks permission. Naomi loves her daughter-in-law and calls her, “my daughter.” These are some to the building blocks of healthy relationships.
Ruth stumbles into the part of the field belonging to Boaz. Let me be very clear; there is no such thing as good luck, happenstance, coincidence, or irony, for the believer. God is sovereign and is orchestrating all things in His universe for His glory and desired outcome. He is meticulous; Jesus said, “the very hairs on your head are all numbered.” Mt. 10:30. Ruth also displays godly character. Not only was it reported to Boaz about her past virtues but he also witnesses for himself her diligence. “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.” Pro. 10:4. She also displays great innocence and humility; “So she fell on here face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him [Boaz] ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’” vrs. 10
The word, in Hebrew, for “favor” is also translated “grace.” This speaks volumes to our New Covenant relationship with the Father. This portion of Scripture speaks forward to another passage where the angel brings a message to Mary; “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Lk. 1:30. Remember, “by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8. It should be evident to us that this grace, or favor, is not just for salvation, though if it were it would have been enough, but for the continuance of our relationship with God, in Christ. God has not forgotten us! Earlier I quoted Is. 49:14. That passage goes on to say, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…” Is. 49:15
In his exchange with Ruth, Boaz commends her that she, “left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.” vrs. 11. This is the principle of “leave and cleave” and the law of separation. In a sense Ruth is born again. We see this happen earlier with Abram; “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.’” Gen. 12:1. To the Christian, Paul writes, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” II Cor. 6:14
Boaz does indeed show favor toward Ruth. He invites her to eat at meal time. Ruth saves back some of her meal for Naomi. He also instructs his reapers not to restrict her gleaning but to, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her…” vrs. 15. When she returned, later that evening, to her mother-in-law, Naomi ask, “where did you work?” and no doubt because of the abundance she said, “Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” vrs. 19. Ruth told her, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
Suddenly, the light bulb goes on in Naomi’s thinking. She gets a glimpse of what might be. I liken this to Elijah on top of Carmel, sending his servant out seven times to see if there was rain; “Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’” I Kn. 18:44
As I said last week, God is setting us up to be amazed by Him. Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” vrs. 20. And then reveals, or remembers that, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” also translated “kinsman”. Naomi tells Ruth, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in another field.” and Ruth obeys. vrs. 22,23.
The last verse is not incidental: “So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.” vrs. 23. It gives us a clearer sense of the passage of time. Agricultural people would pick up on this quickly; there could be as much as fifty days between barley harvest and wheat harvest. We would like everything to happen instantly with God, but He is frequently sowing patients into our manner of thinking. It seems clear that Naomi, by now, has a glimpse of what could transpire, but she doesn’t rush and jump in Boaz face to explain how this should go down. She and Ruth live together in quite servitude, waiting for the right opportunity. “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” Ps. 27:14.
We find a similar exchange in Esther ch. 5. Esther has the kings attention. As a matter of fact it says, “she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand.” But she waits for and appropriate time to make her request on behalf of her people. This is how we draw out principles from God’s word to guide us in our daily fair. God is no respecter of people but He is a respecter of principles. Wait upon Him and he will reveal His perfect will. This is an example of how He’s working in us and on us!
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