“When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest… thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger” (Lev. 19:9,10).
If in its beginning the story of Ruth portrays the grace that saves, this portion sets forth the grace that sustains. The grace of God not only brings salvation to us but, having done so, it teaches us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. As we come under the teaching of grace so shall we make spiritual progress. It is this growth in grace, or spiritual progress, that is so attractively illustrated in this chapter.
It is blessed indeed for a young convert to start well by making a definite break with the world and accepting the path of faith in company with the people of God. A good start however, is not enough. If we are to be maintained in the path of faith there must be growth in grace. If, says the Apostle Peter, Christians are to enjoy “grace and peace” in abundance if they are to enjoy all things that pertain to life and godliness, and to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” it will only be “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2-4); therefore he closes his Epistle by exhorting believers to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
The Corinthian believers, though they made a good start were very slow in making spiritual progress. They were hindered by worldliness and the wisdom of this world. The Galatians made a good start, for, says the Apostle, “ye did run well,” but he has to ask, “Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” (Gal. 5:7). They had been hindered by legality through coming under false teachers. So today many appear to start well and give promise of being devoted Christians, but, alas! in after life they make little soul progress. They do not grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They fall before the attractions of the world and become worldly, or under the influence of false teachers and become legal.
1.- This portion of Ruth’s story will discover to us the secret of growth in grace. Here it is evident that Ruth is viewed as a gleaner. In verse 2 we find her saying to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean.” In verse 7 she says to the servant, “Let me glean.” In verse 17 we read, “So she gleaned,” and again in the last verse, “So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean.”
Ruth then is presented as a gleaner. But what is the spiritual significance of gleaning? We must remember that the first chapter ends by telling us that it was “the beginning of barley harvest.” Naomi and Ruth found themselves in the midst of plenty. But however plentiful the harvest unless gathered in it will be useless to feed the hungry. The reapers and the gleaners must do their work or otherwise they will starve in the midst of plenty. By gleaning Ruth appropriated for her own need, and that of Naomi, the rich supply put at their disposal by the lord of the harvest.
May we not therefore say that spiritually gleaning sets forth the appropriation by the believer of the spiritual blessings to which God has given him a title. In the history of Israel God gave that nation an absolute title to the land, the boundaries of which were set forth with great exactness; nevertheless God said, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given you.” They had to take possession. So too Paul can say with the utmost confidence that believers are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, but this did not hinder him from praying that there might be a special work, by the Holy Spirit in the inner man, in order that the saints might comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of all these spiritual blessings.
It was a wonderful day in our history when the Lord called us to Himself, and we learned that our sins were forgiven, and we were sealed with the Holy Spirit and were thus made meet to be partakers of the portion of the saints in light; and though there can be no growth in meetness for the glory, yet the Apostle does look for growth by the true knowledge of God (Col. 1:10, JND). And yet, alas! what poor gleaners we have been. How little we have entered into the unsearchable riches of Christ.
2.- How is it we have been such poor gleaners? Is it not that gleaning demands conditions with which we are not always prepared to comply. This becomes manifest as we note the qualities which made Ruth such an excellent gleaner.
First, she was marked by a spirit of humility and subjection. She says to Naomi, “Let me now go,” and again she says to the servant, “Let me glean.” She did not act independently of others who were older and more experienced than herself. She did not despise guidance and counsel. She did not suffer from an unbroken will, leading her to do that which was right in her own eyes. Peter can say, “Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Subjection and humility are linked together by the Spirit of God. The proud man does not like to submit to anyone. An unbroken will is the greatest hindrance to growth in grace.
Secondly, Ruth was marked by diligence. As we read in verse 7, “She came and hath continued even from the morning until now, her sitting in the house hath been little as yet” (JND). Again in verse 17 we read, “She gleaned in the field until even.” Is there not a great lack of diligence with believers in the things of God? We are diligent enough in the things of this world, but alas, the things of the Lord too often have only the odd moments of our lives. Are we diligent in the study of the Word? Are we diligent in prayer? We may plead that the hurry and difficulties of life leave but little time, but the question is still, How do we spend the little time that we have? In Hebrews 6:11, the writer exhorts to diligence and then adds, “Be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” If we desire to enter into the enjoyment of our inheritance we must be diligent. Small wonder if we make but little soul progress when we can find time to read the daily news, and light literature of this world, and yet find no time to glean in the rich pastures of God’s holy Word.
Thirdly, Ruth was persevering. She was not diligent one day and slothful the next, but “she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of the barley harvest and of wheat harvest.” Day after day she gleaned until the end of both the barley and the wheat harvest. The Bereans were specially commended not simply for searching the Scriptures, but because they did so daily (Acts 17:11). It is easy to be diligent for one day, but to be diligent day after day calls for perseverance. Daily is a hard and testing word. Let the disciple “take up his cross daily,” said the Lord. To put forth some great effort to make some heroic sacrifice, is comparatively easy but to go on quietly day after day following Christ is the test. It is not the man that starts well that wins the race but the man that perseveres.
Finally, we read that Ruth “beat out that she had gleaned” (vs. 17). It is not enough to glean the barley and the wheat, it must be beaten out. The truth we gather whether through our private study, or from the ministry of others, must become the subject of prayer and meditation if it is to promote spiritual growth. The mere acquisition of truth will only puff up. It must be enjoyed in communion with the Lord if it is to lead into further knowledge of the Lord.
Thus in order to make spiritual progress a condition of soul is called for marked by subjection, diligence, perseverance and meditation. Moreover, the condition of the individual soul, while of the first importance, is not all. There is the help which we derive from others that promotes spiritual progress. This is strikingly seen in the different characters that pass before us in this chapter. Naomi, the maidens, the reapers, the servant set over the reapers, and finally Boaz the mighty man of wealth, all pass before us, and all are viewed in connection with Ruth. In different ways all are helping her to glean, bringing before us the different means that are set in activity by Christ to promote the spiritual growth in grace of His beloved people.
3.- Naomi had long been in relationship with Boaz, and is able to advise and instruct Ruth. So now there are those who have been long on the way, in relationship with Christ; and though they may have failed much (like Naomi) yet they are fitted by experience to instruct and counsel the younger saints. Naomi hardly sets forth one gifted to teach or preach but rather those aged saints, of whom we read in the second chapter of Titus, who are to be examples to others, “teachers of good things,” and able to give loving advice to the younger women. In the spirit of these verses, Naomi, raising no difficulties, placing no hindrances in her way, at once says, “Go, my daughter.” She encourages Ruth in this happy work. Moreover, on Ruth’s return from her labors she gladly recognizes her progress, for we read “she saw what she had gleaned” (vs. 18). Further she interests herself in Ruth’s progress, for she inquires, “Where hast thou gleaned today? And where wroughtest thou?” (vs. 19). Lastly she enlightens Ruth as to Boaz and gives her loving counsel as to her gleaning (vv. 20, 22). Would that there were a little more of the spirit of Naomi leading the elder saints to care for the younger, to encourage them, take note of their progress, inquire after their spiritual welfare, instruct them in the knowledge of Christ, and counsel them as to their gleaning.
4.- The maidens also help in this happy work of gleaning. They come before us in verses 8, 22 and 23. They are the companions with whom Ruth gleaned. Do they not speak, in a picture, of that happy fellowship and communion between the Lord’s people which so greatly helps in promoting spiritual progress?
Boaz warns Ruth, “Not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens.” There are other fields and other maidens, but they are strangers to Boaz. Whether young or old in the path of faith we do well to heed the warning of Boaz. For the world has many an attractive field and can offer very pleasant company at times, but the world’s fair fields and the world’s vain company are not of Christ. In the days of the Apostles the world gave them but a prison, and when set free they went to their own company.
Of necessity we have to do with men of the world in relation to business and the affairs of this life, but it is not in that circle that we can enjoy sweet fellowship and make spiritual progress. This alone can be found in our “own company,” the company of the Lord’s people. In the early days of Christianity the unbroken fellowship of God’s people resulted in “great power” and “great grace.” In Hebrews 10 we are exhorted to “Consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.” The saints are not the source of love and good works but the company of the saints certainly promotes love and good works. The day of judgment for this world is approaching, hence we do well to part with this world’s company, and find our happy portion with “the maidens of Boaz,” those who are undefiled and have kept their garments white. The nearer the day, the nearer we should draw to one another.
5.- The reapers also have their service in connection with Ruth. They pass before us in verses 4, 5-7,9 and 21. They were the servants of Boaz and vividly set before us the characteristics that should mark the servants of the Lord who addict themselves to ministry for the help of the Lord’s people.
The first necessity for every servant of the Lord is the presence of the Lord. So we find Boaz greeting his reapers with the beautiful desire “The Lord be with you” (vs. 4). And in like spirit we read in the gospel day, “They went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them” (Mark 16:20).
Second, for the service of Boaz to be effectually accomplished there must be subjection to the servant set over the reapers. We need not only the Lord with us but also the control of the Spirit, the Divine Person that is prefigured by the nameless servant (vs. 5).
Third, the reapers go before, and Ruth follows after, as she can say, “Let me glean and gather after the reapers.” Scripture recognizes that there are those among the people of God who lead spiritually, who have spoken to us the Word of God and whose faith we are told to follow. Such we are to obey and to such submit, for they watch for our souls (Heb. 13:7, 17).
Fourth, these young men—the servants of Boaz—draw water out of wells. It was the privilege of Ruth to drink the water, but it was the responsibility of the young men to draw the water. Not all are called, or fitted, to draw water out of the deep wells of God, but all can drink of the water when placed in vessels suited to their capacity. The water in the well is beyond the reach of many; the water in the vessel is available for all. And so the word to Ruth is, “Go unto the vessels and drink.” Timothy was to “meditate upon these things,” to give himself “wholly to them.” This surely was drawing water from the well. But his “profiting” was to “appear to all.” This was the water in the vessel available for all (1 Tim. 4:15).
Fifth, in order that the reapers may be fitted for their service they receive special directions from their master. “Boaz commanded his young men saying, Let her glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not” (vv. 15, 16). The special need of individuals will call for special directions from the Lord. How near the servant must be to the Master, if in the course of his service, he is to know how to let fall a special handful, for a special need, without “reproach” and without “rebuke.” The Lord in this, as in all else, is our perfect example. When, on the resurrection day, He sends a message to Peter saying, “Go your way, tell His disciples, and Peter,” was He not with infinite perfection letting fall a “handful of purpose” for a poor wandering sheep, without “reproach” and without “rebuke” (Mark 16:7).
Lastly, the labors of the reapers will end the harvest, for Boaz instructs Ruth to keep fast by my young men, until “they have ended all my harvest” (vs. 21). And as it was with the servants of Boaz so will it be with the servants of the Lord, for the Apostle used the glorious hope that is set before us to energize the servants in their service. “Therefore, my beloved brethren be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).
6.- The servant of Boaz, set over the reapers, also has his place in connection with the progress of Ruth in gleaning. He is nameless and little seen and yet is behind all, on behalf of Boaz, controlling every reaper in the fields of Boaz. Furthermore, he brings Ruth into touch with Boaz, conversing with Boaz about Ruth. The servant too is in perfect accord with the mind of Boaz. He acquaints Boaz with the truth, but utters no word to her disparagement, and anticipates the mind of Boaz in encouraging Ruth to glean in the fields of Boaz.
Surely a striking type of that great Person the Holy Spirit who has come from the glorified Christ in the name of Christ to represent the interests of Christ. One who does not speak of Himself, who is unseen by the world, but who controls the servants of the Lord and, by His gracious work in souls, brings into contact with Christ. He is One who has come to earth in the interests of Christ, and who thinks and acts in perfect accord with the mind and heart of the Father and the Son.
Hamilton Smith
(Condensed from the book of Ruth)