The Dawning of the Go'el Text: Ruth 2:17-23
Introduction: Providence in the Kernels
We live in an age that is allergic to subtlety. We want our miracles to be loud, showy, and preferably caught on a smartphone camera. We want God to part the Red Sea on our morning commute. But the way God ordinarily weaves the tapestry of His providence is with much finer threads. He works through the quiet diligence of a foreign woman in a barley field. He works through the dawning recognition in the mind of a bitter widow. He works through the ordinary means of grace, work, and covenant kindness.
The modern evangelical mind often treats the book of Ruth like a sentimental greeting card, a nice little romance tucked away in the Old Testament. But this is to profoundly misread the text. This story is a load-bearing wall in the architecture of redemption. Without this story, the line to David is broken. Without David, there is no Messiah. What happens in this barley field under the hot Bethlehem sun has direct implications for the incarnation, the cross, and the empty tomb. God is always working, especially when it looks like people are just working.
In the first part of this chapter, we saw the setup. We saw Ruth's loyal submission and Boaz's lavish generosity. Now, in this second part, we see the results. We see the fruit of that labor and grace, and we witness the precise moment when the lights come on for Naomi. It is the moment when a day's wages become a theological breakthrough, when a name spoken aloud changes everything. This is the shift from mere survival to the dawning of redemption.
The Text
So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied. Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of Yahweh who has not forsaken his lovingkindness to the living and to the dead.” Then Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative; he is one of our kinsman redeemers.” Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “Furthermore, he said to me, ‘You should stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not oppress you in another field.” So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
(Ruth 2:17-23 LSB)
The Weight of Diligence (v. 17-18)
We begin with the results of a hard day's work.
"So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left after she was satisfied." (Ruth 2:17-18)
Ruth's character is demonstrated in her labor. She worked "until evening." This was not a token effort. This was a full day of stooping, gathering, and bundling under a hot sun. And after the gathering, there was the beating. She had to separate the grain from the chaff. This is the Protestant work ethic in its purest form. God's grace does not promote laziness; it fuels diligence. Boaz's generosity was the condition for her success, but her hard work was the instrument.
And the result was staggering. An ephah of barley was somewhere between twenty and thirty liters of grain. This was not a handful to get them through the night; this was enough to feed two women for a week or more. This was not bare-minimum welfare. This was overwhelming, abundant provision. This is how our God works. He doesn't just meet our needs; He gives "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over" (Luke 6:38). The sheer weight of the grain is a tangible sermon on the extravagance of God's grace, mediated here through Boaz.
But notice what she does with it. After she herself was satisfied from the meal Boaz provided, she brought the rest home to Naomi. This is covenant faithfulness in action. Her provision was not just for her. Her blessing was for her family. She brings the evidence of God's goodness and lays it at the feet of her mother-in-law. This is a picture for us. When God blesses us, whether spiritually or materially, it is not for us to hoard it. It is to be brought back into the covenant community, for the nourishment and encouragement of the household of faith.
The Name that Changes Everything (v. 19-20)
Naomi's response moves from curiosity to a profound theological realization.
"Her mother-in-law then said to her, 'Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.' So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, 'The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.'" (Ruth 2:19)
Naomi, the woman who wanted to be called Mara, "bitter," sees the mountain of barley and knows this is not normal. This is not just good luck. Someone has "took notice" of Ruth. She pronounces a blessing on this anonymous benefactor. She is beginning to climb out of the pit of her despair. She recognizes kindness when she sees it.
And then Ruth delivers the payload. "The name of the man... is Boaz." For Ruth, this is just a name. For Naomi, this name is a key that unlocks the entire situation. This is the hinge point of the whole story. The anonymous kindness now has a face, a family, and a legal standing. The name connects the dots. This isn't just a random act of charity from a stranger; this is a specific act of kindness from a kinsman.
Naomi's reaction in verse 20 is a spiritual explosion.
"Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, 'May he be blessed of Yahweh who has not forsaken his lovingkindness to the living and to the dead.' Then Naomi said to her, 'The man is our relative; he is one of our kinsman redeemers.'" (Ruth 2:20)
Look at the shift. First, she blessed the man. Now, she blesses Yahweh. She sees the true source of the blessing. She recognizes that Boaz is an instrument in the hand of God. And she says that Yahweh has not forsaken His hesed, His covenant lovingkindness. This is a direct reversal of her earlier complaint in chapter one, where she claimed Yahweh's hand was against her. The fog of bitterness is beginning to burn off.
And notice to whom this lovingkindness is shown: "to the living and to the dead." To the living, Naomi and Ruth, in the form of food and protection. To the dead, Elimelech and his sons, because the possibility of preserving the family name and inheritance has just appeared on the horizon. This is not sentimental fluff. This is about legacy, inheritance, and the covenant line through which the Messiah will come.
And then she drops the word: go'el. Kinsman-redeemer. This is a technical, legal, covenantal term. A go'el was the closest male relative who had the responsibility to "redeem" or buy back a family member from slavery, or to buy back family land that had been sold. He was the family protector and rescuer. The moment Naomi hears the name Boaz, she understands. This is not about a handout. This is about redemption.
Prudence and Protection (v. 21-22)
The conversation then turns to practical wisdom.
"Then Ruth the Moabitess said, 'Furthermore, he said to me, You should stay close to my young men until they have finished all my harvest.' Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, 'It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, so that others do not oppress you in another field.'" (Ruth 2:21-22)
Ruth, in her innocence, accurately reports what Boaz said. The term "young men" was likely a general term for his entire workforce. But Naomi, older and wiser to the ways of the world, provides a crucial course correction. She says, in effect, "Yes, but stick with the women."
This is not a criticism of Boaz. It is godly prudence. A young, beautiful, foreign widow, alone among a group of men for weeks on end, could easily find herself in a compromised or dangerous situation. Naomi is protecting Ruth's reputation and her safety. This is a beautiful picture of the relationship between faith and wisdom. We trust in God's sovereign protection, but that does not give us a license to be foolish. We do not put the Lord our God to the test. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark; it is walking wisely in the light God has given. Naomi's counsel is about avoiding all appearance of evil and ensuring that Ruth's testimony remains above reproach.
Patient Faithfulness (v. 23)
The chapter concludes not with a sudden resolution, but with a season of faithful, patient work.
"So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law." (Genesis 2:23)
This was not a short period. The barley harvest followed by the wheat harvest would have lasted for several weeks, perhaps close to two months. The great revelation of verse 20 is followed by a long period of ordinary, day-in, day-out faithfulness. Ruth got up every morning, went to the fields, worked hard all day alongside the other women, and came home every evening.
This is the rhythm of the Christian life. We have our mountain-top moments of spiritual clarity, where God reveals His plan. But those moments are meant to fuel the long, slow, patient obedience in the valley. And notice the final phrase: "And she lived with her mother-in-law." Her primary covenant obligation was not forgotten. She did not become so enamored with Boaz's field that she neglected her duty at home. She maintained her loyalty, her submission, and her love for Naomi. This is integrated faith. Her work in the world and her life at home were all of one piece.
Our Kinsman Redeemer
The entire narrative is a beautiful, earthy picture of a much greater reality. Boaz is a type, a shadow, of the Lord Jesus Christ. We, like Ruth, are foreigners and aliens, with no claim on the inheritance of God. We, like Naomi, are left destitute and bitter by the curse of sin and death. We are spiritually impoverished, with nothing to offer.
But our true Boaz, our great Kinsman-Redeemer, has taken notice of us. He is our kinsman because He took on our flesh; He became one of us. He is our redeemer because on the cross, He paid the price to buy us back from our slavery to sin and to restore our lost inheritance. He saw us in our lowly state, and He did not just drop some leftover grain for us. He gave us the whole harvest. He gave us Himself.
He has not forsaken His hesed to the living or to the dead. For us who are alive in Him, He provides our daily bread and protects us in His field. And for the dead in Adam, He has provided resurrection and life. The name of Jesus is the name that changes everything. When the Holy Spirit opens our ears to hear that Name, our story shifts from one of bitter tragedy to one of glorious redemption.
And what is our response? It is to be like Ruth. We are to work diligently in His harvest field until He returns. We are to live in patient, faithful obedience, sticking close to His people. We are to take the blessings He lavishes upon us and use them to nourish and build up His household, the church. We were once destitute, but now, because of our Go'el, we are heirs of an unfading inheritance. Therefore, let us work, let us wait, and let us rejoice in the Lord of the harvest.