understood the true meaning of this "testifying" on the part of Jehovah, certain it is, that the temporary

excitement of her arrival soon passed away, and the widow and her Moabite companion were left to struggle

on alone in their poverty. Apparently no other near relatives of Elimelech were left, for Boaz himself is

designated in the original as "an acquaintance to her husband,"  329 though the term indicates also

relationship. And thus through the dreary winter matters only grew worse and worse, till at last early spring

brought the barley-harvest.

It was one of those arrangements of the law, which, by its exquisite kindness and delicacy - in such striking

contrast to the heathen customs of the time - shows its Divine origin, that what was dropped, or left, or

forgotten in the harvest, was not to be claimed by the owner, but remained, as a matter of right, for the poor,

the widows, and emphatically also for the "stranger." As if to confute the later thoughts of Jewish

narrowness, "the stranger" alone is mentio ned in all the three passages where this command occurs

(Leviticus 19:9, 10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-22).330

Thus would the desolate share in Israel's blessings - and that as of Divine right rather than of human

charity, while those who could no longer work for others might, as it were, work for themselves. Yet it must

have been a bitter request, when Ruth, as if entreating a favor, asked Naomi's leave to go and glean in the

fields, in the hope that she might "find favor" in the sight of master and reapers, so as not to be harshly

spoken to, or roughly dealt with. And this was all - all that Ruth had apparently experienced of the

"blessedness of following the Lord," for Whose sake she had left home and friends! But there is a

sublimeness in the words of Scripture which immediately follow - a carelessness of effect, and yet a startling

surprise characteristic of God's dealings. As Ruth went on her bitter errand, not knowing whither, Scripture

puts it: - "her hap happened the portion of field belonging to Boaz" - the same Divine "hap" by which sleep

fled from Ahasuerus on that decisive night; the same "hap" by which so often, what to the careless

onlooker seems a chance "occurrence," is sent to us from God directly.

The whole scene is most vividly sketched. Ruth has come to the field of Boaz; she has addressed herself to

"the servant that was set over the reapers," and obtained his leave to "glean" after the reapers, and to

"gather in the sheaves." 331 From early morn she has followed them, and, as the overseer afterwards informs

Boaz (2:7), "her sitting in the house," whether for rest or talk, had been "but little."  332

And now the sun is high up in the heavens, when Boaz comes among his laborers. In true Israelitish manner

he salutes them: "Jehovah with you!" to which they respond, "Jehovah bless thee!" He could not but have

known "all the poor" (in the conventional sense) in Bethlehem, and Ruth must have led a very retired life,

never seeking company or compassion, since Boaz requires to be informed who the Moabite damsel was.

But though a stranger to her personally, the story of Ruth was well known to Boaz. Seen in the light of her

then conduct and bearing, its spiritual meaning and her motives would at once become luminous to Boaz.

For such a man to know, was to do what God willed. Ruth was an Israelite indeed, brave, true, and noble.

She must not go to any other field than his; she must not be treated like ordinary gleaners, but remain there,

where he had spoken to her, "by the maidens," so that, as the reapers went forwards, and the maidens after

them to bind the sheaves, she might be the first to glean; she must share the privileges of his household;

and he must take care that she should be unmolested.

It is easier, even for the children of God, to bear adversity than prosperity, especially if it come after long

delay and unexpectedly. But Ruth was "simple" in heart; or, as the New Testament expresses it, her "eye

was single," and God preserved her. And now, in the altered circumstances, she still acts quite in character

with her past. She complains not of her poverty; she explains not how unused she had been to such

circumstances; but she takes humbly, and with surprised gratitude, that to which she had no claim, and

which as a "stranger" she had not dared to expect. Did she, all the while, long for a gleam of heaven's light -

for an Israelitish welcome, to tell her that all this came from the God of Israel, and for His sake? It was

granted her, and that more fully than she could have hoped. Boaz knew what she had done for man, and

what she had given up for God. Hers, as he now assured her, would be recompense for the one, and a full

reward of the other, and that from Jehovah, the God of Israel, under Whose wings she had come to trust.