Ruth’s Reaction and Report (Ruth 2:13-23)

Ruth was surprised at the kindness of Boaz to her on her first meeting with him. She recognised that she was an outsider in the community, without any rights to special treatment. Yet she was also aware that she was receiving from Boaz far more than would usually be given to a needy person. Moreover, he had spoken warmly to her and assured that there were many benefits for her in coming to know the God of Israel, under whose protection she had come (Boaz had used the illustration of a mother bird with her young to describe God).

No doubt, there are many ways of discovering those benefits, but here we can see that one method involves those who know something of what these blessings are mentioning them to those who might not. Boaz, the long-term believer in the God of Israel, spoke appropriately to Ruth, the new believer in that God, and his words brought comfort to her, as she testified to him in verse 13: ‘I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.’

It is interesting to compare the words of Ruth to Naomi when insisting to go with her to Bethlehem. Ruth had affirmed that Naomi’s God would be her God and Naomi’s people would be her people. Now, when Boaz first speaks to her, he affirms that she belongs to the God of Israel as well as to the people of Israel. She, with them, can rest secure under the shadow of his wings.

The provision of comfort is prominent in the spiritual life. Many Bible passages point to its availability as well as its usefulness. We can see it in the name that Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit when he called him the Comforter. In Isaiah 40, God commanded the prophet to comfort his people (which is a reason for searching that book for spiritual comfort). When we search the scriptures, we find that the comfort of God can be known in many different places and stages in life. We can consider some of them briefly by asking several questions.

How would we describe the mission of Jesus? Listen to the words he quoted in the synagogue in Nazareth from the prophet Isaiah: ‘​The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn’ (Isa. 61:1-2). There Jesus is describing the problems caused by sin and among his remedies is comfort.

What happens when a sinner repents? We find one answer in Isaiah 12:1: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.’ There we are reminded by the prophet that God is angry with sinners before their conversion, but now that the sinners have repented he replaces his anger with spiritual comfort. Repentance is a form of spiritual mourning, and Jesus reminds us in the Beatitudes that ‘blessed are those that mourn for they shall be comforted.’

What can we expect in difficult places? Take the well-known words of Psalm 23:4: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’ Those kinds of valleys in Israel were dangerous for sheep because of wild animals prowling in them, looking for food. What comfort could the sheep have? No point in looking at the other sheep for help and strength. Each of them could never comfort another sheep in that regard. But they could comfort one another by staying close to the shepherd. And believers in Jesus do the same by remaining close to him in communion with one another as his people.

What is it like to be in a healthy gospel church? ‘So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied’ (Acts 9:31). Five things are said about the church at that time: peace, edification, reverence, comfort and numerical growth. They knew the comfort of the Comforter, and that must have been a very special time.

How about including comfort in a benediction? Paul does, in 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: ‘Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.’ We should note what Paul says – the one who has given us eternal comfort also gives his people timely comfort.

So whenever we think about it, we will see that comfort is a common biblical theme. God is the God of all comfort (2. Cor. 1:3-4), the scriptures are a source of comfort for believers (Rom. 15:4), we are to comfort backsliders when they are restored (2 Cor. 2:7), and we are to be comforted by the resurrection when believers die (1 Thess. 4:18).

Comfort is one of the riches of the Christian life that has been given to us for the benefit of others. Paul informed the Corinthians that he was given great comfort by the God of all comfort in many times of trial, but the comfort was given to him as a kind of channel in that he was to pass on the comfort to others. He was not merely to comfort others, but he was to comfort them with whatever God used to comfort him.

The obvious way to give comfort is by speech (clearly, it also can be given by card or letter or email) because words must be used. George Lawson comments about the comfort that Ruth received: ‘Pleasant words are like an honeycomb, sweet to the soul. Those words which at once indicate friendship and nourish piety, are doubly pleasant.’ Giving and receiving comfort is an expression of Christian fellowship.

In what ways can we use speech to comfort one another? We can speak about Christian experiences and discuss our level of commitment to Christ as to its strength and state of spiritual health. One Puritan commented that ‘It is a great comfort and strengthening to a godly man when such as are of a discerning spirit approve of his condition’. We can speak about Jesus and how the promises of God are yea and amen in him. There certainly are wonderful promises in the Bible and they cover every area and aspect of life.

There are some practices that require only ourselves and God. I would suggest that we will find comfort when we take our Bibles with us when we are confessing our sins and use the many biblical examples of confession of sin such as Psalms 51 and 130. Similarly, when we want to meditate in his presence, we should have the Bible with us as we think about him and respond to him, as recorded of the psalmist in Psalm 1 (those scriptures are like roadmaps that guide us along our spiritual journeys).

It is also important that we have an active faith when looking for comfort from God. A well-known preacher of the eighteenth century called John Colquhoun once said that ‘It is a part of the office of faith to accept and to hand spiritual comfort to the holy soul.’ In that statement he had in mind Christians dealing with particulars in the salvation God has provided. Colquhoun went on: ‘Amidst all his inward and outward troubles, by his frequent actings of particular trust, he must derive strong consolation from the life, death, resurrection, intercession, covenant, words, offices, victories, and relations of Jesus Christ. He must also trust that the blessed Spirit loves him. And that, as his gracious Comforter. “He will abide with him forever, and will bring all things to his remembrance,” that are necessary to comfort him.’ And we can add to Colquhoun’s explanation the comfort that we obtain by thinking about God the Father and what he has done and is doing and will do for his family members.

Signs of true confidence

We see an example of sharing comfort in this passage when Ruth makes her way home to Naomi and explains to her all that had taken place that day. Ruth took with her the evidence of Boaz’ interest and care, and the evidence of the ephah of barley was a sign to Naomi that something very good had happened (it was an extraordinary amount to have been given). When she further found out that the provision had come from Boaz, her outlook changed even more. The receiving of comfort led to an increase in confidence.

What were the signs that indicated there was a change of perspective in Naomi. First, she now had a positive view of divine providence. From one point of view nothing in her circumstances had changed. She was still a widow accompanied by another widow needing constant help. Yet her outlook on life was different now. Her circumstances had previously led her to conclude that God was against her, that he had brought her back empty to Bethlehem. Now, having heard what happened to Ruth, and the sense of comfort that it brought to her, she is now confident regarding better things.

Second, Naomi praised the Lord. She says something unusual about the Lord’s action in verse 20: ‘May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ We can understand what is meant when she says that God has not forsaken his kindness to the living (that is, Naomi and Ruth). But what does she mean by saying that his kindness has been shown to the dead? She is probably referring to her husband and children, and to what their desires from God would have been before they died, that he would take care of their loved ones. And so it was happening. She saw the hand of a faithful God.

Third, she sensed that the Lord was opening a door according to his own Word. In the Jewish civil law, one of the requirements was for a relative to marry the wife of a deceased person and carry on the family line. The name for such a person was redeemer. Naomi was aware of several individuals who could fulfil this role in her family, but she may not have known which one had the greatest obligation (we see later in the story that Boaz was not the closest relative). Yet she seems to have seen signs identifying Boaz as the one who would perform this responsibility. Not only had he cared for Ruth earlier that day, but he also was willing to protect her in the days ahead.

Applications

No doubt, there are many lessons that we can learn from this experience of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz. We could have thought more concerning what we are told about the modesty and humility of Ruth or what the passage says about the godliness and compassion of Boaz. But it is better to ask what it says about God so that we can worship him for valid reasons. What does it say?

It is not difficult for us to see the compassion of God as he provides for the concerns of two needy widows. We can also see evidence of the faithfulness of God, a reminder that he is in covenant with his people even when they, like Naomi was, are low in faith concerning how he will help them. Again, we can see the wisdom of God as he worked in his providence to bring together Boaz and Ruth with neither of them knowing what his plans for them were. His compassion, faithfulness and wisdom remind us that he is the controller of providence, both in its overall aspect but also in the details of the lives of individuals.

It is also important to remember that throughout the Old Testament God is constantly pointing to the Saviour who was to come. Sometimes he does this by detailed prophecies of the Messiah, at other times by specific promises connected to his person and work, and at other times by insightful pictures describing what he would say and do. Pictures may involve rituals or rules, and here we have in Boaz a picture of the Messiah through his character and role, even although he was a sinner needing himself to be saved by the Messiah. Boaz is a prominent person who eventually rescues his needy relative Ruth but here he is beginning to draw her with the cords of love to trust in him. In that, he is a picture of Jesus.