A walk through Ruth (Ch.2)

Ruth Chapter 2

In Ruth Chapter 2, Naomi and Ruth, now in Bethlehem, face poverty as widows. Ruth, with Naomi’s blessing, goes to glean in the fields to provide for them, trusting in God’s provision. By divine providence, she gleans in the field of Boaz, a wealthy and godly relative of Naomi’s late husband, Elimelech. Boaz notices Ruth, learns of her loyalty to Naomi, and shows her kindness by protecting her, providing food, and ensuring she gathers ample grain. 

He praises her faith and character, invoking God’s blessing on her. Ruth returns to Naomi with an abundance of grain and shares the news of Boaz’s favor, sparking hope that he might act as their kinsman-redeemer.

Ruth Chapter 2 points redemptively to Jesus as the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer. Boaz’s role as a redeemer, showing unmerited favor to Ruth, a Moabite outsider, foreshadows Christ’s redemptive work, purchasing His people from spiritual poverty (Ephesians 1:7). 

Ruth’s humble faith and dependence on God’s provision mirror the posture of those who rely on Christ for salvation. 

Boaz’s generosity, providing safety and abundance, reflects Jesus, the Bread of Life, who offers eternal sustenance (John 6:35). 

The chapter’s emphasis on God’s providence, guiding Ruth to Boaz’s field, underscores His sovereign plan to bring salvation through Christ, a descendant of Ruth and Boaz (Matthew 1:5). 

Ruth’s inclusion in Israel’s covenant community prefigures the gospel’s reach to all nations (Galatians 3:28-29).

Devotional:

Ruth 2:12 – “The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

Reflection:

Ruth’s faith led her to seek refuge under the wings of the Lord, trusting Him in her vulnerability as a foreigner and widow. Boaz’s kindness to her reflects God’s unmerited grace, which Christians celebrate as the heart of salvation. 

We, like Ruth, are unworthy outsiders, yet God sovereignly draws us to Himself, covering us with His covenant love through Christ, our true Redeemer. 

Boaz’s provision points to Jesus, who not only shelters us but redeems us fully, securing our eternal inheritance. 

God’s providence, seen in Ruth’s “chance” arrival in Boaz’s field, assures us that He orchestrates every detail of our lives for His redemptive purposes.

Application: 

Rest in God’s sovereign grace, knowing that He has provided Christ as your Redeemer. Trust His providence in your daily needs, and let Ruth’s example encourage you to seek refuge in Him alone, with humility and faith.

Prayer: 

Gracious God, we praise You for Your sovereign providence and redeeming love. Thank You for Jesus, our Kinsman-Redeemer, who shelters us under Your wings and provides for our every need. Help us to trust Your perfect plan and to live with the humble faith of Ruth, glorifying You in all we do. 

Amen.

1689 LBC: Justification

A wonderful document rich in theology that I hold as my doctrine. Here is an excerpt on justification, enjoy!

1. Those whom God effectually calls He also freely justifies, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting them as righteous, not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone. They are not justified because God reckons as their righteousness either their faith, their believing, or any other act of evangelical obedience. They are justified wholly and solely because God imputes to them Christ's righteousness. He imputes to them Christ's active obedience to the whole law and His passive obedience in death. They receive Christ's righteousness by faith, and rest on Him. They do not possess or produce this faith themselves, it is the gift of God. 

2. Faith which receives Christ's righteousness and depends on Him is the sole instrument of justification, yet this faith is not alone in the person justified, but is always accompanied by all the other saving graces. And it is not a dead faith, but works by love. 

3. Christ, by His obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified, and by the sacrifice of himself through the blood of His cross, underwent instead of them the penalty due to them, so making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice on their behalf. Yet because He was given by the Father for them, and because His obedience and satisfaction was accepted instead of theirs (and both freely, not because of anything in them), therefore they are justified entirely and solely by free grace, so that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. 

4. From all eternity God decreed to justify all the elect, and Christ, in the fullness of time, died for their sins, and rose again for their justification. Nevertheless, they are not personally justified until the Holy Spirit, in due time, actually applies Christ to them. 

5. God continues to forgive the sins of those who are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may because of their sins, fall under God's fatherly displeasure. In that condition they will not usually have the light of God's countenance restored to them until they humble themselves, confess their sins, ask for pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. 

6. The justification of believers during the Old Testament period was in all these respects exactly the same as the justification of New Testament believers.