Ruth 1–4 · Earn Trust
Ruth and Boaz
Two people with nothing to gain from each other, and the kind of loyalty that changes a family line.
The story
The book opens in the days of the judges, during a famine. Naomi has buried her husband and both sons in Moab. She tells her daughters-in-law to go home. Orpah goes. Ruth, a Moabite with every reason to leave, refuses.
“For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”Ruth 1:16
Back in Bethlehem, Ruth goes to work. She gleans behind the harvesters in a field that belongs to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s husband. Boaz notices her, asks about her, and acts. He tells her to stay in his field, orders his men to leave her alone, and has them drop extra grain where she can gather (Ruth 2:8–16).
Later Ruth asks Boaz to act as the family redeemer. He agrees, though a nearer relative has the first right. Boaz goes to the town gate, gathers ten elders, and settles the matter in public (Ruth 4:1–10). Ruth and Boaz marry. Their son Obed becomes the grandfather of King David.
What the story teaches
Loyalty is shown in action. The Hebrew word behind this book is hesed: faithful love that goes beyond what duty requires. Ruth’s pledge would have meant little if she had not walked to Bethlehem and gone to the field the next morning.
Boaz used power to protect. He owned the field and commanded the workers. He used both for a foreign widow who could not repay him. A team learns what a leader is like by watching how the leader treats the person with the least standing.
Boaz did the right thing in the open. A shortcut was available. He went to the gate, named the nearer relative’s right, and called witnesses. Trust grows when people can see how a decision was made.
Character was noticed before position. Boaz tells Ruth that the whole town knows she is “a worthy woman” (Ruth 3:11). She had no title. She had a record of faithful days.
Small faithfulness has a long reach. Neither person knew that a king would come from this family, or that Matthew would list both of them in the family line of Jesus (Matt. 1:5).
Try this week
- Do one costly, practical thing for someone on your team who cannot repay you.
- Make one decision at the gate: in the open, with the people affected in the room.
- Look at the edge of your team. Who is gleaning there, unnoticed? Learn that person’s story.
Read the ROAR issue Entrusted, not owned. See where this step sits in the LEADS System.
Sources
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001.
Passages studied: Ruth 1–4; Matthew 1:5.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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