The Harvest is Happening

Ruth 2:20–23 (ESV) And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth's haul from the day in Boaz's fields has floored Naomi. He has given her enough grain for weeks after one day and one encounter. It is a picture of the Lord's grace toward us. He is not the Lord who simply gives here and there, He gives extravagantly. 

Now there is something deeper to this story here at the end of chapter 2. The scripture says Ruth stayed in the fields of Boaz from the "beginning of the barley harvest" (See Ruth 1:22), and she keeps gleaning until the "end of the barley and wheat harvests." That is a 7 week period which is bookended by two important Jewish feasts. The feast of first fruits which took place after Passover and at the start of the barley harvest and then the feast of "weeks" or "Pentecost" at which two loaves of bread from the different gatherings (barley and wheat) were baked and presented before the Lord. 

The ultimate fulfillment of Pentecost, of course, comes in Acts 2 when the disciples receive the Spirit and begin to proclaim the Gospel with POWER in Jerusalem. The work of the Spirit eventually leads from Jerusalem/Judea to the uttermost parts of the world. What is more, those two loaves (and two harvests) represent two people groups whom God would call to Himself - the Jews and the Gentiles. Both groups are partakers of God's promise of salvation. 

This is what Paul constantly referred to as the "mystery" of the Gospel. It was a mystery to Paul because as a lifelong Jew he only knew of God's plan for Israel but upon reception of the Gospel, his eyes were opened and he would become the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul no doubt would have reread Old Testament stories like this that further uncovered God's plan from before time. Ruth is a foreign woman (Gentile) about to become a member of the house of Israel by marriage to a Christ figure named Boaz. All this began to take shape at Pentecost! You cannot make this stuff up! God's Spirit was speaking through every chapter leading us to God's fulfillment of the ages in His Church. 

So the lesson for us is simple. As His Church, we need to be ready to receive the stranger. Like Boaz had eyes out for someone strange to his people (Ruth), we must have our eyes open to those who may not look like us. If there is one common failure of local churches it is how they gravitate toward "their own" at the expense of those far from God and least like them. This must never be. God's heart has always been for the outsider and the Nations. 

My prayer from this reading is simply this: God keep my eyes open to those far from you. Open my heart to receive them and open my ears to hear you speak to me so that I can speak to them. Lord, may my hand be ready to welcome them in and make a place available for them to come to You. Finally, Lord, FILL ME with the Holy Spirit again so that I will boldly proclaim your Word as I should.

The Church is the visible body of Christ on Earth. What we do matters for eternity. The harvest is happening. Let not our hearts grow tired or weary of participating in this most important mission to seek and save those who are presently lost.