"It is here that she [Ruth] has her first interview with him [Boaz]. Ruth has seen him as the master of his servants, and probably cowered in the background. But now Boaz comes to her and speaks to her. She sees his face and hears his voice. Chapter two is mainly taken up with two interviews between Ruth and Boaz. The first interview (verse 8-13) leads up to the second (verse 14).
"Let us stop for a moment and ask ourselves: 'When last did I have an interview with the Lord Jesus?' The Lord is ready to come and talk with us personally. When last did He speak to you? It is so easy to let the time slip by and to live like a Christian, and to be earnest in work for Him, and yet not have interviews with Him and see His face and hear His voice.
"Let us see what these interviews brought her. In the first interview he lays these injunctions upon her (verse 8):
"Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens."
"Don't go to another field. Do not glean in the fields of the world, and do not set your heart upon the ordinary concerns of the world. Then he says:
"Go thou after them."
"Let us be with other Christians and follow them as they follow Christ. Especially for a seeking soul, fellowship with other Christians is always helpful. Let us take care that we abide close by the Lord, and close by His people.
"Then he gives her three great promises.
"Have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn."
"He had first given a promise of help in gleaning. Now he gives her the promise of protection. Then in the third place he gives her the promise of water to quench her thirst at any time. She might come whenever she wished, and drink of the water of life freely. This is like the promise of Psalm xxxvi. 7:
"How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied."
"That is just what Boaz promised to Ruth, who had come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel (Ruth ii. 12).
"What a difference these promises make to her standing! Now she has a right to be in the field. She had hardly any right before. She had just the right of one who was in need, to come and glean. But now she has the word from the lord of the harvest. What confidence that must have given her. It completely changed her standing. If anyone says anything against her, she can now say 'Boaz said that I might.' She is no more a stranger now. She knows that she has a friend in Boaz,
"I've found a Friend, O such a Friend,
He loved me ere I knew Him."
"We might begin to sing that directly we have had an interview with our Boaz. We know by His Word that He has given us definite promises, which brings us assurance. Let us claim them confidently.
"Ruth realized what a difference his help made to her, and bowed herself to the ground, and asked Him:
"Why have I found grace in thine eyes?"
"It is strange that she should speak to him with a question-mark, and yet it is very natural. Faith begins with wonder. We read again and again in the gospel that they wondered and marvelled. There ought to be a great deal of wonder in our spiritual life. As you read God's Word, again and again it ought to send you to your knees with wonder in your souls.
"Wonder; that is one of the most beautiful powers given to men and women. The beasts of the field do not wonder. A cow may be in the beauty of the country it wanders over. But in the human soul there is wonder. Wonder leads to faith. Wonder leads to worship. Wonder leads to love. Let us take time to wonder at God's grace.
"A Japanese will go to a beautiful scene, where there is a wonderful expanse of country, and will sit there for hours, and make it part of himself. It is good to be like that. As you are reading God's Word, do not merely glance over this and that, but take time to let the wonder of it lay hold of your soul.
"That is what Ruth did here, and it brought her on her face before Boaz (verse 10). That is a picture of faith. Faith is when we receive the Word of our Lord, and fall at His feet, wondering at His grace. Faith takes it for granted that the Word is true. Faith does not struggle to believe. Faith hears the Word, and takes it for granted, and gets down before the Lord and worships. We wonder at His grace, and so we cannot but worship at His feet.
"Now Boaz tells her:
"It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore."
"The Lord, the risen ascended Lord, says to His people, again and again, in the second and third chapters of Revelation: 'I know thy works.' He says it, not to judge us, but in order to show His sympathy and His tenderness.
"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil." Rev. ii. 2.
"It is just what Boaz says to Ruth here. What she had done, and what she had left behind in order to come into the land and unto the people had fully been shown him. He appreciates it all and knows it all. He knows above all that she has come under the wings of the God of Israel. She was beginning to trust Him. She had said to Naomi: 'Thy God shall be my God.' Boaz knows about the beginning of faith in her heart, and wants her to have full reward.
"The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee."
"The Lord desires that each one of us shall have full blessing; full salvation; fullness of grace; fullness of His Spirit; fullness of His peace; fullness of His riches; fullness of His love; and fullness of His joy. He wants each one of us to know the full reward given to us by the Lord God of Heaven.
"Such is the first interview that she has with Boaz. His kindness had reached her heart, but as yet she had not realized her claim on him."
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