There is a Redeemer

2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.

2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, ‘Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen corn behind someone with whom I find favour? ’

Naomi answered her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ 3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather corn behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.

4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you.’

‘The Lord bless you,’ they replied.

5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, ‘Whose young woman is this? ’

6 The servant answered, ‘She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. 7 She asked, “Will you let me gather fallen corn among the bundles behind the harvesters? ” She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.’

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather corn in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.’

10 She fell face down, bowed to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favour with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner? ’

11 Boaz answered her, ‘Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.’

13 ‘My lord,’ she said, ‘I have found favour with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.’

14 At mealtime Boaz told her, ‘Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.’ So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

15 When she got up to gather corn, Boaz ordered his young men, ‘Let her even gather corn among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. 16 Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.’ 17 So Ruth gathered corn in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty litres of barley. 18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

19 Her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.’

Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, ‘The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.’

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘May the Lord bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.’ Naomi continued, ‘The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.’

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, ‘He also told me, “Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.” ’

22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, ‘My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.’ 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered corn until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 2

Introduction

Have you ever come to the end of yourself? Not just a bad day. Not just a difficult season. I mean really come to the end of yourself—where you look at your life and see nothing but empty hands. Where hope becomes a foreign language to you. Where you stop believing that anything could ever change.

That’s where we find Naomi this morning.

She buried her husband on foreign soil. She buried her sons. She returned to Bethlehem with nothing but a daughter-in-law and a bitter heart. She renamed herself Mara, which literally means “bitter” in Ruth chapter 1. She said that the Almighty had dealt harshly with her. She is done. She is finished. She is convinced that God has abandoned her.

But yet, the narrator in our passage introduces us to a man. A man with means to rescue. A man with character to redeem. A man with the legal right to buy back what has been lost. His name is Boaz. And he could change everything.

Ruth chapter 2 is not a story about farming. It is not a romance novel. It is a story about redemption—about God’s hidden hand working through ordinary means to restore extraordinary hope.

Christ is our faithful redeemer who restores everlasting hope.

That’s the argument that I’m going to draw out of the text this morning. That is the hope of the gospel message, and we will see it in five movements:

1. The need for a redeemer
2. The provision of the redeemer
3. The revelation of the redeemer
4. The restoration by the redeemer
5. The security from the redeemer

We begin where Naomi begins—in the dust, in the emptiness, in the place where hope has died—because that is where the redeemer finds us.

The Need for a Redeemer

The first point this morning is the need for the redeemer, and I draw that point from Ruth chapter 2 verse 1—just that first verse.

Ruth 1 was Naomi’s story. A woman who buried her husband and sons on foreign soil. A widow who returned to Bethlehem empty. A woman who renamed herself Mara, meaning bitterness. A woman convinced that the Almighty had dealt a heavy blow to her.

Last week, as we looked at Ruth chapter 1, we recognized that despair had made Naomi blind. Blind to the gift of God that was standing at her side—Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, her covenant companion. A widow herself. A foreigner in a hostile land. And yet faithfully clinging to Naomi, serving her, providing for her.

So as we enter into Ruth chapter 2, we ask the question: What will become of them?

In the opening breath of Ruth 2, the narrator introduces a man to us. A man with the means to rescue, a man with the character to redeem, a man with the legal right to buy back what has been lost.

Boaz.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. According to Leviticus chapter 25 and Deuteronomy chapter 25, only a willing, wealthy, blood relative could step into the mess that Naomi and Ruth found themselves in—to redeem the land, to restore a family line, to secure provision for these destitute widows. Without such a redeemer, Naomi faced poverty and Ruth would be destitute.

We read in Ruth chapter 2 verse 1 that he was a prominent man, a man of noble character from Elimelech’s family.

We can draw two descriptions of Boaz from this text:

First, he was a prominent man. The Hebrew word means that he was a mighty warrior. During times of peace, it speaks of a man’s substance, his wealth, his influence, his power. This is a man with resources to redeem.

Second, he is described as noble. A man of character, of integrity, a man of faithfulness—one whose heart matches his strength. A man with the morals to redeem.

Boaz has the right. Boaz has the means. And Boaz has the morals. He is precisely the kind of redeemer that Naomi and Ruth so desperately need. And his name was Boaz, which means “In Him Is Strength.”

Naomi is bitter and empty, convinced that God has abandoned her. But God has not abandoned her. His man, in whom His strength resides, stands at the ready. Presently hidden from her eyes, but revealed by the narrator in Ruth chapter 2 verse 1 to ours. We see what she cannot. The stage has been set. A redeemer is near.

But can this redeemer really restore what has been ruined? Will a foreigner—Ruth the Moabitess—be welcomed or rejected? How will Boaz react when he sees her?

The Provision of the Redeemer

This leads us to our second point—the provision of the redeemer. This is a long point—it’s the majority of the text.

A redeemer can only provide if someone is willing to step toward him. That’s exactly what we see Ruth doing in this passage. She doesn’t wait passively for rescue. She moves. She acts. She places herself in the path of God’s provision.

We read: Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen corn behind someone with whom I find favor?”

Notice what Ruth does here. She doesn’t sit with her hands folded on the couch waiting for help to magically appear. No, she takes responsibility. She knows the law allows for gleaning. But she also knows she is a foreigner in a hostile land, that gleaning can be dangerous, that landowners would often exploit or harm vulnerable women. And yet Ruth steps out in faith. She trusts God’s provision even when her path is uncertain.

So we read: Ruth left and entered the field to gather corn behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz.

She just happened to go into Boaz’s field.

This is not luck. This is not coincidence. This is the providence of God. Providence is the hidden hand of God directing all things together for His purposes. Ruth does not know whose field she is entering. She’s simply seeking provision. But the narrator tells us what she cannot see—that she has happened into the field of Boaz, that God is guiding her footsteps, that not one atom drifts outside of His sovereign control.

Later, when Boaz arrives from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.” And they reply, “The Lord bless you.”

This is not a secular worksite. This is a community that acknowledges God. Boaz leads with blessing, and his workers respond with blessing.

Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” And the servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi. She came and has been on her feet since early morning.”

Notice the servant’s testimony. Ruth has labored all day without complaint. She is diligent. She is humble. She asked for permission. She didn’t assume. She’s a foreigner in a land that despises Moabites, and yet she labors hard. No bitterness. No complaint. Just faithful labor. And Boaz sees it. He hears it.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather corn in another field. Stay here close to my female servants. I ordered the young men not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go and drink.”

What we see is Boaz giving protection. Boaz does not just tolerate Ruth. He shelters her. He commands his men not to harm her. He invites her to drink from the water that his workers have drawn. He gives her access to safety. In a world where vulnerable women were often exploited, Boaz guards her. He doesn’t just give her a job. He gives her a shield against exploitation. He publicly places her under his protection against any potential threat.

Now Ruth responds with humility: “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”

She falls face down before him. She does not expect grace. She is amazed by grace.

Boaz answered her: “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you did not previously know. May the Lord reward you under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

Ruth has taken refuge under Yahweh’s wings. And Boaz blesses her. Then he becomes the means through which those wings provide shelter. He is the human agent of God’s care.

Then comes the abundance.

At mealtime, Boaz invites her to eat with his workers. She sits with them. She shares their bread. She’s not kept at arm’s length. She’s brought into fellowship. She eats and is satisfied. And she has leftovers.

When she got up to gather corn, Boaz ordered his young men: “Let her even gather corn among the bundles. Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her. Don’t rebuke her.”

The provision accelerates. The law allowed the destitute, the oppressed, the foreigners to gather at the edges of the field. But Boaz gives her access to the bundles. This is not grudging charity. This is abundant generosity. Boaz goes far beyond the law. He gives her abundance from his own store.

So Ruth gathered about twenty litres of barley.

If you had to glean behind the harvesters for an entire day, you’d be fortunate to walk away with a few handfuls of corn—enough to eat that evening. Ruth walks away not with a snack. She walks away with a heavy load. Visible proof of Boaz’s superabounding generosity. Enough for weeks. Enough to sustain Naomi. Enough to bring hope to their home.

Ruth returns to Naomi. She brings what she has gleaned. She brings what she had left over from her meal. And Naomi asks, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”

Naomi is beginning to see. God is at work. Her bitterness is cracking. Hope is stirring.

The Redeemer’s kindness provides protection and abundance. Boaz does not merely meet Ruth’s needs. He overflows them. He protects her from harm. He provides more than enough. This is what the redeemer does. And it is a foretaste of something greater.

But there is more. This man is not just a generous farmer. He’s not just a good employer. He is something more. And Naomi is about to tell Ruth what she has not yet realized.

The Revelation of the Redeemer

Which brings us to our third point—the revelation of the redeemer. Just one verse: Ruth chapter 2 verse 20.

We’ve seen Boaz’s character—noble, faithful, and strong. A good example on Father’s Day of what a good father looks like. But it’s not until now that Ruth and Naomi realize the full significance of who Boaz is.

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lord bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living and the dead.”

This is the moment. This is the turning point. Naomi has been bitter until now. She renamed herself Mara. She accused the Almighty of dealing harshly with her. She returned empty, convinced God had abandoned her. But now she sees. Now she blesses.

“May the Lord bless him.”

For the first time in the book, Naomi speaks a blessing instead of a lament. Her heart is cracking open. Hope is stirring. God has not abandoned His kindness to the living or the dead. The living is Ruth. The living is Naomi. The dead are Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chilion that we read about last week. God is restoring what was lost. And Naomi begins to see that Boaz is how the Lord is doing it.

Then she speaks the words that change everything: “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”

A redeemer. The Hebrew word is go’el.

Let me explain what that means. In Israel, the go’el was the nearest family member with the legal right and moral duty to rescue—to redeem land, to restore a family line, to secure provision for destitute widows. He had to be a blood relative. He had to be willing. And he had to be able to pay the price required.

Boaz is all three: He has the right. He is a close relative. He has the means. He is a man of great wealth. He has the character. He is noble, faithful, and kind.

You can picture it like this: A family falls apart. The father dies. The mother is destitute. The children have no future. And then a relative steps in—not just with money, but with himself. He takes them in. He raises the children as his own. He gives them his name, his inheritance, his future. He doesn’t just write checks. He becomes their salvation.

That’s the picture. But those are just shadows. Boaz in this text—he is the real deal. He has the right, the means, and the morals. He is the redeemer that Naomi and Ruth so desperately need. And Naomi finally sees it. This man is not just generous. He’s not just kind. He is the one. The one who can save them.

God’s provision through a faithful redeemer restores hope.

Naomi knows what must happen next. Ruth must stay close to him. She must remain under his protection because safety, provision, and hope are only found with the redeemer. And that’s exactly what Naomi directs her to do.

The Restoration by the Redeemer

And that’s our fourth point—the restoration by the redeemer. It’s in verses 21 and 22 of Ruth chapter 2.

Naomi finally recognizes Boaz as God’s providential provision for their deliverance. Ruth has brought more than leftovers home with her. She’s also brought back word. Boaz told her something else, which she now relays to her mother-in-law: “Stay with my young men until they have finished all my harvest.”

Boaz did not just give her a day’s wage and send her on her way. He gave her an invitation. An open door. A future. Stay. The word is the same word used in Ruth 1:14—the idea of clinging. The loyalty that Ruth gave is now returned with interest. Covenant loyalty. Not for a day, but over months.

And this ongoing provision does something remarkable in our passage. It heals Naomi’s heart.

Listen to what she says: “My daughter, it is good for you.”

It’s a shift from Ruth chapter 1 where she lamented, “The Lord has brought me back empty,” where she said, “Call me Mara, I am bitter.” Now she says, “It is good.” The Hebrew word tov means pleasant. Naomi is speaking her name again. Bitterness is giving ground. Hope is winning.

Naomi is not just healed. She starts to think about Ruth and not just about herself. She becomes protective. “Work with his female servants,” she tells Ruth. She knows where safety lies. She directs her to stay there. The woman who couldn’t even see Ruth standing next to her last week, who couldn’t see her as anything other than a burden, is now mothering her, guiding her, guarding her.

The Redeemer’s kindness provides more than food. It heals the broken. It restores the hopeless.

The Security from the Redeemer

And this restoration is not fleeting. It stretches beyond the moment. It secures a future. And that security is what we see next in our final point—the security from the redeemer in verse 23.

We know from the previous chapter that Ruth and Naomi arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest. Here we read that they stayed until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. That’s a three-month period. Day after day, Ruth labored in Boaz’s field under his protection.

The need for a redeemer is met by the redeemer’s provision. The revelation of the redeemer led to restoration, and now it leads to their security. Not a single day’s wages, but months of care. Not a single act of kindness, but a pattern of protection. Boaz did not rescue her once. He sheltered her daily.

And at the end of verse 23: Ruth lived with her mother-in-law. The woman she clung to in Ruth 1:14. The Redeemer’s provision did not cause her to forget the one she came to serve. It enabled her to serve faithfully. A thousand mornings. A thousand fields. One faithful foot after another.

The redeemer’s provision does more than feed. It heals. It restores. It builds a life that endures beyond the harvest.

Naomi arrived empty and bitter, and now she sees good. Ruth arrived foreign and vulnerable, and now she labors in safety. Their household has moved from barrenness to abundance, from isolation to community, from despair to daily bread.

God’s provision through a faithful redeemer restores hope.

Not hope that flickers. Not hope that fades. Hope that endures. Because the field is not the source of their hope, and neither is the man who owns it. God’s providence fuels the hope that Naomi and Ruth now share.

And that hope pushes us forward. Not to another field. To the One who provides it all. The greater Boaz. The faithful Redeemer. The One who restores everlasting hope.

Connect to the gospel

Look at what we’ve seen across Ruth chapter 2. Naomi arrived empty, but she leaves full. Ruth was a vulnerable foreigner, but now she labors in security. Why? Because of Boaz. The text shouts a glorious truth: God’s provision through a faithful redeemer restores hope. When the sovereign God steps into our ruin through a qualified rescuer, everything changes.

But friends, we cannot stop in the barley fields of Bethlehem. If we leave this story as a mere moral lesson about human kindness or financial rescue, we miss the point. A Christian audience cannot truly apply this text without the gospel. Why? Because Boaz is only a shadow. He points to someone greater. He provided temporary bread, but our deepest hunger is eternal. We need a greater redemption.

And God has provided One.

As Paul writes in Ephesians: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

Behold the ultimate Redeemer. Jesus Christ did not merely drop extra handfuls of grain for us. He did not just write a check for our problems. He laid down His very life. He entered our poverty, took our curse upon the cross, and shed His precious blood to buy us back from sin and death.

There is a redeemer—Jesus, God’s own Son. Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Then comes the sudden turn. The grave could not hold Him. He rose from the dead, bright and alive, shattering the power of despair forever. This is the feast—not leftovers. This is the great meal of eternity. The cross is where our rescue was paid, and the empty tomb is where our future was secured.

Boaz restored Naomi’s hope for a season, but Jesus alters our reality forever. He does not rescue for a single harvest. He anchors us for eternity. Because He lives, our destination is secure.

Christ is our faithful redeemer who restores everlasting hope.

Application for Believers

So how do we live in light of this spectacular rescue? How does this eternal reality change our modern, everyday struggles?

First, to those of you who believe—those who have put your faith and trust in the great Redeemer Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior—here is application from Ruth chapter 2 for you:

Stop believing that God has abandoned you when your life feels empty.

That’s what Naomi did. She renamed herself Mara. She said the Lord had dealt harshly with her, that He had abandoned her. But He hadn’t abandoned her. He continued to work. Hidden from her eyes, but revealed to ours.

When circumstances seem barren, remember God’s providence often comes to us through ordinary people, through ordinary kindnesses—a word of protection, a meal shared, a field where you might labor. That’s how God’s providence comes. Not with trumpets heralding its arrival, but with grain enough for today and hope for tomorrow.

This week, identify one area where you are prone to give up hope. A place where you might have whispered, “God has forgotten me.” Bring it to the light. And then pray. Pray to see His providence at work. Ask Him to open your eyes to the Boaz He has placed in your path. The friend who checks in. The neighbor who offers to help. The church which provides. The ordinary means of His extraordinary care.

Do not despise the small provision. It is the hand of God toward you. He has not abandoned you. He is at work. Look. And see.

Application for Unbelievers

There is application in Ruth chapter 2 for others also. If you are here today and you have not yet placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, Ruth chapter 2 speaks into your life too.

You are looking for hope in all the wrong places.

You think success will satisfy. It will not. You think relationships will save you. They cannot. You think comfort will bring you peace. It shall not. You are like Naomi before she saw. Empty and bitter. Searching. But you have not yet found because you have looked where hope does not live.

Your career cannot redeem you. Your marriage cannot save you. Your bank balance cannot buy what your soul needs. Only Jesus can.

Jesus is the greater Boaz—the One with the right, the means, and the character to rescue, to restore, and to redeem.

Right now, consider how your pursuit has left you empty. How much and how long you have chased. How much you still lack. The emptiness you feel is a signpost. It points to the One who can fill.

Turn to Christ. Not to religion. Not to morality. Turn to Jesus. He is the only Redeemer. The only hope that lasts.

Conclusion

We began where Naomi began—in the dust, in the emptiness, in the place where hope had died.

You remember her. A woman who buried her husband on foreign soil. Buried her sons. Returned to Bethlehem with nothing but a bitter heart. She renamed herself Mara. She said the Almighty had dealt harshly with her. She was done. Finished. Convinced that God had abandoned her.

But God had not abandoned her. He provided a redeemer. Hidden from her eyes. Revealed to ours.

We’ve seen that redeemer in five movements this morning: The need for the redeemer, because Naomi was empty and Ruth was destitute. The provision of the redeemer, because Boaz sheltered and supplied. The revelation of the redeemer, because Naomi finally saw who he was. The restoration by the redeemer, because his kindness healed her heart. The security from the redeemer, because Ruth stayed in his field from harvest to harvest.

And all of this points to Christ.

Christ is our faithful redeemer who restores everlasting hope.

So stop believing God has abandoned you when life feels empty. He is working, often through ordinary people, through ordinary kindness. Look. And see.

And to those of you still looking for hope in the wrong places—your career cannot redeem you. Your relationships cannot save you. Only Jesus can. Turn to Him. He is the only Redeemer. The only hope that lasts.

The God who provided a redeemer for Naomi has provided a Redeemer for us. Boaz is a foretaste. Christ is the feast. And He invites you to stay in His field, to trust His provision, and to rest under His wings.

Will you?

Amen.