And Boaz answered and said to her, It has fully been shewn me, all that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law since the death of thy husband; and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come to a people that thou hast not known heretofore.
A foreign gleaner has just asked Boaz why he should notice her at all. His answer shows he already knew her whole story: what she left behind, and the strangers she came to.
Ruth's history had reached Boaz before she ever reached his field:
The servant had given witness to the poor Moabite woman; now the master himself declares what he has found in her... the one she was bowing down before takes it on himself to bring her character to light, for he knew everything... In Ruth Boaz sees the work of love, the fruit of faith; her care for Naomi, a picture of the afflicted, distressed people of God, had not escaped the master. Yes, this poor daughter of Moab was a true Israelite with no deceit in her. Also as a true daughter of Abraham she had left her land and her family and had made her way to a people unknown to her.
Such full knowledge could have frightened her. Another writer shows it did the opposite:
She has owned the truth, "I am but a stranger," and Boaz seems to say you can tell me nothing about yourself that I do not know; "It has been fully shown to me, all that you have done" (v. 11). She has no lingering fear that one day something from her past will come out and make Boaz take back the gifts of grace. Set free she can say, "You have comforted me," "You have spoken to the heart" (margin). Nothing so touches the heart, so wins the heart, or so comforts the heart, as learning, in the presence of the Lord, that He knows everything about me and still loves me.
One writer sets Ruth's choice beside Abram's, and beside a mark the Lord named in His disciples:
Like Abram, the father of all who believe, Ruth was leaving the land of idols for the land of Jehovah's promise... Indeed, by leaving her father and mother for the truth's sake (2:11), Ruth showed one of the marks the Lord said set His true disciples apart (Matt. 10:37; Luke 14:26).
Boaz does not treat her move as an impulse. One writer takes the cost she counted and turns it toward readers facing the same choice today:
Ruth had left much, and she had not taken up her present position lightly. She had weighed up the cost, and decided to leave father and mother and the land of her nativity for a people which she had not known before. But Boaz had not overlooked this, and he wishes her a full reward and repayment from God... So perhaps you, my reader, are still not fully persuaded about the Christian pathway. Yet as you seek knowledge and light in these matters, you are enduring much persecution. Let me tell you: the blessed Saviour knows all about it. And when you finally make Him your choice, you will be more than satisfied. He Himself will be a complete reward.
In the previous verse Ruth called herself a stranger. The law made that far more serious than she may have realised — for her, and for every reader:
Ruth confesses she was but "a stranger." But there was far more to it than this, though she herself may not have known it. The law of Moses said, "No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever." It said further, "You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever" (Deut. 23:3,6). What then could she have expected from Boaz but to be rebuked and driven from his field? And that same stern law, which cursed the Moabites and shut them out from blessing, curses us all and shuts heaven against us too. But thank God: if the law given through Moses condemns the sinner, the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ save him when he trusts that gracious Saviour... Though by nature a cursed Moabite, her faith had saved her; though condemned by the law, she was justified by faith.
- Counted — Ruth left parents and homeland for a people she did not know. She counted the cost first. It was no impulse.
- Known — the master knew everything. Her care for Naomi had not escaped him, and he brought her character to light himself.
- Unqualified — the law shut Moabites out. Ruth could expect to be driven from the field, not welcomed in it. Her faith, not the law, saved her.
- Comforted — the deepest comfort is not being unknown. It is being known through and through, and loved all the same.
- Followed — leaving father and mother for the truth's sake is a mark the Lord named in His disciples. And the Saviour knows what it costs.
Jehovah recompense thy work, and let thy reward be full from Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to take refuge.
Boaz has just heard the story of a Moabite woman gleaning in his field. Instead of sending her away, he asks God to repay her — and names what she has already done: she came to God for shelter.
Ruth had asked why anyone would notice a foreigner like her. Behind her question stood a law that shut her people out. That makes the blessing Boaz speaks startling.
Grace always humbles us. Ruth confesses she was only "a stranger." But there was far more to it than that, though she herself may not have known it. The law of Moses said, "No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever." It also said, "You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever" (Deut. 23:3, 6). What then could she have expected from Boaz but to be rebuked and driven from his field? And that same stern law cursed the Moabites and shut them out from blessing. It curses us all too, and shuts heaven against us… Though she was by nature a cursed Moabite, her faith had saved her. Though the law condemned her, she was justified by faith.
The picture Boaz uses is not literal. It comes from a bird covering her young, and it runs through the Psalms as the language of people in danger.
When danger threatens her helpless chicks, the hen gathers them under her wings (Matt. 23:37). When David was fleeing from Saul, he took refuge in the shadow of the wings of his God (Ps. 57:1; see also Ps. 36:7; Ps. 61:4; Ps. 91:4).
One writer measures those wings by the power of the One they belong to.
The greeting Boaz gave to Ruth ended, "under whose wings you have come to take refuge" — the wings of Omnipotence! The Lord Jesus never emptied Himself of His Godhead. He had all divine attributes, and His power was constantly at work upholding everything. What a meaning there is in this gathering them under His wings!
Boaz does not bless a stranger he knows nothing about. He has heard her whole story, and he names what he found in her.
In Ruth, Boaz sees the work of love, the fruit of faith. Her care for Naomi had not escaped the master — and Naomi pictures the afflicted, distressed people of God… Boaz sets his seal of approval on such love and faith. Then he offers her a reward… The reward is not what faith aims at. It serves to encourage faith.
The word "reward" could sound like payment earned. One writer reads it the other way round — as a promise resting on trust.
He assures her of coming blessings. Ruth will get them because she trusted. They are not blessings of works, not of the law covenant, but of grace, because she believed.
The verse names two things: her work, and her refuge. One writer notes that Boaz singles out her loyalty to Naomi more than her hours in the field.
Note this: he rewards her for her devotion more than for her service… The reward for faithful service may be great. Yet the reward of devotion, added on top of it, goes far beyond it. The fruit only matches the labour spent — unless that labour springs from true devotion. If Ruth had gone to glean like the other servant girls, she would have received her due, what her labour earned, and no more.
Later, Ruth asks Boaz to spread his wing over her. The same picture ties the two scenes together.
Did Ruth refer especially to these words of Boaz when she pleaded, "Spread your wing over your servant"? It may well have been so. The words of her lips expressed the faith of her heart: the "wing" of Boaz might be the means of the sheltering "wings" of Jehovah.
Ruth had no way of measuring what "a full reward" would mean.
Ruth had little idea what blessings lay in the words of Boaz… Nothing at that time showed the blessings that would soon be hers with Boaz, or the far-off prospect of her relationship with Jehovah Messiah Himself.
- Refuge first. Ruth's whole standing rests on one act — she came to take shelter under God's wings, not on any claim of her own.
- Refuge despite exclusion. The law barred a Moabite from the assembly forever; grace met her where the law would have driven her off.
- Refuge seen. Boaz names the love and faith he saw in her. His blessing approves it and encourages it.
- Refuge repaid. The reward follows trust, not merit — devotion draws far more than the day's gleaning ever earned.
- Refuge fulfilled. The wings she fled to became a kinsman's wing spread over her — and led on to blessings with the Messiah that she could never have foreseen.