A reflection on Ruth 2

 Naomi left the house of bread for the fields of Moab

but the fields of Moab meant only death

So she left full but returned empty (1:21)

and worse than empty - burdened by her foreign daughter-in-law

but 1:22 they've come back to the house of bread at the beginning of the barley harvest

Ruth suggests a way to not be a burden, which is to gather leftovers in accordance with the Levitical laws

Note how she is described by Boaz in 2:11

And Boaz answered

and he said to her

"It has been fully declared to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law

after the death of your husband

and you forsook your father and your mother and the land of your birth

and you walked to a people whom you did not know until this time."

What is interesting here is the language is very similar to Genesis 12:1

Yhwh said to Abram,

“Go from your land and from the land of your birth and from the house of your father

to the land which I will show you."

Like Abraham, Ruth leaves everything, entrusting herself to Naomi and Naomi's people and Naomi's land and Naomi's God

Like Abraham, Ruth didn't know what would lie ahead,

but in God's providence, she found herself in the land of bread at the time of harvest and under the protection of a kind man of standing.

Fast forward to the end of the first day and it's meal time (2:14):

And Boaz said to her at eating time

"Come here and eat from the bread

and dip your piece in the vinegar"

And she sat on the side of the harvesters

and he held out to her roasted grain

and she ate

and she was satisfied

and there remained extra

From full to empty to full

and again, when she gets back to Naomi that night (2:18):

18 And she carried

and she came to the city

and her mother-in-law saw what she gleaned

and she brought out

and she gave to her what remained from what satisfied her

From lack to abundance

and although there is more to come

even from the eating we can see that God is the God of the nations

that God is the God of abundance

that God gives to overflowing

and this points us, of course, to the banquets Jesus set out for thousands who came to hear him (Mark 8:19–20):

“When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”   “Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.””

12 is enough for the Jews - like Naomi

and 7 is enough for the Gentiles - like Ruth

God is the provider for all who place their trust him.