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Ruth 2:1-7 (JDV)

will you let me …?

Ruth 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s clan.¹ His name was Boaz.

Ruth 2:2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?” Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

Ruth 2:3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the section of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s clan.

Ruth 2:4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “Yahveh be with you.” “Yahveh bless you,” they replied.

Ruth 2:5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”

Ruth 2:6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab.

Ruth 2:7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain 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.”

will you let me …?

Did you notice the politeness and lack of presumption in Ruth’s voice here? She is a foreigner, with no claim that she has the right to go anywhere or do anything. She asks for permission — first from her mother-in-law Naomi, then from Boaz’s servant. Whatever God is going to do in this young woman’s life — she is not going to jump the gun and make it happen.

The Lord has some doors he plans to open for you and me, too. But when we first come to those doors, we should not be surprised if they appear to be sealed-up block walls. Living in triumph with Jesus will often require us to take up the cross of submitting to life as it is, and trusting in God’s deliverance. If Ruth had not submitted first, she would not have known the deliverance that would come later.

“Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme or to governors as those he commissions to punish wrongdoers and praise those who do good. For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves. Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

(1 Peter 2:13-17 NET)

LORD, give us the courage to submit — so that you can save.

1מִשְׁפָּחָה = clan. Ruth 2:1, 3.