“So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.” – Ruth 2:17

Scripture reading: Deuteronomy 24:19-22

Ruth was no slouch. She worked hard. In one day she gleaned about two weeks worth of food. Incredible! She could do that because Boaz had carefully instructed his employees to be generous towards her (Ruth 2:15-16).

Boaz is generously applying the gleaning laws as outlined in, among other places, Deuteronomy 24. An Israelite farmer, like Boaz, was not to harvest right up to the edges of his fields. Those were meant for the gleaners. And verse 19 of Deuteronomy 24 adds this further stipulation, “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it.”

And who were these gleanings meant for? Deuteronomy 24:19 says, “It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.” Does anything strike you? Which of the three describe Ruth? All three! She is Ruth the foreigner with no rights in God’s Promised Land. She is fatherless. She has no dad to provide for her. She is a widow too. No husband to take her under his wings.

You wonder, is it even possible to put such a frayed life back together again? But here’s the point of the gleaning laws. God, the covenant LORD, loves the “sojourner, the fatherless and the widow.” He makes provision for those who cannot provide for themselves.  He specializes in undoing our undoneness. He’s made that most vividly clear in completely undoing our Saviour, so that He could put us back together again.

Suggestions for prayer

If you feel undone or frayed around the edges, ask God to provide for you, and then thank Him for His provision as made secure by the giving of His Son.

Since 2019, Rev. Rodney Vermeulen has served the Attercliffe Canadian Reformed Church near Dunnville, Ontario, Canada. He, his wife, children and grandchildren are deeply grateful for the blessing of daily living under the shelter of God’s wings. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.