RuthThe Gleaner

Text: Ruth 2:15-18Inspiration gleaned from Morning and

Evening by C.H. Spurgeon

Who Was Ruth?

Read: Ruth 1:1-16

She was a foreign woman.She was a widower.

She was a faithful daughter-in-law.

15As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don’t embarrass her. 16 Rather, pull out some

stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered,

and it amounted to about an ephah. 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law

saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over

after she had eaten enough.

~ Ruth 2:15-18 (NIV)

Who Were the Gleaner’s?

These were the people that gathered the grain that was left by the reapers.

They were not hired workers, but instead poor, peasant people that found their sustenance

through the leftovers of others.They were welfare families, living off of the

providence of God because they were unable to provide for themselves.

9 When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your

vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and

the alien. I am the LORD your God.

~ Leviticus 19:9-10, also 23:22

How are we like Ruth? How are we like the gleaner’s?

The Food Comes from Gleaning

v16 Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.

1. She gathered what was left for her.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

~ John 1:1

Are you gathering what was left for you?

The Food Comes from Gleaning

v17a So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening.

2. She gleaned from the fields.

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

~ Luke 10:39

What does it look like for you to sit at the feet of Jesus, to glean

from His Word?

The Food Comes from Gleaning

v17b Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.

3. She threshed what she had gathered.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

~ 2 Timothy 2:15

How can we “accurately handle the Word of Truth”?

The Food Comes from Gleaning

v18a She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered.

4. She carried what she gathered with her.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

~ Joshua 1:8

What is one way that we can meditate on the Word of God?

The Food Comes from Gleaning

v18b Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

5. She added what she gleaned to what she already possessed.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge…

~ 1 Peter 1:5

Why is it important that we do not stay in the condition that we

are in when we are saved, but instead continuously add to our

faith?

The Food Comes from Gleaning

v16 Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

6. She shared what she had with those around her.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

~ Colossians 4:5-6

How can we most effectively share what we have with

those around us?

Final Thoughts

“The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: so must I be content to search for single truths, if there be no greater plenty of them. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise unto salvation.”

~ Spurgeon, Charles H.