Loaves, Fish and Roasted Grain
So she sat down besides the reapers. He handed her roasted grain, and she ate her fill and had some left over. Ruth 2:14 JPS
Ate her fill – When we read this description of Ruth’s meal, we find connections to other stories about eating until satiated and having leftovers. We think of stories in both the Tanakh and the Brit Hadasha. Of course, the first readers of the story of Ruth would not connect this passage to a story about Yeshua, but we can because we have 2000 years of hindsight. Roasted grain is now gathered together with loaves and fish. Nevertheless, the first readers of this story undoubtedly connected the key phrase, tokhal va-tisba’, with stories of Israel in the wilderness and passages like Deuteronomy 6:11 and 11:15. Perhaps you can add other stories of satisfied consumption; stories that are recounted after Ruth’s experience.
Now that we have this background (and extension), we should notice the roles played by the characters in this drama. Ruth’s role is obvious. She is the stranger, the outsider and the one who receives life-giving blessing. The once-pagan convert to the God of Israel finds nourishment in God’s community among God’s chosen people. We may certainly identify. Of course, there is a major theological shift when we as Christians suggest that modern Jews need to come to our community, convert to our view of God and join the Church if they are going to find nourishment. It seems to me that we have it backwards, at least with regard to the parallels in this story.
Be that as it may, there is yet another important role player here who bears investigation. The second party to our drama is Boaz. Careful inspection reveals that Boaz plays the role of God Himself. It is Boaz who pronounces a blessing over Ruth (“May the LORD reward your deeds. May you have a full recompense from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have sought refuge!” v. 12). And it is Boaz who fulfills the very blessing he pronounced. Boaz does not wait for God to act. Boaz acts for God by providing precisely what he once wished for Ruth. Full recompense begins with his offer to eat and be satisfied. In fact, this is one of the themes of the book of Ruth. God’s blessings arrive on the hands of the faithful. We act for God when we do exactly what we wish God would do.
This theme raises some potent questions for our lives. How many times have you wished to see God’s goodness poured out on someone in need? And how often have you done what you wished God would do? Isn’t this exactly what James has in mind when he scolds followers who speak blessings but do nothing to bring them about (James 2:16)? The feeding of the five thousand began with bringing what was available. Yeshua didn’t manufacturer food from thin air. He multiplied what was given. Isn’t that lesson also a lesson about doing what we can do with what we have? In the story of Ruth, Boaz plays God. In the application of Ruth, we need to do the same.
Topical Index: ate her fill, tokhal va-tisba’, Deuteronomy 6:11, James 2:16, Matthew 14:17, Boaz, Ruth 2:14
“In fact, this is one of the themes of the book of Ruth. God’s blessings arrive on the hands of the faithful. We act for God when we do exactly what we wish God would do.”
Skip it just hit me how Ruth was sent to Israel to bless it! Never thought of it quite like that before!
I woke up with somethings on my heart this morning that have been pressing in for some time. I think it’s what we’re supposed to do with the rest of our lives. Everyone except my husband will think I’m crazy so it will remain in our hearts for now. This post is another witness and is nudging me to pursue it.
Elohim has called us to live in Torah obedience in a 3rd world country called “The Indian Nation”. Literally springs of living water began to flow from dry ground in the NV high desert when we answered His call to live here. The bin of flour has never been empty and the jar of oil has never run dry. We experience visible miracles here often.
We have neighbors with names like Ephraim, Esau, and Daniel. Our purpose here is beginning to be revealed.
I would appreciate it if this community would pray as often as you remember for a little American Indian girl (and her family) named Faith as well as our neighbors and community.
Also that Roadside Ministries would remain faithful in His calling to teach and live Torah and hear YHVH’s voice clearly. And most of all that we will remember that ours is a life set apart to bless this little sovereign nation.
It is a privileged to be part of you all.
YHVH Bless You and Keep You.
Shabbat Shalom
Pam, go for it and God’s best blessings!
I’m part Choctow, beautiful Native American Christian music plays in my home a lot of the time!
Jesus is the Warrior God — fought for my soul and won!
The Navajo — Deni has always been on my heart since I had to buy a plate of food for one in a small desert town that would not serve him in the 1960s! I long ago forgot the name of the place, we were pasing thru only. I never forgot the experience.
Deplorable conditions exist on most Reses. Rosebud and Pine Ridge, suicide levels are unbelievable. They need the book of hope, they need Almighty God.
Go, sister, Go
For those interested, go here to listen to this beautiful brief clip: http://gospelukulele.com/
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity
May one day be restored
And they’ll know we are
Christians by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians
by our Love!
We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
And together we will spread the news,
That God is in our land
And they’ll know we are
Christians by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians
by our Love!
We will work with each other
We will work side by side
We will work with each other
We will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity,
And save each man’s pride.
And they’ll know we are
Christians by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians
by our Love!
Thank you Dorothy,
My mother is part Blackfoot. We’re cousins! 🙂
Faith ‘s situation is dismal at best. This is not a res but a 2600 acre allotment. There are few neighbors and we live off grid miles apart from each other.
The way we were invited to live here started with us joining a bluegrass band with one of the major share holders of this property. We knew this was YHVH’s doing as our last name is Custer. Only YHVH could possibly make this kind of peace.
I’d forgotten this song
I may tweek this a bit and use it for sure!
We are one in the Ruach
We are one in Elohim
We are one in the Ruach
We are one in the Elohim
And we pray that all unity
May one day come to be
And they’ll know we’re
Yeshuah’s by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we’re Mesheach’s
by our Love!
We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll declare that
YHVH is in our land
And they’ll know we’re
Yeshuah’s by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we’re Mesheach’s
by our Love!
We will work with each other
We will work side by side
We will work with each other
We will work side by side
And we’ll guard other’s dignity,
And save each other’s hide.
And they’ll know we’re
Yeshuah’s by our love, by our love;
Yes, they’ll know we’re Mesheach’s
by our Love!
Shalom Shalom dear sister
Pam, I love this song with your tweeking! I’ll try to learn it this way.
BlueFeather has some of the best Christmas music I’ve heard,
and Littleleaf’s ‘Amazing Grace’ will make you cry.
What can be done for Faith?
What do you wish our Father to do for her?
I promise to pray as often as Father reminds me.
The very short version of a 17 year long story is;
Faith’s deceased grandfather is the one who insisted we be here. It was his hearts desire that his daughter and grandchildren know Messiah.
The miracles began to happen here when we made a commitment to set this little area aside to YHVH in keeping Torah. The springs appeared within 3 months.
We literally tore down alters and medicine rings that had been built here and tossed the debris into the living water. I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that Idol worship is a thing of the past in this country!
We are building a home here with an orchard, vineyard, and gardens that must be left to someone in the tribe and family. Faith is first born, beautiful and kind. She and her siblings are neglected by alcoholic parents who are not yet our friends.
YHVH has put it in our hearts to instruct her in Torah so that when we leave this to her she will know how it came about and how to possess it in righteousness according to De. 4:1-25, 5:33-6-15. Other wise we truly believe it will all literally dry up.
That’s it!
Thank you for your prayers sister
Shalom Shalom
I think her name is something to hold on to as hope that the true faith will be passed down thru her. Train one, reach many.
Faith: confidence; belief
“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6).
John K. went to work for 3 months at ‘The House for the Dying’ in Calcutta. On his first morning he met Mother Theresa who asked ‘What can I do for you?” K, who wanted to know how to serve God best for the rest of his life, expressed his deepest desire. “Pray that I have clarity.”
Mother Theresa responded firmly. “No, I will not do that.”
K. was taken aback. She continued, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go.” When K. commented that she seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you will trust God.”
Often it will only be as we look back that we see he has been guiding us.
Ps. 32: 8,9 says: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle”
Hudson Taylor, used of God to found the China Inland Mission, said of his younger days as a Christian, things used to come to him very clearly. The Lord would often guide him in very specific ways. “But,” he said, “now as I have gone on, and God has used me more and more, I seem often to be like a man going along in a fog. I do not know what to do.”
In his later years, when he was responsible for the leadership of a thousand missionaries in China, he often found guidance more difficult. Why? Simply because, being as mature as he was in his knowledge of the Bible and the ways of God, the Lord trusted him to make the right decisions.
An angel comes to Peter prison in Acts 12 and wakes him up. His chains fall off. We could liken this to when we awake spiritually, and the power of those things that bind us and keep us from being what God intended are broken. Peter then follows the angel without clear understanding as to how he is to get out of the prison, or even where he is going. At first he thinks he is dreaming. However, when he reaches the cell door, it opens. He keeps following, and when he reaches the end of the corridor, the next door opens. There is still the massive gate of the prison. Yet as they reach it, it swings open, too. Doors do not open till we reach them.
Do what God has already placed in your heart and you will do HIS will day by (ordinary) day.
Indeed Amen!
Just an observation, but one with biblical support, I believe. It seems to me that trusting God deliberately places us in mental fog and emotional bewilderment. Most, if not all of the time, we do NOT know what God is doing. We must act strictly on the modest instructions He provides, instructions that usually do not include any clarity about the ultimate outcomes. This is the story of Ruth. God’s hand invisibly guides the actors on the stage but not a single one of them know what the play is really about. Trust is doing what comes next, not seeing how it all fits.
Thanks Skip,
That is very true. This is a long story for us of trusting Him to lead us, through obedience to His Torah as we put our hand to the plow and one foot in front of the other daily.
Roadside Ministries has built and repaired things for poor ministries around the US full time for the last 22 years. This has left us in our later years with no reserve and in a position to continue to trust Him even more for our daily bread. He knows what we need and he provides it.
We simply go where He tells us, do what He puts in front of us, study His word in our precious spare time and try our best to live what it says as we do what we do. If He had laid out these years before us and said go, I would not have chosen to do this. I was raised by a very successful accountant!
However looking now at where He has brought us and how He takes care of us I’m not sorry for the journey and am grateful for the faith it has produced in us. It’s not foggy at all.
As you have been teaching through this series, Ruth’s story begins with a commitment to stay with Naomi out of love. We have been struggling with the difficulties it will bring into our lives to make a commitment to this child. We’re on the edge of saying “here I am, send me” and trying to count the cost knowing we can’t possibly even begin to know what lays ahead.
Perhaps we can only ease her situation a bit for a time. Isn’t that enough?
Naomi had lost all hope. I’m certain Ruth had hope. Hopeless people don’t act the way Ruth acted. The outcome of her faithfulness was more than she could ever dream and then even far greater than she got to see. She’s a picture of us goy comforting Israel! Strengthening there hands and knees and declaring to them “See, the Lord God will come as a strong one, ruling in power: see, those made free by him are with him, and those whom he has made safe go before him. He will give food to his flock like a keeper of sheep; with his arm he will get it together, and will take up the lambs on his breast, gently guiding those which are with young.
So we encourage ourselves with the hope that our plans will bare good fruit. But we hope, dream, and pray for long term lasting fruit that will effect future generations. We hope this because we see it in scripture.
From another point of view, that encompasses what we’ve all agreed on here, is this staggering little essay written in 1958, wherein the Invisible Hand is discussed. God is still in charge and does much for mankind thru the ordinary. If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. Freedom is one of God’s ways.
http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html