I love it when someone blesses me. There is something special about a kind word that softens the heart. It can come through a greeting, a text, a kind word, and even a kind deed. As I studied Ruth 2, I noticed something that was profound to me. Boaz was the owner of the land and as a landowner, he had workers harvesting the fields. When I think of most bosses, I do not envision them walking into the office shouting out, “The LORD bless you!” But this is exactly what Boaz did. As he approached his workers, he shouted out a blessing to them, “The LORD bless you!” and they called out a blessing to him in response, "The LORD bless you!"
Now, Boaz didn’t just bless his workers, but as he had a conversation with the young foreign, widowed, girl that showed up to glean with his women workers, he gave her a blessing, too. But it wasn’t an ordinary blessing.
After acknowledging Ruth’s good character Boaz said, “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
I honestly had to sit on this blessing for a while as I answered the question, “What do you learn about God?” I was reflecting on Boaz’s blessing and these three words repay, reward, and refuge stood out to me.
In order to repay someone, it implies that something that was lost will be restored.
In order to reward someone implies that something will be given that you do not already possess.
In order to provide refuge under His wings implies that there is the intimacy of one being held close under the protective shelter of one’s strength.
It occurred to me that Boaz recognized that the LORD was the One that can restore what was lost, give us what we don’t possess, and provide us with safe intimate refuge as our Protector.
Keep in mind he said this to a young woman that recently lost her husband due to illness, left her home to go to a foreign land to care for her widowed mother-in-law, and left her people’s culture and gods to follow the God of Israel, the Most High God. How little did he know that his blessing her would open the door for him to become the answer not just for her but for the whole nation of Israel and the world.
Boaz became her husband and the father of their son, Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse. Jesse became the father of King David and King David was the grandfather of Jesus. Boaz not only provided the intimate protection that gave her refuge that was safe and secure, but he restored what was lost in her husband and gave her more in a son.
Not every blessing we give will have such profound outcomes, but when we give a blessing, it implies that there is something to give. We must take note that the blessing comes from the LORD. He alone is the Giver of all good things even if we may become a part of the solution or answer to the blessing in time. The good gift is from Him alone.
Some might hold back in giving blessings for fear they may have to sacrifice as part of the solution, but we must remember that if we hold back in giving the blessing then we might miss out on the greater good that will come.
What if we all gave Boaz’s blessing to one another?
May the LORD repay you for what you have done.
May the LORD richly reward you.
May the LORD give you refuge under His wings.
Please know that it is my heart's cry over you right now! May the LORD bless you so you can go and be a blessing!
Shalom, y’all!
(The Ruth 2 Storyboard was created by Alice Swartz! She created it during our study and then blessed me by sharing it with me!)
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