Day 12: I Don’t Believe In Coincidence (Ruth 2:2-3)
Today’s Passage: Ruth 2:2-3
Neither does my wife, believe in coincidence that is.
Recently we were with one of our adult sons and they said to my wife, “Do you remember how you would always say you don’t believe in coincidence? I think I now agree!”
That little snippet validates the adage that we get smarter as our kids get older.
In all seriousness, to believe in the God of the Bible is to believe in a God for whom not one atom, in all of time and space, is beyond his foreknowledge.
Consider verse 2:2-3
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
While we read in verse one that Naomi had a relative (Boaz), Ruth had no idea who Boaz was when she sat out that morning—or in whose field she would glean.
Gleaningis when you collect leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have completed their harvest. God specifically commanded His people to leave food in the fields for the poor, they were not to harvest every smidgen of produce. If you are not aware of how God commanded the Israelites to leave some of the harvest of their fields for the poor, you can check out Lv.19:9-10, Lv. 23:22; Dt. 24:19.
I wonder if that was the practice of Moab? Anyway, Naomi and Ruth knew it was in Israel.
Yet what neither Naomi, nor Ruth, knew was how this effort would turn out. Would Ruth find a field that had not been picked clean? Would Ruth be treated well? I am trying to put myself in her shoes; no money, no support, a beggar who is going out to glean the leftovers. Most societies would make folks in that situation feel invisible at best, and at worst would mistreat them.
Perhaps you know this story. She comes to a field owned by a kinsman named Boaz. In the coming verses we will read about the kind of man he is—a quality man. But before we consider Boaz, let’s consider God.
The text says, “she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz…”
In earlier reflections, we have examined God’s Providence and Sovereignty. I often find people with natural default thinking about this topic. They think God’s Sovereignty means we are merely mechanical pawns, unconsciously doomed to do exactly what God has already determined. (The fancy phrase is a deterministic view of God.)
Yet this is not what we read in both the Old and New Testament. God tells the Israelites, just before they enter the Promise Land, “This day I have set before you life and death, choose life.”
The Book of Ruth, with its wonderful short story, gives us the chance to look at the dynamic between human choices and responsibilities, and the sovereignty/providence of God.
“Here in the story of Ruth we see clearly illustrated the truth that God’s gracious providence does not over-ride human decision and human action. Rather it is Ruth’s request, and Naomi’s encouragement, Ruth’s unthinking choice of the field, and Boaz’ free decision to harvest his field at this time, which are the instruments in God’s hand for his providential care. This view of God is far from static and deterministic; it is living, dynamic and responsive.” (Atkinson, David J.. The Message of Ruth (The Bible Speaks Today Series) (pp. 62-63). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.)
And I would add that our ability to make those human decisions happens best when we know God. When we have a personal relationship with Him that is daily fed in prayer and reading His Word—when our daily life is structured this way, we will not adhere to a belief in coincidence.