Ruth

Monday, June 8, 2009

Ruth Chapter 4

Boaz Marries Ruth


   As you read this chapter, notice how often the word redeem is used!


(1) Boaz went to the *town gate and took a seat there. Just then the **family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together.


*town gate: The town gate was the center of activity in a town. Remember Lot, as a town leader, was at the gate when the angels arrived in Sodom. Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah at a city gate (Genesis 23). So, Boaz knew he'd find his relative and the town leaders there. Boaz was quite anxious to get this deal concluded, hopefully in his favor, so he got there early before everyone arrived to conduct their business. He must have known that this relative came to town every morning.


**family redeemer: The writer of Ruth never identified the name of the nearer kinsman, because he was not worthy of the honor. He declined to fulfill his obligations as the nearer kinsman to Ruth. Neither his name nor his exact relationship is ever named. His decision not to redeem the land and Ruth means he disappears into obscurity. As Israel refused to recognize Jesus as their national redeemer and rejects him; so this redeemer refuses to redeem Ruth. And so, a gentile, Ruth, enters into the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And so, God works in the background, working everything out to his purposes and fits everything into his grand plan, of which Ruth and Boaz are completely unaware!


(2) Then Boaz called *ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses.


*ten leaders comprised a full court for legal proceedings.


(3) And Boaz said to the family redeemer, “You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is *selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.


*selling the land: The implication is that Naomi is selling the land to raise enough money for her to live on. Or, her husband had sold the land when they moved to Moab and she wants a kinsman-redeemer to buy it back to keep it in the family. The book never tells us what the exact relationship of this relative and Boaz is to Elimelech except that they are the closest relatives. Notice that Boaz is not yet mentioning Ruth.


(4) I thought I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don’t want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.” The man replied, “All right, I’ll redeem it.”


Leviticus 25:25: If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell some family land, then a close relative should buy it back for him.


(5) Then Boaz told him, “Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband’s name and keep the land in the family.”


   Boaz explained what everyone knew – that this was a package deal. If someone was going to exercise the right of kinsman-redeemer towards the deceased Elimelech, he had to fulfill the duty in regard to both the property and the posterity.


(6) “Then I can’t redeem it,” the family redeemer replied, “because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it.”


   Because of Boaz’s wise way of framing the occasion, this was the first time the nearer kinsman considered this, and it was a pretty big question to take in all at once. When it was just a matter of property, it was easy to decide on; but if he must take Ruth as a wife, that was another matter. I assume that this means that the guy was already married and had children by that wife and marrying Ruth would complicate his life and his inheritance. But, isn't it interesting that Boaz, even though older than Ruth, was unmarried.


(7) Now in those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his *sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction.


*sandal: This custom originated in the fact that men took legal possession of landed property by planting their foot, or shoe, on the soil.


   Deuteronomy 25:5-10 describes the ceremony conducted when a kinsman declined his responsibility. The one declining removed a sandal and the woman he declined to honor spat in his face. But in this case, because there was no lack of honor was involved, they just did the part of the ceremony involving the sandal.


(8) So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”


(9) Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon.


(10) And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be *my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”


*my wife: Boaz isn't really interested in the land nor trying to obtain it. What he really wants is Ruth as his wife! And so, Ruth, a Gentile, is now brought into the house of Israel. We first see Ruth in the harvest field, the alien, poor and destitute, having no part in Israel, but seeking refuge under the wing of the God of Israel. Then we see Ruth going to the threshing floor, risking everything, believing in Boaz's kindness and honor and asking him to redeem her. Then, we see Ruth, a Gentile and type of the church, being married to Boaz, the type of Christ. Just as Boaz had the right, power and will to redeem Ruth, Christ also had the right, power and will to redeem us! Ruth's husband, Mahlon, was a type of the world to which we were "married" before we were redeemed by Christ - his blood being the price of redemption.

Ephesians 2:12-13: In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.


(11) Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and *Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.


   Everybody could see what a romantic, loving occasion this was. But, there is a problem - Ruth had been married ten years without getting pregnant when in Moab - she is barren!


*Leah is the mother of Judah (Genesis 35:23), ancestor of the tribe of Boaz and Naomi.


(12) And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”


(13) So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son.


(14) Then the women of the town said to *Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel.


*Naomi: Naomi (representing Israel) is blessed by God through Ruth (representing Gentiles).


(15) May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”


   It was fitting that these blessings in the life of Naomi be given so much attention at the end of the book. Naomi was the one whose original returning to the Lord began all this great work of God. If Naomi had not decided to go back to Bethlehem, the land of Israel, and the God of Israel, none of this would have happened.


(16) Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own.


(17) The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him *Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.


*Obed means one who serves, perhaps anticipating how he would help Naomi.


(18) This is the genealogical record of their ancestor *Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron.


*Perez was born from a union based on the levirate practice (Genesis 38) - the son of Judah and Tamar.


19) Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab.


(20) Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of *Salmon.


*Salmon: Hebrew reads Salma. Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, another Gentile! The genealogy in Matthew connects Rahab to the parentage of Boaz (Matt. 1:5). She was another one like Ruth who was not from Israel but demonstrated faith in YHWH against her own people and her own gods (Josh. 2; 6:25)


(21) Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed.


(22) Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.


   It is very probable that this genealogy is not a tight chronological arrangement. It was probably compressed with certain names being omitted. Boaz is highlighted by being placed as seventh in line. There was an interval of three hundred eighty years between Salmon and David. It is evident that whole generations are omitted; the leading personages only are named, and grandfathers are said, in Scripture language, to beget their grandchildren, without specifying the intermediate links.


   Naomi’s return to Bethlehem, and the roots of David in Bethlehem, going back to Ruth and Boaz, are why Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to register in the census of Augustus (Luke 2:1-5). Ruth and Boaz are the reason why Jesus was born in Bethlehem!


   This story began with famine, death, mourning and defeat. It ends with prosperity, life, rejoicing and victory. It all illustrates what can happen when we turn our lives over to God.



   What is the lesson of this book? What one main thing does the author want us to take away from reading this story? Here's what I would suggest as the main lesson: The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska, but a state road through the Blue Ridge mountains of Tennessee. There are rock slides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn't let you see very far ahead there are frequent signs that say, "The best is yet to come." And at the bottom right corner written with an unmistakable hand are the words, "As I live, says the Lord!" The book of Ruth wants to teach us that God's purpose for the life of his people is to connect us to something far greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow him our lives always mean more than we think they do. For the Christian there is always a connection between the ordinary events of life and the stupendous work of God in history. Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is significant. It is part of a cosmic mosaic which God is painting to display the greatness of his power and wisdom to the world and to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10). The deep satisfaction of the Christian life is that it is not given over to trifles. Serving a widowed mother-in-law, gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby -- for the Christian these things are all connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they seem. From Ruth: The Best Is Yet To Come: www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/072284m.htm



Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation of the Bible.



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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Ruth Chapter 3

In chapter 2, Ruth goes to glean, and find food; in chapter 3 she goes to find rest and security in a husband.

In chapter 2, she is dressed for work; in chapter 3 she is dressed as a bride.

In chapter 2, Ruth goes hoping to find what the law allowed (gleaned grain) and in addition finds favor from Boaz.

In chapter 3 Ruth goes hoping to find what the law allows (security, levirate marriage) and in addition finds the love of Boaz.


   The story in chapter 2 ended with Ruth working in Boaz’s fields for the duration of the harvest. The story tells us that this was actually two harvests, the barley and the wheat harvest. So in all likelihood, Ruth had been working in Boaz’s fields for 6-8 weeks at the point where chapter two ends and chapter 3 begins.


   Boaz was showing some interests in chapter 2 in Ruth, but here we are 6-8 weeks later. And nothing else has happened. Sure Ruth has been protected and provided for, but Boaz for whatever reason has failed to take the next step, he’s failed to close the deal. Every day Ruth had been walking to those fields, working hard, seeing Boaz come by every day watching her and even inviting her to share the meals. He’s interested, but never makes the move. Why hadn't Boaz not initiated a proposal of marriage earlier? Possibly there were two reasons: he assumed Ruth wanted to marry a younger man, someone closer to her own age (verse 10), and he was not the closest eligible male relative (verse 12).


   Now Ruth is somewhat limited by the social norms here, as to what she can do. She can’t just outright pursue Boaz. Being a Moabite carried some baggage as well. She was poor, widowed, no longer a virgin and at the lowest level of society. She likely didn’t get the chance to look her best every day working in the hot, dusty fields. Ruth has to be wondering what is going on. And now that the harvest is over, the chances of something happen are getting pretty slim. Something needs to be done SOON!


(1) One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for.


   Naomi recognizes that Ruth cannot simply keep living with her, a poverty-stricken old widow. Most likely, her husband had sold their land before they left Israel and the only way of getting it back was by the action of a kinsman-redeemer. She sees God's hand at work to bring Ruth into God's family through Boaz because of the "happenstance" that it was his field she went to without knowing whose it was nor the relationship as a kinsman-redeemer.


(2) Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be *winnowing barley at the **threshing floor.


   Naomi seems to know a lot about what's going on with Boaz!


*winnowing: The winnowing took place during the breezes that begin after sundown.


**threshing floor: The threshing floor was typically made of clay soil packed in a hard, smooth surface. Sheaves of grain were spread on the floor and trampled by oxen. A shovel and fan were used in winnowing the grain (Isaiah 30:24). Threshing floors were often located on hills where the night winds could more easily blow away the chaff. The owner might stay there to ensure that the grain was not stolen.


(3) Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking.


   Up until now, she had probably been dressed as a widow in mourning. She is now to present herself as a bride to Boaz. Do you see an analogy with Israel?

Isaiah 62:5: Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.


(4) Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”


(5) “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied.


(6) So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.


(7) After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.


   There was a good reason why Boaz slept at the threshing floor. These were the days of the Judges, when there was much political and social instability in Israel. It wasn’t unusual for gangs of thieves to come and steal all the hard-earned grain a farmer had grown. Boaz slept at the threshing floor to guard his crop against the kind of attacks described in 1 Samuel 23:1.


   Some might think this was a provocative gesture, as if Ruth was told to provocatively offer herself sexually to Boaz. This was not how this gesture was understood in that day. In the culture of that day, this was understood as an act of total submission. In that day, this was understood to be the role of a servant - to lie at their master’s feet and be ready for any command of the master. Ruth lay crosswise at his feet - a position in which Eastern servants frequently sleep in the same chamber or tent with their master; and if they want a covering, custom allows them that benefit from part of the covering on their master's bed. So, when Naomi told Ruth to lie down at Boaz’s feet, she told her to come to him in a totally humble, submissive way. Ruth hoped that Boaz would act as her kinsman-redeemer and she hoped he would marry her and raise up a family to perpetuate the name of Elimelech. But Naomi wisely counseled Ruth to not come as a victim demanding her rights, but as a humble servant, trusting in the goodness of her kinsman-redeemer. She said to Boaz, “I respect you, I trust you, and I put my fate in your hands.”


   Note that the threshing floor was a public place and that these incidents all took place in the open. Both men and women were lying about the threshing floor. Entire families were gathered there. There was not much privacy connected with such circumstances, but it was the custom of the day and was not considered immodest or even questionable. This was a happy family gathering in the spirit of a religious festival.


(8) Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet!


(9) “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your *servant Ruth,” she replied. “**Spread the corner of your ***covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”


*servant: handmaiden. Amah = handmaiden. Nokri = alien, foreigner. Ruth formerly called herself a nokri in 2:10, but now sees herself as an amah.


**Spread: to claim her in marriage - she is claiming Boaz as her redeemer.


***covering: Literally, wing (for protection). In the metaphorical account in Ezekiel 16:8, God spreads his skirt over naked Jerusalem as an act of protection and as a precursor to marriage. Thus Ruth’s words can be taken, in effect, as a marriage proposal. Even to the present day, when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirt or end of his talith over her, to signify that he has taken her under his protection.


   There is a play on words here. Earlier Boaz had said, (Ruth 2:12) "May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge." The word 'wing' and the word 'garment' here sound very alike. So Ruth is saying, "Will you be the one God uses to provided refuge". Ruth takes matters into her own hands and she asks. She doesn't rely on her having washed herself, or beautified herself; she just asks that Boaz would fulfill his role as redeemer. That he would be her savior.


   The only other place in the Old Testament where the phrase "spreading the skirt" occurs in relation to lovers is found in Ezekiel 16:8. God is talking and he is describing Israel as a young maiden that he took for his wife. "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, behold, you were at the age for love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness; yea, I plighted my troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord, and you became mine." - KJV. She was saying in effect, "I would like to be the one to whom you pledge your faithfulness and with whom you make a marriage covenant." This word is used only one other place in Ruth -- namely, in 2:12, where Boaz says to Ruth, "The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under those wings you have come to take refuge." - KJV.


   What Boaz really means is, "Because you take refuge under the wings of God you are the kind of woman I want to cover with my wings." It is not easy for an older man to express love to a younger woman. Boaz did it with deeds of kindness and subtle words of admiration. He said he admired her for coming under God's wings. He acted as though she were under his and he waited. And in the course of time Naomi and Ruth hit upon a response just as subtle, just as profound. Ruth will come to him in his sleep, in the grain field where he has taken her under his care, and she will say yes. But she will say it with an action just as subtle and profound as the action and words of Boaz. She puts herself under his wing, so to speak, and when he wakes everything hangs on one sentence and whether Ruth has interpreted Boaz correctly. A middle-aged man in love with a young widow whom he discretely calls "my daughter," uncertain whether her heart might be going after the younger men, communicating the best he can that he wants to be God's wings for her. And a young widow gradually reading between the lines and finally ready to risk an interpretation by coming in the middle of the night to take refuge under the wing of his garment.


(10) “The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did *before, for you have not gone after a **younger man, whether rich or poor.


*before: Ruth’s former act of devotion was her decision to remain and help Naomi. The latter act of devotion is her decision to marry Boaz to provide a child to carry on her deceased husband’s (and Elimelech’s) line and to provide for Naomi in her old age.


**younger man: Apparently, there was a considerable age difference between Ruth and Boaz. It also seems that because of this, Boaz considered himself unattractive to Ruth.


(11) Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a *virtuous woman.


*virtuous woman: Or “woman of strong character” (NIV “woman of noble character”). The same phrase is used in Proverbs 31:10 to describe the ideal wife. Proverbs 31 emphasizes the ideal wife’s industry, her devotion to her family, and her concern for others, characteristics which Ruth had demonstrated.


   We know from the character of Boaz that it isn't outward appearances that impress him. He has seen Ruth dusty and sweaty in the field gleaning, but instead he focuses on her character. He has heard all about her, and what she has done has made an impression. And here again he speaks about her character, "All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character." Boaz is a man who looks at the heart, at the inner beauty of a person, at their relationship with God and how that relationship works itself out in their lives. All she had to do was ask. Which is what she did. And Boaz responds with "Yes".


(12) But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is *another man who is more closely related to you than I am.


*another man: The order of these relations is brother, uncle, cousin, or close clan relative. Boaz had apparently already been considering the situation!


(13) Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”


(14) So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.”


   Boaz and Ruth were not trying to hide anything scandalous; it was just that Boaz didn’t want the nearer kinsman to learn that Ruth was now demanding her right to marriage to a go'el before Boaz could tell him personally.


(15) Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured *six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he returned to the town.


*six scoops: About 60-80 pounds. Jewish traditions say that the six measures of barley given as a gift to Ruth were a sign of six pious men who would descend from her, endowed with six spiritual gifts: David, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and the Messiah.


(16) When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “*What happened, my daughter?” Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her,


*What happened, my daughter?: Literally, "who are you?" That is, are you now "Mrs. Boaz?"


(17) and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law *empty-handed.’”


*empty-handed: In addition to being a further gesture of kindness on Boaz’s part, the gift of barley served as a token of his intention to fulfill his responsibility as family guardian.


(18) Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”


   In ancient Israelite society, certain legal obligations fell to the next of kin, known as the go'el or "kinsman-redeemer". According to Numbers 27:8-11, family lands could not be permanently sold out of family possession. A destitute relative could sell inheritance land to pay debtors, but landless people were reduced to servitude. It fell to the go'el to redeem lands and family members by payment of outstanding debts. In the event of the death of a man without an heir, a surviving bother was obligated to redeem (i.e., marry) the widow and raise up an heir for the deceased. This implied a financial and emotional commitment that not all brothers were willing to undertake. If there were no brother, then other close relatives could act as the go'el.


   The goel - sometimes translated kinsman-redeemer - had a specifically defined role in Israel’s family life:



  • The kinsman-redeemer was responsible to buy a fellow Israelite out of slavery (Leviticus 25:48).

  • He was responsible to be the “avenger of blood” to make sure the murderer of a family member answered to the crime (Numbers 35:19).

  • He was responsible to buy back family land that had been forfeited (Leviticus 25:25).

  • He was responsible to carry on the family name by marrying a childless widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).


Deuteronomy 25:5-6: If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.



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Monday, May 18, 2009

Ruth 2

(1) Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named *Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.


*Boaz means in Him is strength. He is a type of the Lord of the harvest - Jesus Christ. Boaz was a "man of standing" (Hebrew: ’ish gibbor chail, implying Boaz was physically impressive and had noble character).


   During the famine, Elimelech took his whole family out of the Promised Land and went to Moab, but Boaz had stayed behind - and God provided for him. In fact, God made Boaz a man of great wealth. The people of Bethlehem had not perished from hunger. They were still there. And they were blessed more than Naomi’s family.


(2) One day Ruth *the Moabite said to Naomi, “**Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.”


*the Moabite - here to emphasize that she's a gentile just before we meet Boaz, the Jewish Kinsman-Redeemer.


**Let me: This must have been after discussion on how to get food and Naomi may have told Ruth about how God had provided in Leviticus the means for widows and the poor to lawfully get grain for food - but permission from the owner would have been required - especially a foreigner. This grain is barley - not the best grain (not wheat), but sufficient to prevent starvation. Barley bread was used by the poorer people (Judges 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42). Barley of the first crop was ready for the harvest by the time of the Passover, in the middle of April (Ruth 1:22; 2 Samuel 21:9). Jesus fed five thousand with "five barley loaves and two small fishes" (John 6:9).


Leviticus 23:22: “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

This was the Israelite version of social security. The Law mandated that the leavings of the field reapers were to be left behind for the poor and the foreigner to take. Ruth fit into both of these categories. She had no other means of caring for herself and Naomi. Notice that it's Ruth that takes action, not Naomi. Naomi is, perhaps, still feeling sorry for herself. But, Ruth asks Naomi's permission - she views herself as under Naomi's authority.


Matthew 15:27: She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”


   The harvesting of grain involved the following steps:



  1. The ripened standing grain was cut (usually by men) with hand sickles.

  2. The grain was bound (by men and women) into sheaves.

  3. The stalks of grain left behind were gathered (called "gleaning"). The gleanings were to be left to the poor.

  4. The sheaves were transported to the threshing floor.

  5. The grain was loosened from the straw (called "threshing") by the treading of cattle, the wheels of carts or toothed threshing sledges.

  6. The grain was tossed into the air with winnowing forks (called "winnowing") so that the wind blew away the straw and chaff, leaving the grain at the winnower's feet. The time of winnowing was also a time for celebration, since the task indicated that a successful harvest had been brought in.

  7. The grain was sifted to remove any foreign matter.

  8. The grain was bagged for transportation and storage, usually in silos.

  9. Using millstones, women ground the harvested grain into flour.


(3) So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And *as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.


*as it happened: There's no such thing as a coincidence when God is fitting things into His purposes (Romans 8:28). Was it just a coincidence that Rebecca was at the well when Abraham's servant arrived looking for a relative-bride for Isaac? Things don’t happen just by chance. They happen because there is a divine design. Accidents do happen, but they are not just accidents, for they are a part of God’s providence. God was holding her by the hand, and directing her to that field. She was going out wondering, "Where in the world am I going to glean? I don't know anyone around here." God was just leading all the way along. The significant point of the story is that she happened to pick the field which belonged to Boaz. The Hebrew says that she "chanced a chance" or "her chance chanced." There is a lesson here. It is that chance is not blind - its path is directed under the eyes of the Lord. God is not only concerned with kings and princes and great battles. He is also concerned with the mundane and the everyday happenstances. They are all within the realm of His plan.


   God is working behind the scenes, hidden from the eye. He is working behind the scenes for the good of His people. Boaz and Ruth and Naomi can’t see all of this, but we can. God is at work in the tapestry of your life even though the bottom has fallen out and dreams have shattered. God is involved in the day to day events in your life to accomplish His dreams for your life. When things go south, loved ones die, or when relationships end, and it seems that maybe we have been abandoned by God, rest assured that God is still working in our lives.


   Someday we may very well get to see the "tape" of our lives in heaven. And in heaven we'll see our life story completely differently. We'll realize that a conversation that seemed innocuous at the moment would lead to a significant outcome. We'll know that because we'll know the end of the story then. But God knows the end of the story right now. He is orchestrating things for us now, knowing what is important and what isn't. The perspective of the narrator here is the perspective God has on our lives at the moment. There is somebody who knows the future, even though we don't know it.


(4) While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said. “The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.


   Now Boaz does show many characteristics of a godly man. Just remember it's a time of spiritual declension and apostasy, the period of the Judges. But here's a man who's walking with God, who comes out and greets his servants by saying, "The Lord be with you!"


    What is striking about him is the way in which he related to his subordinates, to the little people in his life. When he came to the field, his first act was not to count or command or take inventory or direct. His first act was to bless his workers, to long for their spiritual health, and he received a blessing in return. He cared about the spiritual condition of the people around him. He loved God and he wanted others to love him.


   To Boaz, it was an ordinary day. He had no notion that he would meet anybody new or that anything unusual would happen. When he walked out to his workers, the first thing he did was call for the blessing of God in their lives. Boaz didn't know that this was the day when he would see for the first time the person who would be the center of the rest of his life. But he had a lifestyle of expecting God to use him to do good, and that created the opportunity. Do you see how the fingers of God had fashioned this man? He had been made ready to become a good husband, to have a good wife. He had been matured, and sensitized, fitted for the gift.


(5) Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”


    Boaz paid enough attention to the people under him that he could recognize a newcomer gleaning in the field. A selfish businessman would not have noticed the gleaners; he probably would resent them. But Boaz cared enough about people so that when he looked out on the field to bless his workers he noticed a new gleaner there. We can tell from his statements that he is immediately interested in her.


   Ruth didn't know that the two men, off in the distance, were talking about her. Boaz said to his foreman: "Who's that?" Without either of them knowing it, everything in Ruth's and Boaz's lives was going to change in just a moment. My wife and I often marvel at what great lengths God went to to bring us together.


(6) And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi.


(7) She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”


   The sheaves were handfuls of grain left behind the reaper and then gathered and bound, usually by children or women. The foreman is impressed with how hard she's been working.


(8) Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field.


   Boaz refers to her as "my daughter," indicating that he was considerably older than she. The female workers would come along behind those who cut the grain and bundle it up. Staying close to the female workers allowed Ruth to collect more grain than would normally be the case


(9) See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the *water they have drawn from the well.”


*water: While she had the right to gather left behind stalks, she did not have the right to drink from their well. Remember, that water is often a type of the Holy Spirit:

Isaiah 55:1: “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!

 John 4:10;4:13-14: Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” ... Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

John 7:37: On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!

Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.


   Boaz had heard the story of Naomi returning with Ruth. What's happening here is that God is acting as the "matchmaker". If you've seen the play or movie "Fiddler on the Roof", you understand what I'm talking about.


(10) Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”


   There is nothing in the Law that says Boaz has to go to the lengths which he has gone. Her question is a legitimate one.


(11) “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers.


(12) May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”


   The Hebrew word translated "wings" here, kenapayim, reads "skirt" in 3:9 (See Deuteronomy 32:11; Psalm 36:7; 57:1; 91:4).


(13) “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”


(14) At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.


   Ruth must have stood apart from them, knowing that she was not entitled to eat with them. Perhaps now, we see the first hint of a romance. Boaz showed great kindness and favor to Ruth at mealtime. It would be enough to have just invited her, but he also invited her to share fully in the meal, even the privileged dipping. I wonder what they talked about!


(15) When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her.


(16) And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”


(17) So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire *basket.


*basket: an ephah of barley, about 5.5 gallons - at least a two-week supply for the two women.


Matthew 14:20: They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.


(18) She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.


(19) “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”


(20) “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our *family redeemers.”


*family redeemers or kinsman-redeemer: The phrase "That man is one of our closest relatives" is literally, "He is our redeemer clan." It means that Boaz was, by virtue of his relationship with Elimelech, in the position to redeem the estate of Elimelech and to fulfill the duty of a kinsman redeemer (the go'el) by marrying Ruth.


Numbers 27:8-11: “And give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters. And if he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan. This is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”


(21) Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”


(22) “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”


(23) So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.



Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation of the Bible.



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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Ruth 1

  The Book of Ruth was put in its final form
after David became king in Hebron in 1011 B.C. since he is recognized
as a very important figure in the genealogy (4:17, 22). The writer may have been
Samuel or one of Samuel's contemporaries. That Solomon is not mentioned indicates that Solomon
had not yet come to the throne.


   In the Hebrew Bible, the book of Ruth does not appear after Judges. Instead,
it is found in the Writings as one of the five Megiloth ("Scrolls"),
each of which was read at one of the feasts of the nation of Israel:



  • Passover: Song of Solomon

  • Pentecost: Ruth

  • 9th of Ab (destruction of the first and second Temples, expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492): Lamentations

  • Feast of Tabernacles: Ecclesiastes

  • Purim: Esther 


Purpose of the Book:



  • Illustrates the purpose and role of the Kinsman-Redeemer and is prophetic of Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer. It is also prophetic of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

  • Ruth is a book about loyalty and love. The heroine of the story is Ruth and it is her loyalty to her mother-in-law as well as to the Lord which is featured. The word "love" is completely absent from the book of Ruth, though it is a story of love on several levels.

  • The book also has something to say regarding the missionary ministry which Israel was to have to the world. Ruth, a Moabitess, became the recipient of special blessings as she came to believe in the God of Naomi. This book teaches us that God is no respecter of persons.

  • This book highlights the genealogy of King David.

  • It also shows the reversal of the curse which had been laid on the people of Moab in Deuteronomy 23:3. There was a ten-generation curse placed upon the people of Moab and Ammon during the days of Moses because of their inhospitality toward Israel. There is no record of a Moabite or an Ammonite being accepted into the assembly of God’s people for the next 10 generations. But this changes with Ruth. She not only enters the assembly of God’s people, but she is also included in the royal line of David. Indeed, she is mentioned in the Messianic line of Matthew 1. The Talmudic states that the language of the 10-generation law only applies to Moabite and Ammonite men (Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, is gendered).

  • This is one of two books in the Bible that is named after a woman. There is an interesting contrast between Ruth and Esther:


Ruth:



  • A Gentile girl who married an Israelite.

  • "Built the house of Israel".

  • Her descendant was David, the King of Israel.

  • Rural setting.


Esther:



  • An Israelite girl who married a Gentile.

  • Saved the people of Israel.

  • She was married to the King of Persia.

  • A Royal Palace.


Elimelech Moves His Family to Moab.


(1) In the days when the *judges ruled in Israel, a severe **famine came upon the land. So a man from ***Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of ****Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him.



*judges: A 400 year period of general anarchy and oppression when the Israelites were not ruled by kings, but by periodic deliverers whom God raised up when the nation sought Him again. Notable among the Judges were Gideon, Samson, and Deborah. Each of these were raised up by God, not to rule as kings, but to lead Israel during a specific challenge, and then to go back to obscurity. The days when the Judges ruled were actually dark days for Israel; the period was characterized by the phrase everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1 and 21:25).


**famine: God specifically promised there would always be plenty in the land if Israel were obedient. God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him, He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 28).


***Bethlehem was about five miles southwest of Jerusalem. This is the town where David would be born (1 Samuel 16:1) and Jesus would be born (Micah 5:2, Mt 2:1; Lk 2:4; Jn 7:42). Bethlehem means house of bread or food, which is ironic since there was a famine. There, Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin (Genesis 35:19; 48:7). Micah 5:2: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.


****Moab was the land east of the Dead sea. It was one of the nations that oppressed Israel during the period of the Judges. The Moabites were the descendants of Lot through his incestuous relations with his oldest daughter. Moab had refused the Israelites permission to pass through their land in the days of Moses. During the days of the Judges, the Moabites had invaded the territory of Israel until being driven out by Ehud. There is a lesson here. It is that God can use anyone. He loves to confuse the orthodox by using the kind of people we wouldn’t use. He brings a Messiah out of Nazareth, a King out of Bethlehem, disciples from a fishing boat and the Son of God from a rough-hewn cross.


(2) The man’s name was *Elimelech, and his wife was **Naomi. Their two sons were ***Mahlon and ****Kilion. They were *****Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.


*Elimelech means My God is king.


**Naomi means My pleasant one or my lovely one.


***Mahlon means sick.


****Kilion (Chilion) means pining or frail. Mahlon and Kilion may have been sickly because of the famine.


*****Ephrathites: Ephrath was the ancient name of Bethlehem.


(3) Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons.


   The two sons would have been able to support her. We're not told how old the sons were when they moved to Edom.


(4) The two sons *married Moabite women. One married a woman named **Orpah, and the other a woman named ***Ruth. But about ten years later,


*married Moabite women: Canaanite wives forbidden (Deuteronomy 7:3), but not Moabite wives. But, Moabite men were not allowed to worship at the Tabernacle because they didn't let the Israelites pass through their land during the Exodus from Egypt.


**Orpah: Probably Hind or Fawn.


***Ruth: Probably friend or companion. Not a Hebrew name.


(5) both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi *alone, without her two sons or her husband.


*alone: Even after ten years, her sons had no children! To be a childless widow was to be among the lowest, most disadvantaged classes in the ancient world. There was no one to support you, and you had to live on the generosity of strangers. Naomi had no family in Moab, and no one else to help her. It was a desperate situation. At least, in Israel, was some provision for widows.


   Here was a woman who had lost it all. People may have looked at her and said, "Your God must be judging you." But not all bad things happen as a result of punishment. God is working silently in the background to bring about His great purpose.


Naomi and Ruth Return


(6) Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland.


(7) With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.


(8) But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me.


   Naomi incorrectly believed that there was more hope for her daughters-in-law by staying in Moab than there was by going with her to God's chosen people.


(9) May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.


(10) “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”


(11) But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands?


   See levirate marriage Genesis 38:8-11, Deuteronomy 25:5-10, Matthew 22:23-26. Levirate marriage was the practice of a single brother marrying his deceased brother's widow to father children who would carry on the dead brother's name.


(12) No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what?


(13) Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the *Lord himself has raised his fist against me.”


*Lord himself has raised his fist against me: Possibly, she felt that the calamity which came upon her family came because they were disobedient in leaving the Promised Land of Israel and marrying their sons to Moabite women.


(14) And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth *clung tightly to Naomi.


*clung: The Hebrew word for "clung to" is dabaq, which elsewhere refers to the ideal closeness that can be experienced in a marriage relationship. Ruth determined to stick to her mother-in-law as closely as a husband would cleave to his wife.


(15) “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her *gods. You should do the same.”


*gods: Chemosh was the god of the Moabites, the demon god who was worshipped by burning children in his honor.


(16) But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.


   Naomi’s relationship with God made an impact on Ruth. This is striking, because Naomi did not have an easy life. She had been widowed, had lost both her sons, and believed that she had caused each calamity by her husband's disobedience. Yet she still honored and loved the Lord. People should be able to look at your life, just as Ruth looked at Naomi’s, and say “I want your God to be my God.” Your trust in God, and turning towards Him in tough times, will often be the thing that draws others to the Lord.


   Ruth discovered in marrying into the family of Elimelech that there was one God in heaven, the Creator of all, who had made a covenant with his people, who loved them, who gave laws that were honorable and brought out the best in human beings. And Ruth went from darkness to light. She is grateful enough to have heard the truth about God that nothing else is as important as that. All of her conviction in life is that this truth is so valuable that she will not lose it under any circumstances, and her only life line is Naomi. So she says to her, "If you are going back to your people, I am going with you!"


(17) Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”


   The place of a person's grave in ancient Near Eastern life was very significant (See Genesis 23; 25:9-10; 50:1-14, 24-25; Joshua 24:32). It identified the area he or she considered his or her true home. So when Ruth said she wanted to die and be buried where Naomi was, she was voicing her strong commitment to the people, land, and God of Naomi.


(18) When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.


(19) So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.


   It was a long walk from Moab to Bethlehem, and the trip was mostly uphill.


(20) “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me *Mara, for the **Almighty has made life very bitter for me.


*Mara: Naomi means pleasant; Mara means bitter. Naomi used this to tell the people of Bethlehem that her time away from Israel, her time away from the God of Israel, had not been pleasant - it was bitter.


**Almighty: Shaddai. She blames the tragedy on God. We tend to blame God for our tragedies. For some Christians, through their suffering, there has been a depth of character developed that is unparalleled by others who have never experienced suffering or sorrow. Out of suffering, out of sorrow, the roots can go deep into God and the life can become beautiful, and strong, and powerful. Or you can root into bitterness and your life becomes bitter and tight, and tense. It's tragic when a person gives himself over to bitterness. It's all in how you look at the situation. I can look at it and I can become bitter and say, "If God loved me then why did He allow that to happen to me?" Or I can say, "Well, the Lord has given, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord! All things work together for good, and God has a plan and He loves me, and I know that He's watching over me. It is God working out His plan for my life.


(21) I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”


   Naomi knew that the tragedy that came into her life was not because of fate, chance, or blind fortune. She felt the tragedies were an example of God’s affliction because she could not see the end of His plan. But she knew there was a sovereign God of heaven, and didn’t think she had just run into a string of “bad luck.” We can imagine one of the villagers asking, “Naomi, if God has dealt very bitterly with you, if the Lord has brought you home empty, if the Lord has testified against you, then why have you come back?” And she would have said, “Because I want to get right with Him again. Things have been terrible, and the answer isn’t in going further from God, but in drawing closer to Him.”


(22) So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the *barley harvest.


*barley harvest - therefore, at the Feast of Pentecost. Barley is typically harvested a month prior to the wheat harvest. Barley was cheaper than wheat. It was used for the feeding of animals. It was also eaten by the poor.


   It would have been easy for Naomi to focus on what she had lost. She had lost a husband, two sons, and one daughter-in-law. She had lost all kinds of material possessions. All she had left was one daughter-in-law, Ruth. But through that one thing she had left, God was going to bring unbelievable blessing into her life. It will make a difference not only in her life, but in the life of Ruth - and in the destiny of the nation Israel - and in our eternal salvation.


   This summary verse not only concludes chapter 1 but also prepares the reader for the remaining scenes of the story. Naomi had left Bethlehem pleasant but returned bitter. She had left with Elimelech, one source of blessing in her life, but returned with Ruth who would become another source of blessing for her. She had left during a famine, but she returned to Bethlehem (lit. house of bread, the place of blessing) at the beginning of harvest.



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