Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2
Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.3
Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4
But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” 5
And she replied, “All that you say I will do.” 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7
And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8
At midnight the man was startled and turned
over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”
Perhaps you have heard Christians say something like, “Romance is not a biblical teaching, love is, but romance is a worldly idea.” Whereas it is understandable that
Christians would look at what the culture calls romance and see it as a problem, that is not the same thing as saying that romance is not Biblical. Could it be that we have, like most things, corrupted a good gift from God? Could it be that romance is actually
God’s idea but man has soiled it with greed, lust and selfishness?
We have an entire book of the Bible, The Song of Solomon, that exalts romance and married love. In that book there are 111 verses of poetry where the bride and groom
tell each other why they are in love. Then there is the wedding night, followed by 111 verses of poetry expressing their love for one another again!
We find love and romance in Proverbs as well, both visibly and audibly presented. In Genesis 26, Isaac, like his father, lies and says that Rebekah is his sister,
but he gets caught because Abimelech sees him “caressing her”. Interestingly the ESV says, “laughing with” but the Hebrew word is highly suggestive of intimacy. Isaac and Rebekah may well have been laughing together, but there is laughter and there is laughter! The
kind of laughter Abimelech witnessed was the kind that husband and wives share.
Think about our love and gratitude at the beginning of our Christian journey toward the Lord; think of all the sacrifices we are more than willing to make that we
might be faithful to Him. No Christian would say that after a while we should reach a point in our Christian lives that we think this is no longer necessary. We would never accept a Christian saying that while his love for the Lord at once consumed him and
he wanted to demonstrate that love at every turn and all times, that now he realizes that there is no need to make such a spectacle of himself to be so radical in his love and commitment to the Savior.
Ours is a culture that still celebrates romantic love but has a deeply conflicted, ambiguous and confused view of that love.
Our culture, at least as it is practiced, has largely separated sexual attraction from romantic love, the kind of love that is exclusive and permanent, as all truly
romantic love aspires to be.Romantic love in our culture is much more tied to sex than to marriage and so is, in the nature of the case, impermanent, insecure and uncertain. And in our self-regarding culture, romantic love, even in its ideal, is something
one practices more for oneself than for the other, which, of course, is the eventual death of any genuinely romantic love. (Robert S. Rayburn)
I spent time on this, this morning,
simply because chapter 3 of Ruth is filled with romance, but it is very different from what we might think, expect or even feel is “appropriate”.We read at the end of chapter 2 that the spring harvest has passed. This has afforded Naomi to come up with a plan…a
plan of marriage for Ruth to Boaz.
Is Naomi playing the role of a match maker a good idea? Remember, Ruth has no one to advocate for her, no father, brother or husband. If not Naomi, then who? We begin
to see Naomi’s love for Ruth as we have seen Ruth’s for Naomi, better yet, behind all the providences we see God’s love for them both!!!
This match making offers some serious hurdles. First, the community was small and as in all small communities everyone is all up in everyone else’s business!Second,
Boaz is an important person and is usually surrounded by others. Third, Ruth needs an escape route if this whole thing goes south…there has to be a way for Ruth to not be disgraced and for Boaz to save face.
The plan is revealed in verses 1-5.Now when we read this we are tempted to think: That is your plan??? If someone came to me and asked counsel regarding this plan,
I probably would have told them they are crazy.
Naomi: Should I not seek rest for you? That is beautiful. However, she does not for a moment think that seeking a blessing for Ruth means that Naomi is inactive. She
answers her own prayer by DOING love. However, for anyone who knows their Bible, an eyebrow is raised. We have seen folks “taking matters into their own hands” before and…well…the results are questionable to say the least.
Abraham and Hagar…not a good result
Moses killing the Egyptian
You might think, well what could go wrong with Naomi’s plan? Well, pretty much everything! But when you look a little deeper, we see that Naomi’s plan is wisdom guided
by Providence.
~Ruth will go at dusk, fewer folks are apt to see her.
~She will approach Boaz only after he is asleep, this will reduce the risk of someone overhearing.
~By curling up at his feet, she reduces the risk he won’t notice.
~And because she trusts Boaz’s character, she believes he will not take advantage of her.
The only real problem and one that Naomi must risk, is what if Boaz says no…what if he is not interested? And Naomi tells Ruth, “…he will tell you what to do.” Now
hang on to that, because the story unfolds quite differently.
Waiting till the end of the harvest also would have given Ruth’s reputation time to grow…remember, wisdom knows what to do, how to do it and WHEN to do it.
Our culture puts a premium on falling in love, but does not consider thinking in love. Naomi thinks in love, how to make this happen. “Our hyper judgmental
culture is quick to call a plan like Naomi’s manipulation, but that is only because romanticism hijacked the word love.” (Miller)
The Hebrew text is loaded with sexual tension, as Miller rightly comments: Naomi tells Ruth to go to the threshing floor, uncover Boaz’s feet and lie down, He will
know what to do. In Hebrew:
*feet can be a euphemism for the male sexual organ
*uncover your nakedness is a way of speaking about sex
*lie down is also a way of speaking about sex
*threshing floors are places where forbidden sex happens
* “know”, can be a euphemism for sex as well
Paul Miller also points out that earlier Naomi and Boaz protected Ruth’s purity, now Naomi is protecting Ruth from loneliness. Our culture does just the opposite.
By not protecting purity, we have created lonely lives. The Lord’s ‘ways’ are not chains that bind, any more than a bird’s wings are chains that bind. God’s law protects and gives life for all who walk in it faithfully!
In conclusion this morning,
look at all that love is willing to risk.
Ruth is a Moabite…Boaz an Israelite
She is a woman, propositioning a man
A servant asking a leading landowner
A poor person entreating a wealthy one
A young woman to a middle-aged man.
Ruth follows Naomi’s plan perfectly…well…almost. To put it bluntly, harvest time is party time.
Boaz sleeps a few hours pass and then:
Read verses 8-9 At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she
answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.”
Spread the corner of your garment is in essence a marriage proposal. Boaz blessed Ruth when he first met her observing that she had sought shelter under the wings
of God, now Ruth asks Boaz to be those wings!
The movement of the text is fast paced, even exciting. I found myself typing at breakneck speed as I wrote, this is real-life drama and real-life romance! God works
through Naomi’s risky plan, Ruth is audacious in her obedience and Boaz’s love is emerging and will only become more powerful on Ruth’s behalf!
We must take note: There is not a hint of passivity in the three main characters. God’s sovereignty doesn’t freeze them or cause them to be stoic, rather it gives
them courage to be daring! Ruth is still loving Naomi. By asking Boaz to be the redeemer, any children born would be Naomi’s heir! God’s sovereignty empowers faith-filled action!
One last thing that commentators point out that we will dive into in the days to come. Namely, that Ruth does not request Boaz’s help…she commands it! She doesn’t
say, “would you please”, but tells him,“spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” This is godly feminine power in its brilliance, commanding men to be who God has made them to be!
To be continued…
Prayer: Father, Your control over all affairs of men including your loving care over all affairs in my life is a great comfort to me. Give me strength and boldness
to step out in faith that I might live with courage, serving You, my family, my church and My Savior! Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: O Father You are Sovereign