Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.”
And he turned aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3
Then he said to the redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4
So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you[a] will
not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5
Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.” 6
Then the redeemer said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” 11
Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be
renowned in Bethlehem, 12 and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
One of the most well renowned stories in the Bible is that of the Prodigal Son. It is the quintessential picture of the mercy and love of the Father for His wandering,
erring sons and daughters. But have you ever wondered, Why did the father give the son the money when he came and asked for it? Why didn’t he say; “You stupid little boy, you will just waste it all! You are not mature enough to handle this”?
The father obviously knew his son, and would have known he was on a downward trajectory. Could it be that the father reasoned that if he, the father, waited until
he died and then the money was given to his son, there would be no one there to pick up the pieces? It seems that the father, perhaps painfully yet wisely, enabled his son to reach brokenness and the end of himself, more quickly. As Paul Miller put it: He
was a lover more than a steward.
In many cases we have to learn the hard way…we don’t listen to sound advice because we think we know best. We deceive ourselves into thinking that whereas everyone
else might have been foolish, we would never be. Soon enough, every one of us deals with the Lord directly, without our parents “in between”. As parents, if this frightens us, then we might want to ask ourselves who we are really trusting with our children,
ourselves or the grace and mercy of the Lord?
We read in Proverbs; A prudent man conceals knowledge but the heat of fools proclaims folly. (12:3) Boaz, like the prodigal’s father, is a picture of prudence.
7
Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8
So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. 9
Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10
Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are
witnesses this day.” 4:7-10
The Biblical understanding of prudence is illustrated in how it is that we make choices to avoid evil and at the same time, learning more and more what it means to
love God and walk in obedience to Him. If you have prudence you are protected from both naivete and fear. For example: Let’s say you share something very personal with another person. They tell others and you are devastated. You vow to never let down to people
again…you keep everything bottled up in fear that you will be revealed. They should not have done what they did. But perhaps you should be more careful who you talk to and what you say.
A cursory look at the Proverbs tells us about prudence. Here are a few of them; notice that we see this virtue in Boaz as he is careful and wise in handling the circumstances
before him with good judgment and discernment. “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” Prov.10:19) “A
prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly” (Prov 12:23).
The prophet Amos agrees as he wrote “he who is prudent will keep
silent in such a time, for it is an evil time” (Amos 5:13). We sometimes react and even overreact when someone insults us or uses words for selfish gain,
but Solomon says, “a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult” (Prov 12:16). “The
prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it”(Prov 22:3) “The
simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps” (Prov 14:15)
and so it is “The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way”(Prov
13:8a)
If we are being prudent, we will not find ourselves shutting down or running away and this is our temptation. We say or do something we should not have done, and instead
of living in and walking out repentance, (remember, confession is not repentance. Repentance is the change of behavior and that often takes time and the development of new habits, formations and liturgies), we try to run away, blame others and cover ourselves.
Paul Miller wisely argues that the more Christianity wanes the more paganism slips into the gaps. One aspect of paganism is some kind of understanding of perfectionism
or personal self-actualization. Characteristics of this way of thinking would include:
*Pretending you have it all together
*Inability to handle messiness. Messiness might be ok, as long as you are looked upon as the one who fixes everyone else’s messiness, but always being careful
never “to get any on you”. More importantly, to never allow your messiness to be seen by others. (Back to number 1)
*Consequently, this produces a critical spirit and the fight or flight mentality. Everyone is
wrong because they don’t do it my way. And/or, if they won’t do it might way, then I am out of here!
Look at the potential messiness for Boaz and Ruth, and yet they never shut down or run from the problem. And whereas Mr. Noname chooses the safe path and the logical
thing, Boaz chooses the loving thing. Boaz’s love is also prudence and is actually evident throughout the book:
~He knows men lust, so he warns the men who work for him not to touch Ruth.
~He knows people are jealous so he forbids the workers to belittle Ruth.
~He knows people are judgmental and he gives her a sack of grain as a cover.
~He knows this man is in it for himself so he emphasizes the cost.
One Jewish writer describes Mr. Noname this way:
In this closer relative we have a sudden pale reminder of Orpah. Like Orpah, he has only the usual order of courage. He avoids risk, the unexpected, the lightning move into imagination. He thinks of what he has, not of what he might do. He is perfectly conventional
and wants to stick with what is familiar. Then let him go in peace, he is too ordinary to be the husband of Ruth.
Boaz is not ordinary and the reason for this is that his character has been forged by the Lord. He is a man of virtue, a man of prudence. Let us pray for the spirit
of wisdom and discernment that we too might be people of prudence.
Prayer: Father, forgive me for the many times that I react with too many words and foolish talk. Help me to quiet myself, to be discerning and to walk and speak
in godly wisdom. May I be slow to speak, slow to anger but quick to love. I humbly submit myself with joy to the continuing work of your Spirit, to make me a virtuous person who acts and reacts according to Your word to the glory of my Savior, for it is in
Jesus name that I pray, Amen.
Hymn: O Love that Will Not Let Me Go