We’re coming to the end of Ruth chapter 2 where a Moabite widow under the curse of the law went out one morning looking for grace, and she discovered more unmerited favor than she could have ever dreamed of. And she did it all on behalf of her spiritually wounded mother-in-law, Naomi.
Now let’s continue now in verse 19 where we see Naomi’s reaction to all that Ruth has brought home:
19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought today is Boaz.
Ruth, being a first-time gleaner, may not have understood the significance of the abundance she brought home, but Naomi certainly did. The first words from her mouth after Ruth displays her haul is, “Where did you glean today?”
And then Naomi uses a word we have not heard from her before in this story – blessed. When she first returned to Bethlehem and her old neighbors were gathering around, she said Call me Mara, for the Lord hath dealt bitterly with me. Her life had been characterized by such bitterness that she said, “Just change my name to Bitter!”
But now she has gone from bitter to blessed all because of the grace that Boaz, her kinsman, has shown toward her and her daughter in law.
Any time we lose sight of the grace of God at work in our lives, we become prone to bitterness. Hebrews 12:15 even warns us to look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. The answer to bitterness is looking diligently to see God’s grace, and Naomi has certainly seen it now!
She says, blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. It’s clear to Naomi that someone has gone out of their way to send Ruth home with such abundance. And when Ruth identifies him as Boaz, Naomi immediately recognizes the significance of who he is and what it means for her desperate family.
You know, to these women who had been living in such poverty, a bushel of grain seemed like a fortune. But it was a mere foretaste, a “first fruits” of what would be in store for them by the end of the story.
And the fruit of the Spirit that believers now experience is only the first fruits of all that is in store for us when we come into our eternal inheritance.
20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
Naomi utters a prayer for God’s blessing on this good kinsman – Blessed be he of the Lord. She’s obviously excited over his interest in them.
Then she makes a curious statement, saying that the Lord hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead.
Of course, God’s kindness to the living, to Ruth and Naomi, is pretty evident in the generosity that has been shown them today. But how has Boaz’ interest in them been a kindness to Naomi’s dead husband and sons?
We might imagine Ruth giving Naomi a puzzled look as she says this, because Naomi hastens to explain, The man is near of kin to us, one of our next kinsmen. That’s her explanation for how the Lord has shown kindness to her dead husband and sons.
The word “kinsman” that Naomi uses here is the Hebrew word “Goel”. There are other Hebrew words for a close relative, but Goel is specifically a relative who acts as a “Kinsman Redeemer”. This is the first time it appears in the story of Ruth, and it bears some explanation, because it is one of the most important elements in this entire story. If you don’t get the concept of the Kinsman Redeemer, you’re going to miss some of the most important lessons in the rest of this book.
The Law of Moses provided a way for anyone who had fallen on hard times to be delivered. In Leviticus 25:25 and following, God said that if an Israelite had waxed poor and lost his inheritance (that is, he had to sell off his property), then his brother, or other near kinsman, who was in a position to redeem the lost property, could require the buyer to sell it back to him. The kinsman would redeem the property for whatever amount his brother had sold it, adjusted for deflation according to the law of the jubilee. The Kinsman Redeemer could then restore the lost property to his brother.
The Kinsman Redeemer typically redeemed property for the sake of the clan, the benefit to the distressed owner being a byproduct. It was voluntary, but financially beneficial to do so.
The Kinsman Redeemer was the closest kinsman – after parents, brothers first in order of seniority, then grandfathers (paternal before maternal), then uncles (always paternal before maternal), then cousins, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Only Jewish relatives were regarded.
This is a beautiful picture of how Christ became a Man, a Kinsman to Adam’s race, to redeem for us what was lost to sin and Satan at the Fall in Eden. Remember that God had created man specifically to have dominion over the earth. But when Adam and Eve fell into sin, they lost dominion over this world, and now Satan is called the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air. Now he usurps an authority over this world that is not rightfully his and misuses it against mankind. He uses this stolen dominion to call up storms and droughts and floods to plague us.
One of the reasons Jesus became a Man was to win back for mankind our lost dominion. The Bible calls Jesus the “last Adam”, because as the first Adam fell to Satan and lost control over the earth in a garden, the last Adam overcame Satan and regained it for us during 40 days in a wilderness.
After that, Jesus displayed His dominion over the world when He stilled the winds and waves, summoned the fish and withered the fig tree. Our Kinsman had redeemed our inheritance for us, and He was willing to let us have it back again. He sent forth His disciples saying, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils, raise the dead... I give you power to tread over serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And when the disciples returned, they said, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name!
For the first time since Eden, Adam’s race got a brief taste of what it was like to have dominion over the world once again – of what it was like to exercise Kingdom authority over nature – the powers of the world to come.
But then the kingdom was rejected. The nation said, We have no king but Caesar! We will not have this man to rule over us. And so, our broken hearted Kinsman Redeemer said, Ye shall not see me again until Israel shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
So now, the Kingdom will wait a while longer. We are a race of fallen princes under the prolonged misrule of Satan, an usurper and a pretender to the thrones of this world. But when Israel’s heart finally returns to its true Messiah, we will finally rule over this world with Him – Adam’s lost inheritance will finally be restored.
But it was not only a lost inheritance that a Kinsman Redeemer could ransom. Sometimes an impoverished man would be sold into slavery to pay off his debt. Leviticus 25:47-50 explains how a kinsman could pay the debt for his brother’s redemption.
And again, Jesus became a man, became a kinsman to all mankind, in order to pay the ransom that would redeem our souls from the debt of sin. No one less than Him could have done this, because Psalm 49:7 and 9 says, None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: That he should still live forever, and not see corruption. Why not? Why couldn’t any man have redeemed his brother? Verse 9 says, For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever. The price of a human soul is far greater than any ordinary man could pay, so the souls of all mortals were destined to cease forever out of the world of the living.
But Jesus was no ordinary mortal. He was the God-man, the only sinless Human that ever lived – and the only One Who had what it took to redeem His brothers. I Peter 1:18-19 says, ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
God has only to speak to make all the silver and gold He could ever want. What is that to Him? But the life blood of His only Son – now that’s something He values! And Jesus gave it up to pay for your sins and mine, to redeem His kinsmen from their debt of sin and from eternal death. Have you accepted the payment He made for you yet?
Numbers 35:19-21 also says that in case a brother is murdered, the Kinsman Redeemer becomes his brother’s avenger of blood – the “goel hadam”. The Kinsman can hunt down the murderer and slay him in order to avenge his brother’s blood upon him. No gold or silver could ransom the life of a murderer (Num. 35:31) – only blood could atone for blood that was shed.
And Hebrews 2:14-15 explains that Jesus became flesh and blood... that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
As mankind’s Kinsman, He destroyed Satan’s power over the human race.
Also, a Kinsman Redeemer could step in for a brother who died leaving his widow without an heir to his estate. Deuteronomy 25:5-6, says that a brother would take the widow as his wife, and his firstborn by her would carry on his dead brother’s name and would inherit his property.
But here in this very story, we see that if there were no brothers, then the custom was still for the nearest kinsman to do the brother’s part.
And Jesus became our Kinsman so that we, His Church, could be His Bride, so we could reign at His side over all creation forever.
Of course, none of this – restoring our lost dominion over the world, redeeming us from sin’s bondage, reigning as His Bride by his side, having Satan’s power over our lives broken – none of this is of any use until you’re born into God’s family and become a brother to Christ through salvation.
Jesus Christ wants to transform your story from a tragedy into a fantasy beyond your wildest imaginations!
21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
By staying close to Boaz’ workers, the vulnerable widow would remain under his protection. He has already shown that he wants to provide for her, and she would be unlikely to find such grace in another field. And, of course, it is evident that Boaz wants to further their acquaintance.
And Jesus wants His followers to stay close to one another for their mutual protection, to provide for each other’s needs, and to further their collective acquaintance with the Body of Christ.
He had told her to stay until they have ended all my harvest. It was now the beginning of barley harvest, and wheat harvest would begin seven weeks later. Ruth is assuring her mother in law that their benefactor means to provide for them through the whole season.
22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
In the previous verse, Ruth was told to keep fast by the young men. Now Naomi says that it’s good she goes out with his maidens.
Since the maidens are working immediately behind the young men, Ruth will be in the presence of them all.
Naomi cautions Ruth not to let Boaz’ maidens see her in anyone else’s field. If word got back to Boaz that the woman he had shown such kindness to was working somewhere else, he could very well have felt betrayed and indignant. Especially after he has encouraged her to stick with him. Naomi wisely interprets Boaz’ generosity as an interest in her virtuous and lovely young daughter in law, and she wants nothing to compromise that interest.
And wouldn’t it be a betrayal of Christ if someone who professed to follow Him, who had received His kindness, His provision and His protection, were to fall away and serve another, trust in another’s provision, and advance a rival’s cause? The Lord’s harvest is plenteous, and His laborers are few enough without any falling away.
23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
The last line of the verse says that she dwelt with her mother in law. Half a year earlier, when she began this adventure, she had solemnly vowed in chapter 1, verses 16-17: whither thou goest, I will go – and check! She has done that. Bitter Naomi could not turn her back from following to Bethlehem.
She had said, thy people shall be my people, and check again. Here she is now fully accepted in the Jewish community as she adopts their customs and lifestyle.
She had also said, and thy God, my God, and check yet again. She is demonstrating every day that she has indeed come to trust under the wings of the God of Israel.
And she had said, where thou lodgest, I will lodge. And the verse here says that she dwelt with her mother in law, cared for her, provided for her, and loved her faithfully as she had promised to do.
Ruth had gone on to promise that she would die and be buried with Naomi, and nothing elsewhere in the story suggests that she failed to follow through on that either.
This verse says that she gleaned unto the end of barley harvest (around the beginning of June) and of wheat harvest (around the beginning of September) – a total of about six months.
All through the summer heat, the men would be bending down to hack off the wheat near the ground, then straightening up to take a step or two forward. The women would be bending down to gather the stalks into bundles, then rising to tie them and move forward behind the men. Ruth, as a gleaner, remains stooped toward the ground in a posture of humility. There is no natural moment to straighten, so she only rises at odd times to relieve her back. It was wearying work, but Ruth labored faithfully on.
So what motivated her? Well, certainly there was the prospect of hunger that would motivate most people. And Ruth was also a woman of great character. But we’re about to see in the next chapter that about halfway through that summer something happened that gave Ruth the most powerful motivations of all – faith, hope and love. Faith in Boaz’ promise, the hope of a great future with him, and love for this man God had brought into her life. A person motivated by things like that can labor joyfully regardless of the drudgery of the work.
And to this day, God’s people labor joyfully in a fallen world motivated by faith in the promises of God, the blessed hope of an amazing future with Him forever, and love for a Savior we have never seen. I Peter 1:8 says Jesus is He whom having not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Well, that’s the end of chapter 2. Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz all through the spring barley harvest and the summer wheat harvest. And now as we come to chapter 3, she has made a good impression on her Jewish neighbors in general, and as we’ll soon see, on the Lord of the harvest, Boaz himself, in particular.
Naomi has seen the interest and the care that Boaz has taken toward Ruth – and she also knows the customs and laws of her time and place. And so Naomi wants to see Ruth fully integrated into the nation through her family.
1 Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
Naomi’s focus had previously been on her bitter past. But from the moment Boaz appeared on the scene, her focus has shifted to Ruth’s bright future. She is no longer fretting about her and Ruth’s bleak prospects for survival. Boaz’ actions have set her expectations soaring for Ruth’s happiness. And anytime a person shifts their thoughts from themselves to others, their attitude improves. For the rest of this book, Naomi is a different person.
Here in verse 1, Naomi begins to take action. When she says, shall I not seek rest for thee that it may be well with thee, she means the rest of comfort, safety and provision that a woman expects with a husband, a family, a home of her own. Back in Ruth 1:8-9, Naomi had urged both her daughters-in-law to go back to their own people that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Of course, Moab was the wrong direction to go seeking rest. But now in Bethlehem, Ruth really can find rest among the people of God.
How would Ruth find rest in a Jewish home of her own? No more gleaning in the fields; no more having to stay within the safety of her fellow workers; no more wondering if there’ll be enough food for the winter.
It does not mean she’ll cease from labor. She’ll actually be a very diligent manager of the household. But that will be a labor more suited to her nature and not a drudgery.
The fact that Naomi is initiating this is perfectly appropriate. In that culture, parents led in contracting marriages for their children, so Naomi’s matchmaking advice was not out of order. In fact, you can call me old fashioned, but I still think a young man should ask a young lady’s father for her hand in marriage. I did when I wanted to marry my bride. My sons in law did to marry my daughters. If a father is going to walk his daughter down an aisle and give his daughter’s hand to some fellow, then if that fellow is an honorable man, what’s wrong with him asking the father to give him her hand ahead of time? If that father has given all the care to his daughter that he is now passing off to her groom, then does he not deserve to have that groom ask him to pass this responsibility to him?
Naomi says, “I want to seek for you the rest of hearth and home that it may be well with thee.” Marriage is intended for the good of men and women. Their complementary natures enable them to meet each other’s physical, emotional, financial, social, spiritual, domestic and recreational needs. And when each marriage partner focuses on meeting the needs of the other, then it is well for them both. It is the closest thing to heaven that this world has to offer. In fact, when the apostle Paul describes the husband/wife relationship, he likens it to the relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church. And in Ephesians 5:31-32 he says that a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.
A match made in heaven? An old man and a young beauty? A rich and noble man and a poor widow? A Jewish leader and a cursed Moabite? On the surface, you might wonder how it could ever work.
Ah, but – their faith in God, commitment to obedience, compassion for the poor, strong work ethic, godly character – all add up to a match made in heaven indeed! In Ruth 2:1, Boaz is called a man of wealth. In Ruth 3:11, Ruth is called a virtuous woman. But in the original Hebrew, the words wealthy and virtuous are the same word – they truly are “kindred spirits.”
2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
These were simpler times when a mighty man of wealth like Boaz would be personally involved in winnowing his own barley. It is piled up on one side of the floor in what verse 7 calls a heap. Boaz is sleeping on the threshing floor itself to guard his harvest from thieves.
The threshing floor would be a flat space on a hilltop. It would have a tent roof for shade, but open sides for the wind to pass through. Winnowing was done at sunset when the land breezes were drawn toward the Mediterranean as the earth cooled faster than the sea in the growing night. These breezes would allow the workers to winnow the barley, or separate it from the husk (the chaff) by tossing it into the air where the wind would blow the lighter chaff away, and the heavier grain would fall cleanly to the threshing floor.
The fact that Boaz is winnowing barley means that this encounter is happening around July or August, just after Pentecost and the end of wheat harvest. So Ruth has been gleaning in Boaz’ fields for almost half a year now, and they’re in the latter half of summer.
He winnoweth tonight – there would only be one threshing floor for the whole village, and farmers took their turns – this was Boaz’ night to thresh both the barley and the wheat all at once.
3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
Naomi is coaching her daughter in law on how to approach Boaz, to encourage him to follow through on his role as their kinsman redeemer. Step one, she says, is to clean up. Wash thyself... anoint thee... put thy raiment upon thee. In fact, this sounds very much like how Ezekiel 16:9-12 describes a bride preparing for her wedding.
And in the same way, when someone becomes a part of the Bride of Christ at salvation, Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ will sanctify and cleanse him with the washing of the water by the word.
God anoints him with the oil of salvation, the perfume of the Holy Spirit so that his attitude, words and actions are like a breath of heaven in the home, the church, the workplace, and the community. But most importantly to the groom himself – II Corinthians 2:15 says that we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ. In other words, the Holy Spirit makes us smell like Jesus to the Father.
And God clothes him in white raiment which Revelation 19:8 says is the righteousness of the saints. God replaces his grave clothes with grace clothes!
So, now Ruth is getting ready for a wedding supper. She is changing from a widow to a wife.
So has Christ washed your sins away? Anointed you with His Spirit? Clothed you in His righteousness?
Once Ruth is prepared to meet Boaz, Naomi next coaches her on how to approach him. She instructs Ruth to go to the threshing floor, but to stay out of sight until the day ends and the man has dined.
Then verse 4 says:
And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.
I Samuel 23:1 shows that robbing the threshing floors was a common enough problem in that day, so Boaz is sleeping there to guard his winnowed grain through the night. There are no walls for privacy since threshing depends on wind to remove the chaff. It would have had nothing more than a shade roof held up on poles. Ruth must mark the place where he shall lie, or notice where he sets his sleeping mat while it is still light so that she can find it without disturbance after dark.
Now, all of this may seem very forward and inappropriate. And in most cases it would be. But as we’ve seen before, Ruth had a right to become the wife of her deceased husband’s nearest kinsman. Her culture provided for a childless widow to be given an heir through a Goel – a Kinsman Redeemer. Ruth expected Boaz to be her Goel, to marry her and raise up a child to her deceased husband – a child who would carry on Mahlon’s name, inherit his estate, and care for Ruth and Naomi in their old age. So Ruth was claiming a right given to her in Deuteronomy 25.
After presenting herself to him, the next step will be up to Boaz.
5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
Now, we may reasonably ask why Ruth didn’t wait for Boaz to propose to her. But as it will later turn out in verse 10, Boaz expected her to seek a younger man than himself. Also, Boaz knows something that neither Ruth nor Naomi are aware of – in verse 12, we learn that there is actually another kinsman who is nearer to Ruth than Boaz is. So Boaz would have been out of place to jump ahead of this other man.
So, Ruth obeys Naomi’s words, but things don’t turn out as they expected.
6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.
It says she went down unto the floor, indicating that Boaz’ threshing floor was downhill from the town of Bethlehem.
According to all that her mother in law bade her, or 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 corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
It’s understandable that Boaz’ heart would have been merry after eating and drinking, since the famine that had driven Naomi’s family to disaster was only 10 years back, and had lasted who knows how long into those 10 years. The point being that Boaz was acquainted with famine, and he could appreciate all the more this season of plenty.
He lies immediately by the heap of corn he is guarding. It is also likely that the Mideastern heat in early June would have encouraged a farmer like Boaz to seek the cool night breezes in the open air of his threshing floor.
So into this scene, Ruth slips quietly and uncovers his feet. Boaz would have been sleeping in the clothes he had worn that day covered in his cloak.
8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
She had meant to slip into position unnoticed, and obviously she did since he slept undisturbed until midnight. He’s guarding his grain from intruders when suddenly he becomes aware of someone present who isn’t supposed to be there. His natural first reaction from coming out of sleep into this predicament is alarm. During that first moment before he has processed the situation, he feels disadvantaged and vulnerable. He feels someone at his feet, probably jerks them away and bolts upright. But as soon as he sits up and gets his bearings, he has no trouble seeing by moonlight that it’s a woman.
And what he does next is an act of great chivalry. And all who come to Christ find Him to be noble and ennobling.
Have you come to Him yet? If not, then wherever you are, why not just call out to God something like this:
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner; I believe Christ died for my sins on the cross; I believe He rose to give me victory over death; I trust His sacrifice to pay for my pardon; I repent of my sins; I receive Your forgiveness by faith. I trust Your grace to deliver my soul on the judgment day – Amen!
