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Home , Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth (biblical figure), Ruth 1, Ruth 3, Ruth 4

Chapters 3, 4

This is already our last study of Ruth. While this book is very short, it gives us much insight into many important questions about life, such as where God is, in difficult times, and why sometimes He waits so long before He acts.

Also, it is through two faithful women, that we learn so much about God’s workings in the believers’ lives. and Ruth, both teach us how to be patient and hopeful, in hard times. Throughout the tragedies of losing their husbands and being reduced to poverty, they did not believe that God had forsaken them. They often spoke of Him so reverently. Right in the midst of their ordeal, when Naomi told Ruth that it would be better for her to stay in because she had nothing to offer her, she pronounced these words: The LORD deal kindly … (Ruth1:8), "The LORD grant that you may find rest (Ruth1:9). She was not mad at God for her situation.

Ruth responded in like manner and said: Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me." (:17)

These women knew their God well, and when the time was right, He responded to their faith. When He replied, He acted in wonderful ways and with great blessings. We have seen that when Ruth went out to find food, the Scriptures said: And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to ,(:3). Of all the fields outside of , God directed her to the one which belonged to Boaz, the man who was going to marry her and support her and Naomi.

Then, the next verse begins with the words: Now behold - or as the Hebrew would have it: would you believe that, or have your heard such a thing - Boaz came from Bethlehem. Boaz came at the very same time as Ruth. God prearranged their meeting, and He still works in the same way for those who trust Him.

But while this is a beautiful love story, it is one which speaks of the greatest encounter anyone could have in his lifetime; the one when he or she meets the Saviour, our Redeemer the . This is who Boaz typifies, and where the whole story brings us. This is where we find the depth of the as it brings us right near our Saviour.

The place of the book of Ruth in the Scriptures is like a hope rising high in an arid wasteland. After the chaotic history in the , the name of is the very last word mentioned in the book of Ruth. This links us to its sequel, :1, the opening words of the New Testament calling Christ, the Son of David.

Today we are coming to the best part of Ruth, yet. We are going to see the workings of redemption and we are finally going to look for this wedding that we were awaiting, since we have seen it coming from the very beginning.

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Let us consider Chapter 3, which begins with so much love; this is the love that we are often asked to have for one another. :1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?

As Ruth sought to support Naomi at the beginning and did all along, Naomi also desired the best for her daughter in law. We see here a true mutual love. The love between these two women is a great example of the love for the brethren, that we find in the Body of the Messiah. It is at this point in the story where Naomi, who realized that it was the end of the harvest time and that Ruth may not see Boaz anymore, that she devised a plan to have Ruth and Boaz meet, and even marry. Let us see how this happened in Ruth 3:2-4 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do. And she said to her, "All that you say to me I will do."

Exactly what Naomi was asking Ruth to do is a matter of much debate. But, judging from Ruth’s explanation and Boaz’s response later on, this seems to have been part of a custom at the time, where one would ask a redeemer for marriage. In this story, Ruth literally asks Boaz to marry her. So Ruth did as Naomi asked her to do. She observed where Boaz went to lie down for the night, and there she went and uncovered his feet, which must have awakened Boaz, even scared him. This is what we read in Ruth 3:8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet.

The word startled in the Hebrew speaks of one who is afraid and trembling, just like when Mount Sinai shook when God descended on it, where the same word was used. So it was some experience for poor Boaz. The phrase in verse 8, And it happened at midnight, is found only in one other place, both of which speak of judgment and redemption; the other mention is in Exodus 12:29: And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…

All the firstborn of Egypt were struck, except those whose house had the blood of the lamb on the lintel and doorpost of the house. Similarly, Ruth came to her redeemer and took shelter in Boaz, who is a type of the Messiah.

It is in the following verse where we understand the reason why Ruth uncovered his feet. Ruth 3:9 And he said, "Who are you?" So she answered, "I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative."

Ruth asks Boaz to take her under his covering or wings; She was plainly asking Boaz to marry her. We see here that it is not always the man who should ask for marriage!

But, just before, Boaz uses the same expression, when he blesses Ruth. Ruth 2:12

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"The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of , under whose wings you have come for refuge."

But now Ruth is asking Boaz to be these wings. We see three individuals in the redeeming of Ruth; God provides Boaz, the redeemer, and Ruth seeks refuge in Boaz. This typifies the biblical marriage.

This image is also found in one other , the one who speaks of divorce. 2:16 "For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,”…

A man who divorces his wife, is seen as guilty of covering her with violence. But, when God covered Israel with his wings ( 16:8), He never forsook her. When Boaz takes Ruth under his wings, it is a type of the Messiah covering each and every believer with His covering; no one can ever remove it.

This marriage in the making here, is very much like the relation between Israel and God, which is depicted as a marriage. In Ezekiel 16:8, God spoke of the same kind of love and protection over Israel and said: When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness….

Here the hebrew word for wings is the same word as in Ruth.

As we move deeper into the text, we will see that this wedding speaks of ours also, the one which will take place in heaven.

But what was the basis of Ruth’s demand?

One does not just ask someone to marry them, inadvertently. The reason is found in the word relative. It is a new Hebrew word here and the first of ten mentions in Ruth. The word is , or redeemer. This word occurs twenty-one times in this book. But in this verse, it is the first time it is used in the form of a noun. Here begins the story of the Redeemer.

Now, let us see how Boaz reacted to all this commotion in the middle of the night. As soon as he hears Ruth’s demand for marriage, he forgets his fears right away and responds with great excitement. Perhaps, as if it was a dream come true.

We remember that he had an eye on her. He had told his servants to take good care of her, to even throw some grains on the ground, without being noticed, so that she could find them. We have seen that he invited her to eat and served her himself. Now, there she is, in his room, asking him to wed her. What a treat!

See how he answers her: Ruth 3:10, 11 Then he said, "Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. "And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.

He is so overwhelmed that he first recognizes that she is blessed of The Lord and then he speaks of this encounter as a greater kindness than the previous one. Which previous one?

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He was probably referring to the kindness, or hesed, that Ruth showed Naomi. Now, she is showing a superior one to Boaz. But how is this kindness greater?

He gives the reason; he says you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. Age is a factor, here. Perhaps he was so much older than her that he had lost all hope of having her as his wife. So, when she appears here, he is completely inundated with gratefulness, and finds himself even more fortunate than Naomi. Here is man in love; love makes you see things differently. But this is a beautiful scene, where one finds his mate. It is like the parable of the pearl, where Yeshua finds His bride and says: Matthew 13: 45, 46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The pearl in this parable is the Church, the congregation of God, and Yeshua, the Redeemer, finds it and loves it. We find the same type of excitement in Ruth.

However, when it comes to Boaz, there was a little problem that needed to be resolved; this problem prevented him from marrying Ruth. Ruth 3:12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I.

There was another man, who was a closer relative to Ruth than Boaz. So he needed to deal with this first. It is apparent that he must have investigated the matter beforehand; he knew of this other man that Naomi did not know about, nor was it revealed to us.

It is here, beginning in chapter 4, where we are brought to a negotiation. Boaz will prove to be a clever negotiator. After all, he was not going to let go of Ruth. So, he does not lose any time; he goes to the judges of the city and calls on this other relative and begins the talks. :1-2 tells us how it happened Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, "Come aside, friend, sit down here." So he came aside and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down.

Going to the gate, is another way of saying that he went to the leaders of the town and called for a session where the negotiation began. Here, Boaz makes reference to a few laws of , in order to be able to make his deal. In the next verse he says: Ruth 4:3, 4 Then he said to the close relative, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. "And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’" And he said, "I will redeem it."

Because of her poverty, Naomi sold her land. However, the Mosaic Law said that you can sell your piece of land, but only for a short while, for: ‘The land shall not be sold permanently.’ When it belongs to you, it is always yours. This law, we find in Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25: 23, 25, 49. The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.

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‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. ‘or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him;…

So the land itself could never be lost; it will always belong to the family of the person who first owned it. Should there not be anyone to redeem it, the law further says that in the year of Jubilee, the land will automatically go back to the original family.

This is at the base of Boaz’s demand. However, when the other man sensed that the deal was great, he did not argue at all and right away said, at the end of verse 4: “I will redeem it.”

Not so fast, Tov! The Targum thought that the relative’s name was Tov, which means “good” in Hebrew. The way the Hebrew is written, it could be read, in verse 4: “If Tov will act as a redeemer, let him redeem!” instead of: “if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, let him do it.”

So we will call him Tov. But as good, or Tov, as this man was, he could not be our redeemer. Redemption is the theme of this book and no Mr. Goodness could be the redeemer, except the one who typifies the Messiah.

Now Boaz responds in Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance."

There are a few things in his answer - The man did not seem to be aware of Ruth, so Boaz tells him that with the purchase of the land, comes Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead.

Notice how he called her “the wife of the dead.” I am not sure anyone could be the wife of a dead person. The law, even the law of redemption, speaks of the widow of the dead. (Deuteronomy 25:5) Did Boaz want to scare the man?

If he did, he succeeded because it worked. It is right after this comment that the man changes his mind and uses a strong language of fear. He says in verse 6: "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it."

The man, Tov, spoke about ruining his own inheritance, here. This word “ruining or shachat” speaks of destruction, corruption, or disfigurement of face. It is the word for the grave. What did this man suddenly understand?

Only Boaz's words can explain his turnabout. Boaz, like his ancestor , was a cleaver negotiator.

This is where the deal is signed. See now how they signed the contracts at that time. Ruth 4:7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

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This is how they did it, the man will take off his sandal and give it to the other and so it was signed. It is not clear who gave the sandal to whom and we don’t know if the other party really kept the sandal, leaving the other to go home with only one sandal. But perhaps we should not focus so much on the sandal, but on the uncovered, bare feet. In fact, five times in this book, we read of uncovered feet. First, in chapter 3, Ruth is told to … uncover Boaz’s feet. Then in verse 7 she uncovered his feet, and lay down. Then in verse 8: Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. Then in verse 14: So she lay at his feet until morning. During the signing of the contract, one of them uncovers his feet by removing his sandal. What is behind the uncovered feet?

The feet represent our foundation, on which the whole body rests. Perhaps by removing one’s sandal, one was offering proof of his whole foundation or his riches as a guarantee. When Ruth uncovered Boaz’s feet, it was perhaps a way to indicate to him that she desired to come under his protection, and this is how she explained it, when she said to him: take your maidservant under your wing.

This may remind us of the , where God’s presence resided. There was the Ark of the Covenant, which was often called God’s footstool. This was the closest someone could physically get to God, to ask for blessings and protection.

When David spoke to the people about his desire to build the temple, he said in 1 Chronicles 28:2 …I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God…

In the story Boaz typifies the Messiah. Ruth, who typifies the believer, went to uncover Boaz’s feet for protection.

We can think of this other moving moment, when the Messiah washed His disciples’ feet. Why the feet?

According to Yeshua’s words to Peter, the washing of the feet symbolized the spiritual cleansing of the believer. The feet being our foundation, He cleanses them for us. In contrast, the customs at Passover demand that the hands be washed. The uncovering of the feet and the sandal, go a long way to show us God's protection for the believer.

I have given you a very quick birds eye view of this story, however there is so much more to it. Let me bring you back to Chapter 3:2, at the end of it, Naomi says: In fact, he (speaking of Boaz) is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

Why this information?

This indicates to us that it was the end of the harvest, where the grain was threshed or repeatedly beaten until the inner softer part of the seed was separated from the hard layer and from the chaff that covers it. After this, at the end of the day when the winds rose, they took the seed and threw it in the air so that the wind would separate the last chaff from the grain and what fell was the good seed. This sorting happened on the threshing floor, a large area outside the city. There must have been so much chaff that the Mishnah, the oral law of , ordered that the town’s threshing floor be 50 cubits from the town (Baba Batra, 2:8), so that the chaff will not end up in their living quarters.

This process of threshing and winnowing, which was well known at the time, is the picture that is used to show how Jesus will come and sort out his church.

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Luke 3:17 "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."

When the Lord will come, He will separate the good seed from the chaff.

But there is something else that is very powerful here; did you know that the Temple was built on a threshing floor?

The temple, where man meets God, was on such a place.When God sent the prophet to tell David to build an altar, he told him in 2 24:18: So Gad came to David that day and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

It was on this place where the Temple was built. Later, in 1Chronicles 21:15, Araunah who is called Ornan, sold this Threshing Floor to David, who built the temple on this place. So, here we have the Threshing Floor, the place where God’s footstool was be placed.

Here we see that it is on a Threshing Floor that Ruth meets her redeemer. In the same way, it is on our Threshing Floor where we meet our Redeemer, as well. This is also a powerful illustration of the life of the believer, who is, in many ways, on a threshing floor fighting away the old life of our old ways, putting away this covering that needs to be broken up and winnowed.

What Naomi tells Ruth, before her meeting with Boaz, sounds so much like the process of salvation which prepares us to meet our God. In Chapter 3:3 Naomi tells Ruth: "Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; ….

Notice three important things before she goes to the Threshing Floor. The first thing, bathe yourself. This word is used for all kinds of physical washing and also for the ritual cleansing of the priest. It is also used for the notion of cleansing from sin in 1:16: Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,

Secondly she says, anoint yourself like when we are controlled by the Spirit, and led by Him. Thirdly she instructs, put on your best clothes, like the process of sanctification which makes us ready to meet our God. Lastly, see how Ruth promised to obey in verse 5, “All that you say to me I will do;” That’s obedience. This is what is required before coming to the Threshing Floor, where we have the presence of God. The washing, the anointing, the best clothes and the obedience are all things that lead us to the presence of God, in the Holy of Holies.

One more beautiful observation to consider, here: during what time in the year did the end of this harvest take place?

It was at the end of , or Pentecost. This is why the Book of Ruth is read in the synagogues during the feast of Shavuot. Pentecost or Shavuot, is the second of three harvest festivals. At Passover, the grain harvesting begins. At Shavuot, the first barely loaves are offered in harvest thanksgiving. We remember during this feast that two loaves of bread with leaven were to be waved before the Lord; leaven was

7 present, but no offering was supposed to carry leaven. You cannot ever offer leaven to God, except on this day. Why so?

We know what leaven symbolizes in the . Because of its fermentation, it implies disintegration and corruption. So, leaven became a symbol of sin. The two leavened breads represent the Jews and Gentiles being one. In the book of Ruth, we have begun to see one Jew (Boaz) and one Gentile (Ruth) together on Shavuot and both blessed by God. It is from them that the Messiah was to come.This union of Jews and Gentiles, the birth of the Body of the Messiah, is because of the redemptive work of the Messiah. The main theme of Ruth is this work of redemption.

This whole experience must have changed Ruth. After she had confirmation of the hope of redemption from Boaz, Ruth came back to Naomi, and there Naomi asked her a strange question. Ruth 3:16 So when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "Is that you, my daughter?" Then she told her all that the man had done for her.

The Hebrew is different; instead of is that you, my daughter, it reads, Mi-Ati Biti?, which is translates, who are you, my daughter?

As if Naomi did not recognize Ruth, or perhaps saw a big change in her. This is how the Targum translates it. The also brings out the surprise by translating these words by my daughter. What then happened to Ruth; is this the new hope which changed her?

Like with the new believer who comes to the Messiah, our whole perspective of the world changes and we are given such a solid hope.

Let us see now how Boaz marries Ruth. After the transaction, Ruth is now declared the wife of Boaz. We read that the people of the gate, all rejoiced; and they blessed the couple and said in Ruth 4:11: "We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like and , the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.

So they were. This is like a prophecy. They add: Ruth 4:12 May your house be like the house of , whom bore to , because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.

First, Rachel and Leah, both like Ruth, came from the outside to be mothers of Israel. Rachel, Leah and Ruth, all find themselves at the root of the nation of the Messiah. Perez, Tamar and Judah are also mentioned. Perhaps to remind us of the failed Levirate attempt to save the line of the Messiah. Tamar’s husband had died, and there was no one to keep the line of the Messiah, until Tamar played the harlot and with Judah, they had a child Perez through whom Boaz, then David, then the Messiah came.

Then in Ruth 4:13, Ruth conceives. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.

She finally conceived. During ten years of marriage with Mahlon, she did not conceive. But here, we read that the LORD gave her conception. For ten long years, she was barren, like , Rachel and . But the Lord loved these women and blessed them at the right time.

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Naomi was also blessed; we read in Ruth 4:14-15 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! "And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him."

It must have been the same as when the women, in chapter one, saw Naomi coming from Moab, all destitute saying; "Is this Naomi?" (Ruth 1:19) At that time, Naomi said to them: Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, which means bitterness. But now was the time of blessing. They all saw the hand of the LORD, on this woman and blessed her.

But there is one little disappointment in this story. I thought we were all invited to the wedding and to witness the festivities. However, we are told of the wedding, but we do not see the wedding. It took place between verses 12 and 13 of chapter four. But why were we not invited?

Maybe it was on purpose. After all, the story is not really about Boaz and Ruth’s wedding. It is really about your own wedding with your own Redeemer, Yeshua Ha Messiah. So if you waited, don't be disappointed. Just wait a little longer. You will not only participate, you will be the bride. This latter wedding, which the Bible tells us about, is right at the end of the book, in Revelation 19: 7-9 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."

Here we see the marriage of the Lamb with His bride. This is where the Book of Ruth is leading us. In fact there are two feasts spoken of here. In verse 7 the marriage itself and in verse 9 the supper. Just like we have it today; we first have the religious ceremony and, a few hours later, the big supper. We can only imagine the joy and even the food that would be served there. I do not think we have tasted anything like it yet. I am always amazed at the variety of food we now have on this earth; there are always new things to taste. How would it be in heaven?

The Creator of the universe has prepared for us such a menu, surely as wonderful as His creation. Wait till we are seated at this great table. Also this wedding, our wedding, is in the making at this moment. When we speak of a biblical wedding, first there is the legal part of the marriage when it is ratified; when the parent of the groom pays a dowry to assure the faithfulness of the groom and secure the marriage. For our wedding, God the Father did send His Son to die on the cross to pay the dowry and assure the salvation of the bride to be. In Ruth, God had all the situation in hand, and in His sovereignty organized this wedding.

Second, after the price is paid, a certain length of time is given to the groom to go and prepare a place of his bride. Before paying the price. This is what Yeshua promised His bride to be, in John 14:2-3: "In My Father’s house are many mansions … I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

In the book of Ruth, Boaz pays the price. We remember that once on the Threshing Floor, he asks Ruth to leave, and he also goes to negotiate the redemption.

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Third, once the place is ready, the groom comes and takes the bride to her new place. For us, this will happen at the Rapture, at the next feast after Shavuot, the Feast of Trumpets. In the book of Ruth, this is the time when Boaz declares: Ruth the Moabitess…I have acquired as my wife. (Ruth 4:10)

The Fourth stage is the one we witness in Revelation 19, when the bridegroom now claims His bride. In the book of Ruth, this is when, for the second time, Ruth is spoken of as Boaz’s wife. Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife.…

Let us now pause for a minute and try to understand what is really happening here. What happens when a man and woman get married?

They are then united in a very close relationship, an intimacy where they share all they have and where they have a common purpose in life. It is this relation that is spoken of here, in Revelation 19. The mention of the word wedding tells us that we will be so close to Him. The Spirit of God could have used the word “union” or “bond” or just “relationship,” but He chose the tighter bond of it all – a wedding, a marriage. He so clearly depicted our relationship with Him, as to use the wedding illustration.

At the end of the book of Ruth we are brought right to the genealogy of David. Ruth 4:18-22 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot ; Hezron begot , and Ram begot ; Amminadab begot , and Nahshon begot ; Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot ; Obed begot , and Jesse begot David.

How many generations are there?

Ten of them; there are ten names. This is like the reversal of the curse found in Deuteronomy 23:3: An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever,

Ten for ten, because anyone who comes to Yeshua, is cleansed and protected from any such curses.

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