The widow Ruth, a Moabite and a foreigner in Israel, has sought a kinsman-redeemer in Boaz according to the Law of Yahweh. The kinsman that Naomi, her mother-in-law, and she have chosen is Boaz. Being a righteous man, Boaz has told Ruth that although he is a kinsman, there is one closer than he. According to the law, that man should be given the primary opportunity to redeem Ruth.

Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, “Turn aside, friend, sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down. He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. Then he said to the closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. So I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” –Ruth 4:1-4.

In those days, business deals were conducted at the city gates. We see Boaz going there and sitting down to wait for the closer relative that he spoke of to Ruth. Once he arrives, Boaz also calls ten elders to act as witnesses of the deal they are about to discuss. Boaz starts out explaining that the widow Naomi has returned and has to give up the land that was owned by her late husband. Boaz explains that he’s second in line so, according to the law, he wants to give the closer relative the opportunity to redeem the land. You may miss it if you’re not familiar with the law of the levirate marriage, but it’s a safe bet that Boaz knew the name of this relative. But the writer of the book of Ruth purposely leaves him unnamed. Curious isn’t it? Why? Watch what happens in the next series of verses.

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.” –Ruth 4:5.

At first, Boaz makes the deal simply one of real estate and the relative jumps at the opportunity. But now Boaz adds a new term to the deal by including Ruth. By law, this relative should stick with his original answer he gave to Boaz. But watch what happens.

The closest relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it.” Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter; a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. So the closest relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” And he removed his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today.” –Ruth 4:6-10.

Here is what happened. The unnamed relative was perfectly fine with getting the piece of land. But when he found out that Ruth was part of the deal, this complicated matters for him. First off, he was probably already married. So he probably didn’t want to have to figure out how to bring home another wife. Secondly, he probably already had sons who already had their share of his inheritance divided up. If he married Ruth and then had sons with her, dividing up the inheritance then was probably more than he wanted to deal with.

Also, you may remember in Part I we talked about the sandal. The unnamed relative is lucky that it was Boaz that approached him and not Ruth. Had Ruth been the one to approach him and he declined her, then she would have spat in his face and there would have been open shame! But then again, maybe it’s worse for him because to this day we don’t even know his name!

Every story usually has a climax. Verse 10 in chapter 4 could be seen as the climax of the story when Boaz proclaims redemption for the property and inheritance of Elimelech and Boaz’s desire to marry the woman he loves!

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” –Ruth 4:13-15.

More powerful verses! Look at what the women said to Naomi, and put it in the context of Naomi being Israel and Ruth being the Christian Church! Amazing! Remember, too, that that since having seven sons would indicate the blessing of God (1 Samuel 2:5, Job 1:2), to describe Ruth as “better…than seven sons” was truly high praise! Also, don’t forget Boaz! If Boaz is Christ then we are getting a glimpse of what takes place at the end of the age when Christ returns for His bride: the Church!

Ruth concludes with a brief genealogy that it worth reviewing here. Keep in mind these are the generations of the house of Judah, the family tree of Jesus:

• to Perez was born Hezron,
• to Hezron was born Ram,
• to Ram, Amminadab,
• to Amminadab, Nahshon,
• to Nahshon, Salmon,
• to Salmon, Boaz,
• to Boaz, Obed,
• to Obed, Jesse,
• to Jesse, David (King David, that is!)

There you have it, a marriage made in heaven!

[This is part of the A Marriage Made In Heaven Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

Like Naomi, we were introduced to Boaz in our last post. Now that Naomi has learned of Boaz, as a good mother-in-law, she seeks to provide protection for young Ruth.

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? Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight. Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do.” She said to her, “All that you say I will do.” –Ruth 3:1-5.

Still not convinced that Boaz is a type of Christ in Ruth? Look at how Naomi says that Boaz will be winnowing “at the threshing floor tonight.” Now look at what John the Baptist says of Jesus in Matthew:

“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” –Matthew 3:12.

Do you see the parallels?

To us, it may seem a little strange, the instructions Naomi gives to Ruth. What she is telling her, is to clean up, put on a little perfumed oil, but just hang around until Boaz has dinner and some wine and lays down to go to sleep. Naomi tells Ruth to “uncover his feet,” which basically means to remove his outer garment so that as the night cools, he’ll get cold and wake up. None of this should be misconstrued to be sexual in nature. That is not the intent nor the meaning of the passage.

So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.” –Ruth 3:6-9.

The intent of Naomi (and Ruth) is to seek levirate marriage for Ruth. Ruth is acting in accordance with the law by being the active party in seeking it out. We see this in Ruth’s answer to Boaz in the verse above. By saying to Boaz “spread your covering over your maid,” Ruth is asking him to pledge that he would marry her. The reason? He is “a close relative.” Ruth was letting Boaz know that night that she wanted to have Boaz as her kinsman-redeemer.

The he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.” –Ruth 3-10-13.

From these verses we also learn a few things. Boaz tells Ruth that she has shown kindness to him for “not going after young men.” Obviously there was an age gap between them. Based on this, you may think the Jesus parallel goes out the window. Not so! Remember that up to this point, we have never seen Boaz be anything but a gentleman. Never once did he force himself on Ruth. Instead, he made himself available and let Ruth decide for herself. Isn’t this what Jesus does for everyone? He does not force anyone to love Him nor serve Him. He simply knocks at your door and waits for you to answer! (Revelation 3:20).

Also, Boaz isn’t outwardly attractive. Ruth does not seek out Boaz because he is pleasant to the eyes. Again, this parallels what was said of Messiah (Jesus):

He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. –Isaiah 53:2b

Although Boaz is a kinsman to her father-in-law, Elimelech, Boaz–ever the gentlemen–tells Ruth that there is a kinsman closer than he. Boaz does not wish to cut corners and just take Ruth when, by law, there is one closer to her. In the final installment, we’ll see how this all turns out.

[This is part of the A Marriage Made In Heaven Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

We pick up the story of Ruth after she arrives in Bethlehem with Naomi. We established that Naomi symbolically represents the nation of Israel and Ruth is the representation of the body of believers or the church.

Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, who name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. –Ruth 2:1-3.

In part I, we talked about how both Naomi and her daughter-in-law were both widowed in the land of Moab. Now that they have returned to Israel, they are in the very lowly position of having to glean in the barley fields. In other words, with no source of income which leads to no way of buying food, they are forced to gleaning at it is outlined in the Law. A careful reading of these verses demonstrates God’s divine providence. Ruth sets out for the barley fields and ends up in “the portion of the field belonging to Boaz.”

Here we finally meet Boaz, a name which means “fleetness,” which means “swift in motion.” It also is the name of a pillar erected before the temple of Solomon as described in 1 Kings 7:21. In that passage, “Boaz” means “in him is strength.” Either way, we will see all of these meanings come into play in Ruth.

The most important takeaway here is that Boaz is symbolic of Jesus. Keep this in mind as we continue through the book.

Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” The servant in charge of the reapers answered and said, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she was came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.” –Ruth 2:4-7.

The parallels at this early stage in the book are amazing. Boaz is from Bethlehem; Jesus was from Bethlehem. When Boaz arrives, he asks an unnamed servant who Ruth is. The servant is in charge of all the reapers. Let’s take a high-level look at this.

We said that Boaz is a type of Christ. So who is this unnamed servant? It’s the Holy Spirit. Look at what is taking place here in terms of how the body of Christ works today. If Ruth represents the Gentiles, then what we are seeing is Ruth behind part of “the harvest.” The reapers of the field (the church workers or the Body of Christ) are under the charge of this unnamed servant (the Holy Spirit).

Jesus, since His Ascension, promised to send the Holy Spirit:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things….” –John 14:26

So in these few verses, we get a glimpse into the workings of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church body, and the believer!

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my maids. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have commanded the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” Boaz answered and said to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” –Ruth 2:8-13.

Amazing. Look at how Boaz “swiftly” takes care of Ruth’s needs. He completely takes care of her need for food and for water. Think of Jesus and the woman at the well and His offer of the water He gives (John 4:14).

Then we see an awesome parallel of Ruth’s care for Naomi (the Christian’s care for the people of Israel) and what we walked about in the post of the Church’s care for the Jews during the Tribulation. And we’re just getting started!

Ruth then stays with Boaz and his servants and they have dinner. After they finished eating, Ruth went back out to glean some more. She ends up going home to Naomi with an ephah of barley, which is approximately 20 quarts. This would feed two people for ten days!

Her mother-in-law then said to her, “Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Again Naomi said to her, “The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives.” –Ruth 2:19-20.

Something very interesting takes place in these verses, symbolically. We see Naomi being introduced to Boaz through Ruth. In other words, the nation of Israel is introduced to Jesus through the Gentile church! Moreover, Naomi (Israel/the Jews) tells Ruth (the Christan Church) that Boaz (Jesus) is “one of our closest relatives!” The words “closest relative” means “kinsman-redeemer” which we talked about in Part I. Reread the passage above and then this paragraph again if you missed it. This is important.

To add another view of this, look at what God tells Moses in Exodus:

“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.’” –Exodus 6:6 (Italics are mine.)

It’s provocative to see how Naomi is introduced to her own kinsman through Ruth, just as it is provocative to see how Israel is introduced to their own kinsman, Jesus, through the Church.

In the next post, we’ll talk about Ruth’s request of Boaz.

[This is part of the A Marriage Made In Heaven Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

We started to set the stage for the book of Ruth in the last post. In it, we went through a little background on the Moabites, levirate marriage, gleaning, and the concept of the Kinsman-Redeemer. With the stage set, let’s look at the book of Ruth, written around the year 1,000 B.C.

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. –Ruth 1:1-5.

It’s worthwhile at this point to explain the meanings of the names of the characters so far.

• Elimelech means “My God is King”
• Naomi means “Pleasant, lovely”
• Mahlon means “puny”
• Chilion means “pining”
• Bethlehem means “House of Bread”

I especially love the meaning of Bethlehem, “House of Bread.” Who was born in Bethlehem? Jesus. What was one of Jesus’ names for Himself? “The Bread of Life.” What a great word picture.

God told the Israelities that He would always make sure the land was fruitful, provided they remain obedient to His laws. The fact that there was yet another famine in the land demonstrates their disobedience. Thus, Elimelech traveled 50 miles to Moab for a visit that turned into ten, long, tragic years.

Elimelech left Bethlehem seeking relief from his problems. Instead, he never sees Israel again. He dies and so do his two sons. So, not only is Naomi a widow, but she now has two daughters-in-law who are also widows! In the ancient times, this was one of the lowliest positions. You had no source of income and no one to protect you. You had no choice than to rely on the kindness of strangers.

Ten years since the start of the famine, Naomi then hears in Moab that God was again providing food for Israel; the famine had ended. She decides to leave Moab and return to her home in Bethlehem. But she realizes that she has no husband and no sons for these two widowed daughters-in-law and tells them to return to Moab.

“May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.” And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clunb to her. –Ruth 1:9-14.

Naomi was attempting to dismiss her daughters-in-law as a gesture of protection. Naomi wished for them to return to their own people and get remarried. She even tried to explain to them that she is too old to have more sons to be given in marriage. This is where the levirate marriage law would have normally taken place. But Naomi had no husband, so even if the women wanted to wait until she had more sons for a levirate marriage, Naomi couldn’t produce any. It was a desperate situation. Evidently, Orpah (meaning “gazelle”) realized this and she returned to Moab. But Ruth (meaning “appearance,” “beauty,” or “friendship”) clung to Naomi.

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. –Ruth 1:16-17.

Verses 16 and 17 are commonly used at wedding ceremonies. However, if we pull back a little and put the characters into their symbolic roles, these verses are amazing.

• Naomi in this book is representative of Israel, or the Jewish people
• Ruth represents the Gentile church, or the Christian believer.

Think about that for a moment and then re-read verses 16 and 17 again. Remember that we, as Christians, are part of God’s chosen family through a Jewish heritage. Jesus was born a Jewish carpenter. Our God is the same God the Israelites worship: Yahweh, Jehovah, the Great I AM. Their God will be our God! It gets better….

When Naomi and Ruth arrive back in Bethlehem, all the city comes out to meet them. Naomi tells them,

“Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. –Ruth 1:20-22.

Naomi changes her name from “pleasant” to “bitter.” Again, we need to take a larger view of these passages. Remembering that Naomi represents the nation of Israel, at a macro level, do you think the Jewish nation today feels as Naomi did? Before you jump to the answer, think about what has happened to the nation of Israel since 70 A.D. In that year, the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews to this day mourn at the Western Wall or “wailing wall” in Jerusalem. That is all that is left. They have not been able to worship according to the law since that time.  Think about the Holocaust. I can’t think of a greater example in recent history where the people of Israel could say “the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” However, like Naomi, the people of Israel still address Him as “El Shaddai,” “the Almighty,” as do we Christians. God, the Almighty, is still on His Throne!

In the next post, we’ll talk about Ruth’s rights under Jewish law and we’ll be introduced to a wonderful character by the name of Boaz. Who he represents will add much depth and excitement to the story.

[This is part of the A Marriage Made In Heaven Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

On the one hand, it’s story of romance and redemption. On the other, it’s chock-full of prophetical implications.

I’ve heard commentators state that you cannot fully appreciate the book of Revelation until you have a firm grasp of Ruth and the role of the goel, or Kinsman-Redeemer.

The topics we covered in this series are:

1. Background topics that will assist you in understanding the book of Ruth.
2. The next post sets the stage and introduces the characters of the book of Ruth.
3. We are introduced to Boaz, in chapter 2 of Ruth.
4. In chapter 3 of Ruth, we study Ruth meeting Boaz on the threshing floor.
5. We close looking at the final chapter of Ruth and the dramatic ending of the story with direct implications to Jesus as Messiah.

Ready to get started? You can start the series here.