We’ve all read the tiny book of Ruth and marveled at the loyalty exhibited by this young foreign widow to her mother in-law. How can we ever forget the touching words of a young woman who now clings to the mother of her dead husband? “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17 NIV) Why even to consider that sort of sacrifice and dedication to one’s natural born mother, a thing of uncommon virtue, makes it more so considering that in truth, she had absolutely no real reason for to make the choice she made.
She had her own kin and her own country. More than likely she had her own living mother to whom she could have returned, and returned to open and welcoming arms. There is no cause for us to think otherwise. For this reason and more, it is ultimately heart warming to read the account and consider the whole of Ruth’s reasoning.
Likewise, we can look at the concept of the kinsman-redeemer and all of the theological implications of that relationship. Surely, there is a hint of the Salvation message to be found within that part of the story.
We could look at the restoration of Naomi who returned to her home village a broken and empty shell of a woman but in due time was returned blessings in abundance, now enjoying favor and standing she would have thought never to be hers.
I’m not going to touch on any of those in this message. I want to look at something entirely different for the benefit of this forum. That is, the oft overlooked love story contained within the words.
Remember, in the story, Ruth made the decision to go to the fields to try to earn a little extra income for her mother in-law and herself. We know the custom of the day which originated from the command given by God to Moses that when the grain was harvested, anything dropped or other wise left behind in the process was to be left there for the benefit of the poor who would come along behind and pick up the leftovers. Her intent was to work the fields and bring home what she could find. No doubt her expectations were low as it was very difficult work and generally it resulted in gathering only a pittance. After all, she would not be the only one so occupied in the fields, and though the Law intended to provide for the needs of the poor, it’s not hard to imagine that the original harvesters were going to be as careful as they could be to maximize their own take. What was actually left over for the gleaners was enough at most to provide the bare minimum for their sustenance.
There were many people in the fields that day. Many of those were women. Many of those were the servants of the owner of the fields. So it is perhaps unusual that the owner would take notice of one particular woman amongst the many. That, however, is exactly what happened. Now we know in the over all, such things are God ordained and such was the case here, but there is more, I think. Listen to this accounting. Boaz, the owner of the fields and the employer, if you will, of the harvesters within the fields, has just now entered the work place and observed the labors underway. His intent, just as with any good boss, is to supervise the work, and check on the progress of the harvest. But in the process of greeting the workers, both the hired harvesters who are men and the gleaners and other secondary workers who are for the most part, women. One of the women catches his eye.
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!”
“The LORD bless you!” they called back.
Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is that?”
The foreman replied, “She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” (Ruth 2:4-7 NIV)
He couldn’t wait to find out who she was. Now we can super spiritualize the account and make it into an almost sterile picture of religiosity, but I’m going to put it on the “boy meets girl” plane. I think he spotted her and was instantly struck by her beauty. No, the biblical account speaks nothing about her looks, but there is no reason for us to assume that she was anything but good looking. She may well have been the best looking of the women or girls in the field that day.
Oh yes, it was her first day on the job and thus she would have appeared as a stranger amongst those who Boaz was otherwise familiar with but I don’t believe that is the reason he noticed her. Had that been the case, his reaction to her would have been more reserved. Women in those days did not enjoy high esteem and owing to his position as wealthy landowner, and the gleaners as lowly servants, little notice would have been expected other than a cursory introduction at best. The foreman’s answer to his question would have been the end of it.
Not so.
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” (Ruth 2:8-9 NIV)
Ah! Now we may have at least part of an explanation for his attention.
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me-a foreigner?”
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband-how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (Ruth 2:10-12 NIV)
Boaz was truly appreciative of her care and attention to his relative Naomi, but I think that his interest in this girl went further than that. He continued with his favor. He is in essence saying, “have lunch with me.” Hardly an offer expected to be made to a poor servant girl, a stranger, and even an association to a casual family relationship.
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don’t embarrass her. Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” (Ruth 2:14-16 NIV)
It is clear that Naomi saw the implications and the possibility. Very likely she began to realize the feelings Boaz must be developing for Ruth. If I speculate in this direction, please allow me the liberty, as I am a romantic by nature and the chance to see a good love story is not wrong of me.
The plot on Naomi’s part clinches it.
One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3:1-4 NIV)
What is the washing and perfuming but to make herself even more attractive to this man? In my imagination, I envision him already smitten by her and perhaps fully in love. See, I told you I am a romantic.
There is a curious twist to the story at this point. Note who proposed marriage to whom. The following passage reveals that Ruth ask him to marry her, rather than him asking her. And we thought that women proposing marriage to their men was strictly a modern thing.
she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
“The LORD bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. (Ruth 3:9-11 NIV)
“I will do for you all you ask.” What had she asked him to do? The request “spread the corner of your garment over me” was understood to be a request for marriage and to a certain extent, the custom is still practiced in some parts of the Middle East today.
The rest of the story sorts itself out as we would predict. Boaz, a man of quick action, takes the initiative to secure this girl for himself. If you have not already done so, I invite you to read the rest of the story, and do so from this perspective. He prepares the way legally to take her hand in marriage, and he does so before the day is spent.
We know the rest of the story and the wider implications. Ruth bore a son to Boaz. His name was Obed. Obed later had a son. His name was Jesse. We know who Jesse’s son was. David, the second king of Israel and the continuation of his blood line extended to The final King of Israel, Jesus.
© Dan W. Dooley 2007
Dan W. Dooley
Dooley’s Treasure Chest
