The threshing floor was the place where the grain was separated from the harvested wheat. The wheat stalks were crushed and the inner kernels were separated form the outer shell. The floor was made from rock and soil and located outside the village, usually on an elevated site where the winds would blow away the lighter shells when crushed into the air or winnowed. Boaz spent the night beside the threshing floor for two reasons: to prevent theft and to wait for his turn to thresh grain. Threshing was done at night because daylight hours were spent harvesting.
2. Ruth 3:4, “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.”
Naomi’s advice may seem
strange, but she was not suggesting that Ruth was to go and sleep with
Boaz. Naomi was telling Ruth to act in
accordance with Israelite custom and law.
It was common for a servant to lie at the feet of his master and even
share a part of his covering. By doing
this, Ruth was letting Boaz know that he could marry her or help find her
someone to marry since he was Naomi’s relative.
3. Ruth 3:5, “’I will do whatever you say,’ Ruth
answered.”
Ruth was from a different
place with different customs. This may
have seemed very strange to her and it sounds strange to us. Ruth though trust Naomi and her
guidance. In our own lives there are
people we know and trust. People that
are older and wiser. Proverbs 10:8 says,
“The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.” And Proverbs 11:14 says, “For lack of
guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”
4. Ruth 3:7b, “Ruth approached quietly,
uncovered his feet and lay down.
When a
woman lays at the feet of a man she is showing respect and also showing that
she will willing to be become his, in marriage or in some cases just for the
night. Here Ruth is telling Boaz that
she will willing to marry him. In Luke
we read about the prostitute who came to Jesus and washed His feet. “and as she stood behind him at his feet
weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed
them and poured perfume on them” Luke
7:38. Laying, kissing, and pouring
perfume on a man’s feet would have been a way for this prostitute to seduce a
man. This is one reason there was such
outrage that Jesus would allow it, but Jesus knew that this was the only way
she knew how to show love. Just as Ruth
was not trying to go to bed with Boaz, Ruth and the prostitute were both
showing respect, honor, and love.
5. Ruth 3:10, “This kindness is greater that
that which you showed earlier: You have
not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.”
Ruth was young and attractive, but she did
not try to marry younger men, instead she followed the law. The law that says a relative should marry
her.
6. Ruth 3:12-13, “And now, my daughter, don’t be
afraid I will do for you all you ask.
All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble
character. Although it is true that I am
near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer that I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning
if he wants to redeem, good; let him redeem.
But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie her until morning.”
Boaz must have already been thinking about
marring Ruth, because he had already found out about another relative. The law says that the nearest relative has to
have the opportunity to marry Ruth.
7. Ruth 4:1, “Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town
gate and sat there. When the
kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned come along,”
The town gate was where the
center of activity was. No one could
leave or enter without going through the gate.
Merchants set up shop there and it also served as a city hall where
transactions would take place.
8. Ruth 4:2, “Boaz took ten of the elders of the
town and said, ‘Sit here,’
Boaz was
making sure that what he planned on doing would be witnessed.
9. Ruth 4:3, “Naomi, who has come back from
Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.”
Boaz was cleverly presenting his case to the
relative, by first telling him about the property. Naomi could only sell the property to her
closest relative. The man agrees to buy
the land and that is when Boaz tells him the rest.
10. Ruth 4:5,
“On the day you buy the land from Naomi and form Ruth the Moabitess, you
acquire the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with
his property.”
Once the man heard this
he backed out. He didn’t want to marry
Ruth. This now made it legal for Boaz to
marry Ruth and he did.
11. Ruth 4:14, “Praise be to the Lord, who this
day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer.”
At the end of chapter one Naomi was empty,
but at the end of chapter four she is again fulfilled and no longer bitter.
12. Kinsman-Redeemer: Boaz’ role as kinsman-redeemer is fulfilled
in greater measure by Christ who is both our Brother and our Redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer was a family member who
volunteered to take responsibility for the extended family. We have a kinsman-redeemer in Jesus Christ,
who was God, but came to earth as a man in order to save us. By his death he has redeemed us from sin and
thereby purchased us to be his own. Luke
1:68, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has
redeemed his people.”
13. Protection:
Psalms 18:2, The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God
is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
14. Blessings:
Naomi trusted God and He blessed her.
Even though she didn’t understand all that was happening to her with the
death of her husband and sons, God had a plan and he took care of her and
Ruth. When tough time comes and we ask
how can God allow this to happen, wait and trust Him. God will be with us in the hardest of times. “It is only when we have lost them that we
full appreciate our blessings.” Plautus
15. “The test of our love of God is the love we
have one for another.” Anonymous
