THE BOOK OF RUTH CONTINUED
We are still drinking in the beautiful love story of Ruth and Boaz. Their story definitely qualifies as the definition of a type of higher love. There are so many things to consider. Even though we have finished looking through the four small chapters which make up this rich and full biblical book called Ruth, volumes of more information could still be written if you simply begin to consider the details of the entire story.
Last week we promised to speak more about the history of Boaz. First though, let’s think further into the love story between Ruth and Boaz.
Remember how Ruth lay down at the feet of Boaz at the threshing floor?
It is interesting to look down through the pages of biblical history and discover all of the things that transpired later in the same spot of this very threshing floor.
GOD PROVIDED A LAMB
We should probably look backwards first.
Long before this threshing floor was acquired by Boaz it was the place where Abraham offered Isaac up to God and God provided a Lamb in Isaac’s place.
Time passed on.
RUTH PROPOSED TO BOAZ
Soon we come to know of the story of Ruth’s proposal to Boaz which happened in this very same spot.
If you then decide to fast-forward all the way to the days of the Temple, you soon discover that David chose this very spot of the threshing floor from which to lay the foundation for the Temple. Solomon continued the building once David picked this foundation place.
I would definitely call this one of the most interesting places on earth. The threshing floor is ranking high on my own list as one of the most amazing and wondrous wonders of the world.
THE SITE OF THE HOLY TEMPLE
The fact that the threshing floor eventually became the site of The Temple plays right into the symbolism and comparisons we have been considering about Ruth and Boaz as we looked at their love story.
When you think of it , you realize it isn’t so strange that years and years later we read a scripture passage in the form of a Psalm written by King David who rose at midnight in order to give God thanks for this unlikely and historical union which was critical to his own lineage.
A PARALLEL TO THE EXILE
More than one Jewish scholar has proclaimed that the dialogue which transpired between Ruth and Boaz at the threshing floor is symbolic of the dialogue which was held by God and Israel at the time of the exile.
We know that Israel was pleading with God to take them out of exile.
In a similar fashion Ruth was beseeching Boaz to take her out of her own personal exile called widowhood.
All during the times of the exile God was speaking to Israel. He was saying practically the same words that Boaz said to Ruth; “Stay here tonight and be patient. You will definitely be redeemed.”
A MOABITE WOMAN
And what happened for the rest of the night?
Ruth did not lay down at the side of Boaz. She lay away from his side, at his feet. This showed humility and took the form of a servant which showed respect and honor to her master.
Boaz awakened in the night to find her there.
They talked and he instructed her not to leave but to lie down alongside of him until morning. This was a sure sign that the significance of their relationship had changed. A servant lies at the Master’s feet. A lover lies down beside her love. Ruth had proposed marriage to Boaz in their conversation. He had shown an interest in becoming her kinsman redeemer.
SPREAD YOUR GARMENT OVER ME
The words Ruth used in the proposal were “spread your garment over me.”
Such language had a very significant meaning to a man from Judah.
By his “garment” Ruth was referring to Boaz’s prayer shawl. The prayer shawl of the groom is often used as the chupah which covers a bride and groom in a Jewish wedding. On the corner of that particular garment is a tassel called a “talit.” The talit is an instrument used for prayer. Ruth was proposing marriage to Boaz and her words to him sounded almost like a prayer from her heart to his.
If you read Ezekiel 6:8 you will hear of the very words God used as He proposed to Israel.
God says; “Later I passed by, and when I looked at you, and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “and you became mine.”
In the middle of this happy moment Boaz has another thought.
Ruth is a woman from Moab.
Wouldn’t he be in sin to marry her?
Boaz had already noticed Ruth. He had desired her from afar from the first time that he set eyes upon her. Now she was coming to him and asking him to marry her. He definitely wanted to do this, but being a devout follower of the laws of Israel, he considered that Jewish men were not allowed to marry Moabites.
How would God ever allow him to marry this woman that he felt so clearly drawn to marry?
THE EPIPHANY GOD GAVE TO BOAZ
Laying there with Ruth at his side, Boaz had an epiphany.
Suddenly he realized that there was an acceptable answer to this dilemma.
ISRAEL AND MOAB
You see, almost two and one-half millennia ago the women of Moab had seduced the Israelite men to sexual sins and idolatry in order to try to conquer Israel and stop them from taking ownership of Canaan. For the sins of that day God struck down 24,000 Israelites. (Read Numbers 25.)
Also, in Deuteronomy 23 we hear of how the Moabites hired a soothsayer named Balaam to curse the Israelites.
To take matters even further, we know that right after the Israelites left Egypt; it was the Moabites who denied the Israelites food and water.
Because of the horrid treatment from the Moabites, The People of Israel were admonished to never advance the welfare of the people of Moab. It was decided that no Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the congregation of the Israelites through marriage to an Israelite.
CONSIDERING THE TIMES
Our story takes place during the time of the Judges of Israel. It was durng a time of which we know that Boaz reigned as one of those Judges for a period of seven years. He was known as the ninth judge of Israel and was the judge called Izban. The Israelites and the Moabites were constantly at war with one another during this period of history.
Boaz had been a righteous judge (more of that story later.) Now he was faced with the decision of breaking or keeping the laws common to the land.
Because of these historical facts about Moabites, it even become very questionable to some of the locals living in Bethlehem as to whether or not Elimeleck was right or wrong in moving his family from Bethlehem into Moab during the time of the famine.
Many think this strange decision had played into the resulting death of Elimeleck and his two sons. There have been rabbis who thought the sons early and untimely deaths came about because of their decisions to marry Moabite women.
All of these facts added up. They were also the reason that Ruth was fearful when she first went out to work in the fields of Bethlehem. This was one of the reasons that Boaz had offered her the comfort of protection in his own fields.
Moabites were not respected in Israel.
Even when Boaz went talk to the closest kinsman redeemer, this fact played out again in the history. This closer relative, though interested at first, rejected the rights because it meant that he would have to marry a Moabite woman.
GOD ANSWERS BOAZ’S PRAYERS
Well then, being a devout man of God, why did Boaz suddenly feel okay with his decision to carry through with this uncommon redemption?
Understanding more of the life and times in which Boaz lived helps us to decipher why he came to the conclusion that it would be perfectly acceptable for him to marry Ruth.
Let me tell you a bit about the history of Boaz. If he looked back down through his own heritage, and then decided that Ruth wasn’t an acceptable bride; he would have been one of the highest of all of the hypocrites.
Why do I say this?
I say it because Boaz was the son of Salmon, who was married to Rahab.
Remember Rahab? She was the prostitute who helped Joshua when he went in to conquer Jericho for Israel.
Yes, she was THAT Rahab.
As a child, Boaz had probably seen how hate and judgment from others had at times affected the life of his own mother. Perhaps he felt her pain. He probably knew prejudice from first-hand experiences.
Maybe because of some of the persecution his own Mother might have experienced during his childhood, it appears that Boaz seemed to have the courage to think beyond his own customs and traditions.
He reasoned with a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.
The love of Boaz seemed to come from a higher level than the love of the traditions of the people in the land. Anyone who studies Rahab’s story with insight will eventually see that God actually praised the actions of Rahab and rewarded her for helping Israel. We know, as Boaz must have known, that she was a woman with a changed heart.
A LOVE LIKE JESUS LOVED
Maybe though, because others who were judgmental in nature had still held his mother’s past against her and him, Boaz had taught himself to think differently.
He had come to believe that ALL people were created in the image of God. Boaz looked at all people the same. It seemed that from this wise, self-taught step toward perfect love that Boaz generally considered no man to be his enemy.
Boaz actually loved welcoming strangers into his home. He even ate meals with them.
Does this part of our story begin to sound a lot like Jesus to you?
A WAY TO GROW YOUR KINGDOM
As further evidence of the different way that Boaz thought, we can look at the facts of the times in which Boaz was known in the land as Judge Izban.
While he reigned as Israel’s judge it was widely known that he had fathered 30 sons and daughters.
History states that Boaz encouraged each of these sons and daughters to go out and marry people from other lands. This intentional plotting and association with all peoples had expanded and increased the territory of his kingdom greatly. The Israelites considered him to be a wise ruler for doing this.
Every time one of these 30 children married, Boaz would throw two elaborate festivals. He would hold one feast in his own land, and plan and provide for another feast in the home of the foreigner that his child had chosen to marry. Public relations would then be paved between Israel and the other nation when this happened. They would mingle under good circumstances and come to understand one another in a better way.
This prevented wars as well as increased the kingdom.
It was said that since Boaz/Izabn had children all over the earth, Israel rested in peace and prosperity during his judgeship.
Apparently, the royal children were good negotiators too. It seemed they resolved all foreign conflicts before they ever rose up to destroy and divide Israel.
CHESED LOVE OF BOAZ
Boaz was known for promoting kindness, even when everyone around him preferred to use methods of violence and cruelty.
All that Boaz did wasn’t based on politics though.
Besides the facts we have already mentioned, what other things made Boaz so different?
A MAN CAREFUL TO FOLLOW GOD
It was his faith in God.
Unlike many of the greedy judges before him, Boaz allowed God to use his life and his blessings instead of following after sin and curses. He had an uncanny reputation for rising above the social and religious norms of his times. Acting purely out of love for the ways of God, Boaz always tried to do the right thing in spite of the ways and traditions of his culture.
Boaz was known as a man of wisdom and good deeds. He was wise from reading and following the Torah. As a leader in Bethlehem, he prided himself in his ability to know and keep God’s ways. Boaz realized that God’s ways were above all other ways. He never questioned the righteousness given in Torah.
This is why Boaz was so puzzled about what to do when he clearly felt God compelling him to become the kinsman redeemer for Ruth. This act of marriage seemed to contrast with the scriptures of Deuteronomy. In the course of his lifetime, Boaz had never deliberately disobeyed Torah. Just the opposite, he had often taken a strong stance to defend it.
But was that understanding REALLY true and correct?
If so; why was God prompting Boaz in the spirit to marry Ruth?
CONFIRMING THE SCRIPTURES THROUGH STUDY
At that time, most of Israel interpreted the law as to not allow a Jewish man to marry a Moabite. Boaz was troubled enough to re-read Torah many times as he prayed about this fact.
Suddenly, he found himself in the unbelievable circumstances of lying on the grounds of that threshing floor with Ruth breathing closely beside him. He had not asked for this to happen and he was greatly surprised when it did. What was going on?
That was the moment God gave Boaz the final answer.
This answer from God actually came to Boaz as he looked lovingly at Ruth while she was sitting at his feet. He saw her modesty. He knew of her strong work ethic. Boaz considered her noble love and devotion and care for her mother-in-law, Naomi.
Boaz clearly saw Ruth as an overwhelmingly worthy woman, and that was exactly why Boaz received God’s answer about following the ways of Torah. God gave Boaz his glorious impossible moment.
Boaz had all faith in God’s written word. He never questioned its integrity, but he also knew in his heart that God loved Ruth very much. So did Boaz. For weeks now, as Ruth had worked in his fields, Boaz had prayed to God seeking clear answers to this dilemma.
Was Boaz just being tempted?
Was it a test?
He kept asking God. Until now God had not yet answered.
THE GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE
As Ruth lay beside him on the threshing floor, carefully dressed as an able and available bride, he could not help but notice her femininity.
She was definitely a very beautiful woman.
Then the answer occurred to Boaz. In that moment of realizing Ruth’s beauty, as he gazed at the one he loved, Boaz realized that the forbidden intermarriages between Israel and Moab only applied to the MEN of Moab and not the women.
Moabite men marrying an Isralite woman would subtract from Israel’s strength. The family they formed together would only benefit Moab. But if a Moabite woman married an Israelite man, Israel would be strengthened. The family this union formed would come to benefit Israel.
How could he have missed the wording of the scriptures like this?
In all the wording of the scriptures, which he had faithfully read and re-read, it occurred to Boaz that the message was for and about Moabite MEN. Women were not even mentioned in the passage. The MEN of Moab were forbidden to marry an Israelite. However; the Moabite women were NOT forbidden to marry an Israelite man.
Now everything made sense.
With God all things are possible.
The eyes of Boaz must have lit up as he instructed Ruth on what they should do next. God’s timing is never the same as men’s timing. God gave Boaz the answer he needed in just the moment that he needed it.
This final revelation from God actually opened up the heart of Boaz even further. He no longer carried any reservations. He KNEW that God had intended for him to marry Ruth whom he had come to love with all of his heart.
On that day God was giving Boaz permission to express his love for Ruth.
WHY READ THE BOOK OF RUTH AT PENTECOST?
Much later, on the day of Pentecost God gave the disciples permission to express their love for Christ to all the world.
That same invitation has been extended to all Christ-followers.
We remember this annually at Pentecost.
Today when coming to the Day of Pentecost, it is customary to read the book of Ruth through the night as you await the High Holy Day. Studying The Book of Ruth is now traditional during the celebration of The Day of Pentecost.
THE BEST GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE OF ALL
As this reading of the story happens within Jewish homes, many Jewish men experience a similar revelation as the one that Boaz had. An old familiar contradiction is more clarified for them. Jews do not believe that Jesus is Messiah. With this story though, God shows them a new thing. Some suddenly realize that Jesus is Messiah. What they thought was forbidden to them then becomes God’s will for their lives.
This is the best glorious impossible of all.
Let us pray for this message to continue and increase.
In the end-times which we seem to be living through today, the scriptures proclaim that many Jews will be able to open their eyes to see Jesus as Messiah. God removes the scales and they learn the same secret of these days that some of the Gentile followers of Christ have come to believe. This is; that we all must be walking in God’s higher plains (fields of harvest) together. Like Ruth and Boaz. This is the place in this threshing floor of the world where we will find our own Kinsman Redeemer.
The amazing life of the redeemed is possible right now, even as we all still walk this earth. Jesus proved this out to us. He showed us how to harvest.
WALKING IN HIGHER PLACES
The destiny and purpose of the Christian nation called The Kingdom of God has come to the place and time of rising above the teachings of men and walking in the highest teachings of God’s laws.
It all becomes possible when those very laws move from the ways of man’s minds and come to live inside the ways of their hearts. What one once saw as duty to God is now seen as love for God. This is a much higher form of worship.
Christ-followers of today (both Jew or Gentile) have had a type of heart surgery. God has removed their hearts of stone and replaced them with hearts of flesh. It is time to use these new hearts for gleaning the fields of the harvest. Jew and Gentile together must begin to change the world.
These are the hearts who are willing and able to travel on through the threshing fields of the world and into the higher grounds of understanding which constantly prove out the fact that God is love.
This the Chesed love we have seen portrayed by both Boaz and Ruth.
It is the highest love of God that we could ever achieve.