We have come to the middle of Ruth’s story, but are you seeing the symbolism in it all yet?
In the story of Ruth we know that Boaz (the kinsman redeemer) was harvesting the spring, barley crop. He was out in the fields every day. At the time for the spring harvest he came to the threshing floor in order to thresh the barley. This was the place where Naomi instructed Ruth to go out to meet him. Ruth wasn’t to go until after dark when Boaz had eaten well and enjoyed the wine of the harvest celebrations.
WELCOME
Welcome to this Thursday’s COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY.
Our study group is walking through the book of Ruth together. So far our journey has taken us through the first three chapters of The Book of Ruth.
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THE BOOK OF RUTH IS FULL OF VIVID SYMBOLISM
We know that the story of Ruth is a completely real and true story. On each page of the story we understand that genuine historical facts are presented. Yet; we also see this story as a beautiful example of how God often shows us physical things which symbolize spiritual truths.
We have already seen many such examples from our previous studies of other books of the Old Testament we’ve examined together in this study. However; the Book of Ruth contains some of the most picturesque symbolism in the bible.
Let’s stop here for a moment and consider all of the symbolism of the story which we have discussed so far.
THE KINSMAN REDEEMER
Ruth was a gentile from Moab.
Boaz was a Jewish man from Bethlehem.
They were not related at all by blood.
Yet; Boaz was considered a kinsman redeemer. This was true only because Ruth had married into the family of Elimelek. It was very unusual for a Jewish man to marry a Gentile woman as had happened in Moab with Ruth and her husband, who was Naomi’s son. It would be even more unlikely for a Jewish man to claim to be a kinsman redeemer to a Gentile woman who was the widow of a Jewish man. Ruth’s chances of remarrying in Israel seemed very slim, until she met Boaz.
The job of the kinsman redeemer in this story was to redeem the land which the son of Elimelek (who was Ruth’s deceased husband) had inherited. This was so that his part of the family name would always remain associated with that land which had belonged to his family. There would be hope for a son from the kinsman redeemer who would eventually also inherit, keeping all of the family land in the family name forever.
Each tribe of Israel was historically and traditionally bound (from the beginning of their inheritance and throughout their generations) to keep the land they inherited from God’s promise to Abraham forever.
It was an everlasting covenant.
The law of the kinsman redeemer was established early in the history of Israel. This happened in order to keep family ownership of The Promised Land in tact. This kinsman redeemer stepped in to save the family name whenever those who had inherited died out. When the next of kin redeemed the land, the land of Israel would always return to the original family ownership. This meant that God’s promises to Israel would always remain secure.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO THE GENTILES TODAY
Are you a Gentile?
If you answered “yes” to that question you must understand a vital truth. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ that you have been grafted into the deep roots of the nation of Israel and The Kingdom of God.
Are you aware of this fact?
It truly matters.
You become part of God’s family by accepting a marriage proposal from Christ. This is comparable to Ruth’s marriage to Naomi’s Son. If you are a Christian and have given your heart to Jesus, you have accepted his marriage proposal. The Church was established to become The Bride of Christ. One day there will be a wedding feast in eternity. It is all part of God’s plan for those who will become a part of The Kingdom of Heaven. This is from an everlasting covenant which will have no end.
If you were not born Jewish and you have come to know Christ, you are part of the spiritual heritage of Israel (similar to how Ruth became a part of Israel.) You have a Kinsman Redeemer and His name is Jesus. He is the guardian of your inheritance from God (similar to how Boaz stepped up to redeem the family name for Ruth.)
All of the above is one huge reason why it is important for Christians to know and understand their Jewish roots. Jesus was Jewish. Ruth came to love and understand the ways of the Jewish family which she married into. Their inheritance became part of her inheritance. Her geneology became entwined with theirs from the point of her marriage onward.
THE SPRING HARVEST
The earliest annual crop harvested in Israel is the barley crop. However; the rich landowners and native Jewish farming families loved the bread from the later spring harvest the most. They enjoyed the rich wheat harvest. New wheat was planted after the harvesting of the barley crops. Wheat crops were sewn later in the spring season.
If you enjoyed the blessings from the wheat harvest as well as a barley harvest; you might have been considered wealthy in the Jewish culture. The continuous blessings of wheat bread upon your table on a regular basis usually made a man out to be rich.
The lesser classes and the poor could not afford wheat flour and they usually ate the less expensive bread made from barley flour. That was how barley became known for being the bread of the poor. It was used to make flat-breads (with no leaven) and the later wheat harvest was used to make bread that would rise with the addition of leaven. The barley was usually brown bread which was unrefined. Wheat bread was white when it was baked because it was refined.
The leavened bread was usually served at feasts for royalty and special occasions. The barley was the daily bread of the common working men. Wheat was special. Barley was ordinary. Both grains served their own unique purposes and both were useful to the people when they were harvested.
WINNOWING IS SYMBOLIC OF THE SEPARATION OF BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS
Each type of grain (barley and wheat) had to be winnowed. The winnowing happened after the grain was harvested. This process was performed at the threshing floors. Following the winnowing, all of the good grain was gathered into the barns. The chaff was burned. Afterwards there was usually a seasonal celebration of the harvest.
The wheat harvesting makes me think of the Jewish people who do not yet know Jesus as Messiah. They will come to know Christ during the later spring harvest of souls. The latter spring harvest was the time of the wheat harvest. The leaven which has clouded their eyes from the truth will one day be removed. At that time they will see clearly. When the timing of God is ripe, the Jewish population will come to know that Jesus is Messiah.
God has planned for both types of harvesting, the early spring harvest, and the latter spring harvest. He has arranged that both people groups will grow together and become blessings to one another. The Jews would eventually become the bloodline for Messiah. Messiah would bring salvation to all of those who believe and repent of sin. The Gentiles would be the first to believe. They would learn the truths of Torah and the prophecies of the coming Messiah from the Jewish people. The Jewish people would in turn learn the truth of Messiah from the converted Gentiles. Eventually one group of believers will evolve into one family of God.
THE BARLEY HARVEST SPEAKS OF JESUS
In our story about Ruth, Boaz; who is symbolic of Jesus, was busy harvesting the early harvest of the barley crop. Boaz appreciated the value of the barley harvest. Jesus, also known in the bible as “the firstfruits of many” can be associated with the early, first barley harvest of the spring season. He came to earth in the form of an ordinary man in order to save us. The barley was known as “the ordinary bread.”
Who will come to the earliest harvest once Jesus begins the process of harvesting souls for God’s Kingdom?
At some point in the story, the answer would be the Gentiles. Those who had accepted and believed that Jesus was Messiah. They would come into God’s fields for working in the early harvest. The Gentiles would be key to spreading the gospel to all nations. They are comparable to Ruth and all of the poor who were gleaning the corners of the fields in the days of Ruth.
These are those harvesters who come forth to the fields out of need and not from the right of kin. Those of the established families from Judah already had rich land and plenty of food. These poor gleaners are simply seeking daily nourishment.
Daily nourishment is a type of spiritual nourishment that only the true Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring. Without the love of Jesus, the Gentiles would always be the outsiders, the ones begging for bread in the streets. With Jesus as the firstfruits of many, these too now have a way of entering into the family and feasting through the gift of God’s blessings to his people.
TO THE JEWS FIRST THEN THE GENTILES
Jesus revealed himself to the Jews first because they were of the original family, but many of them rejected him.
Once he had fulfilled that part of his mission Jesus turned to the Gentiles. Because of the love of Christ they too were offered a way to enter into the Kingdom. Later, the Apostle Paul was called to serve the Kingdom of God by delivering these messages of The Gospel to the Gentiles.
After Jesus revealed himself to the world, it was the Gentile people who (similar to Ruth) widely accepted, believed and came to love and follow The Messiah of God. Jesus wasn’t what most of the Jews were expecting. They thought He would be a great king who would rule over an earthly kingdom. Many rejected Him as a false Messiah. Yet; He was not. He was the gracious Kinsman Redeemer who saved all who came to believe in Him, both Jew and Gentile. We can see threads of symbolism of this as we study the lives of Ruth and Boaz.
SYMBOLISM OF THE HARVEST
All of those who believe in Jesus as Messiah will be in the harvest of the rest of the souls for God’s Kingdom. He will make them priests and kings forever. They are symbolically a part of the first loaf of the bread which was offered up to God each year at the feast of Unleavened Bread in the early springtime. Jesus, the first of all fruit of The Kingdom of God, rose back to life from the dead during this time of the annual seasons of Israel. He rose three days after the Passover, which happens each year in the early springtime. It was during the season of Passover that the barley was harvested in Israel. His sacrifice is symbolic of Heaven’s first and earliest harvest. Without Jesus as the first fruits of the harvest; there would not be another harvest. He makes all of our eternal blessings possible.
The traditional first fruits offering of the first of the early harvest season was a sheaf of barley offered up on the second day of the Passover week. This is symbolic of Jesus giving Himself for us. In the story of Ruth it is compared to Boaz redeeming Ruth’s inheritance.
THE GOSPEL IS SYMBOLIC OF LOAVES OF BARLEY
Apparently, The Gospel seems to be a lot like barley loaves. Remember the story of the young lad with the five loaves and fishes which Jesus used to feed the thousands? That bread would have been barley bread. It was miraculously multiplied to be enough for the whole crowd once it was blessed by the hands of Jesus.
Barley is comparable to the food of the soul for the common men of the earth. A man may not have a royal table in his humble home; but if he has the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he is indeed very rich in spiritual blessings. He can always rejoice if he has obtained the bread of Heaven for his table. It is something that even gold and silver cannot buy.
So we have now come to know and understand that in the ancient harvests there were two types of crops which could be sewn in one field and harvested at different times and seasons. The harvests help us to understand God’s ways of counting time.
The first harvest had early first fruits. This is symbolic of Jesus and those who followed his ministry (the disciples and those who followed them.) Jesus was the first of all of the harvest of God’s fields. Jesus made resurrection possible for anyone who believed, and He was the very first to achieve it.
Later, after the barley harvest, a farmer then prepared the ground for a second harvest, the harvest of the wheat. This harvest comes later in the season around the time of Pentecost. The truth of the Gospel went out first to the Jews. That was how the disciples came to know and follow Christ. The Gentiles would be used along with them in order to spread the gospel to the Jews again much later.
TWO DIFFERENT HARVESTS AT TWO DIFFERENT TIMES
Many of the Jewish persuasion will not be converted (or become believers of Christ) until the second harvest of God’s fields.
This is the harvest that happens in the later spring time, the time of the wheat harvest.
Those Jewish believers who DID follow Jesus and believed in his work were the disciples. Their converts to Christianity were mostly Gentile, though they first preached to the Jews. It was often the Gentiles (like Ruth) who became the first followers of the Gospel.
Many of the Jewish people are still struggling with this truth. Symbolically, they will come to know the truth of Messiah at the later harvest of the wheat.
THE THRESHING FLOOR
Naomi instructed Ruth to go to Boaz while he was sleeping at the threshing floor. The threshing floor was the place where the harvested crops were winnowed and made useful for consumption.
It was there at the threshing floor that the barley would be separated through a winnowing process which would remove all of the chaff from the good kernels of the grain of the barley. This grain would then be used to make bread.
The chaff would be separated, discarded and burned, as it was of no use to anyone. The chaff is symbolic of the hopelessly wicked who will never come to believe in Jesus as Messiah.
When the good grain is produced and leaves the threshing floor, it would be pure and empty of any bad elements. Only the true, pure, good barley will remain for the continuous nourishment of the people.
A SIFTING PROCESS
Isn’t this so like the sifting process of a Christian’s life with Christ?
God’s Holy Spirit is continually helping us to sort and sift the bad things out of our lives. It is an earthly process that hopefully refines our souls and prepares us for eternity.
This sifting and winnowing of the grain is also a process which is very similar to the purification of gold when the dross is removed by heating and only the pure gold is left inside the vat.
God sifts us through many encounters of this life on earth in order to refine us and help us to achieve the purposes for which He originally created for us.
SYMBOLIC OF GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT
In the barley harvest, the air is the winnower which removes the unneeded parts of the grain. It is the tossing into the air that separates the good grain from the chaff.
This use of air in winnowing reminds us of how The Holy Spirit of God refines our souls. On the Day of Pentecost The Holy Spirit was described as “a mighty rushing wind.” The disciples were said to have seen flames of fire upon people’s heads as this process happened (similar to the purifying fire that burns away the chaff.)
Receiving God’s Holy Spirit has been compared to receiving the breath of God as He breathes new life into His people. Once this happens there is no room for chaff. God purifies his servants so that they may serve Him in holiness.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE KINSMAN REDEEMER
Getting back to our story, we learn that Boaz was going out to begin the process of purification of the grain from the barley crop produced in the first harvest of the season.
That night he would sleep in the fields at the threshing floor after he celebrated completion of a good harvest with his harvesters.
This was a traditional type of harvest festival which the farmers held in order to celebrate God’s goodness to them at the end of each season. The first and the best of the crop was put aside first and was given to God at the temple for a thanksgiving offering for His provision.
This firstfruits offering happened three times a year; once in the spring, in the latter spring or summer, and again in the fall. As a good kinsman redeemer, Boaz would have given this offering each year.
SYMBOLS OF ANGELS AND THE TIME OF JUDGEMENT
In my own mind I’ve come to think of the other “harvesters” who worked alongside of Ruth in the fields to be symbolic of angels.
The angels are God’s helpers who bring the harvest of souls unto God. Many angels do perform the work which helps the crops of our lives to grow and to be fruitful. The other harvesters are nameless and unknown in this story. So it is with the angels who work daily in our lives. No one realizes they are there; we simply see the end results of the work they do which helps to bring about God’s plans in our lives.
The scriptures speak of a time in end-times when God will use his angels to help separate the good from the evil of the earth. We are told that an angel will come carrying a sickle, a tool like the farmers in our story would use to harvest fields.
The following verse speaks about these things: “Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”” (Revelation 14:15.)
CARRYING OUT NAOMI’S PLAN
So, as we continue to read our story, in Ruth Chapter 3 we hear of Naomi’s plan for Ruth:
(Ruth 3: 2-4) Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in 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.”
SYMBOLS OF SALVATION
Would Ruth’s preparation to meet Boaz at the threshing floor not be symbolic of all a Christian goes through at the time of their salvation?
One who is saved will recognize that Christ is their Kinsman Redeemer. They will put their complete trust in Him to save them. Ruth did this when she put her trust in Naomi’s instructions (similar to the urge of God’s Holy Spirit we receive when we make a decision to come to follow Christ.) She wasn’t afraid to approach Boaz and make her claim for His provision.
Ruth knew she could count on Boaz to do whatever she needed. She had faith and believed in him as her kinsman redeemer.
SYMBOLS OF REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM
Yet; Naomi had told Ruth to get ready to approach Boaz in this way: she was to wash, put on perfume and dress in her best clothes.
The washing is symbolic of our repentance and baptism.
The perfume is the fragrance of God that comes from the wisdom of knowing and following The Word of God.
Dressing in her best clothes is symbolic of the covering of the blood of Jesus that saves us whenever we decide to come to be a follower of Christ.
SYMBOLISM OF PASSOVER
Ruth did exactly as Naomi instructed.
Naomi had told Ruth not to let Boaz know she was there until he had finished eating and drinking. Here we see a symbolic picture of the Passover Seder.
This act of Ruth going to Boaz happened at night during the early spring harvesting season.
Jesus could not save us until AFTER he had observed the Passover with his disciples. Once this hour of the Passover had arrived and had been observed, He would move on to be crucified on a cross where He would bear our sins. He would pay the price of the Kinsman Redeemer for us with his life.
SYMBOLISM OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Ruth waited nearby until it was dark and late in the evening. When Boaz had eaten and drank his fill in the harvest celebration, he came to the threshing floor to sleep through the night.
This was more than a time of rest.
The owner of a field usually slept at his threshing floor after the harvest had been taken in so that he could guard his crops from the greedy robbers that liked to roam the land and take whatever they wished from those who had worked and harvested the fields of their lands. Symbolically this would be Satan and his demons at work. When Jesus died on the cross for us He defended our souls from the wickedness of the devil and his demons. He protected us like a Good Shepherd taking care of his sheep.
This part of the story is symbolic of The Good Shepherd characteristics of Jesus. He would guard his flock and watch over his sheep. The wolf or the bad shepherds were not allowed to come near his flock.
Boaz was guarding and protecting his crops in the same way. No bad actors were allowed into the harvest festivals. Only those who belonged could be there. Here again we are reminded of the significance of the harvest being a picture of the separation of the un-repentance of the incorrigibly wicked and the saved followers of Christ. In the end there will come a time of such a separation.
SYMBOLISM OF THE FEET OF JESUS
Again; we note that Ruth did exactly as Naomi had instructed.
When Boaz went to sleep she went and uncovered his feet, then lay down next to his feet. Have you ever bowed down in prayer seeking help at the feet of Jesus?
This is a combination of faith and humility. It shows recognition and respect to the One who is sovereign and above all others. The heart of a servant is expressed, not the attitude of a bound slave, but a willing and committed servant who desires to always please their master.
Do you remember the biblical story of the woman with a lifetime infirmity who wanted to be healed? She only desired to touch the corner of the garment of Jesus. She had great faith. Ruth uncovered the covering of Boaz in the same way, showing her faith in his ability as a Kinsman Redeemer. By lifting the cover over his feet, she symbolically touched the corner of his garment. Typically the corners of the garments of a Jewish man would contain tassels used for offering up prayers. They would be sacred and only touched when in prayer. Ruth’s touching the corners of the garment of Boaz was the same as offering up a prayer for redemption.
So we will leave Ruth here for now, at the feet of Boaz.
It is a good place to rest, pause and reflect.
We will continue this beautiful and highly symbolic love story in our next lesson.