It is a common human ritual: getting ready each morning. We arise from our beds, contemplate our day's activities, and then groom ourselves accordingly. If you don't plan to leave the house, you may put on your jogging shorts, sweat pants or yoga pants. You may not spend a lot of time styling your hair. You will dress for comfort, rather than for appearances, right?
In Ruth 3, we see this taking place in Ruth's preparations to go make an unusual proposal to Boaz. Grab your bible and read this chapter if you can, before proceeding.
Naomi, realizing in those days that marriages were arranged, was well within her rights to "engineer" this next step, based on her perceptions of how Boaz had treated Ruth in the preceding days. Naomi was also trusting in the promises of God, given in His Law, as to how kinsmen should "redeem" widows from their extended family. Boaz, Naomi's near kinsman, was both wealthy and influential. Furthermore, we saw in the last post that he was kind, took a personal interest in Ruth, and was exceedingly generous, none of which he was required by the Law to be. Boaz had gone beyond the Law to show grace.
Now then...the next step was a huge step of faith for Ruth. I'm sure these Jewish customs were quite strange to her. Still, she trusted Naomi's judgment and did exactly as she was told to do in order for the relationship with her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, to progress.
The first step was to make herself ready. Unlike many of us today, the Jewish people of Ruth's day did not bathe every day. But, given the importance of this move, it was necessary for Ruth to present herself at her best. Therefore, she not only bathed; she went a step further to anoint herself with oil. This was a common custom in that day, to use pure oils to soothe and enhance the skin. People of wealth used very expensive oil. It is likely Ruth used a more common, less expensive oil for this purpose. Still, she used the best she had available. Finally, she changed her clothes. Some have speculated she had been to this point wearing the clothes of a mourning widow and that at this time she put on more festive clothes.
Wiersbe1 tells us that clothes, in scripture, carry a special significance. In particular, salvation is represented as a change of clothes (in Luke 15:22 and Isaiah 61:10). Similarly, living for Christ after the initial salvation decision involves taking off the "grave clothes" of the dead life and putting on the "grace clothes" of the new life in Christ (Colossians 3 and John 11:44).
The threshing floor referred to in this chapter was a large, flat expanse on the top of a hill which got "good wind". The heads of grain were placed on the surface, after which they were beaten by servants or trodden on by oxen, so as to separate the good grain from the chaff. Once this was done, large threshing forks were used to toss the grain and chaff into the air. The breezes would carry the chaff away, while the grain fell to the ground to be gathered later. The breezes were best in the latter part of the day, which is why the men did this work in the late afternoon and evening.
The threshing floor event was a festive one, taking place at the end of the harvest. God intended the people enjoy and rejoice over their harvest, as evidenced by Deuteronomy 16:15 (NIV):
For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
The landowner, in this case Boaz, would often be present on the threshing floor to oversee the process, as it was "high-stakes". This important threshing determined the amount and quality of the grain collected and stored for nourishment in the coming months. After a full day of hard work, those involved would have a big meal, a party of sorts, and then "camp out" there under the stars until morning.In what seems to our culture to be a most bizarre marriage proposal/request, Ruth comes incognito into the camp, notes where Boaz makes his bed, sneaks over there after he is asleep, uncovers his feet/legs, lies down and spreads his coverings over her, prefiguring the covering of salvation Jesus Christ spreads over His own.
6So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had instructed her to do. 7When Boaz had finished his meal and was feeling satisfied, he lay down to sleep at the far end of the grain heap. Then Ruth crept up quietly, uncovered his legs, and lay down beside him. 8In the middle of the night he was startled and turned over. Now he saw a woman lying beside him! 9He said, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am Ruth, your servant. Marry your servant, for you are a guardian of the family interests.” 10He said, “May you be rewarded by the Lord, my dear! This act of devotion is greater than what you did before. For you have not sought to marry one of the young men, whether rich or poor. 11Now, my dear, don’t worry! I intend to do for you everything you propose, for everyone in the village knows that you are a worthy woman. 12Now yes, it is true that I am a guardian, but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am. 13Remain here tonight. Then in the morning, if he agrees to marry you, fine, let him do so. But if he does not want to do so, I promise, as surely as the Lord lives, to marry you. Sleep here until morning.” 14So she slept beside him until morning. She woke up while it was still dark. Boaz thought, “No one must know that a woman visited the threshing floor.”15Then he said, “Hold out the shawl you are wearing and grip it tightly.” As she held it tightly, he measured out about sixty pounds of barley into the shawl and put it on her shoulders. Then he went into town, 16and she returned to her mother-in-law.
Ruth 3:6-16 (NET)
Why was it important for Ruth to make these moves, which must have seemed to her to be at the very least risky but which were, in reality, acts of faith? Her obedience demonstrated her trust, not only in her mother-in-law, but more importantly, in her God. These acts were important so that Boaz would know clearly where he stood with her. By his own admission, he did not appear to be on the surface the most reasonable match. Despite her widowhood and her pagan background, she must have still been a highly-desirable woman, because Boaz stated in verse 10 that she could have sought a younger, wealthy man.
Ruth obediently followed the Jewish Law because she wanted the best for herself and for her family line. By only one path could she be fully restored to all she had lost. Only a near kinsman could redeem both the lands her father-in-law had mortgaged when he left Bethlehem over 10 years earlier AND could at the same time redeem Ruth's widowhood and childlessness. She could have sought to marry another Jewish man; however, had she done so, she would have been acting in disobedience, outside the place where God could richly bless her.
Again, Ruth prefigures those who choose Jesus Christ as Savior.
We, the Believers, the Beloved, the Church, the Bride of Christ, in order to become His must obediently follow God's way of salvation.
1. We are to throw off our filthy garments, leaving our past behind and renouncing our sin as we come to Christ. We must then allow the oil of the Holy Spirit to anoint us, drawing us to our Bridegroom. That is mere preparation for salvation, however.
2. It is the act of the Kinsman-Redeemer which achieves our salvation. Had Boaz refused to redeem Ruth, all of her preparations would have been meaningless. To spread one's mantle over another person meant to claim that person for yourself, particularly in marriage. The word translated "skirt" in verse 9, when Ruth asked Boaz to "spread your skirt over your handmaiden" (KJV), also means "wing". Ruth had previously put herself under the "wing" of Jehovah God, and now she would be under the wings of her earthly kinsman-redeemer as well.
Jesus Christ echoed this kinsman-redeemer language as He began His descent from the Mt. of Olives into Jerusalem on the Day of Lambs (Palm Sunday), when He gazed with grief over the beloved, holy city and cried,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!"
Matthew 23:37 (NET)
His invitation to lost people everywhere is still the same today. He longs to, even through His Holy Spirit diligently seeks to, save those who are separated from God. So many reply "no", as did the Jews of Jesus' day, as do so many people of all races and cultures today. If you do not know Jesus, if you have not accepted His finished sacrifice for you, will you accept Him as your Bridegroom, your Lord and Savior today?Sources:
1 Wiersbe, Warren W. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: the complete Old Testament in one volume. David C. Cook, 2007, pp. 486-487
2 http://calvaryoxnard.org/studies/ot/Ruth/Ruth%2003.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment