With the last post I passed a milestone here at the RDM blog - - - the 801st post. All the glory goes to the only One who is worthy of it, my God - - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Accordingly, though, I searched my blog database to see if I had ever blogged on the topic I'm wading into today - - when you've written that many posts, you tend to forget and blog about the same themes over and over, I've discovered. To my surprise and delight, I have not!
Currently, in my personal study (which, it bears repeating, these blog posts are generated from) I am in this phase of learning how the Old Testament prefigures and illuminates the New. Have you ever wondered why the story of Ruth was given to the Israelites at all? "Oh, sigh! It is a beautiful love story!" Well, yes, it most certainly is that. But, don't you think that there have been many of those? Why THIS one?
The story of Ruth contains many important prophetic themes, some of which we have already explored. We have explored the theme of Loss and seeming abandonment, in chapter one. Today, we are going to move to the overarching theme of Love, of how our God is the ultimate Restorer.
Let's begin by looking at Ruth in chapter 2. She is a "type" of the Bride, whose name in Hebrew means "friend" or "companion". She was certainly a companion to Naomi, wasn't she? A loyal, devoted daughter-in-law. Boaz' name means "strength", and he is a foreshadowing of Jesus, the Messiah. Now, let's delve into this story by learning about the Levitical law's provision of a Kinsman-Redeemer.
In my societal culture, there is an unspoken desire for a man to have at least one son to "carry on the family name". If that does not occur, though, 99.9% of my contemporaries will just chalk it up to "God's will" or whatever (if they are not Christian) and life will roll on. However, it was not like this in ancient Jewish society. The passing along of the family name and the inheritance within a tribe were critically important. God established a system, whereby a man's family name would continue and endure, even if he died without a son, or, if his sons died. It was part of the larger, over-arching concept of Hebrew relatives helping one another when in dire need.
The Hebrew term for a Kinsman-Redeemer is "goel", which means "rescuer" or "deliverer".
5If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. 6Then the first son she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel.
Deuteronomy 25:5-6
Now, obviously, in the case of Ruth, there was no brother of Mahlon (Ruth's deceased husband) for her to marry, as Chilion had died also. However, the underlying principle was still in play in that day. Naomi knew this, which is why she gave Ruth permission (at Ruth's request - - she was a hard-working, industrious woman - - verse 7) to glean grains of barley and wheat in fields belonging to Elimelech's family. Ruth was not familiar with levirate marriage (which was instituted in Deuteronomy 25), although Naomi was. Ruth was just hungry and trying to help herself and Naomi not starve to death.
1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side of the family named Boaz. He was a wealthy, prominent man from the clan of Elimelech. 2One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields so I can gather grain behind whoever permits me to do so.” Naomi replied, “You may go, my daughter.” 3So Ruth went and gathered grain in the fields behind the harvesters. Now she just happened to end up in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Ruth 2:1-3
As it happened ... of course, nothing "just happens" with God. He is in charge of all things and uses all things for His glory.
Enter Boaz, to oversee what is happening in his fields. He is a wealthy man, yet benevolent. We notice in verse 4 that he speaks kindly to his workers and that they respond back similarly. He also rewards Ruth for her faithful choices, those being ... the choice to follow the Hebrew God, to travel to a strange land, to care for her mother-in-law.
(vs. 5) To whom does this young woman belong? (NET) or in other translations, Who is this one?
Those of us women who have known great human love with a man can think back to that moment, or those early moments, when "he noticed me". It is a beautiful thing, isn't it? Moments the heart treasures forever...
When Boaz recognizes who she is, both her outward AND her inward beauty, that she is by marriage a kinswoman, he does his duty to her to provide her with food to eat and the opportunity to gather more. In this way, he begins to redeem her life for her, as the Levitical law commanded.
He asks that she stay in his fields, not to get distracted by others, but to flourish in his own lands. In this way, he gave her his protection, because an unmarried woman in a foreign land could be vulnerable to various types of attack.
Isn't that just like our Savior? Overseer, Benevolent, Kind, Attentive, Kinsman (through His humanity), Provider, Protector, Redeemer.....
Boaz had a mother who knew all about how God redeems the lowly (that would be us all). Boaz' mother was Rahab, the harlot of Jericho (Ruth 4:21, Joshua 6:25, Matthew 1:15, Hebrews 11:31). Similarly, our God has a long history of His redemptive work with mankind, starting with Adam and Eve.
This is a story of covenant love, not just falling in love, not just the human marriage covenant, but on a higher level the ongoing covenant between God and the people He has forever loved.
Ruth is a foreshadowing and type of both the nation of Israel and the Church, in other words, those whom God will ultimately redeem. Ruth is a picture of you and me, if you have accepted your own Kinsman-Redeemer, Jesus Christ. While it is true that most of Judaism today is far from Jesus, the scriptures make it plain that, in the last days, God will draw His covenant people to Himself. What a wonderful thing that would be to witness!
Here are Ruth's characteristics that represent or correspond to the Bride of Christ.
1. She was a hopeless outsider, yet a seeker of truth.
God opened her eyes to Him - - His supremacy, His glory. And, she said "yes".
2. She was humble.
Ruth 2:13 ... 13She said, “You really are being kind to me, sir, for you have reassured and encouraged me, your servant, even though I am not one of your servants!”
And, she bowed down to him. Humility in the face of his grace....so beautiful!
3. She was teachable and obedient.
Had she been rebellious, refusing to listen to Naomi and to Boaz, she would have missed out on both restoration and the accompanying blessings. Christians, I know about rebellion and disobedience. I have lived through periods of that in my own life, as have many of you. Not a place I longed to dwell, because the Holy Spirit drew me back into a place of blessing and holy fellowship with Him. Oh, how I praise Him for that!
4. She produced much through gleaning.
At the end of that first day, she had gleaned approximately 30 pounds of barley (vs. 17)! (Note, though, that she could not have gleaned it if he had not at first given it....it's all about grace, Y'all.)
As members of Christ's Bride, we glean from the bountiful fields of His holy Word through diligent, careful study, and then produce much "fruit" for Christ's kingdom. Verse 14 says,
She ate until she was full and saved the rest.
The grace and mercy of God fill up our spirits and overflow our hearts. We then share with a hungry world, as Ruth went back to share with Naomi (vs. 19), the riches of the gospel of Christ.5. She was rewarded.
How imperfect are our earthly love relationships! Even in the best of times and situations, our humanness outpaces our godliness, leading us to hurt each other eventually. But, our human love, even when blissful, is a mere shadow of the perfect love our human marriages represent.
The blessings of walking with God our Savior, as His Bride, in this life are unparalleled, matchless. The apostle Paul calls it "the abundant life"... you might say "a 30-pounds of barley" life. Yet, the blessings of this earthly life are nothing compared to the joys and pleasures of an eternity with our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
I thank God that He brought Ruth and Boaz together for me and for you, because through them He continued to weave the fascinating genealogy of His Son. He continued to tell the love story between Himself and fallen mankind. You just can't make up a love story this wild, this wonderful, so overflowing with divine love and grace. There is no greater love.
Sources:
http://www.thewayprepared.com/studies/ruth-boaz.html
https://www.levitt.tv/media/watch/1123
https://www.gotquestions.org/levirate-marriage.html
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