Explore the Bible: August 30

Redemption • Ruth 3:8-13; 4:13-17

By Roland L. McMillan

Last week’s lesson introduced Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, two widows struggling to survive in a male-dominated world. Naomi had prayed for her daughters-in law (1:8–9), and the rest of the book of Ruth describes how God answered her prayer in Ruth’s life. Ruth had revealed her dedication to her family (1:16–17) and had met Boaz. He was a relative of her late husband, the kind of relative that the Old Testament law provided to help in a desperate situation. Naomi and Ruth had experienced a string of coincidences, but the pattern revealed that they were not coincidences at all. God was working out his perfect plan in everyday life, and he was answering Naomi’s prayer along the way.

In the beginning of Ruth 3, Naomi started playing matchmaker. She shared a detailed plan that would bring Boaz and Ruth together as husband and wife. Naomi knew that Boaz would be working on the threshing floor, that he would be having his evening meal there, and that he would sleep there. The harvest season, including threshing the grain, was labor-intensive. They would have been working from dawn to dusk. Also, they probably slept there to protect the harvest. Ruth was supposed to go to the threshing floor secretly and wait until Boaz was bedded down for the night. Then she was supposed to uncover his feet, lie down, and wait for his instructions. The plan was risky in several ways. The threshing floor was male space. Respectable women did not go there at night. The outcome of Naomi’s scheme could have been scandal, ridicule, and shame. 

Ruth followed Naomi’s instructions and soon found herself lying at Boaz’s feet on the threshing floor. Her thoughts must have been racing. When Boaz woke up in the middle of the night with his feet uncovered and a woman lying there, what did he think? In the dark, he did not know who was there. When he asked, the way Ruth identified herself is revealing. Earlier in the story, she was labeled as a foreigner and as the lowest of servants. Here, she identified herself as a servant, but the word she used indicated a slightly higher status. She also used her personal name. Then, she invited Boaz to cover her, identifying him as the special kind of relative that the Old Testament law provided for desperate situations. While the passage may be understood with sexual overtones, there is no indication that they engaged in sexual activity. Ruth’s invitation to Boaz to spread his cloak over her was about more than the chill of the night air. In that culture, spreading his cloak over her also referred to marriage. In effect, she proposed marriage to him. He responded by recognizing her loyalty and her character. Then, he revealed one legal obstacle standing in the way of their marriage.

Ruth left at the first crack of dawn to avoid a potential scandal. She told her mother-in-law everything. Meanwhile, Boaz went to take care of the legal obstacle. When the business was done and the obstacle removed, they were married, and they had a son. The book of Ruth began with emptiness and ended with fulfillment. God had answered Naomi’s prayer of 1:8–9. Ruth was no longer a foreigner and the lowest of servants. Now, she was a wife and a mother. 

The book of Ruth is about much more than Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. Genesis 3 says that a descendant of the first woman would crush the head of the serpent. That vague hope became more solid as the story moved forward in time. In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him. Genesis 49 shows that the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah. Deuteronomy 18 speaks of a prophet like Moses who will come someday. The end of Deuteronomy says that he had not yet come, but the hope was still alive. At the end of Ruth, King David’s line is revealed. The story about Naomi and Ruth was about King David’s family tree. Later, Ruth appears in the genealogy on the first page of the Gospel according to Matthew. The genealogy makes Ruth’s connection with the Messiah clear. Ruth is a part of Jesus’ family tree. God’s faithfulness to Naomi and to Ruth was not only about Naomi and Ruth. All along, through the whole book of Ruth, we have been reading a part of the story of Jesus. The sovereign God was working out his plan in everyday life.

McMillan is senior pastor of Roseland Park Baptist Church, Picayune.