Ruth 3:1 Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?
2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.
5 And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
6 And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all that her mother in law bade her.
7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
In chapter 3 we see Naomi wanted to make sure that Ruth was looked after and that was a good thing. God was already working in both Ruth’s heart and also in Boaz’ heart. God knows who would make a good help meet for a particular man. He also knows which man would make a good provider for a woman.
Personally, I do not believe that God is laying out a pattern here for anyone to assume they have the “gift” of match making. There are some people that I have met that assume that is their gift. There have been times where these hints have led to a seemingly good marriage. There are also times where these type of maneuvers have not worked out well. Prayer and a true walk of faith are essential to choosing a life’s partner. Godly parental guidance will be helpful in this matter. Often times emotions get in the way of rational thinking when it comes to choosing a spouse. It is important to note as well, that if a couple is out of God’s will in their marriage, that is no reason for divorce. Prior to a couple getting married, it is important for them to understand that marriage is for life. It is not a trial to see if it will work. It must work and it can work if the couple will submit to God’s will. Of course that will require the couple to be saved prior to marriage. There are marriages that took place while the couple was not saved. If one of them gets saved after marriage, and the other is not saved, it could make things difficult. That is no reason for a divorce. God hates divorce. God has shown us that under His direction, He can make a marriage work. I Corinthians 7 gives very clear instructions of this.
There are far too many “pastors” who reject God’s Word and counsel people to commit sin, rather than to avoid sin. They will give account of their wrong counsel to God. It is important for each person to choose to submit to God’s Word and be saved first of all and then surrender to His will as a saved person. Much sorrow will be avoided when that is done.
In verse 2 we see that Naomi knew that Boaz was of her kindred. Naomi wanted things to move ahead with finding a husband for Ruth. Thus she put together a plan to get Boaz to take a greater interest in Ruth. If we look at chapters 1&2, we see that God was already directing Boaz to take a greater interest in Ruth. That was all done without any coercion.
Naomi knew that Boaz was winnowing the grain that the reapers had cut and bound into sheaves. The winnowing was where they would thrash out the grain. The winnowing area would be set up so that there would be a good breeze moving through that would separate the grain from the chaff as they would lightly toss the grain into the air to clean it.
In verse 3 we see that Naomi wanted Ruth to wash herself and get dressed for a special meeting with Boaz that night. This was a meeting on the sly. She was not to let Boaz know she was there. She was to wait until Boaz was done with his meal. The text says until he was done eating and drinking. That does not mean he drank alcohol or that he got drunk. Boaz was a man of God. He knew better than to get involved in liquor.
In verse 4 we see that Ruth was to wait until Boaz laid down to sleep and to note where he lay down and then she was to lay down at his feet. There was nothing untoward taking place here. Ruth would lay down at Boaz’ feet and both were fully clothed. Naomi knew that Boaz would deal with the matter after this.
Ruth was not familiar with this method. There is nothing we read of anyone else operating in this manner either.
Deuteronomy 25:5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.
God had established an order for looking after the family name. Boaz was a near kinsman but he was not the nearest. In verse 5 we read that Ruth trusted her mother in law and promised to do all that Naomi said.
In verse 6 we see that Ruth not only said she would do all that Naomi said, but she actually went and did what Naomi told her to do. Ruth was relying on Naomi to give her good advice. She was not familiar with Jewish customs. We know that Ruth was an honourable woman. She did not “throw” herself at any man that came along. God did not give any record of her even seeking a man. We know as well that she was not so independently minded that she thought she was better than men. When Boaz took an interest in her, she was willing to accept his instructions to her. She was willing to accept his grace expressed toward her. She did not go home and complain about this “bossy” man that was trying to run her life. She appreciated the fact that there was a man who cared more about her than her looks. Boaz took a genuine interest in her needs.
In verse 7 we see another verse that the socialites like to use to defend drunkenness. They ignore all that the Bible says about the evils of alcohol and only focus on verses they can use to defend their sin. Anyone would know that when you have a good meal, you feel good. If you overeat, you feel lousy because you are stuffed. Gluttony is a sin and not every person who goes to a meal is a glutton. Boaz was a God-fearing man and he knew the negative effects of alcohol and he wanted to help his workers to know the true LORD, and thus there would not have been liquor at that table.
After the meal, Boaz retired to the threshing floor. We are not told if there was a problem with theft or what the reason was, but that is where he went to go to sleep. Ruth had been waiting. She must have heard his breathing was more deep and she rightly assumed he was asleep. She went and lay down at his feet. Again we see the respect she had for him and she would not go and lay down at his side. She lay at his feet. She demonstrated her submissive nature. She was not in charge. She was waiting for Boaz to make the next move. She was reminding him of his place as a kinsman to Naomi and through that to her sons as well.
Boaz was obviously fast asleep. He was not fighting with a hangover. He was not concerned about anything that would keep him awake. He was fast asleep, but something caught his attention at midnight. He turned himself and discovered a woman was laying at his feet. He was not aware of any of his maidens following him to the threshing floor after supper. Who was this? We are not told how he determined it was a woman, but we are told he knew it was a woman.
Boaz asked who this person was. He did not expect this and was not pleased with what he was experiencing. We need to remember that Boaz was an honourable man. He was not a married man and he was not interested in a one night stand. He had already expressed some interest in Ruth’s well-being in chapter 2, but he had not yet moved on to the full role he played as a kinsman. He had taken steps to provide for Ruth and Naomi’s material needs, but had not taken into account the duty to provide a lineage for Elimelech’s name.
Obviously Ruth was not deep in sleep here. She was not familiar with Jewish customs and was quite likely wondering what the next step would be. Thus when Boaz was awakened and asked who she was, she gave him her answer. She was his handmaid. She identified herself as his servant. She had been gleaning in his field. She had stayed close to his maidens.
Ruth asked Boaz to spread his skirt over her as a token of their relationship. He was a near kinsman to her. He had a duty to fulfill and she was willing to be his wife. As we have noted, this whole matter was unusual, at least from what we are given in the Scriptures. No one should take this as a suggestion that there is some Biblical authority here for a man and a woman to sleep together prior to marriage. The Bible is very clear on how relationships are to be handled.
We have a continuing picture here of how those who are saved come under the protection and provision of the Lord Jesus Christ at salvation. Boaz was a type of Christ. He was not Christ. Apparently he needed a little nudge to get him to fulfil his role as the kinsman that he was. God works with fallible people to accomplish His perfect will. He does that in spite of our failures. God proves that He is God by overriding our failures and making His plan work according to His will and His timing.
Jesus Christ does not need any nudge to be our Saviour. He knew from eternity past what His role would be in the salvation of man. He knew the exact timing of His sacrificial death on the cross. He knew that His sacrifice was necessary for all of humanity.
There seems to be a continuing confusion regarding the way that people get saved. There is a false teaching still being promoted that Old Testament people were saved by works and New Testament people are saved by grace and then Tribulation people and Millennial people will be saved by works. This confusion comes from the devil, not from the Scriptures. It is important to read and study the Bible in Its’ entirety. It is also important to reject the false teaching that is promoting these types of lies.
There are many things we need to learn. God’s Word shows us the good and the not so good. It also shows the bad. As we study God’s Word in Its’ context, we will come away with God’s way of doing things. It is important to understand God’s way and submit to His way. He knows how to bless us.
Pastor Bartel
