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6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. 7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” 10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. ~ Ruth 3:6-11
Today, we return to our study of the book of Ruth. In our last study Naomi instructed Ruth to doll herself up and go to the winnowing floor where Boaz would have been working and let it be known to him that she would like for him to ask for her hand in marriage. Later that day, after Boaz and his workers separated the grain from the chaff, they had a celebration meal in the evening celebrating all the grain they had winnowed. There was huge pile of grain there, and the workers would have been so tired from their full day of work they would all fall asleep around the pile of grain with their heads at the center of the file and their feet sticking out like spokes on a wagon wheel. They did this in order to guard what they had collected; there were many thieves known to be in the area.
In v.6-9 of today's passage we read, "6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. 7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, 'Who are you?' So she answered, 'I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.'"
So, right there in the middle of the night, Ruth did as her mother-in-law had told her to do and Boaz was frightened by the person laying at his feet. The Hebrew used here translated, "at midnight" describes the darkest moment of the night when Boaz had fell into a hard sleep and then was startled to the point of intense fear as one would be when he did not know whether it was a lion or a man with an axe there at his feet. Sometimes we must experience intense fear in the midst of the darkness of life in order to appreciate the marvelous freedom that the light brings. That moment proved to be a metaphor of all that the Lord God was doing on the behalf of all involved in this marvelous story.
It was at that moment Ruth made her identity known to Boaz, and then she asked him to ask her to marry him. Ruth utilized a metaphor we still use today; to take someone under our wing is to provide them protection and provision. And, as we have mentioned before, all of this was possible due to the fact that God has a tremendous heart for the least. He is the author of the ancient law called the law of levirate marriage which is what is unfolding before our very eyes in this story of Ruth. Sadly, the people of Israel have forsaken this provision of God. Unfortunately, the people once known as God's people have, along with the rest of the world, abandoned God's culture and His definition of things. They, along with all who know not the Lord and His ways, are bent on changing the definitions of things, things that God has long ago defined. And, the more one abandons God's truth, the more one is gobbled up by evil and wickedness in all of its various forms.
In v.10-11 of today's passage we read, "10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman."
As soon as Boaz knew this person was Ruth, he reminded her that her goodness was really the expression of the Lord's goodness. He said to Ruth, "Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter!" Boaz' theology was spot on. He understood that if any good comes out of our lives, it is the Lord expressing Himself through us. Many think that after we have entered into a personal relationship with the Lord the goal is that we get better. Not so. As we learn to die to self and as we learn to yield to the Lord, it is then that we grow spiritually. When we are yielding to the Lord, He is enabled to express Himself through the brokenness therein. And, it is then that the Lord is most glorified.
I love the character shown by both Ruth and Boaz throughout this book. In every situation whether in Moab, on the road to Bethlehem, or in Bethlehem, Ruth and Boaz were so pleasant, polite and courteous to everyone. Boaz' reactions throughout this whole book, whether to Ruth or to his employees, was at every turn godly. All of this illustrates that when God picks a spouse for us, He gets the best for us. The key is that we walk in His truth. As we walk in His truth we access His wisdom. We must be smart enough to let Him do the choosing. I once heard a man say, "Ladies, you must be so close to the Lord that when a man wants to ask you to marry him, he must go through the Lord to do so." This principle not only works with the women but it works with us men, too.
As indicated by the response from Boaz to Ruth, she could have gone after a younger man, maybe one that was perhaps more attractive or one who would be with her longer due to his age. But Ruth was different, she was following the lead of the Lord who doesn't always major on our minors, so to speak. Due to the fact that Ruth had already garnered a godly reputation in Bethlehem as a virtuous woman, it was now time for her to realize the will of the Lord in her life.
As I read this story once again, I am reminded of Romans 12:1-2 which renders to us the first step toward knowing the will of God for our lives. We begin to realize the will of God in our lives best on the heels of submitting ourselves daily to God as "living sacrifices." Ruth, somewhere along the way, had made that decision to yield her life to the Lord, and now, she was being defined by the Lord as He implemented His will in her life.
I end today's blog with a very appropriate quote from Dr. Tim Keller who recently went home to heaven. He said, "In sharp contrast with our culture, the Bible teaches that the essence of marriage is a sacrificial commitment to the good of the other. That means that love is more fundamentally action than emotion. But in talking this way, there is a danger of falling into the opposite error that characterized many ancient and traditional societies. It is possible to see marriage as merely a social transaction, a way of doing your duty to family, tribe and society. Traditional societies made the family the ultimate value in life, and so marriage was a mere transaction that helped your family's interest. By contrast, contemporary Western societies make the individual's happiness the ultimate value, and so marriage becomes primarily an experience of romantic fulfillment. But the Bible sees GOD as the supreme good - not the individual or the family - and that gives us a view of marriage that intimately unites feelings AND duty, passion AND promise. That is because at the heart of the Biblical idea of marriage is the covenant."
