5 Days in the Book of RuthNäide

Day 4: Participants in God’s Creative Plans

Read Ruth 3

One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

“I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”

“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”

So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he went back to town.

When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”

Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”

Reflection on the passage:
When I reflect on God’s creativity, I often think about the wonder and beauty of all He has made. But lately, I’ve been equally amazed by His creativity in weaving together human lives and choices into His good purposes. One of my favorite aspects of my work is getting to sit down with staff and hear the stories of how they were called to the work they are doing. I notice in these stories the web of actions and choices made by people, and how, in the midst of it, God is calling, guiding, working, and bringing things into place. It is often preceded by a long time of prayer, seeking, and bumps along the way. This kind of divine creativity is at work in the book of Ruth, as God weaves together the lives and choices of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz.

Thanks to Ruth’s initiative and hard work, as well as Boaz’s generosity, Naomi is now in better spirits and ready to be the one to take initiative. She desires for her beloved daughter-in-law Ruth, who is especially vulnerable as an unmarried foreigner, to marry into a good situation and be provided for. Naomi devises a plan that is more than simply a match-making scheme to bring Ruth and Boaz together in marriage. It is based on a Jewish law that made provision for the brother of a man who dies childless to marry this man’s widow, carrying on the dead brother’s name through their firstborn son. This idea of a kinsman redeemer was broadened to mean the closest relative. Naomi’s instructions to Ruth to go to Boaz at the threshing floor, after he celebrated the grain being processed and was asleep, may seem a strange custom to us, but we need not assume that anything inappropriate happens here. Naomi knows that when Boaz finds Ruth lying at his feet, he will understand it as a request for him to be her kinsman redeemer.

Ruth also has her part to play in the plan that God is weaving together. Obediently and bravely, she follows every detail of Naomi’s instructions even though it must have felt risky and vulnerable. After startling Boaz with her presence, Ruth made her request humbly and boldly, “I am your servant Ruth…Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family”. Ruth is willing to marry the man that Naomi has directed her to, though he is likely much older than she. Certainly though, Boaz matches her in goodness.

Boaz too acts honorably and responsibly and therefore participates in God’s good purposes. He recognizes Ruth’s noble character and maturity in not running after a young man. He protects her by making sure she leaves the threshing floor before she is recognized, and he sends her back to Naomi with a shawl full of grain. He lets Ruth know that he must first check with a closer relative to see if he wants to redeem her, but if not, he promises that “as surely as the LORD lives” he will do it. Naomi, knowing Boaz’s character says to Ruth that “the man will not rest until the matter is settled today”. I wonder if this reflects not only his sense of responsibility to fulfill his duty and do it properly, but also that he really likes this idea of being Ruth’s husband!

Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, in their actions of goodness toward one another, become part of God’s plans to bless all three of them and beyond, which we will see in the next chapter. May we too be a blessing as willing participants in God’s creative work.

Focus verse for prayerful reflection:
“Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”

1. What are you waiting for right now in your life? Are you waiting on another person, a change in circumstance, or an answer to your prayers?

2. Pray for God’s Spirit to guide your prayers and actions related to this, offering yourself as a willing participant in God’s good purposes.

For further reading:
Read Deuteronomy 25:5-10 for the law related to being a kinsman redeemer.