Meaning of Names: Boaz means “strength” or “swiftness.” Ruth means “friend” or “companion.”
Their Character: He was an older man of integrity, generosity, faith, and compassion. She was a young Moabitess, a loyal and kind woman who confessed faith in Israel’s God. She was also a diligent worker and made great sacrifices for her mother-in-law.
Their Challenge: He would have to publicly claim his right as Naomi’s “guardian-redeemer” in order to marry Ruth. The death of Ruth’s first husband left her in the vulnerable state of being a widow and a foreigner in Naomi’s homeland.
Their Outcome: Through the kindness of Boaz, God provided protection and food for Ruth. Boaz later became her bridegroom. They had a son, Obed, who was in the messianic line.
Key Scripture: Ruth 2–4
Their Story
It was mid-June, the end of wheat harvest. Ruth lay down, covering herself and carefully tugging at the blanket’s edges to fend off the crisp evening air. She pulled gingerly so as not to disturb the sleeping owner. Her covering was in fact the hem of Boaz’s long and heavy outer garment. In order to protect the day’s harvest from thieves, he was spending the night on his own threshing floor.
Ruth had been living in Israel since early April, the start of barley harvest in Bethlehem. Several years earlier, while in her native Moab, she had married a fine Hebrew man named Mahlon and admired his widowed mother, Naomi. Ruth embraced their faith in the one true God of Israel.
But before Ruth and Mahlon had any children, her husband died. And his married brother also died. Crushed and dismayed over the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi decided to return to her homeland, Israel. She urged Ruth and her other daughter-in-law, Orpah, to remain in Moab with their families. Orpah agreed to stay, but Ruth clung to Naomi, eager to embrace her mother-in-law, the Hebrew people, and their God.
And so the two women traveled and talked on the thirty-five mile journey away from Moab. Naomi encouraged Ruth with stories about the benevolence of landowners in Bethlehem, and how widows and foreigners were eligible to glean from the fields.
Once in Bethlehem and without resources, Ruth rose early one morning, setting out to find food. Her hope swelled as she happened upon a vast barley field swarming with harvesters holding armfuls of sheaves. As they carried the grain, they purposely let some stalks fall to the ground.
Ruth found the foreman and spoke to him. “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.” (Ruth 2:7)
He nodded kindly and motioned where she should start.
As her hands began collecting the dropped barley stalks, her mind busied with thoughts of Naomi. My mother will be delighted with this provision tonight.
Ruth had been gleaning for hours when Boaz, the wealthy and generous owner, approached the field of workers and lifted his voice. “The Lord be with you!”
“The Lord bless you!” the harvesters chorused back in response.
Then Boaz addressed the overseer and inquired about her, the new gleaner. “Who does that young woman belong to?”
“She is the Moabitess who came back with Naomi,” he replied. “The woman has toiled all day, except for a short rest in the shelter.” Ruth watched as Boaz turned and walked in her direction. Her face flushed.
“My daughter, listen to me.” His kind eyes warmed her as he spoke. “Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” (Ruth 2:8-9)
Overwhelmed, Ruth bowed low and softly said, “Why such goodness, my lord?”
“I heard of the kindness you have shown the widow Naomi,” Boaz said. “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
“May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord.” Captivated by his manners and gentleness, Ruth went on. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly — though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” (Ruth 2:13)
Boaz was attentive to the new worker and later at mealtime, he offered Ruth as much roasted grain as she could eat. Then he told his men to watch over her and to drop plenty of stalks in her path.
As she walked home that evening with a shawl full of barley (an ephah, or about thirty pounds of grain), Ruth rehearsed the remarkable events of the day. After greeting Naomi, she told her about the field, the gleaning, the grain... and the gracious man named Boaz.
Naomi celebrated. “The Lord bless him! God has not stopped His kindness to us. That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.” (Ruth 2:20)
The next day, Ruth returned to the same field and worked under Boaz’s protection. She gathered a bountiful supply of grain every day for two more months. And then the harvest season ended.
“Now it is time to find a home for you,” Naomi said to Ruth one day. “I think Boaz is the man who could provide what you need.”
Ruth listened carefully as Naomi continued. “Boaz will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor tonight. Wash and perfume yourself, put on your best clothes and go. Do not let him know you are there. Wait until he finishes eating and falls asleep, and then lie down at his feet, covering yourself with the hem of his garment. He will know what to do when he awakes.”
Ruth trusted Naomi and, with a surge of excitement, went to the threshing floor that evening. And now she was waiting. What would Boaz say when he awoke?
A dog barked in the distance.
Boaz stirred and awakened. Lifting up on one elbow, he leaned forward and saw someone lying at his feet. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied softly, her heart racing with fear and expectation. “With the corner of your garment please cover me. You are a guardian-redeemer of our family.” (Ruth 3:9)
“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” Boaz replied. “You have not run after the younger men. Don’t be afraid, my daughter; I will do for you as you asked.”
Ruth’s heart soared. Boaz was willing to take her as his wife.
God had provided.
Their Life and Times
The Guardian Redeemer
Family has always been important to God.The perpetual lineage of those who knew and trusted Him was essential, even if some new — non-Hebrew — family members needed to be grafted in. Like Ruth the Moabitess.
She was an outsider. Ruth had no Jewish blood. But because of Boaz, the guardian-redeemer, Ruth became an ancestor of Jesus Christ. The purity of the Savior’s line came not by way of genetics but through God’s grace and mercy.
The Hebrew word for “redeemer” is ga¯ ʾal. In ancient Israel, a ga¯ ʾal was like a conquering hero riding on his horse, coming to save the day. Boaz was a “guardian” ga¯ ʾal. He was also a relative. Boaz was a kinsman on a special mission: redemption.
In biblical times, the guardian-redeemer was expected to save in the following three situations.
1. If a person fell on hard times, they needed a rescuer to avoid being sold into slavery. One of their close relatives — an uncle, cousin, or anyone in their clan — was the provision to redeem them. (Leviticus 25:47-49) Acting on behalf of the needy relative was both generous and unselfish because the redeemer gained nothing for himself.
2. When there was a loss of land because of economic hardship, the ga¯ ʾal purchased the property to keep it in the family. “If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold” (Leviticus 25:25).
3. If a woman’s husband died without leaving children, the deceased man’s brother (if single) was to marry the widow and provide her with a son. If there was no brother, or if the brother was already married, a more distant male relative was required to perform this duty. This was called the law of levirate marriage, which could only be fulfilled by the guardian-redeemer (Deuteronomy 25:1 – 10). The relative who eventually married the woman would become the ga¯ ʾal — her redeemer and protector. Boaz exemplified this example of a ga¯ ʾal.
Naomi’s and Ruth’s circumstances were unusual. Both women were widows and childless. Naomi’s husband, Elimelek, and her two sons were dead. One of the sons, Mahlon, Ruth’s husband, died without leaving Ruth any children. His brother, Kilion, also died childless. Naomi was too old to have children and Ruth was not a Hebrew, facts that would have presented concerns for an Israelite man who wanted his offspring to be purely Jewish. But Boaz, a close relative of Naomi (possibly Elimelek’s cousin), had already shown Ruth surprising generosity. So Naomi devised a plan, hopeful that Boaz would see himself as the ga¯ ʾal and marry Ruth. While Boaz slept on the threshing floor, Ruth lay at his feet, covering herself with the lower part of his garment. Boaz recognized this as Ruth’s appeal to him to provide the protection due her as the widow of his relative, Elimelek.
As a Moabitess, Ruth had no obligation to marry within the family and could have married any single man. However, she loved Naomi and Naomi’s God and wanted to honor both by giving birth to an heir. Any son born to Boaz and Ruth would extend the line of Elimelek and Mahlon.
Boaz, probably much older than Ruth, was touched by her overture. He was drawn to her, but a closer relative to Naomi had the legal right to claim Ruth as his wife. Being a man of honor, Boaz offered this relative the opportunity first. But the closer relative refused to take Ruth, allowing Boaz the freedom to become her bridegroom, which he promptly did.
In God’s providence, the first child born to Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:13), a son named Obed, would one day become the man King David of Israel would call “grandfather.”
The love story of Boaz and his Moabite wife is a portrait of God’s faithfulness to everyone who believes in Him.
Story compliments of "The Romance of Boaz and Ruth by Robert and Bobbie Wolgemuth from Couples of the Bible"... Published on http://www.faithgateway.com/
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