This chapter is far too rich in culture and nuance to cover everything in detail, so I’ll attempt to summarize some key points.
“So [Ruth] went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.’ And he said, ‘May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter… And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer.’ ” (v6-12 abr)
Ruth and Naomi had gotten to know Boaz over the last few weeks/months of harvest, and decided he would make a good and God-honoring husband for Ruth, so Naomi gave Ruth advice on how to approach him. There wasn’t anything inappropriate or objectionable in their conduct, it was culturally acceptable and moral to ask Boaz to marry Ruth.
Now, to read this chapter through our modern-day lens, one could assume Ruth provocatively threw herself at Boaz, and he, being an older man, took advantage of her. But that’s definitely not the case when we take the time to look into the Jewish culture and history.
Boaz was indeed a relative of Naomi’s late husband, and he had the role of kinsman-redeemer, which meant one of his responsibilities was to marry a childless widow from their family line and continue the family name (see Deu 25:5-10). This enabled Ruth to boldly ask him to fulfill his role and “spread his wings over her” (protect and provide for her as a wife).
Both Ruth and Boaz exhibit extraordinarily strong and God-honoring character in this process. Ruth is humble, respectful, godly, and bold. Boaz is wise, unassuming, godly, and respectful of both tradition and Ruth. They both fulfill their roles in a God-honoring courting relationship, without flaw.
My challenge for today is to inspect the lenses through which we view things. On my first read-through I had some odd conclusions, and I had to assume my initial conclusions must be wrong, because I wasn’t fully understanding the larger context. However, I’m not always cognizant that I’m missing contextual information, and I can make incorrect conclusions based on incomplete information. So I challenge us to not make assumptions when we read a passage – dwell on it for a few minutes, read a couple of commentaries, and most importantly, pray for the Spirit to open our eyes to God’s intentions behind the text.
This challenge also applies to real-time conversations and life in general. I encourage us to ask questions, and seek broader knowledge and context. We jump to all kinds of wild conclusions when we get a simple signal, like someone asking “can we talk?” – we automatically assume the worst. Let’s analyze the lenses through which we make our conclusions, and broaden our views to include more curiosity than conclusions. If Ruth and Boaz deserve a closer study into what lies behind the scenes, so do the people around us. Let’s not put people into boxes which are constructed from our narrow view of them.
Father God, our Lord and Redeemer, holy, holy, holy is Your name. Father You have blessed us with so much rich history, culture, and many opportunities for relationships. We admit that our nature is to make conclusions based on the information that we already have (we’re inherently lazy sometimes). We ask that Your Spirit would please help us to overcome the bad habit of jumping to conclusions based on our narrow view/experience. Would You please replace our conclusions with curiosity, and our assumptions with asking, so that we may learn more about these amazingly complex people You have placed into our lives. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the one who modeled this behavior best, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training