May 08, 2024 | Be God's Light
Ruth Approaches Boaz as Kinsman-Redeemer
Scripture: Ruth 3 (NIV)
1 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. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 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. 4 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.”
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
7 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!
9 “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.”
10 “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. 11 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. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 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.”
14 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.”
15 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.
16 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 17 and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”
Devotional
After Boaz showed Ruth extreme kindness, her mother-in-law Naomi told her, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers” (Ruth 2:20). Sometimes this is translated as kinsman-redeemer.
Remember that women had few options in Old Testament times. In order that a widow wouldn’t have to resort to begging or prostitution, Deuteronomy 25:5-10 stated that the brother of the widow’s deceased husband had to become her new husband. Their first son they had together would carry on the name of the dead brother.
If he wouldn’t or if there was no living brother, the next closest relative could serve as the kinsman-redeemer. All of this is playing out in today’s reading. Boaz promised to marry Ruth as her kinsman-redeemer if the one man more closely related refused.
Boaz was deeply impressed with Ruth, whom he called a “woman of noble character.” He had previously told her how moved he was that she left her parents and homeland to take care of her mother-in-law among people she didn’t know (Ruth 2:11). Now when she was offering to be married to him as her kinsman-redeemer, he told her, “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor” (Ruth 3:10).
It seems as if it was her kindness more than anything that attracted Boaz to Ruth. Kindness is a theme throughout the Bible. In the New Testament, Colossians 3:12 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Why is kindness such an important virtue for people who follow God? Who has shown you great kindness? How did that impact you?
Poem
Redeemer
A piece for the rag man
All tattered and soiled
Refuse in the trash bin
Abandoned
Worn thin by life’s hardships
Crisp shininess gone
Full hopelessness borne
Forgotten
The humble position
Laid low, trampled down
The patch, only piece left
Submission
Yet, eyes seeking treasure
Through many piles pores
Uncovers the dirty gem
Diamond
A crafty outsmarting
A slave holder tricked
A purchasing agent
Redeemer
