Ruth goes down to the threshing floor and follows
her mother’s orders to a T.
And author emphasizes gender now – the man, the
woman – to highlight the dynamics.
When the man is done with his eating and drinking
and is "feeling good," he goes to lie down on the other side of the
grain pile.
The woman sneaks up to him, uncovers his… um... feet, and... um... lies with him. The man shivers. No kidding.
The man rolls over and what do you know, there‘s a
woman lying next to him! “Who are you!” the
man asks.
Ruth is taking a huge risk by visiting Boaz at the
threshing floor. Think about it. She is going alone into an uncertain,
compromising situation with a great deal hanging in the balance. Everything depends upon Boaz’s response. Ruth has a lot to lose.
- Technically, as
Mahlon’s wife, Boaz can charge Ruth with adultery.
- He can take advantage
of Ruth, then malign her character or even charge her with prostitution. Happens all the time.
- The wealthy and
powerful Boaz might scorn this poor foreign widow’s advance.
Boaz is not free of risk, either. What will become of his standing and
reputation in a small town, if it were to become known that this newcomer woman
has visited him at the threshing floor, of all places?
And Ruth’s reply is loaded with meaning: “I am your maidservant Ruth. Spread the
corner of your garment over me, since you're a kinsman-redeemer.”
Ruth is proposing to Boaz. Though you can’t tell from most translations, Ruth
refers to herself for the first time as a “maidservant.” Ruth has stopped referring to herself as a
poor, subservient, unworthy foreigner.
Ruth is identifying herself as a marriageable woman to an eligible
man. She’s proposing to him.
You see, in asking Boaz to spread the corner of his
garment over her – literally, she says ‘spread the wing of your garment’ – Ruth
is asking Boaz to fulfill his own prayer for Ruth in chapter 2. Ruth is asking Boaz to be the protection he prays
the Lord will provide her[i].
She’s asking him to be the answer to their
prayers. Ruth has removed from Boaz the
wing of his garment, exposing him, asking him to become the protector of her own
vulnerability.
Ezekiel speaks to this image in powerful covenantal
terms, as God says to his people: "When I looked at you and saw that
you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and
covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant
with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine (Ezekiel 16:8)." Love is oath-making. Love leads to covenant. Love means risk, courage, faithfulness,
vulnerability and reflects nothing less than the love-covenant God enters into
with his people.
What courageous action is God calling you to take –
it may be a seemingly little thing like saying “no” to someone, or something
bigger, like taking a tough stand on an issue.
It may be bigger still. Maybe it
involves your significant other.
What real risk is God calling you to take for a noble
cause? Are you the answer to someone’s
prayer and you just need to act in faith to do the right thing?
Remember: The Sovereign Lord rewards his courageous
faithful ones with a guaranteed hope.
Ruth took a huge risk when she visited her kinsman
redeemer at the threshing floor. What
risk lies before you that God wants to reward?
[i]
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.
(Ruth 2:12) ; Later I
passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love,
I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave
you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign
Lord, and you became mine. (Ezekiel 16:8); For the man who does not love his
wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment
with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and
do not be faithless.” (Malachi 2:16)
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