This is where the courage comes in.
Get all dressed up just to go to the threshing floor? How romantic is that? There's something you need to know about the
threshing floor. Harvest was a time to
celebrate the fertility of the earth. Winnowing
marked the climax (pun intended) of the harvest. You shouldn't be surprised to learn that then,
as now, pagan fertility rites were associated with the harvest, and threshing
floors in the Ancient Near East often became a site of immorality.
And as the religious faithful are tempted to compromise, sexual
sin found its way into Israel. The
prophet Hosea specifically denounces sexual sin at the threshing floors: “You have been unfaithful to your God,” he
cries. “You love the wages of a
prostitute at every threshing floor.[i]”
Winnowing wasn't the only action on Ancient Near East threshing
floors.
“Don’t let Boaz know you’re there, though,” Naomi says, “until
he’s finished eating and drinking. Once
you see where he lies down, uncover his feet and lie with him. He’ll take from there.”
Uncover… his feet… lie with him… he’ll take it from there.
I bet he will.
Ruth chapter three is loaded with innuendo and double entendre,
and to appreciate the story as it was written and repeated, you need to appreciate
the sexual tension too.
Two phrases in particular are worth mentioning, though there are
others, as we’ll see when we return to the story. The reference to ‘uncovering the feet’ is a
euphemism for exposing one’s privates in Scripture[ii]. The writer is intentionally using these terms
to evoke sexual tension and to be suggestive of the romantic potential.
And of course Naomi's instruction to “lie with him” – is another
intentional double entendre to create the right mood for the reader. Ruth and Boaz will be in a hotbed of temptation
tonight, and it would not take much for gossipy townsfolk to read between the
lines and start filling in the blanks[iii].
Why all the intrigue? Well,
heck, aside from making for a great story, again, it brings us back to the
noble character of the main characters.
That’s why there can be no doubt that Ruth and Boaz will behave
themselves tonight. Ruth and Boaz stand
against the culture. How’s about
you?
Naomi gives Ruth her instructions.
Ruth answers, “If you say so.” And so Ruth freshens up with a bath,
anoints herself with sweet smelling oils, adorns herself in her finest cloak,
and strolls down to the threshing floor where she will make a move on
Boaz. She follows her mother’s orders to
a T.
Risk? You have only an
inkling of the risk Ruth will take. But
remember: the message of Ruth three is that the Almighty LORD rewards his courageous faithful ones with a
guaranteed hope.
What unlikely, courage-requiring task is God calling you to trust
him for?
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