To continue my series on Ruth (after Part 1 and Part 2), I’ll be sharing some thoughts from chapter 3. Ruth 3 is the climax of the story. It’s when Ruth boldly goes to the threshing floor in the middle of the night and lays at the feet of Boaz. She takes a huge risk in doing this action as she she asks him to be her kinsman-redeemer and spread his cloak over her to be her protector and provider. It’s risky because she doesn’t know how he will respond and what the outcome of the situation will be. It’s also quite unconventional for a young woman to be proposing marriage to an older man in the middle of the night, which could be cause for scandal. Yet, he graciously responds to her – praising her for her worthiness and uprightness, for not going after younger men, and he grants her request, while still wanting to go through the proper channels, consulting first with their nearer kin, who could be the kinsman-redeemer. He gives her a great amount of barley to provide for her and Naomi, and wants to protect her reputation. It is a beautiful picture of God’s hesed, as Boaz shows God’s providence and protection to Ruth.
Boaz, not only is a picture of God’s love and protection to Ruth, he is actually the direct avenue that God uses to bless Ruth and Naomi. Again, I’m reminded about how people can be the avenue in which God uses to show his hesed – covenantal love and faithfulness. As a community of faith and grace, we, as the church, can be direct vehicles of showing God’s provision and protection to others. I think about numerous times in my own life, where the physical presence of a friend or mentor helped me see the depth of God’s love for me, especially during times of deep need and brokenness. I’ve also seen ways that God has provided for me in practical ways through people.
These examples challenge me to be open to seeing the needs of others and being open to the way God can use me to meet those needs – not in a savior complex kind of way – but in a way that displays God’s love and faithfulness to others. It also challenges me to be open to receiving the provision and protection that God is offering to me through other people. Often times, in my self-sufficiency, and in my “I-can-do-this-on-my-own” kind of thinking, it is difficult for me to fully receive the gifts that God has given me through others. Yet, the story of Ruth and Boaz, reminds me that the giving and receiving of provision and protection from others is a way that God works through faithful people.
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