Ruth 3 - Cold Feet and Marriage Proposals

We are in the middle of a wonderful love story in the making in the Book of Ruth. And we're in Ruth chapter three today.

Ruth was a Moabite one, someone that was from a nation that did not follow God, but because of a family from the tribe of Judah that had left Bethlehem and had gone to Moab during a time of famine, she married into this Israelite family.

Her husband died, or her brother-in-law also died. Her father-in-law died. And so her mother-in-law said, I'm gonna go back to Judah, gonna go back to Israel.

It's 10 years after they had left due to a famine. And she goes, why don't you two daughters just stay here in Moab, go back to your parents' house. And the one daughter-in-law did, but Ruth said, I'm gonna stick with you.

Your God will be my God, your people will be my people. So she does come. And she goes hard at work.

And in Ruth chapter two, we read about that, that she went into a field, followed through with what God had outlined in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy about gathering food from specific fields.

And there were areas of fields that the owners of the land, owners of the crops could not harvest. It was to be set aside for those that were in need. And so Ruth is doing that.

And the Bible says she happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the family of her mother-in-law, from Elimelech.

And so this was one guy that could redeem the family, buy back everything that had belonged to Elimelech. And we talked about that a little bit. I think it was right there at the end of the Book of Leviticus.

And so someone that could get back all of the land, all of the possessions that once belonged, but that had been sold off and all of those things, now it could return to the family so that they would not be destitute.

And she tells, Ruth tells Naomi at the end of the day, after she has, I think I read somewhere, so here, 26 quarts of barley that she gets from the field because Boaz was so kind to her and said, hey, I want you to like follow my servants.

Don't just go in the outer portions of the field like God had set up. Hey, all this outer portion, that's all for the poor and the needy. He says, no, no, I want you to follow right behind my servants.

If you need water to drink, like drink from the water jars that my servants have. Follow along with my female servants.

And he tells his servants, hey, I want you to like drop some extra stuff for her so that she gets like some of the good, some of the good harvest. So then Ruth tells her mother-in-law, Naomi, hey, like this is what he's done for me.

And Naomi goes, man, God has been so good, not just to the living, but to the dead in the fact that Boaz is a close relative and that he could be one of the ones that redeem all of the former family possessions that Olimolec and Naomi would have had

10 years prior, if not even further back than that. So that's where we find ourselves, in Ruth 3 and verse number 1. Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, said to her, my daughter, shouldn't I find rest for you so that you will be taken care of?

Shouldn't I find you a husband? She says, now, isn't Boaz our relative that is a relative of Olimolec?

We talked about leave our marriage before that people within a family would take care of one another, even if a spouse died, then a person that was closely related to the spouse that died could then marry the widow so that she would remain a part of

the family. It was a great matter of care. It seems very odd to us today of, but what if they didn't love each other? But love often came as a result of care, and as a result of the commitment and the covenant that was made between people.

It wasn't always a prerequisite to marriage. It was something that came along after marriage. You say, I pledge, I covenant that I will love you, that I will take care of you.

And then along the lines, you would find love. You would go, oh man, like, I really do deeply care for this person. Today, we kind of have it, okay, I love you.

And if I love you enough, or I think that you're pretty enough, kind enough, rich enough, whatever, then I'll make a promise to stay with you. And that's not quite how it worked in ancient Israel. So she says, now isn't Boaz our relative?

Haven't you been working with his female servants? This evening, he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. She says, wash, put on perfumed oil and wear your best clothes.

You're going on a date, you gotta get all gussied up. She says, go down to the threshing floor, but don't let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

When he lies down, notice the place where he's lying, go in and uncover his feet. So he's got a blanket on. She says, uncover where his feet are at.

She says, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.

So there's been some people in, frankly, just trying to make scandalous things out of things that are not scandalous, that have insinuated that uncovering his feet was something untoward, that was some sort of sexual action.

And none of that's communicated in the story, especially as we continue reading.

But because I have heard that in perhaps some online videos, even in some commentaries I was reading, they mentioned that some people have said this, but that it's without base in the story.

And it makes no sense with all of the things that are actually being said in the story, wanting to mention that. So she goes, all right, here's the deal.

You get all prettied up, put on the perfumed oil, put on your best clothes, and you're going to have your own mission impossible thing. Wait till he's asleep and then give him cold feet and then he'll tell you what you need to do.

Verse five, so Ruth said to her, I will do everything you say. She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do. And man, what a good thing it is when you follow the advice of others.

I know even as a young guy, there's many times when I just want to do whatever is in my mind to do, and God has given other people in your life to help you make decisions. You should not make any decisions all by yourself.

I think of even the proverb, in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. So verse 7, after Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits. There's a note here literally, and his heart was glad.

He went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman.

Me as a husband, if Samantha was randomly, like, sleeping at the end of the bed, I would think that was weird. I'd go, what in the world are you doing there?

How much more so for a person that when he had laid down, there was no Ruth, and when he woke up at his feet, there was a Ruth. Verse 9, so he asked, who are you? I am Ruth, your servant, she replied.

Take me under your wing, for I am, oh, for you are a family redeemer.

So here, if you'll remember from yesterday in Ruth chapter 2, one of the things that Boaz had said to Ruth was, hey, may God, like, may God bless you because you have sought refuge under his wings.

And now Ruth is saying, hey, I am seeking refuge under your wings because you are one of the family redeemers that can redeem back everything that belongs to myself and to Naomi. Verse 10, then he said, may Yahweh bless you, my daughter.

Here, it's a kindness. May God bless you, hon. You have shown more kindness now than before because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor.

Here he goes, man, like you, basically this is him going like, girl, you are beautiful. You could have gone after like anyone you wanted. You could have gone after the attractive young guys that are poor.

You could have gone after the young rich guys. And he says, you went to an old guy like me. And he says, you're kinder now than even you were in caring for Naomi and in coming back with her.

He says, now like you're saying, hey, old guy, I want you to be my husband. And he says, that's very, very kind of you. Verse 11, now, don't be afraid, my daughter.

I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a woman of noble character. The same thing that was said about Boaz in the beginning of chapter two. He says, everyone knows, hey, yeah, Boaz is a good, godly guy.

He says, everyone knows, Ruth is a good, godly gal. Verse 12, he says, yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am. He says, there's someone like in the hierarchy of stuff that can redeem your guys' stuff.

There is someone that is legally eligible to lay first claim. Verse 13, he says, stay here tonight and in the morning, if he wants to redeem you, that's good. Let him redeem you.

But if he doesn't want to redeem you as Yahweh lives, I will. Now lie down until morning. So here, what a good, godly guy that he thinks a lot of.

He has cared for her, he's going like, hey, you could have gotten young guys, he says, but you went after me.

But he says, even though I feel this way, I know what's right to do, and so I'm going to check and make sure that what's right to do happens first, and then I'll take care of you.

Verse 14, so she lay down at his feet until morning, but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, don't let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.

He didn't want anyone to think that something untoward had happened, which would be kind of a interesting whatever if something untoward had happened.

And there were tons of things even in scripture that would be, hey, if he actually had laid with her, then he would just pay the bridal price to Naomi, and she would become his bride. But he didn't do that.

And so that goes against the interpretation that uncovering his feet, you can't see it on the audio podcast, but I'm doing air quotes, uncovering his feet with something untoward. It's not what happened. Then, oh, sorry, verse 15.

And he told Ruth, bring the shawl you're wearing and hold it out. When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town. He goes, hey, I'm not sending you back empty handed.

You're getting some food from the work that I have done. And I think of Jesus that he did the work. He accomplished salvation.

He did the righteousness, and he gave all of that to us who have accepted him. He was the one that was perfect. And yet it goes on our track record once we have accepted him as Savior.

And here the work that was accomplished by Boaz, now Ruth gets the benefits of. Verse 16, she went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, What happened, my daughter?

Then Ruth told her, Oh, actually, I do want to mention one thing because I think it's probably highlighted in here. So literally here, she says, What happened, my daughter? The literal phrasing is, Who are you, my daughter?

Basically, are you Mrs. Boaz now? Are you going to be Mrs.

Boaz? Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. She said, He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.

Naomi said, My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won't rest until he resolves this today. Man, I think even of that phrasing that Jesus is the one, that we wait on him because he will not leave us alone.

He won't leave us abandoned. He is going to resolve it, so we can wait and rest on him. And it might not be like with Boaz.

It might not be today, but he is the one that we rely on because we can rest in him. Man, what great character there is in Boaz that he doesn't do things that would benefit him.

He actually cares for what God has set up in his Word, and he is following to the letter that he has a care for the reputation of others, that he cares for and gives of his own labor to benefit others. What great things that we can take from that.

What great character we see in Ruth that she follows through with what godly advice has been given to her of following these steps, that everyone, Boaz says, everyone in town knows that you are of noble character.

Do people around you, is that how they would describe you? Would they describe you as disgruntled or gossipy or angry or perhaps like Naomi, a bitter person, always angry, always something bad to say about someone else?

Or are you one that would be described as having that noble character? Everyone knows, hey, this is a godly person. Being around them is a little bit like being around Jesus.

May that be the kind of testimonies that we seek to have, because when those things match up, man, it is a match made in heaven. And quite literally in some respects, as we'll see tomorrow. But I want to mention one thing as well.

Sometimes people will take aspects of the Bible and especially in portions that are descriptive and attempt to make them prescriptive.

So kind of an odd way that I don't know that I've actually heard about of people doing things is, okay, well, yeah, if you're... The point of this passage is not the prescription from God's Word.

It is if you want a man, then you need to go to his house and uncover the blanket at his feet and lay there and be like, hey, will you marry me? Or you could take from this passage, hey, God wants you as perhaps the woman to be the one to propose.

That's not what's happening in the passage. It's not saying that that's a bad thing to do, hence why this is happening and it's being intentionally painted. The picture is being painted by God as a good thing, not a bad thing.

But I do want to mention, just because something is listed or mentioned in the Scripture, especially in some of these areas, does not mean it's prescriptive. It's descriptive and being able to notice, okay, what things are prescriptive?

Hey, have good godly character. That's a good thing. Hey, follow through on God's word.

Have a care for what God says. Those are all good things that you can take. But taking in maybe some cultural elements and saying, hey, this is how it should always go.

You can get real weird, real quick, because many of the things that happen are for a different culture with different ways in which they exercised some things. So today, if you go, hey, the guy has to be the one to propose.

Sure, that can be a cultural thing. But from scripture, there are both guys that pursue girls and go, hey, I want to marry this person. There are also, as here, girls that go to the guy and go, hey, will you be my husband?

And it's not a right or a wrong thing. It's not like feminism versus patriarchalism. It's not those kinds of things.

It's cultures change, but what remains consistent is God's expressed will. And let's be faithful to follow that will, to have godly character, to remember Jesus, the one who like here with Ruth and with Boaz.

He's the one that goes, hey, I'm not resting until their redemption has been bought. And because of the work of the Kinsman Redeemer, we have a relationship. We've been given everything that our father has for us.

So thanks for tuning in today and looking forward to finishing out the Book of Ruth with you tomorrow.