Everybody loves a romance! From literature classics like Romeo and Juliette to the cheap smutty paperback novels…from epic films like Gone with the Wind to the latest cheesy chick-flick…from the mightiest of men to the weepiest of women… everybody loves a romance story!
The Bible has its own version of a romance story.
Boaz: Israel’s Most Eligible Bachelor
Let me introduce to you the lead male role in this providential romance! His name is Boaz, and he was the most eligible bachelor in the whole village of Bethlehem (probably in all of Israel). He had everything going for him. He was a descendant from the prominent tribe of Judah. He was a successful farmer and businessman. He was well educated and very wealthy (probably the greatest land holder in the area). Not only that, but he was a man who exhibited deep faith in God, integrity in his character, and a rare combination of justice and mercy in his actions. He had an impeccable reputation with all of his employees and the town officials in Bethlehem. He showed charity to everyone and he was cherished by everyone.
Boaz was the kind of man that young women dream about. He was the type of man that fathers approve and mothers adore. He was the type that would make a good husband and father. Most women would have snatched him up if they could. If Boaz was alive today, he could have gone on TV show “The Bachelor” and had given his final rose to anyone he chose. But for some unknown reason, Boaz was hadn’t had the good fortune to marry or start his own family. So, he focused his life on God and being a good farmer and businessman. But God’s providence was about to change that!
Ruth: Israel’s Least Desirable Widow (1:3-22)
Now that we have met Boaz, allow me to introduce to you the leading female role in this providential romance. Her name is Ruth and she was the least desirable widow in the whole village of Bethlehem (probably in all of Israel). She had virtually nothing going for her. First, she was a foreigner. She was a Moabite from the wrong side of the Jordan River. The Moabites were fierce rivals of the Israelites and they despised each other. They worshipped many gods lead by the god Chemosh instead of Yahweh, the one true God of the universe. Secondly, she was a widow. She had already been married to an Israelite refugee for a few years back in Moab. In those days, nobody wanted to marry a widow. She was viewed as damaged goods. Moreover, because she had already been married to an Israelite that died, she may have been viewed as suspicious.
In addition to being a Moabite widow, she would have been undesirable because she was poor. She had come to Bethlehem with only her mother-in-law Naomi. Without husbands to take care of them or property of their own, they had to rely upon the generosity of others to make it. Without a family or dowry of her own, nobody would have wanted anything to do with Ruth.
Although she had incredible physical beauty, impeccable character like Boaz, and she exhibited a deep faith in God by coming to Israel with Naomi, the deck was stacked against her for ever finding romance or marrying again. But God’s providence was about to change that!
A Providential Meeting (2:1-16)
Now that you have met the main characters in this providential romance, let me tell you the story of how Ruth and Boaz met. Every romance has to have a scene when the beloved meet for the first time. Ruth and Boaz met during the time of year when the barley harvest was just beginning in Israel. All of the farmers and their workers were busy cutting and gathering sheaves in the field (remember these were the old days before choppers and tractors). One day, Boaz returned home from a business trip and went to his fields to survey the progress of his operation. We see his deep faith in the way he greeted his employees. He shouted the blessing, “The Lord be with you!” They all yelled back, “The Lord bless you!”
As his eyes gazed across the grain fields, he noticed a young woman among the harvesters. He knew that he had never seen her before because he would have remembered a woman of such great physical beauty. So, he did what any man in his situation would do—he did his homework on her. He went to his foreman and asked him, “Whose young woman is that?”
By this time, everyone in town knew who Ruth was and why she was there. The foreman proceeded to tell Boaz about her—that she was a Moabite who came back to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi. Being a poor widow with no means to care for Naomi or herself, she had asked permission to glean grain behind the harvesters and that she had worked steadily all day with only one short break. In spite of learning that she was a Moabite widow, upon seeing her beauty and hearing about her character, Israel’s most eligible bachelor became interested in Israel’s least desirable widow.
Boaz immediately went out into the field to meet Ruth for himself. He offered her special protection by telling her to stay among his servant girls and not to go to any other fields. He told his male employees not to lay a hand on her. (Being an attractive foreign widow made her vulnerable to sexual harassment and even rape.) He also provided for her by offering her water throughout the work day, food at mealtimes, and gave his men special orders to pull some stocks from the bundles to make her work easier.
We see God’s hand of providence divinely orchestrating this meeting in Ruth 2:3—“As it turned out” is the author’s way of telling us that Ruth and Boaz meeting didn’t happen by chance or coincidence; rather, God put both of them in the same place at the same time. Ruth could have gone to any other field in Bethlehem, but she ventured into Boaz’s. If Boaz didn’t come to greet his workers that day, he may never have seen Ruth gleaning in the field. Their meeting that day was providential.
It is always amazing to think about how God’s providence works in our lives today! Have you ever wondered how your life would be completely different if you hadn’t been in the right place at the right time? You may never have met your spouse! You may not have your kids! You may not have your job! And a host of other things would be entirely different. Do you think the events of your life happened by chance? Forget about it! God works behind the scenes and orders the events of our lives as well!
A Providential Relationship (2:17-3:18)
Well, Ruth and Boaz’s providential meeting grew into a providential relationship. When Ruth told Naomi everything that Boaz did for her, Naomi began to devise a plan. We might call Naomi a “meddling mother-in-law.” Does anyone here today have a meddling mother-in-law?
Naomi informed Ruth that Boaz was a relative of theirs, a kinsman-redeemer to be precise. A kinsman-redeemer was a male relative who, according to various laws found in the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act for a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need of vindication. He typically had the responsibility of redeeming property and taking on a relative’s widow to care for her needs. Isn’t that interesting? Boaz just happened to be one of their kinsman redeemers!
So, Naomi instructed Ruth to take a bath, put on her best clothes, dab on a little perfume, and go to the threshing floor at night and uncover Boaz’s feet. The threshing floor was a plateau where they would lay the stocks of grain on the ground and beat out the kernels and the chaff would be thrown up into the air and blown away by the wind. The stocks were cut during the day and the grain was threshed in the evening. During the harvest season, most of the workers slept on the threshing floor. We see Boaz’s humility in the fact that even though he was wealthy and prominent, he slept on the threshing floor with his employees.
Ladies, if someone has ever told you that the man has to make the first move in a romance, they mustn’t have ever read the book of Ruth. Ruth’s action of going to Boaz in the middle of the night and uncovering his feet, was a provocative way of proposing marriage. When Boaz woke up and saw Ruth lying at his feet, he basically said, “I do!”
God uses all sorts of people in his providential plans. He uses meddling mother-in-laws, website matchmakers, and a host of others. For just minute, think about the various people that God has brought into your life and has used in profound ways! Do you think that they just showed up by accident? God put that person there!
A Providential Marriage (4:1-12)
After Ruth declared her love and desire for marriage on the threshing floor, Boaz knew that there was one hurdle that he had to jump over. Even though he was one of their kinsman-redeemers, there was one man who was a closer kinsman-redeemer, and it was his prerogative to purchase Naomi’s land and marry Ruth. So, the very next morning Boaz went to the elders of the town to strike a deal. As he discussed the situation with the kinsman-redeemer that was first in line for Naomi’s land and Ruth’s hand, Boaz used some shrewd words. Even though the man was interested in Naomi’s property, he wasn’t interested in taking on two more mouths to feed, especially if it meant marrying a widow from Moab.
So, the man relinquished his responsibility to Boaz, and Boaz quickly chose to redeem. He sealed the deal in the presence of the town elders. Instead of a handshake or a signature, he took off his sandal and gave it to the other kinsman, which was the custom for transacting business at the time.
Once everything was in place, Boaz took Ruth to be his wife and she and Naomi went to live with him. God was working behind the scenes of all of their lives. It was his divine providence that orchestrated this romance and marriage of Israel’s most eligible bachelor and Israel’s least desirable widow. God used Boaz to redeem Ruth and Naomi from a difficult and bitter situation. He filled their emptiness with hope and joy.
A Providential Genealogy (4:12-22)
But God’s plan for this providential romance was much larger than just one eligible bachelor and one undesirable widow. In due time, Boaz lay with his wife Ruth and she conceived and gave birth to a son and they named him Obed. Now that name may not stand out to you as being very important, but look at the genealogy at the end of chapter 4—Obed became the father of Jessie, and Jesse was the father of David, Israel’s greatest king.
In God’s providential plan, he used Ruth and Boaz to be the grandparents of King David and establish an incredible heritage that would eventually be used to bless the whole world throughout the rest of history. How is this? Do you know what line the Messiah was from? That is right, our Lord Jesus Christ came from the line of David. Boaz and Ruth were Jesus’ great great…grandparents.
Like Ruth and Boaz, we often don’t understand of the significance of the people whom God brings into our lives or the events that we endure until much later. Ruth and Boaz had no idea that God was going to use them as an integral part of his plan to bring redemption to the whole world.
You may not feel like your life is very significant, but God’s plans go far beyond anything that we can imagine. In his providence, you never know how he is going to use your life to benefit others!
As I conclude this story of Ruth and Boaz’s providential romance, I need to tell you that this story is a romance within a romance. This story is only a microcosm of the greatest romance ever told. You see, Boaz foreshadows our Lord Jesus Christ, while we play the part of Ruth. Boaz represents Jesus, whose character was perfect in every way and who humbled himself by becoming a man and dying for our sins on the cross. He is our kinsman redeemer! We play the part of Ruth. Because we are sinful, we are undesirable, damaged goods, but in his providence, God redeemed us and he can take away out emptiness and bitterness and fill it with hope and joy.
Where are you in God’s providential romance?