Boaz did not have the advantages that we have in our Scriptures. We can read The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit Psalm 34:18, and imagine the Lord whispering to Naomi.
When Paul wrote the second letter to Timothy, it was in the knowledge that his ministry was coming to an end, and as he contemplated his death from his prison cell, encouraging his successor to carry the baton, his words could have been an echo from the past, when Boaz decided to take his problem before the elders of the town.
I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him …
Boaz had no need of help in understanding what was happening when he woke to find the young widow lying at his feet. She was showing that she was willing to offer herself as his wife. When Naomi advised Ruth as she did, it was not as a brazen or seductive act, it was a reminder of the law to a man who was law abiding, and who followed the commandments as laid down in Scripture.
If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold. Leviticus 25:25. In fact, land was not to be permanently taken from the possession of the owner to whom it had been given when the tribes were allocated land after their possession of the Promised Land. In verse 23 God said to Moses, in His commandments, The land must not be sold permanently because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants...
(What does this mean to Israel today?)
Amongst God’s laws was the one we read of in Deuteronomy 24:19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
In Deuteronomy 25 we can read of the need, after death, for the widow not to marry outside the family and the nearest kinsman to continue the family name. In Ruth’s obedience, she was asking Boaz to take her into his household, protect her and provide for her. Boaz, as the close relative of Naomi , was actually required by Israeli custom to marry a childless widow, and although other close relatives of Naomi could have been asked to fulfil this duty, he was chosen. In the time in which this love story was set, life was hard, and heroes were scarce. Even those we read of in those times. (the book of Judges) were badly flawed. Finding a kind, gentle, God fearing and law abiding man like Boaz was a real bonus, and not to be ignored.
I wonder when his heart was first stirred by the young Moabite woman working in his fields. Was it the first day when he asked who she was? He was most probably old enough to be her father. My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here… Ruth 2:8
Was it later when he noticed how diligently she worked to support her mother-in-law?
Was it at the table when he saw how she saved food for Naomi?
He continued to watch her throughout the barley reaping season which lasted through the month of April, and maybe, just maybe she invaded his thoughts as he lay in the makeshift tent that he had erected at the threshing floor. Picture a large flat rock in an open space. This was where the farmer had his oxen trample out the grain, and then, with huge winnowing forks and the help of the prevailing winds which usually obliged in the afternoon, sort the grain from the stalk and chaff. Then he would lie down in his tent, often large enough to accommodate some of the workers, in order to guard and protect the crop from marauders during the night.
When Boaz sent Ruth back to Naomi with a shawl filled with barley, it was with the objective of sorting out the matter of inheritance without delay. The politics of the land were carried out at the city gates, where the wise men, or elders, sat and discussed the daily state of affairs, being called upon as judiciaries, character witnesses, and now, on this occasion, presiding over the legalities of redeeming property and taking a wife. There was to be no doubt about his intentions.
Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth, the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are my witnesses. Ruth 4:9,10
It was in the days when the judges ruled, when Israel had no king, and everyone did as he saw fit. Good men were few, but amongst them one stood out as being worthy of remembrance, and acceptable as an ancestor of Jesus; Boaz, great grandfather of David. A man of integrity; a man to be trusted and emulated.
Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6
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