A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

LOVE’S REQUEST
(Ruth 3:1-18)
Naomi knew Boaz was “kinsman” and as such could marry Ruth as a kinsman redeemer.
She urged Ruth to glean only in the fields of Boaz, and Ruth complied with that request. And
during the months of the barley harvest and wheat harvest, the relationship between Ruth and
Boaz began to grow.
Toward the end of the harvest season, it was customary for the landowner and his
workers to “camp out” on the threshing floor. It had not been that long since the invading
Midianite raiders had confiscated the annual harvest by waiting till it had been threshed, then
attacking. Knowing this, most farmers were reluctant to leave their crops unguarded on the
threshing floor. For however long it took to complete the harvest, everyone associated with the
harvest lived on the threshing floor of the farm.
Naomi saw this as an opportunity for Ruth to appeal to Boaz to marry her as a kinsman
redeemer. She instructed Ruth to wash, anoint herself with perfumes, and dress in new clothes.
Then she told Ruth to wait till Boaz had eaten and was asleep before approaching him. Only then
was she to uncover his feet and wait for him to wake. By uncovering his feet, the draft would
cause him to wake from his sleep as his feet got cold. Ruth did as she had been instructed and at
midnight, Boaz woke from his sleep.
It was then Ruth requested that Boaz act as her redeemer. “Take your maidservant under
your wing, for you are a near kinsman” (Ruth 3:9). Boaz was favorable to the suggestion, but
realized there was one who had a prior claim to Ruth should he choose to take it. He told Ruth he
would insure that one of the two would act as her kinsman and he would settle the details of the
matter in the morning. Probably because he realized it would be unsafe for Ruth to wander home
at midnight, he urged her to remain with him and the others on the threshing floor till morning.
But even before the others awakened, Ruth was on her way home to her mother-in-law with six
measures of barley.
LOVE’S REWARD
(Ruth 4:1-22)
Naomi had been around long enough to know what love did to a man. She urged Ruth to
sit and wait knowing the matter would be settled before the day ended. So while Naomi and Ruth
waited in their home, Boaz made his way to the city gate.
According to the legal customs of the day, Boaz called the other kinsman aside in the
gate and gathered ten elders of the city to witness the transaction. He told the other kinsman that
Naomi planned to sell a piece of property. Under the Law, a family could not sell their land
outside of their own family. This meant Boaz and the other kinsman were the only qualified
purchasers. The other kinsman agreed to purchase the land until he learned he must also at the
same time marry Ruth the Moabitess. “And the near kinsman said, `I cannot redeem it for
myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot
redeem it’ “ (Ruth 4:6). Ironically, the kinsman who refused to exercise his right to redeem Ruth
fearing it would ruin his inheritance is unknown by name today whereas the descendants of Boaz
sat on the throne of David.
To seal the agreement, the other kinsman “took off his sandal” (v. 8). This ancient custom
signified he was giving Boaz the right to trample over his rights as a kinsman redeemer. Then
before the elders of the city, Boaz declared his intention to marry Ruth the Moabitess.