SERIES H --- THE JUDGES --- LESSON 26

A FAMILY FOUNDED

ONE NIGHT AT A THRESHING FLOOR

From Ruth 3-4

My daughter, Naomi said to Ruth one day, shouldn’t I help you get married again so that you may have a happy home? What about Boaz? He is a close relative and you have worked with his reapers. Tonight, he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor, after you bathe, put on some perfume and your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor, but wait until Boaz has finished eating and drinking. Watch where he lies down; then later take the covering from his feet and lie down. Boaz will tell you what to do about marriage. I’ll do exactly as you say, Ruth replied. That night Ruth went down to the threshing floor and did what Naomi had told her. When Boaz had finished eating and drinking, he lay down with a merry heart beside a heap of grain. Ruth came quietly while Boaz slept, uncovered his feet and lay down. About midnight, Boaz awoke and sat up. He was surprised to see a woman lying by his feet. Who are you? Boaz asked. Ruth, she answered. Spread your covering over me, for you are a close relative and are entitled to marry me. May Adonai bless you, said Boaz; You are showing your greatest kindness to Naomi by coming to me. You could have searched for a young man, either rich or poor; but you have chosen to marry me instead so that Naomi may have an heir. Don’t be concerned about the details we must work out to get married, my child. I’ll take care of them, for all the people of Bethlehem know what a good woman you are. Of course, you must know that although I am a close relative, there is a closer one. Sleep here tonight and tomorrow I will ask him to decide. If he is willing to marry you, we must let him. But if he will not, then I will. Now lie down until morning. Ruth slept at his feet until morning, but arose before it was light. We must not let others know that a woman slept here at the threshing floor, Boaz told her. Then Boaz told Ruth to spread out her mantle. When she did, he poured a bushel and a half of barley into it as a gift for Naomi. After Boaz helped Ruth put the barley on her back, she returned to Bethlehem. How did you do, my daughter? Naomi asked when Ruth returned. Ruth told Naomi all that had happened and gave her the gift of barley that Boaz had sent. Boaz sent this barley home with me, for he said I must not come back to you without a gift, she said. You must wait patiently now to see what happens, said Naomi. Boaz will not rest today until he has settled this matter. In the meantime, Boaz went to the gate of the city, where matters of this kind were handled, to wait for the other relative. When he came along, Boaz called to him. Come over here so that we can talk, Boaz said. The man came over to Boaz and sat down with him. Boaz also asked ten of the city leaders to sit down with them as witnesses to the transaction. Naomi has come back from Moab, Boaz said to his relative and now wishes to sell the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I want you to know about the land, for you have the first right to buy it. But if you don’t want to buy it, I do. I will buy it, said the man. When you do, Boaz continued, you must also marry Ruth so that she may have children to inherit Mahlon’s name and property. I can’t marry her, said the relative. Such a marriage would cause too many problems for my own estate. You may buy the land and marry Ruth. There was a custom in Israel at that time concerning the transfer of a right to buy land. The man who gave up that right would take off his sandal and give it to the man to whom he had transferred the right. The other relative did so when he told Boaz, you may buy the land yourself, you are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi all of the property that belonged to Elimelech and his family, Boaz said to the ten leaders sitting with them. And you are witnesses that I will marry Ruth so that she may have children who will inherit her dead husband’s name and property. We are witnesses, said the leaders and the others there at the city gate. May Adonai give her children as He did to Rachel and Leah, from whom came all the nation of Israel. And may you be rich and famous in Bethlehem, with a family as large as that of our ancestor Perez, who was the son of Tamar and Judah. Ruth and Boaz were married and had a son. May Adonai be blessed, the women of Bethlehem said to Naomi. He has given you an heir. May his name become famous in Israel. He will make you feel young again and will care for you when you are old, for he is the son of your daughter-in-law Ruth, who loves you and has meant more to you than seven sons. Naomi cared for the child as though he were her own. Naomi has another son, the women of Bethlehem said. So they named the baby Obed. As the years passed, Obed became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. The ancestors of Boaz were Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon and Salmon. His descendants were Jesse and King David.

COMMENTARY

RUTH’S FAMILY

Ruth and Boaz developed a deep love and respect for each other. They married and founded a family. It was from that godly family that King David, Israel’s greatest ruler, came. It was from that family that Yeshua Himself was born. Ruth’s story is a beautiful one of fidelity and love. But the greatest importance to her life lies in the generations of descendants who followed after her. She became the great-grandmother of a king; one of the most important in the Old Testament. Soon after Ruth married Boaz, she gave birth to a son who was named Obed, which meant {Worshiper.} He eventually married and had a son named Jesse. Like Boaz, Jesse became a farmer. His youngest son was a shepherd, tending the family’s sheep outside Bethlehem. His name was David, which meant {Beloved One.} While still young, David was chosen to be the king of the Israelites. He lived to become the most famous of Israel’s kings. Bethlehem is called the {City of David} because he was born there. David in turn fathered another famous king of Israel; Solomon, who ruled after David died. But hundreds of years later, another descendant of Ruth was born in Bethlehem. His birth marks the start of the New Testament.