What is the story of Ruth and Boaz?

This book is of great interest, giving, when Israel was nationally very low, a vivid picture of individual piety, as well as of courtesies in which in those days God-fearing men in various conditions in rustic life were not deficient. Ruth was a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, one of the sons of Elimelech and Naomi, who because of a famine in Israel had gone to sojourn in Moab. On the death of Elimelech and his sons, Naomi the widow returned to Bethlehem, accompanied by Ruth, who clave to her, declaring that Naomi's God should be her God, and Naomi's people should be her people.

In the time of barley harvest Ruth went to glean in the field of Boaz, a near kinsman of Elimelech and a rich man. Boaz observed and was gracious to her. She continued thus during the barley and wheat harvests. On the barley being winnowed, Boaz, after eating and drinking, lay down in a barn; and Ruth, instructed by Naomi, went and lay down at his feet. On his awaking, she declared that he was a near kinsman. He owned to this, but said there was one nearer than himself. On the circumstances being made known to the latter, and on his declining to redeem the inheritance, Boaz redeemed all that had belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, and took Ruth to be his wife. She bare a son named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.

All know the story of Ruth and Naomi. Ruth was a Moabitess who had no claim to the blessing, but she came with Naomi to the land of Judah. There was one person in that land in whom she might have hope. The mighty man of wealth—Boaz. All her hope was in Boaz, and he undertook to do a kinsman’s part. Remember redemption involves carrying things out judicially and according to certain rights. There was one before Boaz, but he refused to do a kinsman’s part so Boaz undertook to do it. Now for us there was none other than the true Boaz the Lord Jesus, come of the line of Boaz and Ruth according to the flesh. He undertook the whole question of redemption—price and power, persons and property. For Ruth, the result was, not only did Boaz become her redeemer, but he became her bridegroom, and the fields in which she gleaned became hers too. She got the inheritance. Our true Boaz, our Kinsman, Redeemer, and Bridegroom, will share with us His wide fields, His glorious inheritance. The saints are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.”

The close of the brief narrative in the Book of Ruth records the joy that came to Bethlehem through the marriage of Boaz the goel and Ruth. The blessing of Jehovah upon this somewhat singular union was made manifest by the gift of a son to the elderly husband and the barren widow. The women of the town with pious neighbourliness united to bless the God of Israel Who had raised up an heir to the inheritance, long lying in abeyance but now redeemed. By the birth of Obed, Naomi's sad heart was filled with joy, and Boaz acquired the fame of becoming a progenitor of Abraham's Seed of promise and of David's Son and Lord.

But this is a digression. Though all land was to revert every fiftieth year to the family to which it had belonged, it could be bought back, or redeemed by any of the family or their relatives, before that time. See Leviticus 25:23-28. Naomi therefore, as it would seem, being compelled to sell, hoped that one of her kinsmen would buy or redeem it. Boaz, the mighty man of wealth, was one of her nearest kinsmen, and she evidently looked upon him as one likely to redeem it for her. And there was another question involved: the law laid it down that if a man died childless his nearest relative or “brother” was expected to marry his widow, and the first-born of the union was to be called after the deceased, so that his name should not perish, or be cut off, in Israel. See Deuteronomy 25:5-10. So the near kinsman would have a double duty to perform; he would not only be expected, if able, to redeem the land, but also to marry Mahlon’s widow. So, instructed by her mother-in-law, Ruth, anointed and adorned, goes to the threshing-floor of Boaz where he was winnowing barley. If he continued his work well on into the night it was to take advantage of the wind, probably. And when he lays himself down to rest at the end of the heap of grain, Ruth draws trustfully near and lays herself meekly and modestly at his feet. “And it came to pass: at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thy handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thy handmaid ; for thou art a near kinsman.” It is an Oriental courtship, and strange and unbecoming as Ruth’s conduct might appear in the eyes of Westerns, it was considered perfectly proper in the “days when the judges ruled,” and would be considered so still in the East, we suppose. Her asking Boaz to spread his skirt over her indicated to him that she was willing to become his wife (see Ezek. 16:8). And though she is but a poor widow of Gentile origin, Boaz expresses himself as quite agreeable to the proposal. He says, “Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.” He means by this last (“all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman”) that he understood her motives perfectly. He had not the slightest question as to the purity of her design in coming to the floor thus at night, and he graciously promises to perform for her all that she desires. He says, “Thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.” How is it with you, believer in Christ? What are you following, or with whom do you have fellowship? Ruth, (as it became a widow) lived a life of retiring modesty and separation. And Christians are called to walk in separation from this world’s principles and pleasures. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,” writes the beloved John. “For all that is in the world,” he says, “is not of the Father but is of the world.” The young men, poor and rich, from whom Ruth kept herself, are like the things of the world of which John speaks. The poor young men would be like those coarser and gross pleasures from which it is comparatively easy to keep oneself, if saved. “The lust of the flesh,” John calls them. But he speaks, too, of “the pride of life” which would answer more to the rich young men. These would be of special temptation to a poor young woman like Ruth, and it is of the more refined and subtle forms of worldliness that Christians have most to beware. Almost any Christian would shrink from attending a public ball, or witnessing a sensational play or reading a French novel, but Satan is cunning and he has ready for our enticement that which awakens the “desires of the mind,” if he cannot allure through “the lusts of the flesh.” Both forms of depravity are mentioned in Ephesians 2:3. They are equally destructive of holiness, and the devil does not care one whit which he uses to hinder our communion with God or mar our testimony for Christ. Oh saint of God, shun, avoid, eschew whatever is not of Christ or the Father! Follow not these “young men whether poor or rich.” Boaz says to Ruth, “Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest” (chap. 2:21). And the apostle exhorts by the Spirit, “Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). “And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest” (chap. 2:22-23). Oh, for grace to persevere in the path of separation to the end.

What the other kinsman could not do, that Boaz did do. For he could not be in rest until he had finished the matter. The very elders were witnesses, not only that the other could not, “But ye are witnesses this day; Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.” Oh, what a day of gladness for poor Ruth! What a perfect work did Boaz finish for her that day — what a complete change for her — what perfect rest! No longer the poor, sorrowing, outcast Moabitess — no more gleaning and beating — no more coming and going — no more enjoying blessing with Boaz one hour, and away from him desolate the next hour. The stranger gleaner is now one with him forever. They two have become one, to part no more. Perfect rest! Happy Ruth! the love that redeemed thee will never part with thee — nothing shall separate thee from his love. Thou hadst nothing to bring to him. Boaz had all to give for thee. Thou art purchased to be his wife. Nobly did he undertake for Ruth, and nobly did he finish the work that day. There was joy that day in the gate of Bethlehem. All the people, and the elders in the gate, bore witness, with great rejoicings, of the perfect redemption of Ruth, and her marriage to the mighty man of wealth.

Boaz becomes the Redeemer for Naomi and Ruth

Accordingly, Boaz purchased all the property that had belonged to Elimelech and his two sons, and further he took Ruth to wife so that the inheritance might not become void and the name of the deceased disappear from among his family and his tribe. This beneficent act Boaz announced that day to the elders and people assembled in the gate. "And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, Ye are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi; moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren and from the gate of his place; ye are witnesses this day" (Ruth 4:9).

As will be seen from the narrative of the proceedings in the gate of Bethlehem, the redemption was twofold, comprehending (1) the purchase from Naomi of all that belonged to her husband and her two sons, the three men having died in the land of Moab, and (2) the "purchase" of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, to be his wife. Thus, both widows benefited by the transaction: (1) Naomi received from Boaz the value of the inheritance as a means of subsistence; she who had been dependent upon Ruth's gleanings in the barley-fields was now comparatively "rich and increased with goods"; while (2) Ruth the "stranger" became wife of Boaz the Bethlehemite, the "mighty man of wealth." Boaz had acknowledged himself to be "brother" in the broad sense of near relationship to the deceased Elimelech (ver. 3), and therefore he had accepted and fulfilled a brother's obligation under the law in Deut. 25:5-10 to marry the widowed Ruth and raise up seed for the continuance of Elimelech's name and inheritance in the tribe of Judah and the land of Israel.

The former is very prominent in the types of the Old Testament, while the latter in its true meaning is reserved for the New, for it is here we have the full revelation of God’s love. Among the many striking types given by the Spirit for our edification, that of Boaz and Ruth stands out as one of the most beautiful in regard to redemption. Boaz, the mighty man of wealth, was of the kindred of Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law. To Ruth she said, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?” She sought this rest and well-being for the young Moabite widow in Boaz, for he had the right of redemption; and he worthily proved himself to be the kinsman-redeemer indeed! for in the gates—where judicial questions were considered, before the elders—all was settled, and the witnesses declared their satisfaction (Ruth 4). On the ground of this redemption Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. Soon the worthiness of our Lord Jesus Christ will be publicly celebrated. Then shall we gladly sing to Him the new song, “THOU ART WORTHY! … THOU HAST REDEEMED” (Rev. 5:9). Soon, too, shall the bride, the Lamb’s wife, be seen shining with the light of the glory of God! (Rev. 21:9-11). Redemption’s work in redemption’s day shall fill heaven and earth with redemption splendours, and the glory of the Redeemer shall be worthily proclaimed.

And now the other redeemer, who cannot redeem, appears. Boaz sits in the gate and hails the one whom he knew as he passeth by. He calls him not by name but said, "Ho, such a one! turn aside, and sit down here." If Boaz had not called him he would surely have passed by. Then ten men also sit down. The case is stated and the other redeemer is willing to redeem the land. But when he hears that he also must take Ruth the Moabitess, he declares his powerlessness to do it. "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance. Redeem thou my right to thyself, for I cannot redeem it." Whom does this unnamed redeemer represent who can redeem the land but can do nothing for the poor stranger, the Moabitess? This powerless redeemer is the law. Ten witnesses are there confirming his inability to do it. These represent the Ten Commandments. The curse of the law rested upon the Moabitess for it is written, "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD, even to the tenth generation forever" (Deut. 23:3). Therefore the law could not bring in Ruth, but only keep her out. Her case is indeed hopeless from the point of the law. Grace alone can help her. And this grace is beautifully seen in Boaz. He acquires both the land and Ruth, the Moabitess. "And Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife." It is a blessed type of Him who has paid the redemption price for the land and the people. The great day is coming after He had the fan in His hand, at the time of the harvest, when He will redeem both by His gracious power. Then all the blessings will follow--which are but faintly seen in Ruth's union with Boaz. "For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not, thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded: for thou shalt not be put to shame. For thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called" (Is. 54:3-5). "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land be any more termed Desolate. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married" (Is. 62:4).

The story is so familiar that we do not need to repeat it in this brief introduction. Ruth the Moabitess is the chief character in the story. She who was cursed by the law becomes married to Boaz and as we learn from the ending, Ruth is the great-grandmother of David. Her name appears therefore in the first chapter of the New Testament in the list of ancestors of Him, who is David's son and David's Lord. She is the third Gentile woman in the genealogy of our Lord. The two Canaanitish women, Tamar and Rahab, precede her. The promises made to Abraham that the Gentiles were to receive blessing through his seed are confirmed through the history of these Gentile women among the ancestors of David and our Lord.

Boaz does the kinsman-redeemer’s part and claims Ruth as his bride. She becomes his wife, and fruit — a son, is the result of the union.