AUDIO TEACHING
FULL RECORDED MEETING WITH MIDRASH. The Midrash has a lot of good information contributed by the audience.
NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.
Ruth’s account wraps up nicely but not without some surprises. King David’s embarrassing Moabite lineage gets explained nicely by Samuel when he explains that Ruth married an Israelite, Boaz, but more than that, she was a convert from being a Moabite Gentile to an Israelite in her heart who had a personal relationship with the King and God of Israel – Yeshua YHVH.
Ruth 3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
Naomi expressed concern for Ruth being a single woman in Bethlehem. She sought “rest” for Ruth meaning for Ruth to be settled, married. The opportunity has now divinely arrived since Ruth has been gleaning in Boaz’s fields and Naomi wants to seize this opportunity. She wants to provide for Ruth’s well-being as Ruth provided for hers. Ruth’s resting place will be with a husband from Bethlehem.
Naomi was eligible for marriage but she was too old to bear children. Levirate marriage is for the purpose of raising children to the brother. Boaz and Naomi were probably not that far apart in age but she had expressed that there were no more sons to be in her womb in Ruth 1:12. As Boaz will say later, that he was an old man, so Naomi is an older widow. Rather than seek her own “rest” from a kinsman redeemer, she now seeks it for Ruth.
Ruth 3:2 Now isn’t Boaz our kinsman, with whose maidens you were? Behold, he will be winnowing barley tonight on the threshing floor.The story now moves forward several days from the harvesting and gleaning to the winnowing. This progression has skipped a step – the threshing. This means that many days, perhaps up to 2 weeks, has passed since the starts of the harvest.
It takes a few days depending on the size of the field(s), for teams of men to cut the ripe barley stalks with sickles. Then came the threshing on the community threshing floor which took a few more days. And now the winnowing will begin.
Winnowing was the process whereby the grain was gathered into a shallow basket and then these were tossed into the air so the wind could remove the chaff.
All of this is a picture of the end times harvest but that is for another teaching. The point now is that Ruth’s gleaning days were over, and perhaps she not seen Boaz for a few days because she was no longer in the field. Naomi is about to remedy that.
Ruth 3:3 Therefore wash yourself, anoint yourself, get dressed, and go down to the threshing floor, but don’t make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.
The instruction was for Ruth to make herself attractive by using scented oils. BUT don’t let Boaz know you are there. We don’t want to tip our hand by having you be seen by all the men who will be winnowing. That will make it appear you are available to any one of them. Wait until after he has worked some and has had his meal.
Ruth 3:4 It shall be, when he lies down, that you shall note the place where he is lying. Then you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lay down. Then he will tell you what to do.”
Covering the feet is an ancient contextual idiom that has to do with 2 different activities based on context. The first is defecation.
Regarding the Moabite King Eglon who was killed by Ehud, Israel’s national judge:
Judges 3:24 When he [Ehud] was gone out, his [Eglon’s] servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he [King Eglon] covers his feet in his summer chamber.
1 Samuel 24:3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
The 2nd context is the marriage bed. David, after impregnating Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, told Uriah to go home and wash his feet. (Meaning “Go home and have sex with your wife.)
2 Samuel 11:8 David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
2 Samuel 11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house.
Uriah refused to “lie” with his wife.
2 Samuel 11:10 When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”
2 Samuel 11:11 Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”
In the context of David telling Uriah to “wash his feet”, is also an idiom which means to have marital relations which happens with your feet covered in the ANEC. Washing of feet was a prerequisite for getting into bed with one’s spouse, and this had become an idiom for marital relations in the marriage bed.
In another context, that of the Kingdom, Yeshua washing His Disciples feet was to welcome them into YHVH’s Kingdom. This act of hospitality was shown to us when Abraham welcomed YHVH into his home in Genesis 18.
Ruth, though, UNcovered Boaz’s feet. She was not there for sex. She was there to offer Boaz a marital relationship. We like to think that only men propose marriage but here we see that a woman is proposing marriage, and doing it the right way without premarital sex.
Ruth 3:5 She said to her, “All that you say, I will do.”
Ruth 3:6 She went down to the threshing floor, and did everything that her mother-in-law told her.
Ruth 3:7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. She came softly, uncovered his feet, and laid down.
Ruth 3:8 At midnight, the man was startled and turned himself; and behold, a woman lay at his feet.
Midnight is an important time. It literally is “mid of night”, not exactly 12AM as it is on our modern clocks. The importance of this time is prophetic because our kinsman redeemer will arrive “mid of night” to gather His virgins who are sleeping, as they should be at that time.
Ruth 3:9 He said, “Who are you?” She answered, “I am Ruth your servant. Therefore spread the corner of your garment over your servant; for you are a near kinsman.”
She said of herself earlier that she was not his servant in Ruth 2:13. Now she proclaims herself to be his servant and asks for his covering over herself. His feet are uncovered because she is uncovered. She is now asking him for his covering and then both their feet can be covered.
It would have been the job of a woman’s father or a brother to approach a near kinsman for levirate marriage of their mutual brother’s widow. Naomi had to do it somehow. She might have been able to ask Boaz but she thought the approach should be done this way. No reasoning by her is given.
Ruth 3:10 He said, “You are blessed by Yahweh, my daughter. You have shown more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, because you didn’t follow young men, whether poor or rich.
Now comes the moment of truth. Will Boaz accept being Ruth’s husband or not?
Ruth 3:11 Now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people knows that you are a worthy woman.
Apparently, Ruth must have seemed to be intimidated or even afraid. It must have been apparent to Boaz that she had been directed by Naomi. This is why he sent the “sign” of his covenant with Ruth to Naomi the next morning.
Boaz could have shamed Ruth by loudly casting her out, waking up the sleepers on the threshing floor and embarrassing and shaming her but he called her blessed of YHVH, instead, and now he tells her she is a worthy woman, one who is worthy of him!
Ruth 3:12 Now it is true that I am a near kinsman. However, there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Now we find out there is a snag. There is another nearer kinsman, a brother of Elimelech who is in between Elimelech and Boaz but Boaz not willing to flaunt the proper way of approaching the situation. He is a man of honor. It was the nearest kinsman redeemer’s right to marry or relinquish marrying Ruth. This had to be dealt with.Ruth 3:13 Stay this night, and in the morning, if he will perform for you the part of a kinsman, good. Let him do the kinsman’s duty. But if he will not do the duty of a kinsman for you, then I will do the duty of a kinsman for you, as Yahweh lives. Lie down until the morning.”
Boaz asks Ruth to stay at his feet as long as possible. First of all, this would keep Ruth from stumbling around in the dark and possibly falling over a sleeping body so that then everyone would know she was in the camp. There were only men in this camp. Can you imagine what they might have thought? Yeah… Right. Boaz was protecting Ruth. You see when she arrived, there would have been some light from the fires. She had waited, watching outside and away from him, until she saw where he went. Yes, the moon was becoming full because Passover was approaching but one can still stumble easily in the darkness over sleeping men and tools that might have been lying around.
Ruth 3:14 She lay at his feet until the morning, then she rose up before one could discern another. For he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”
Ruth arose while it was still too early for everyone to arise but perhaps was just beginning to become light enough to see.
Boaz wanted Ruth to be quiet about their newly hatched plan so his brother, the nearer kinsman redeemer, could be caught off guard and not have time to plan his own strategy. This was not simply to catch him off guard but to also not give everyone time to think about this Moabite who had become an Israelite in her heart because Moabites were not allowed in YHVH’s assembly until the 10th generation had passed. But Ruth had renounced her Moabite status to become Israelite. She was no longer a Moabite in the assembly. Boaz understood this, but did his brother?
3:15 He said, “Bring the mantle that is on you, and hold it.” She held it; and he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; then he went into the city.
Why 6 measures? Is this a prophecy of our coming kinsman redeemer who bears with mankind for 6 days before he returns in the 7th to rule and reign?
One commentator said this: It may refer to six seah [1/3 of an ephah or bushel which would have been 2 full bushels] which Boaz would have helped Ruth carry almost all of the way until he came to the city and only then transferred them to Ruth. An early morning riser who sees them would assume that Ruth went extra early to the granary to bring her accumulated gleanings home and that Boaz met her by chance and was simply assisting her with her load.
Another thought is that Boaz sent barley in Ruth’s mantle to show Naomi what Ruth would look like pregnant or as a message to Noami of his promise to Ruth.
These are all possibilities but I will another one when we get to verse 17.
Ruth 3:16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” She told her all that the man had done for her. -WEB
The Hebrew says:
Ruth 3:16 And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, Who are you, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her.
The question, “who are you”, implies Naomi asking Ruth’s status. Was she the same Ruth, the daughter-in-law who was now “my daughter” who had done Naomi’s bidding or was she betrothed to Boaz.
Ruth 3:17 And she said, These six measures of barley he gave to me. For he said to me, Do not go empty to your mother-in-law.
Boaz was paying Naomi a bride price. The 6 measures of barley are prophetic of the 6,000 years Yeshua has waited to have a bride like Himself. Ruth was a fitting bride for Boaz, according to himself, because she was even more merciful to him than she was to Naomi, in his estimation.
Ruth 3:18 And she said, Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall. For the man will not rest until he has finished the thing today.
The matter would be settled that day.
Ruth 4:1 And Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spoke came by. And he said, Such a one! Turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat down.
Ruth 4:2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Come sit down here. And they sat down.
Ruth 4:3 And he said to the kinsman, Naomi, who has come again out of the country of Moab, sells a parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech’s.
Ruth 4:4 And I said I will tell it in your ear, saying, Buy it before those who live here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem, redeem it. But if you will not redeem, tell me so that I may know. For there is none to redeem besides you. And I am after you. And he said, I will redeem.
Oh no! The kinsman redeemer wants to redeem Ruth!
Ruth 4:5 And Boaz said, In the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy also from the hand of Ruth of Moab, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Ruth 4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance. You redeem my right to yourself, for I cannot redeem.
Ah! The nearest kinsman redeemer shows himself to be a man of the world. He puts himself first rather than the needs of another. Boaz was always part of YHVH’s remnant and foreordained to be King David’s and Yeshua’s ancestor. Boaz was willing to do the right and honorable thing for his brother, Elimelech’s son, Machlon.
Ruth 4:7 And this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, to confirm everything. A man plucked off his sandal and gave it to his neighbor. And this was a testimony in Israel.
Ruth 4:8 Therefore the kinsman said to Boaz, Buy it for yourself. So he drew off his sandal.
The near kinsman redeemer gave his sandal to Boaz. The giving of the sandal was the evidence of the transaction. A mere nod or a ‘yes’ in assent was not enough. Transactions required action. The near kinsman redeemer would not walk through life with Ruth at his side. He gave this honor to Boaz, though I doubt he thought Boaz was getting something worthwhile.
Ruth 4:9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi.
Ruth 4:10 And also Ruth of Moab, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses this day.
Boaz’s down payment to Naomi was the 6 seahs, or measures, of barley. Now the rest of the price would be paid for Naomi’s field and Machlon’s.
Ruth 4:11 And all the people in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses.
May YHVH make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, for these two built the house of Israel. And may you be blessed in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem.
Ruth 4:12 And let your house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which YHVH shall give you of this young woman.
Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh enabled her to conceive, and she bore a son.
Ruth 4:14 And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be YHVH, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, so that his name may be famous in Israel.
It was the honor of the man who performed the levirate marriage to be famous, and so he is! Thus, both Naomi and Ruth got a redeemer.
Ruth 4:15 And he shall be to you as a restorer of life, and one who cheers your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you has borne him, she who is better to you than seven sons.
Ruth 4:16 And Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to him.
H539
אמן
‘âman
aw-man’
A primitive root; properly to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse
No, Naomi did not breastfeed Obed, as some teach.
Obed had no biological relationship to Naomi. Yet Obed is presented as a “son born to Naomi”. Surrogates were common in those days. Naomi was given the honor of being Obed’s surrogate mother.
Ruth 4:17 And the women, her neighbors, gave him a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi. And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
H5744
עובד
‛ôbêd
o-bade’
Active participle of H5647; serving; Obed, the name of five Israelites: – Obed.
Both of Obed’s parents were servants, first to YHVH’s Kingdom and His ways, to each other, to Naomi and their community.
Ruth 4:18 And these are the generations of Pharez. Pharez fathered Hezron,
Ruth 4:19 and Hezron fathered Ram, and Ram fathered Amminadab,
Ruth 4:20 and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon,
Ruth 4:21 and Salmon fathered Boaz, and Boaz fathered Obed,
Ruth 4:22 and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
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