I believe I mentioned before how I am suffering from a deplorable lack of consistency. I got sick, and basically just slept for three days. Then, I was behind on my schoolwork, and I got caught up, but began right away to work on my final projects, and the next thing I realized…I had forgotten poor Ruth. I have added being consistent to my prayer list.

Also on my prayer list is a request for a little friend of mine. Her name is Dana, and she is about 2 I think. She suffered a second degree burn on her chest, and also has MRSA. Maybe you could say a prayer for her.

I started by reading Ruth 3. When we left Ruth at the end of chapter two, the harvests had finished. Since they had completed the harvests of several grains, I suppose Ruth and Boaz ended up spending a good bit of time around each other. It doesn’t say what Ruth and Boaz thought of each other, but I wonder if Ruth wasn’t a bit sweet on Boaz, since he had been so nice to her, and if she was possibly mooning over him. And Naomi says, “shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?” Or, as my mind translated it…”Don’t worry about it, I have a plan!”

So Naomi begins to explain the plan to Ruth. She says she knows where Boaz is, he is still at work processing the barley. She tells Ruth to get all cleaned up, use perfume, dress pretty, and go to Boaz, but to wait until he finishes eating and drinking. Then she says that Ruth should wait until he lies down, and uncover his feet, and lie down beside them.

Now, I didn’t understand this part, so I gave a friend of mine, who is a pastor’s wife, a call, and she was very helpful in explaining. Apparently, things were very different in that time. If a woman was a widow, it was the responsibility of the husband’s brother, or next of kin, to step in and marry her, provide her with children, and make sure any property stayed in the family to carry on the man’s name. This much I sort of knew, but I didn’t get the part about uncovering his feet, and lying beside them. She said that uncovering the man’s feet was the woman’s way of saying “I choose you to step in and take over for my husband”. It was an act of submission. I found it interesting that it was the woman who initiated this and not the man, but my friend said it was probably set up that way to prevent the woman from being forced to marry someone she didn’t want to marry. If the man accepted the woman’s request, he spread his cloak over her as a sign of promise.

So, Ruth did as Naomi suggested, and uncovered Boaz’s feet, and laid down. Some time during the night, Boaz woke up and found Ruth there. He didn’t know who she was at first, but Ruth basically said, “It’s me, spread your cloak over me, I choose you”. Then Boaz blesses her and says, “thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.” Him commenting that she chose him instead of a younger man makes me think that he must have been quite a bit older than her. Then he tells her he will do what she asks, because everyone knows that she is a virtuous woman.

But wait! He tells her that he is not her closest relative. Boaz explains that there is another who is closer. Boaz says he will go speak to this other relative, and see if they will step in and care for her, but if not, then Boaz will do it. I wonder if Boaz was worried about being able to provide children for her because of his age, and I wonder if this other relative was much younger.

When morning came, Ruth got up before anyone else. Boaz told her not to let anyone else know she was there. He had her hold her veil open, and he filled it with grain to take home. Then she left to go back to Naomi.

Ruth gave Naomi the grain that Boaz had sent, and told her everything that had happened. Then, she settled in to wait. How anxious Ruth must have felt, waiting while others decided her fate. I know this was the culture back then, but many would have a hard time in this age with someone else choosing the one they would marry.

Oooohhhh…it’s a cliff hanger! I feel like a commentator on a tv show! Will Ruth marry Boaz? Will Boaz find someone else to marry her? Will she stay a widow? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

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