Can Boaz Be Trusted (Part 1)

Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.

The Gospel According to Ruth and the Better Boaz

A tale of two quotes. Quote number one, even among the artful narratives of scripture, Ruth stands out in the power of its concentration, in the limpidity of its vocabulary, in the versatility of its language.

So moving, isn't it? Well, not quite. Quote number two, the gospel is a fact, therefore tell it simply. The gospel is a joyful fact, therefore tell it cheerfully. The gospel is an entrusted fact, therefore tell it faithfully.

The gospel is a fact of infinite moment, therefore tell it earnestly. And the gospel is a fact about a person, therefore preach Christ. Let's open our Bibles to Ruth this morning to see that very thing happen, the gospel according to Ruth.

Ruth chapter three this morning, like Boaz, Jesus is a powerful Redeemer, but better. Like Boaz, Jesus is a powerful and personal Redeemer, but better. Like Boaz, Jesus is a powerful personal kinsman Redeemer, but better.

Like Boaz, Jesus is a powerful personal kinsman Redeemer who's willing to redeem, but better. This is a great little gem of a book tucked in the Old Testament, and I'm thankful that my pages now are super worn in the Old Testament, and my Bible just naturally falls open to Ruth.

Ruth chapter 3. Like many narratives, both secular and sacred, there's trouble and then there's a solution. As drama increases, there's something going on that's wrong. For instance, chapter 1, husbands die in a barren land and barren wombs and anything but barren graves.

How does God provide the solution providentially through Boaz in the life of Ruth and Naomi? The real love, the covenant-keeping love of Chesed found in chapter 2. Can God overcome obstacles that are placed before Him in the lives of characters who are anything but perfect?

We come to chapter 3 today to talk about dealing with the needs of Ruth and Naomi long-term. It's one thing to have food. They've got food now. But once that's taken care of, do you need something else?

And in society back in those days, you needed food and you needed a husband if you were a widow. You needed protection. You needed security. How can God give these things to Ruth? Ruth chapter 3 happens pretty much in a 24-hour day.

One single day. So maybe for those young ones here, you can call it, this is the real 24, right? 24. And the thing is, dark, literally. Spicy, seedy, dicey, suspenseful. There's all kinds of intrigue.

What's going to happen to Ruth in this chapter? Can Boaz be trusted? Out of everything that can go wrong as we read this passage, lots of things could go wrong. Double entendres abound. Disastrous possibilities exist.

Will David eventually have a good apologetic for the throne? Will the ultimate King David, Jesus Christ, come through this line? Fascinatingly, this chapter is so dark and so dicey, that three times, the writer doesn't even identify Boaz as Boaz, or Ruth as Ruth.

It just calls Boaz, the man. Chapter 3, verse 8, verse 14, verse 18. And it calls Ruth, the woman. Because it's not like we're permitted to see what's going on. Because if I identify them by name, how could those two people get put in such a situation?

So let's keep anonymity at a premium. At midnight, the man, and behold, a woman. Right here in the center of Ruth, tucked right in the center, we see scheming Naomi, saying to herself, basically, Ruth was very lucky to receive blessings from generous Boaz.

He gave grain, he gave protection, he gave opportunity to work for two, three months, the harvest time. Maybe he's the kind of guy that will give something more, like marriage and a seed. But will he do the right thing?

Will he prove himself a kinsman-redeemer to these needy women? Will he portray Christ's righteousness? Will he act like Jesus did? Will he act sacrificially and humbly? Will he say, I love the person enough to do what's in their best interest?

Chapter 3, verse 1, first we'll see the dialogue between Naomi and Ruth, then Boaz and Ruth, and then at the end of the chapter, Naomi and Ruth. I don't think we'll get that far. Let's start off with the first five verses, Naomi and Ruth, and without any mother-in-law jokes here, it's mainly the mother-in-law who's doing the talking.

Verse 1. I find that funny, but it's about the funniest thing we'll see today. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, My daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you? Now remember, congregation, you've been taught and you so excel in this area, we have to think like Jewish people thousands of years ago.

This isn't just, hi, how are you, I want you to be blessed. A Jewish person hears, should I not seek rest for you, what kind of rest would this be? It's not, you worked hard in the fields, put your feet up for a while.

It's a different kind of rest. It's bridal rest. It's the security and rest that comes from a marriage. That's what you need. You've been taken care of with food, now you need something more. And it was customary then and now for Eastern parents to arrange marriages.

In America we have love marriages. Often in the East we'll have, even today, arranged marriages. And you need rest, you need security and lifelong prosperity that a husband will give you. You need a godly marriage.

Matter of fact, that's a great definition of a godly marriage, rest. It's nice to have rest, isn't it? Same word used in the New Testament of spiritual rest, a quiet settling of spirit. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you what?

Rest, Jesus said. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, I'm gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls. And you know, Naomi prayed for rest in chapter 1 verse 9, do you see it? Go to Ruth 1 .9, remember?

She wanted her to have rest found in a husband. And remember, it was very important to have a husband back in those days to protect you and provide for you. It's important today as well. Ruth 1 .9, may the Lord grant that you may find rest.

And now she makes it explicit. Each in the house of her husband. And she kissed them and they lifted up their voices and wept. Naomi, I just want you, Ruth, to have, Naomi says, I just want you to have some rest.

And she says what? And it might be well with you. Not just like you're having a good day, but what's this mean? That you might have children. I want you to find a husband and have children. Sounds like a mother-in-law to me, doesn't it?

Hear therefore, O Israel, Deuteronomy 6, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you and that you might multiply greatly as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you. The idea, semantically, is I want you to find a husband and I want you to have children.

Widows without children. Now I want you to have a child. And you know, a marriage with Boaz would solve all these problems. So what does Naomi do? Naomi is one of the original kind of Pelagian, semi-Pelagian, I'm going to take matters into my own hands, I believe in God, but now I'm going to be the matchmaker of my own devices.

I'm going to take matters into my own hands and it's going to come maybe at a cost. Good motives, she needs a husband. Bad methodology. Verse 2. Is not Boaz our relative? Remember, you have to have a kinsman redeemer, a blood relative to intervene.

With whose young women you were, he's a generous, kind, humble man. See, he's winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Ruth, you don't have any children, you don't have any land, you don't have a protector.

And through the Leverite vows of Old Testament language, he can provide everything you need. Now think big picture. God has Israel as a son, as a family member. God redeems Israel and he's a provider.

And God the Father provides for his children, not just Israel, but for us as well. And if you're ever in trouble, family members should help you first. And so God sets it up in Mosaic law, in Deuteronomy, in Leviticus, that a blood relative can intervene.

You've got to avenge a death, you've got to get property back into your inheritance, you need to have a brother-in-law marry a widow. God has it set up so that when you're in trouble, family members intervene.

Same with God. When you're in trouble, God intervenes. Naomi knew this and she knew that a blood relative could step up. And she knew Boaz was generous and kind. And in Scripture regularly and often you read the Old Testament and there's all kinds of pointers pointing to the New Testament.

You see the lambs slain at Passover all pointing to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Pointers that would make you identify, something's going on here that makes me think of the Redeemer Jesus and so to it is a section.

The provision of God through a blood relative. Isn't that Boaz, our relative? And what's he doing? The NAS says, behold, he winnows barley. NAS, I don't think it has behold there. It should. Behold. Look, this guy's going to be the solution to our problems.

And so he's down at the threshing floor. And so what do you do to get the grain out of the little stalk? Oh, you can throw it up and hit it with some kind of winnowing fork. You can put it on the ground and have cattle step on it with their hooves and oxen with their hooves.

You can have cattle and oxen draw a cart to run over it so it crushes it. And he's going to be down there at the threshing floor at night. And that's when the wind comes up. And, by the way, threshing floors were kind of like a mound.

So if you're a baseball fan, like a pitcher's mound is higher, except this is bigger. And so the wind from the Mediterranean would come along at night, and it would kind of come up on the mound, and it would kind of zoom off of that.

And so you could throw up some chaff with seeds in the air, and the chaff blows away. And that's where Boaz will be. After all, he's going to have to sleep down there by his grain because there could be beasts and animals.

I guess those are the same thing, aren't they? Beasts, animals, wildebeests, robbers. So, of course, the owner sleeps down there. It's the end of the harvest season, and you just don't say, we've worked for three months, and then just hope it's there in the morning.

No, he'll be down there at night. Except here's the problem. What do you think Near Eastern people did at the end of the harvest season? If they were ungodly, I'll tell you what they did. They would say, the gods and goddesses have given us fertile soil and fertile crops.

And therefore, let's continue that on, and there will be ritual fertility prostitution on the threshing floors. Hosea 9 .1, you have loved harlot's earnings on every threshing floor. You don't go to threshing floors at night if you're a lady.

You don't send your daughter-in-law to the threshing floor at night. She might not even make it there, let alone when she gets there. That's where the whoredom happens. That's where the debauchery happens.

They still have threshing floors in the Middle East now. A lot of risk there. Every Old Testament reader would say, not too good of an idea, Naomi, to send her there. But Naomi's a situational ethicist, and she thinks the ends justify the means.

It's good to get a husband. Get him while you can. Verse 3 and verse 4. When I became a pastor 18 years ago, I never thought I'd have to read such verses. Maybe we're all like Naomi in some degree. Half trusting God, half doing things on our own.

Wash, therefore. After all you've been working for months out there in the field. Wash, clean up, anoint yourself, put on a little perfume. Stop acting like a widow. Put on your cloak. She had normal clothes on, and then you have a cloak.

We'll see that cloak come into play later. And go down to the threshing floor. Do it secretly. Do not make yourself known to the man. You know she's talking about Boaz. Until he's finished eating and drinking.

Don't let him know you're there until he's got a full stomach. He's not talking about water here. A couple glasses of wine and a full belly. That's when verse 4 comes into play. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies.

Then go, uncover his feet, and lie down. I have three daughters. I'd never say this next line. At night, go down there, uncover his feet, lie down. He'll tell you what to do. I mean, Naomi! Can God work through this?

Is God still sovereign on threshing floors? Is Boaz going to do the right thing? And remember, the Old Testament is trying to teach us this lesson. That when God redeems Israel from Egypt, He's a powerful Redeemer.

But is He close? Is He personal? He's transcendent, holy, and above. But is He near? Is there a friend who sticks closer than a brother? And when you read Boaz, Boaz is trying to tell you, He is near, but I wonder if He will do the right thing.

The reader is supposed to do this. What's going to happen? That's why we'll learn next week. Let's just close in prayer. What is going to happen here? It's in the middle of the night. Bad things happen at night.

Actually, bad things happen at night even between godly people. Sexual overtones abound in this passage. And if you're Sinclair Ferguson, you call them sexual undertones. Are you really saying, wash yourself, perfume yourself, sneak down there, and when he has eaten and drunk some wine, then you go lay down by his feet and he'll tell you what to do.

Is this how God does things? Ferguson said, if we share this sense of anxiety, then the author of the book of Ruth has got us into precisely the frame of mind he wants to create. This is exactly what he intends us to feel.

I like this next line. He wants us to feel our toes curling with anticipation. What is going on here? Is this story going to end in disaster? We must read on. I mean, what's going to happen? Is he going to see her and, like, get mad?

Angry? Take advantage of her? How do you get a husband back in those days, especially when the person who needs the husband is a Moabite? And, furthermore, what's going to happen with a Moabite and wine and nighttime?

Not that long ago, we remember in Genesis chapter 19, Lot's daughters. How do you get a husband? What she's going to do is, this is a proposal for marriage. Now, let's see, Naomi says, I want you to go down there, Ruth, and I want you to propose to your boss for marriage.

Here's how you do it. One writer said, well, you could do this instead. You could write a personal column in the Bethlehem Star newspaper. Single Moabite woman, widowed, childless, with mother-in-law, seeks well-to-do Bethlehem businessman with view to marriage, must love mother-in-law.

Now, the author is purposely making this text ambiguous, lacing it with words that make you just go, really? I want you to go down to the threshing floor. And what does it say in verse 4 in lie down? Lie down, skabob, is the Hebrew word.

It could mean to lie down in death, but most oftenly it means to lie down for sexual relations. Exodus 22, if a man seduce a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall pay the price, her price.

Deuteronomy 22, death penalty for those caught in adultery. If a man is caught lying with another man's wife, both must die. Leviticus 18 and 20, this word is used for the sinful relationship of two men together sexually, the man who lies with another man must die.

That's the word lies here. I don't know if Naomi was thinking, you know, if he does the wrong thing, he'll still marry anyway. Or if Boaz is such a generous guy and such a godly guy. Either way, this is bad advice.

When you look at the word there, his feet, it either means his feet with five toes, or it means, as we would teach our children to call it, the private area. It's either a euphemism for that, or it means feet.

Now this is a weird way to do a marriage proposal. For those of you that are really crazy and want to use the Bible for every little detail of marriage and schooling and dating and courtship and all that stuff, this is biblical.

Just saying. See, we need a little laugh, don't we? Lie down, uncover his feet, he'll tell you what to do. Now this is an overture that says you're basically asking him to marry you, but whether he sleeps with you or not, I mean, the audience doesn't know.

Maybe Naomi is saying, you know, Boaz is older. Remember, he calls Ruth his daughter. So maybe he would never even think of proposing to you. And so we've got to take matters into our own hands. This was the way to propose in the ancient Near East.

One writer said, whatever motives Naomi had, the situation is one that could lead us into a passionate and illicit scene of sex, or into a stunning scene of purity, integrity, and self-control. Everybody else celebrates that time of year.

Maybe this rash idea that Naomi had is the same kind of rash idea that Naomi and her husband had when they said, let's get out of Bethlehem, the house of bread, and go down to Moab, because there's a famine up here.

I do know this, so there's a lot of tension. Verse 5, she replied, Ruth replied to Naomi, taking these as commands, all that you say I will do. And you're reading it thinking, what will God have happen?

She's going to go down there and Ruth's going to be fired by Boaz for being so forward. Prostitution happens down to the threshing floor. She sneaks down there at night, hiding, and she's going to get arrested for prostitution.

Thankfully, the mind of man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. Let me put Proverbs 16 .9 in context. Naomi plans Ruth's way, but the Lord directs Ruth's steps. This is doomed to fail. So, verse 6, she went down to the threshing floor, suspense is killing me, and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her.

Smell the perfume? Hear the breathing of Boaz? Feel your feet getting cold? I'm getting cold feet just reading it. And, verse 7, when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, literally his heart was good, he's in good spirits, N .E .B. says, peace with the world.

J .B. says, in a happy mood. He went to lie down at the end of the heap of the grain. Then she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please, come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m. We're located on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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