Ruth 3

If you’ve been joining us on Sundays, you’ll know we are up to Ruth chapter three in our sermon mini-series this week. It’s a wonderful story!

So far, Ruth has shown undivided kindness and loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. She chose to leave her home country to go with Naomi and made Naomi’s God her God. She served Naomi, going out to glean for food so neither of them would starve. Ruth and Naomi have discovered that Boaz, in whose fields Ruth gleaned, is a kind, generous and loyal man who is also one of their family’s “redeemers.”

As it stands, Naomi will have to sell her family’s land to survive. But if Boaz marries Ruth, their problems will be solved! It’s not clear if Boaz will entertain the idea of marrying Ruth as she is a possibly infertile, poor widow, and a foreigner. If he does marry her and has a son with her, the child will be considered Elimelech’s heir not his own.

Regardless of all this, Naomi comes up with a clever but risky plan to secure a marriage proposal from Boaz (Ruth 3:1). Ruth needs to get dressed up, put on expensive perfume, and then wait for Boaz to fall asleep after a big meal and a few drinks (Ruth 3:3). She should then uncover his feet and lie down next to him (Ruth 3:4). Though this kind of proposal sounds strange to us, it was culturally appropriate at the time. Ruth didn’t propose to Boaz because he was handsome or rich but to redeem Naomi’s family. We will unpack this more on this coming Sunday. I hope you can join us and hear how it turns out.

Meantime, I encourage you to consider God’s loving kindness to us though Jesus Christ our redeemer. Out of loyalty to God’s promises of steadfast kindness, Jesus left his homeland and married a bride at great cost to himself (Ephesians 5:25). Jesus did not join himself with us because we are the best or most desired. Rather, he died for us because he is kind and loyal. He’s kind toward people in need and loyal to the promises he made.

May this encourage us to go to him and lay at his feet this week. We can go to him and ask for help, and he will surely give it. We have a God who covers us with his wings.

In Christ,
Rev Tanya
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