Studying the book of Ruth recently renewed my thoughts of the wonderful meaning of Jesus as my Redeemer.  Like Naomi, I was a sojourner, looking to get away from the famine I imagined I was in.  As a teen, I believed the restraints of home kept me from living a carefree life, i.e., not allowed to go to movies or dances, dress in make-up or revealing clothing, or drink forbidden beverages.

                Even at my worst, full of resentment, the lessons I had learned at my parents’ feet remained with me.   Like Naomi, I knew I was just a sojourner because I never forgot the nurturing, care, and safety of home.  My venture into forbidden territory was just temporary.

                And so, like Naomi, I went back home.  I had accepted Jesus as my Savior, but I had not really understood what total surrender meant or what being redeemed fully involved.  I continue with Bible study now, trying to go deeper into understanding spiritual truths so I can imitate Jesus better.  My desire is to be more intentional about being a Christ-follower and not just a believer.

                Being redeemed was first explained to me by Bro. Ivy Istre.  He told the story of a little boy and his boat.  The boy made the boat, sailed it in the water along the curb where it went down the gutter out of sight.  Later, the boy saw his boat in a thrift shop and knew it was his because of his mark on it.  He went inside, bought the boat, then said, “This boat is twice mine.  I made it, then I bought it!”

                Bro. Ivy explained that was what the word “Redeemer” meant.  Like the boy, God made us and then because He lost us in the Garden of Eden, He sent His son Jesus to buy us back.  Jesus paid the price with His life.  That is what our redemption is all about. 

                In the book of Ruth, Naomi’s family went to Moab because they believed the famine in Bethlehem would have them starve.  At a farming area in Moab, they planned to stay just until the emergency had passed. 

                Too bad Naomi didn’t believe God would provide.  Do we?  Douglas and I had planned a ten-year stint in Arabia.  We sojourned for seven years, enjoying the luxuries our salaries afforded, including travel.  Were we trusting our paychecks instead of God?  When my mother became ill, we decided to return home, which ruined our ten-year-plan.  Riches tend to make us forget that God provides for us.  We had begun to think we were doing it ourselves, that God could not meet all our needs.  He may have allowed trials when we got too comfortable, thinking more of our earthly home than the one in Heaven.  God may have taken things away from us to get our attention back on Him.  We needed to be reminded that we were just passing through this world and it is not our home.

                Too bad Naomi became bitter.  Do we?  The grief that Naomi endured made her bitter.  She thought God had left her.  Naomi told Ruth to count the cost of following her to Bethlehem, because giving up everything might make her bitter also.  Am I bitter about losses or have I surrendered all to Jesus? 

                Ruth’s exquisite expression of love shows us her servant’s heart.  She pledged to travel with Naomi to a country she had never seen, live with her in whatever she could afford, accept her people, reject the gods of Moab and follow Jehovah, die with Naomi, and be buried with her.   She was loyal to Naomi and wanted to serve her and Jehovah.  Ruth made the most important decision in her life when she left Moab and followed the God of the Jews, Jehovah!

                Too bad Naomi blamed God for her circumstances.  Do we?  Naomi had her life, friends, Ruth, and Jehovah, yet she was deceived into thinking He had forgotten her.  She had an opportunity for a new life, yet she felt forsaken and guilty about leaving.  She had changed from a pleasant lady to a bitter woman.  She believed God was  punishing her and her calamity was the result.

                However, when Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem at harvest time, their situation changed.  Naomi was home, Ruth was the foreigner, and she became Naomi’s means of support.  The Law said farmers were to leave any grain they dropped in their field for the poor.  Ruth planned to eke out a living that way, but God had other plans.  He wanted them to live by faith, grace and hope.

                For God’s plan to work, Ruth had to get to the right field to glean.  The story does not tell us that God gave her a sign.  He just guided her feet to the right field. 

                I do not have a hotline to Heaven, but I know I have access to God’s throne. I believe He overrules and guides in the background, sometimes giving me returning thoughts until I act on them, or a gentle reminder in my spirit that makes me see a need and want to help.  I wish I could always be very certain about His will, but I am not.

                When Douglas and I had to decide about going to work in Saudi Arabia, I said it would be nice to have God send an arrow to point the way.  “Where’s the faith in that?”  Douglas asked.  So instead, we prayed and asked God to guide us.  We did not get a clear sign.  We had no vision.  Some people from the congregation told us to go and some told us we were crazy if we went!  After more prayer, Douglas said, “Let’s go.  We’ll just step out in faith.”  I agreed it was the thing to do.

                We committed our way to God.  After our sojourn, we had learned so much, and knew when my parents needed us, it was time to come back.  We had faith, but no sure sign.  No audible voice.  What Douglas had decided was that we would go, and if we realized it was the wrong decision, we would come back and start over.  I believe that on our side of choices, there is always the element of uncertainty.  It takes faith and stepping out, hoping God will keep us close.  We obey, so far as we know, and like Ruth, follow His leading.

                Ruth found grace from Boaz that is not found just anywhere.  She could not believe his kindness, especially in breaking a racial barrier.  He promised to protect her, provide for her, encourage her, and satisfy her needs.  He gave her grace. 

                Ruth also found grace from God.  He led her to the field of Boaz and then he let Boaz find her.  Boaz took steps to meet her needs.  He quit talking to his foreman and started talking to Ruth. 

                Having an important person talk to Ruth reminded me of a time in 1980 when we saw Prince Charles in New Zealand.  He came up to Douglas, shook his hand and asked where he was from.  Douglas said “America!” and the prince, newly engaged,  answered with “Congratulations!”  Silly me, not knowing anything about royalty and with no court etiquette at all, I shouted back, “No!  Congratulations to you on your engagement!”  He turned and went in the opposite direction to speak with others. 

                The prince did not speak to me!  He did not say “Meet me in the hotel coffee shop in 30 minutes!”  He did not speak to me then and now that he is King Charles, he probably never will!  But Almighty God has spoken to me through His Word, so I read from it every day.   With grace, He speaks words of salvation and guidance.  One day Jesus will talk to me face to face, just as Boaz spoke to Ruth on that day in his field!

                God gives us grace every day, and we must remember not to treat it with contempt.  We must never sin intentionally, then ask for forgiveness.  That is abusing God’s grace. 

                We who believe in Jesus should rejoice in hope.  We should look forward to his second coming, knowing that we will run to Him when He calls.  We have no reason to feel hopeless.

                Ruth and Naomi also learned to live in hope.  After Ruth told Naomi where she had gleaned, Naomi’s bitterness turned to happiness because she knew Boaz was a relative of Elimilech.  He could possibly solve some of her problems.  She began to make new plans.

                Naomi explained the Law of the kinsman redeemer to Ruth.   Boaz was a wealthy relative who wanted to help, so he could redeem the land, preserve the family name, and make Ruth happy.

                The strange part of that law was that the widow had to make a claim on the redeemer.  She had to let him know that she had chosen him, but Ruth either did not know that or she did not understand  how.  Naomi took over and told her that if she wanted a husband, she had to make her claim.

                The way to make her claim seems unusual to us, but it was God’s provision.  The threshing floor was on top of a hill to catch any wind so it would blow away the chaff.  The clay soil was packed to a hard smooth surface, usually circular with rocks placed around it.  Some 45 years ago Douglas and I went to Jordan and drove by an area like that, on top of a hill.  The guide on the bus told us that they still were threshing the same way.  After the grain was cut, the sheaves were taken to the threshing floor.  In the late afternoon, the breeze blew until sundown or later. Threshing continued until the breeze died. 

                The oxen trampled the sheaves, pulling a sled.  The workers took a short, heavy stick with a bar at one end and threw the grain up into the air so that the chaff blew away and the good grain fell onto the floor.  When the wind died down, they had a big supper for all the workers and their families.

                I know about blowing chaff and straw.  My dad was a sharecropper, farming rice.  During the harvest season, he had other farmers come to help with making shocks in the field, carrying them to the separater, sewing the sacks of grain, hauling it off to the mill.  My little brother and I played in the haystacks made by the straw that blew into the yard.  Mom fed the workers at noon, and took lemonade out around 3:00 for refreshments.  It was a noisy, busy, and exciting time, hoping and praying that the amount of rice would be enough to pay off the debts.

                Today, farmers use huge machines that combine the cutting and separating, feeding the grain into a hopper pulled by a tractor that takes it to the big trucks.  One man on the combine, one on the tractor, and one truck driver.  No more haystacks.  No more noise and camaraderie like what went on at the old time harvests.  Time and technology have changed many things. 

                At Boaz’s field, all the families camped around the threshing floor, which meant many people were present.  After the supper, families could go home and let the men sleep around the grain.  Since the floor was circular, the men put their heads toward the grain in the middle and their feet stuck out like spokes.  They slept that way to protect the grain from thieves.

                Naomi told Ruth how to prepare to meet Boaz to make her claim.  After the evening meal, Ruth was to bathe, anoint herself with oils, put on clean clothes, go down to the threshing floor, put her feet to his feet, and obey what Boaz says.  This is how she claims Boaz.  She had to follow the law or Boaz would not have known what she was doing.  This took place in public with farmers all around.  Nothing immoral. 

                Ruth asked Boaz to spread his robe over her feet, a lovely way of proposing to him.  I love the metaphor of God’s wings spread over us, His feathers covering us.  Ruth was under the wings of God at first and now she is asking for the wings of Boaz!  Such a beautiful picture of marriage.

                This is also a picture of what we do to become a Christ-follower.  We are washed in baptism, anointed with the Holy Spirit, clothed in His righteousness, then we worship Him in spirit and truth and obey Him as we follow Him.

                Ruth prepared to meet Boaz, submitted to him, obeyed him, received a gift from him, then waited for him to do his work as her redeemer.

                She waited.  I confess, I do not like to wait.  Traveling as much as Douglas and I did, we often had to wait, especially in airports.  I  tried to focus on what Doug’s mother had told me.  She was a lovely, patient woman, deliberate in her movements, listening to those who called her just to pour out their problems to her.  She had shared three verses with me that were helpful.  The phrases reminded me to relax because God is in charge.

                In  Ruth 3:18, Naomi told Ruth to sit still.  Exodus 14:15 says Moses told the people of Israel to stand still when the Egyptians were chasing them.  Psalm 46:10 tells us to “be still and know that I am God.”  In Hebrew, “be still” means “take your hands off and relax!”  When I try to help God, I only make matters worse, so I need to back off.

                Ruth waited.  She committed everything to the Lord, trusted Him, and He helped her, as Psalm 37:5 promises.

                A third Law said that the kinsman redeemer must marry the widow if there were no heir, so when Boaz found a closer kin cousin, he made a plan to get the land and Ruth.  He first reminded the cousin about Naomi’s predicament, so the relative says he will redeem the land.  This must have caused Boaz to groan with dismay.  Then he added, as an afterthought, that Ruth went with the land.  The relative backed out, saying it could mean losing his land.  Well, Boaz does not seem to mind that marrying Ruth could mean losing all of his land, as well as his name, but he is willing to do it.  Love made him willing.  True giving has to cost something.  I hope I do not make God regret having me as a follower because I want to hold on to things too much.  Sacrificial giving is what Jesus demonstrated to us.

                We do not know the name of the other cousin, but we do know about Boaz.  Also, Orpah is not mentioned again, so her decision to stay in Moab caused her to miss out on all of this also.

                What a wedding Ruth and Boaz must have had.  When your family and fellow believers can celebrate and rejoice because you are in the will of God, it is wonderful.  Marriage is not a private affair, but rather a sacred union and includes God and God’s people.

                Douglas and I had kept in touch for five years, waiting for the right time to wed.  Our church family had watched us and prayed for us.  We finally set the date for March 12, but Douglas called on March 7 to say he was getting on a plane for temporary duty in Vietnam!  Like Boaz, my heart groaned with dismay!  Temporary or not, many soldiers in 1965 were not coming back from Vietnam.  I cried and prayed and when God brought Douglas home July 19, we wanted to get married the next day at the court house.  But, the dear ladies of our congregation loved us too much to let us do that.  They planned the wedding and decorated and a week later, we were married in the church building.  You could almost hear the whole congregation breathe a sigh of relief, especially my parents, when Bro. Val said, “I now pronounce you….”  But that is what a church family is all about!  Sharing good times and  painful ones.

                Naomi went out full, returned empty, then God filled her again in ways she never imagined.  Ruth’s loyalty, obedience and commitment let God bless her and put her in the line of David and ultimately, Jesus!

                God gave Ruth the faith to trust Him and the grace to marry and have a son.  When I read about Naomi adopting the baby Obed by placing him on her lap, I was intrigued.  In Gen. 30:3 Rachel says her maid will bear the child upon Rachel’s knees, symbolizing adoption, as though it were her own.  In chapter 48:12, Joseph put his sons on Jacob’s knees so they could get the blessings as adopted sons.

                I thought that was much easier than the two-year-process Douglas and I went through to adopt our son and daughter.   With Naomi, I could have just put them on my lap and claimed them!  Wow!

                Obed’s genealogy gave the record down to David, connecting him with Jesus, our Redeemer.  The book of Ruth pictures our redemption, showing how God provides what is needed to complete His will and purpose.  God’s work of salvation is for anyone who believes and wants to follow Him.  God is still at work in the world, looking for lost souls.  He will direct us to the field He wants us working in, if we seek His will.  If we put ourselves at the feet of Jesus like Ruth went to Boaz, God will help us be all that He wants us to be — His redeemed ones.

                Living for Christ is not always easy.   Jesus gave us a simple plan:  He redeemed us and now He wants us to love God and love others.  The world needs to see that in us, no matter how painful it is to follow.  Spiritual problems need spiritual solutions, so we must arm ourselves with the armor of God (Eph. 6:12).  Wear it all and use it boldly.  Like Ruth, we must have courage, loyalty, and obedience.  We must go home to Jesus, our Redeemer, and be all in, believe that He will provide, rejoice in every circumstance, follow His leading, and look forward to His coming!

                God bless us all.

 

Joyce Broyles is a retired High School Librarian and lives in Jennings, LA.