The book of Ruth (or The Redemption of Ruth, I’d rather) is a beautiful story of love, devotion to the Lord, redemption and a picture of the Cross. It breaks the norms of popular and classic love stories written these ages, and shows us how God designed love to be in the first place. It is also a story of bravery and obedience; a story of waiting, faithfulness and reward.
In the first chapter, it focuses on the background of the story of Ruth. It starts off with Elimelek’s decision to take his wife, Naomi, and the family out of Israel and into the land of Moab to escape the famine. What may have seemed to be a strategic move at first, reaped fruits of despair in the long run. His sons ended up taking pagans to be their wives (which was forbidden by the Lord), left the women to be widows, yet without sons. Naomi, upon hearing of the end of the famine, decides to do back to Israel. Naomi is able to convince Orpah to stay in Moab, but Ruth would not part from her mother-in-law. When they arrive in Naomi’s hometown, they stir up the village and we see that Naomi is distressed and has lost faith in the Lord.
Before anything else, let me tell you how women are redeemed according to the Law God gave to Moses: when a man dies and leaves his wife a widow without a son, the closest relative to the man must redeem the widow by marrying her, and have her bear a son. That is how a woman is to be saved when her provider and protector dies.
Anyway, it is evident that Boaz and Ruth really like each other as the story unfolds. Naomi is even very excited that Ruth is attracted to Boaz and vise versa. Boaz did not only notice Ruth’s beauty inside and out, but he also made sure that she had companionship with other females, that she was protected, and she had good breaks as she worked in the field.
So since Boaz was a relative of Elimelek, he was qualified to be what they called the “Kinsman Redeemer,” who could marry Ruth. However, there was just one problem: Boaz was not the closest family relative. There was someone who was of closer family ties who must be the one to marry Ruth unless he refuses. This unnamed guy stood in the way of Ruth and Boaz’s relationship.
In modern literature, or even in stories past, when you see love stories with dilemmas like this, it’s usually a story of the couple going against all odds, breaking norms, eloping and trying to prove that their love conquered all. That’s not the case in this story. Boaz, unlike Elimelek, did not take matters into his own hands. He took the braver choice, one that glorified God, and took the risk to lose the girl forever to this unnamed kinsman redeemer. The only way for him to be able to marry Ruth, was if this guy would reject his responsibility and hand them over to the next closest redeemer (Boaz). Boaz gathered for himself the elders of their town, and made the transaction public and official. As the unnamed guy refused to take up the responsibility of taking Ruth to be his wife, the necessary tradition to fulfill the transactions was fulfilled (the whole thing about the sandals), and Boaz won the girl in the end by being faithful and obedient. As this happened, I guess it’s notable to say that Ruth also waited and obeyed the laws as well, understanding that she might not be able to marry Boaz at all.
These two are a great example of bravery through faithfulness to the Lord, as He commands. They did not go against His Word or His Law to get what they want. They faithfully did as the Law required, even if it meant not ending up together. It is a clear contrast to what society today demands: if it feels right/good, DO IT! Not so with Ruth and Boaz. They loved God more than they loved each other and put Him ahead of their desires. What did God do? He rewarded them not only with a constructed plan to be married to each other, but also Ruth and Naomi were redeemed with Ruth’s son, and being part of the Messiah’s bloodline.
Now, you might ask, “Where’s the Cross? How do I find it?” We have to understand that God uses His people to represent Himself in these typologies (meaning a type of Christ, or a representation of Christ in the Old Testament which served as a shadow of things to come). Boaz represented Christ as the one to redeem that which was lost to sin. He not only loved the one to be redeemed, but He also fulfilled what was required of the Law in order to redeem them. The beautiful outcome? The wedding. The son. The gracious reward of being part of Jesus’ genealogy. God still rewards His faithful ones.
Now, I have to be careful in presenting rewards. God is not a slot machine and obedience is not the token. He calls for us to be faithful to Him and His commands, even as we wait in marriage. The time we have in waiting as singles is a time of preparation for that season. We must not take matters into our own hands just because we like someone (like when one is attracted to a nonbeliever). What God has already written must serve as a primary basis of our obedience and faithfulness to Him. We must also focus on our service to the Lord during this time since we still have the time and energy. We must trust that God will provide (unlike Elimelek), and that He must be our source of joy even in the time of waiting. Do not be so caught up wanting to be in a relationship that it becomes an idol. Most people are in love more with the concept of a partner, rather than the very person they are partners with.
You see, marriage is still an example of God. It is a beautiful picture that He invented to show us who He is. We, the church, will one day be married to Christ in heaven as the wedding bells ring, and we will be clothed in garments of jewels. It shows us the relationship between God and man. As God is the head of man, so is man the head of the house and his bride. As God protects, provides and loves the church, so the man must protect, provide and love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife serves as an equal, and also a supporting help for the man in the house. As the Christian is in charge of keeping his/her life committed to the Lord (keeping the body, which is God’s temple, pure, as an example), so the wife is in charge of keeping the household. We singles must remember that marriage is not about us. It is a scary day to find that out after the wedding, and without preparation. While we are not in that season yet, and are only catching glimpses of things to come, we will one day fully understand the demands of this sacred union.
As Boaz fulfilled what the Law required to redeem the widow, so did Christ fulfill the Law to redeem us. That’s why the Redemption of Ruth, although a short book, shows us a great example of waiting, obedience and faithfulness in love, and is still a picture of the Cross of Christ.
but God shows His love fur us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
~Romans5:8
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