Ruth & Boaz
Is this the love story where the couple "fall" madly and uncontrollably in love and it's the most romantic thing recorded?
It is a gripping tale of attraction. There is tragedy, drama and of course romance! It's the kind of old fashioned narrative that Jane Austen might have been inspired by.
The story began here:
We continue from where we left off and see that Ruths Mother-in-law Naomi wanted Ruth to have a new home. This is how chapter 3 of the book of Ruth begins. Naomi was an older woman who had noticed that her relative whom we met previously was kind to Ruth. He didn't have to be. Ruth was a foreigner and traditionally Israelites were not supposed to marry Gentiles (non-Israelis). Even social interactions were limited with Gentiles. So, Naomi sends Ruth off to see Boaz (the Romeo of Christianity). She instructs her daughter to take a bath, put on perfume and wear her best clothes. It's like preparing for a date.
Now Boaz was a relative of Elimelech - the late husband of Naomi. In those times, a relative was obligated to buy the land and property of the deceased and take the wife of the deceased to be his wife and continue the family name. (Ruth 4:3-5). Of course, things are now different culturally - which I am thankful for. However, this information sets the scene for what followed.
Boaz had an obligation but before he knew who she was, we see from the moment he set eyes on Ruth that he was interested in her. In what we would term strange circumstances, they talk when he finds her at his feet in the middle of the night. This leads to an interesting discourse because she refers to herself as his servant, he refers to her as his daughter! Now, I must say that to me it is clear that Boaz was a much older man. A phenomena which still exists today - older men with younger women. Anyway, Boaz seems further impressed when Ruth states her case - he comments on her loyalty to her family, he comments on her qualities as a woman (the original Virtuous Woman) and also mentions the age difference - evidently glad it didn't deter her!
“The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman.
Ruth 3:10-11
Naomi wanted Ruth to find a home and be provided for - Boaz shows his willingness to do both by telling Ruth that he will marry her and he provides more food for her and Naomi before she heads home that night. He is a worthy man too because he doesn't just rush to marry Ruth whom he is obviously attracted to, he declares that someone else has an interest in Elimelechs estate and the propargation of his family AND, he makes sure it's okay for him to marry Ruth. I personally like how he phrased everything when speaking with the other man. It's almost like he knew that the property would be of interest but not Ruth. Which is exactly what he was counting on. They later got married, had a son - Obed who was the grandfather of the amazing second king of Israel, David.
Side note, Jesus came through the family lineage of David and therefore Ruth (like Rahab) though not from Israel, was a part of the human family that led up to our saviour Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:5 shows us that Rahab was in fact the mother of Boaz. So Rahab and Ruth were closely linked.
Love, marriage, baby, royalty and a great heritage - all within Gods blessings and approval. Our Virtuous woman, Christian matriarch and all round role model is a great testimony of what God can do when we have faith enough to see what our lives can be when we choose His ways above our ways.