Bible Study Seattle

“One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.” Ruth 3:1-6

It is interesting that Boaz could redeem Ruth only after the barley harvest was complete. The barley harvest corresponds to the church. The Passover symbolizes this. Nissan 14th is the Passover Seder.

The day following the first day of Unleavened Bread is called Reshit Katzir (רֵאשִׁית קָצִיר) the “beginning of the harvest” (sometimes confusingly called the Feast of Firstfruits). In ancient times, on this day a sheaf (omer) of barley (the first grain crop to ripen) was waved before the LORD in a prescribed ceremony to mark the start of the counting of the omer, thereby initiating the forty nine day countdown to the harvest festival of Shavuot.

“So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.” Then he said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning.”

So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” Again he said, “Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did it go, my daughter?” And she told her all that the man had done for her. She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” Then she said, “Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today.” Ruth 3:6-18

Why did Ruth become known to Boaz at midnight? Sounds like:
“Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—”. Mark 13:35

Who was this closer redeemer? Possibly this represents Satan? Ruth must wait until morning to find out who will redeem her. In the morning the closer of kin refuses, since he possibly fears the fate that befell Mahlon and Chilion for marrying non Israelite wives. Morning follows evening in Hebrew days. The church is completed in the evening, while it’s still dark.

“Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.” Ruth 2:1
Elimelek means ‘God is King’. Boaz means ‘By Strength’. The other Boaz in the bible was one of two main pillars in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:21). Was Ruth the other? “‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” Revelation 3:12
“Boaz asked the overseer of this harvesters, ‘Who does that woman belong too?'” Ruth 2:5
Boaz notices Ruth. Jesus notices the church. Boaz then asks Ruth to glean in his field. Much as Jesus asks the church to glean in his field.
“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:38
“May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” Ruth 2:13
Ruth does not have the standing of Boaz’ servants. The Gentile church does not have the standing of the Hebrews, but are grafted in as wild branches:
“If some of the branches have been broken off (Hebrews), and you, though a wild olive shoot (Gentile), have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” Romans 11:17-18
“At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” Ruth 2:14
Boaz shared a meal with Ruth. Jesus invited the disciples to break bread with him.

“When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.” Ruth 2:14-18
Boaz made the work easy on Ruth. Jesus makes his work easy on the church.
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30

Ruth gleaned until evening. The church will glean until evening. Hebrew days start with evening, and end with morning.
“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Genesis 1:5
This is significant. The church will glean all day; all thousand years of Jesus’ great Millennial Day.
Ruth gleaned barley. Barley was the first crop to harvest. The church is the first crop to harvest in heaven. The barley harvest coincides with the feast of Passover. Fifty days later is the feast coinciding with the wheat harvest. A few months later, in the fall, is the grape harvest.
“So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.” Ruth 2:13
Ruth waited until both barley and wheat harvests were finished. This represents both the church and her companions, sometimes referred to the Great Company after Revelation 7:9.
“The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.” Ruth 2:20
Boaz was one of Roth’s kinsmen redeemers. Jesus is our redeemer.

Ruth is one of the greatest women in the Bible, one of only two with an entire book named in her honor (the other is Esther). Ruth is the origin of our word ‘ruthless’. To be ruthless is to be the opposite of Ruth. Naomi had two sons who married. Her husband and both sons died, and they were left destitute, Naomi with her two daughters-in-law. Orpah went her own way but not Ruth. Ruth demonstrates the most tenacious faithfulness and loyalty to Naomi.

“But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” Ruth 1:16-18

From the beginning of Ruth, we learn that Naomi’s sons married Moabite women. Why? This illustrates that the bride of Christ will largely come from the Gentiles. Ruth represents the church, or bride of Christ. Notice another detail:

“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.” Ruth 1:1-5

They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. A little Messianic? Remember the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. And, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2 Ephraim was the son of Joseph, who is also Messianic. Here is Jacob’s blessing to Joseph:

“Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.
With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
because of your father’s God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.
Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.” Genesis 49:22-26

“The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18

Imagine Mary’s predicament. Who would believe her? Not only would they not believe her, but now she had scandal hanging over her. Imagine the dirty looks and insults she must have had to bear! And this of one of the most pure, humble women who has ever been born! Yet as ridiculous as the whole thing is, look at Mary’s attitude:

“I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

Wow! Is it no wonder that Mary is counted with the saints? Later she rides a donkey a great distance while 9 months pregnant, then gives birth in a barn! Imagine a modern ‘Christian’ woman putting up with that! No minivan. No creature comforts to give birth in. No nurses on call. And no cell phone. Imagine! Mary stands in such stark contrast to most modern ‘Christian’ women. Today they are so demanding. Expecting their husbands to submit to them. Alas, God will ultimately reveal his saints. We can all learn from Mary’s humble example.