Boaz: A Pillar of the Community

In the days when the judges ruled...

Ruth 1:1 ESV

1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.

10 Years in Moab

Ruth 1:5 ESV

5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Daughters Dismissed

Ruth 1:8 ESV

8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.

Ruth Clings to Naomi

Ruth 1:16–17 KJV 1900

16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Return to Bethlehem

Ruth 1:19 ESV

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?”

Gleaning

Ruth 2:2 ESV

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

The Man: Boaz

Ruth 2:1 ESV

1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

Boaz: 1) A Prayer Starter

Ruth 2:4 ESV

4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.”

Boaz: 2) Diligent in Dealings

Ruth 2:5 ESV

5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

Boaz: 3) Gracious to Vulnerable

Ruth 2:8 ESV

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.

Boaz: 4) Protector

Ruth 2:9 ESV

9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”

Boaz: 5) Appreciates Good Works

Ruth 2:11 ESV

11 But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.

Boaz: 6) Servant of God

Ruth 2:12 ESV

12 The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”

Boaz: 7) Provider

Ruth 2:14 ESV

14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.

Boaz: 8) Near Kinsman

Ruth 3:2 ESV

2 Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.

Near Kinsman: Person and Property

Leviticus 25:25 ESV

25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.

Near Kinsman: Marriage

Deuteronomy 25:5 ESV

5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

Boaz: 9) By the Book

Ruth 3:12 ESV

12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.

Boaz: 10) Redeemer: Property

Ruth 4:9 ESV

9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon.

Boaz: 11) Redeemer: Marriage

Ruth 4:10 ESV

10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”

Boaz: 12) Great-Grandfather

Ruth 4:21–22 ESV

21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.