A Threshing Floor Romance

Open with Story of meeting Janine…everyone has a story...

Today we find ourselves in Ruth 3…and what we have here is a Hallmark Movie that is a true story…and if there was a way for Hallmark to make this take place at Christmas, you would be seeing this airing this week!

Our Story So Far...

It has been a few weeks since we met with Ruth…so we need to make sure we know what is happening before we dive into Ruth 3

The story of Ruth begins with Naomi, along with her two sons, following her husband, Elimelech from Bethlehem to Moab.

Moab was not a good place for them or any child of Israel...Elimelech dies, and then her two sons die, and she is left alone with two Moabite daughters in law.

They are three widows, childless, no family to carry on their line.

Naomi hears that there is food in Bethlehem, and so Naomi decides to go back to Bethlehem, tells her two daughters in law to stay there in Moab.

They both start out with her, but then one returns and the other, Ruth, looks at Naomi and says, “I’m going with you. Your people will be my people. Your god will be my god. I’m going to be buried with you. I am committed to you.”

And so at the end of Ruth 1, Ruth and Naomi walk together back into Bethlehem. Naomi tells her friends who recognize her that she is bitter...She went away full and she has come back empty with nothing in her hands.

That leads us into Ruth 2.

Here are two women in need of food and in need of family.

The need for food is tackled in Ruth 2.

Ruth goes out into the fields to glean. It was harvest time, and she just so happened to find herself in the fields of a guy name Boaz.

And Boaz just so happened to walk up when Ruth was working in his field, and she caught his eye. And the rest is what Hallmark writers live for...

Boaz is the handsome leading man who comes to her rescue…and he wonderfully provides both food and protection for Ruth and Naomi...it was an incredible romantic scene in Ruth 2.

She comes back to her mother-in-law, and Naomi begins to change from bitter to hopeful.

She cannot believe all this grain that has been brought back. And the best part is when Ruth tells her whose field she had been in.

She had been in the fields of Boaz, and Naomi immediately recognizes Boaz is from the clan of Elimelech, which means he is uniquely qualified to care for them, and to provide for them, and to protect them, to take them under his care.

And so Naomi says, “Ruth, stay in his fields. Everyday you go to his field.” And that’s what she did.

Everyday throughout the harvest season she’s in Boaz’s fields, week after week after week she is in Boaz’s fields.

But then we get this anti-climactic ending to Ruth 2, when it says “And she lived with her mother-in-law.”

Hallmark movie lovers are quite disappointed at this moment. Food has been taken care of. They have enough grain probably for at least the rest of the year, but family is still a void...

So if this was a movie, by now all you ladies are watching and wondering when Boaz is going to wake up and do something.

That is where we left off...So it’s like we’ve been on the longest commercial break in history…

By the way, historical narratives can be challenging to preach and teach…they don’t always lend themselves to the traditional format of here’s your main point and then subsequent points to build up that thought…

So today I want to take a slightly different approach as we walk through this story...

Instead of telling you the main point at the beginning we will wait to the end…

Let’s immerse ourselves into the story to hear what the original hearers were hearing…historically, this book takes place in the time of Judges, but it was written during the reign of King David…about David’s grandparents…

So as we look at this story we will break it down into Scenes...

Scene 1 — A Risky Plan

Picture in your mind’s eye this entire chapter takes place under a cloak of darkness.

It happens from sunset to sunrise.

Ruth 3:1 “Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?”

That’s Hebrew for, “Ruth you need a man. You need a husband.”

be well with you…in that culture the rest, security, and comfort for women was found in the home of a loving husband. You need a husband, Ruth.

Right off the bat we see the mother-in-law stepping into this romance thing and devising a plan.

Ruth 3:2 ““Now is not Boaz our kinsman, with whose maids you were? Behold, he winnows barley at the threshing floor tonight.”

The narrator reveals two things about Boaz.

Boaz is a kinsman, which basically means that Boaz is an eligible bachelor for Ruth.

And we’re going to see this even more in Ruth 4, this picture of the kinsman, the kinsman redeemer.

We saw it last week at the end of Ruth 2. It’s kind of a thread that’s been woven throughout. We’re going to see it really come out in Ruth 4....But the picture is, Boaz is an eligible bachelor.

And then second, Boaz is going to be on the threshing floor...

After all the barley had been harvested, you would have a secluded area, most likely on the side of a hill or something where in the evening, when there was this cool breeze that was coming across, you toss the barley up into the air and the wind would come and blow away the chaff...the grain, which was heavier, would fall to the ground. And so this is what winnowing is.

They would sleep at the threshing floor to protect their harvest from thieves.

The people in Bethlehem shared the threshing floor and had a rotation...Naomi knows that that evening Boaz is going to be winnowing barley in a place that’s more secluded.

Up until this point, Boaz has just been in the field.

It’s not like Ruth could go up to Boaz in the middle of the field and say, “Hey, have you ever thought about marrying me?”

It’s not happened to this point, but this is a unique opportunity that is set before them. And so here’s what Naomi says needs to happen.

Ruth 3:3-4 ““Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. “It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do.””

You might be a little shocked be now to hear Naomi say this to Ruth…What in the world did she just tell Ruth to do?

This is not “Ruth go make yourself look hot!” It is not “Ruth you stink from working in the fields and you’ll never win a man smelling like dirt”

Over in Second Samuel 12:20, King David does the exact same thing. He washes himself. He puts oil on, and he puts on his best clothes...to signify that he has left behind a time of mourning over his son who has passed away.

This is the transition from mourning to, “Okay I’m moving on now.”

And so the picture here is that the time for Ruth’s mourning over being a widow is over…it is time to move on…(can’t you just see that in a Hallmark movie where the leading lady is reluctant to have any relationships because of her past…)

Naomi says it’s time to put that behind you and move on to show that you are ready to move forward from your former husband.

“You’re eligible for marriage, and, in addition, you’ll smell better.”

So, she tells her to go hide at the threshing floor and keep an eye on him…do not make yourself known to him…you wait until he has finished eating and drinking....

This is not a picture of Boaz getting drunk…what we know of Boaz to this point would communicate that is not like him...

This is just simply wait until he’s in a good mood.

Let’s face it…men are in better moods after we’ve had a nice meal.

So wait until he’s finished eating and drinking, he’s in a good mood.

When he goes over to the edge of the winning floor, lays down and looks up in the stars and falls asleep, here’s what you’re going to do…notice the place where he lies…

remember the setting is dark…she didn’t have a cell phone to use as a flashlight…she had to make sure it was Boaz before she took the next step or she could be in a very difficult predicament.

uncover his feet and lie down…that’s not something you do with just anybody, any day.

To go to him and do this, as you’re listening to this being described, you’re thinking what is Naomi up to. What is Naomi telling Ruth to do?

The effect of these words in the original language of the Old Testament is to send the hearers’ minds just racing. Uncover his legs? Lie down? And this is what she’s supposed to do? This is what a Moabite worker in the field is supposed to do to the Israelite owner of the field?

Ruth 3:5 “She said to her, “All that you say I will do.””

Can you imagine what is going through Ruth’s mind…this is a huge risk for Ruth to take…she knew what Naomi was telling her to do and that is why it is important for her to know it was Boaz…to take note of where he slept…she didn’t want to do this to the wrong guy!

Ruth 3:6 “So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her.”

She did it…and sure enough Boaz falls into the trap!

So Naomi devised a plan and Ruth followed it completely.

Scene 2 — A Midnight Proposal

Ruth 3:7 “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.”

So he’s finished eating. He’s in good spirits. He goes over. It just so happens, coincidence, I think not, to go away from everybody else, to a place where he is secluded at the far end of the grain pile, and he lays down.

Now just put yourself in Ruth’s shoes at this point.

You are hiding out in some kind of little crevice or something where nobody can see you, and you are watching Boaz.

Your eyes are on him. You are watching your man winnow, ladies. You can almost hear Ruth’s heart beating in this scene as she is anticipating what she is about to do in approaching Boaz. She sees him walk over to the side by himself, lay down, and go to sleep.

Her heart had to have been racing at that moment…just waiting for him to go to sleep so he (and no one else) would see her coming…and what does the text say…she came secretly and uncovered his feet and lay down.

There is nothing in this text to indicate anything inappropriate took place...The narrator does not tell us anything here that calls into the question the morality and nobility and the purity of Ruth or Boaz.

Uncovering the feet was a customary practice at the time…

But the scene is intense. She’s laying down there.

Ruth 3:8 “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.”

Let’s see the story from the viewpoint of Boaz.

In the middle of the night, something startles him. Perhaps it was the cool breeze on his bare legs…so he sits up, probably to cover up and BAM! There is a woman at his feet!

Think about it.

Ruth is definitely awake the whole time wondering if he is ever going to wake up...She’ s not like snoring at Boaz’s side...She is waiting, anticipating the moment when he’s going to wake up and see that she’s right there. And so she’s looking …

Boaz wakes up and says

Ruth 3:9 “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.””

He can’t see for the darkness and probably still had sleepy eyes and so he asks who she was? She responds, “I am Ruth your maid”

Now what’s interesting is, that word “maid” there, she had mentioned earlier in chapter 2:13, “you have spoken kindly to your maidservant.”

But the interesting thing is it’s a totally different word that she’s using to describe herself now than when she first met Boaz.

When she first met Boaz she said in chapter 2:13, “You have spoken kindly to your maidservant”, and the word that she used there is the word that’s almost like slave. It’s the lowest rung of the ladder. a Worker.

But this time it’s a totally different word. It’s a more personal word. It’s a word that denotes a relationship with someone.

It’s basically, “I am your servant. I am available for a relationship with you.”

Now this is where it gets interesting, because Ruth all of a sudden departs from Naomi’s game plan.

What did Naomi say? She had said, “Go, uncover his feet, lie down. He will tell you what to do” (Ruth 3:4).

So we as the audience are thinking okay, she’s introduced herself. That was appropriate. But we are shifting our eyes back to Boaz.

Okay, what’s he going to tell her to do, and all of a sudden, Ruth keeps talking. Listen to what she says, “So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative.””

What that is right there is a clear, blatant, just in case you missed it Boaz of me lying at your feet, I want you to pursue me in marriage.

Single ladies I would not recommend you try this…but this is forward, to say the least.

This is a phrase that is clearly a request for Boaz to be her husband…a proposal…

When it says spread your covering over me it’s the same word that is used back in Ruth 2:12 ““May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.””

Boaz is speaking there to Ruth and praying a blessing over her... that word “wings” is the same word that’s translated “covering” over here in chapter 3:9.

And so what Ruth is saying is, “Hey Boaz, you remember when you prayed the Lord would spread His protection over me, well now it’s time for you to be the answer to that prayer.”

Got to love it when a wife uses scripture on you. “You be the provision of God. You spread your protection over me since you’re a kinsman redeemer.”

This is more than Naomi had said.

She is stepping out here, and it creates this anticipation, and our hearts and our minds are thinking how in the world is Boaz going to respond to this.

A Moabite woman just proposed to an Israelite man....A worker in the field just proposed to the owner of the field. A younger person just proposed to an older person.

This is breaking all the rules.

How is Boaz going to respond? This was risky to say the least.

Boaz realizes there’s a woman at his feet.

He can scold her at that point.

He could take advantage of her. (remember this was the period of Judges and everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes)...

Ruth 3:10 “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.”

It is very clear from the first words out of Boaz’s mouth that he is going to respond favorably to Ruth, that he is not going to take advantage of her in any way, that he is wanting to bless her.

Boaz is stunned that she is actually interested in him and that she has, of all men, pursued him.

Ruth 3:11 ““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.”

daughter = simply a term used to refer to someone younger

Prov 31:10 “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.” This is the exact same language that Boaz uses!

Ruth is a perfect example of the Proverbs 31 woman…the whole town knew it...

We can hear the wedding bells in the background...this is working out better than we ever could have imagined and just like the Hallmark movies we hit a snag in the story!

Ruth 3:12 ““Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I.”

There is always another guy in the story!

This reveals to us that Boaz had done some of his own recon…he already knew that someone else had the responsibility to claim her..

Boaz says there’s another man who is a closer relative to you, who has the right before me to redeem you, to care for you, to protect and provide for you.

Ruth 3:13 ““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.””

Boaz knows that this was the way things were set up among the people of God. This is the law and he’s going to respect that. “But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it” (Ruth 3:13). He says, “If he’s not willing, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.” “Lie here until morning” (Ruth 3:13). He says, “Stay here. You don’t need to be out in the middle of the night on your own by yourself. You stay here.”

Can you just imagine with me how the next few hours unfold...

neither one of them is going to sleep very well that evening.

Boaz has to be thinking about going into town and declaring his desire to be married to this Moabite woman. What will people think? What is this going to be like? How this kin is going to respond when he puts this out there, which could be lost from that point on.

Ruth, sitting there realizing that in the next 24 hours she’s going to find out who her husband is going to be. She’d love for it to be Boaz, but it could be this other guy.

Ruth 3:14 “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.””

In other words, let’s just keep this whole deal between you and me. It’s a little secret.

Ruth 3:15 - 16 “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 heads back to Naomi. Now you want to talk about somebody who has not slept much. I mean this is, this is Naomi who has been back at her place after concocting this scheme, sending Ruth out and she has been sitting back waiting. No such thing as text messaging going on during that day, getting little updates here and there. Ruth, not signed up for Twitter at this point.

So, as a result, she’s been pacing back and forth in her home wondering what’s happening, praying every once in a while, opening the window or the door to peak out and see if Ruth is coming back early, if things have fallen apart.

Finally she comes back. Naomi wants to know...Are you going to be this man’s wife or not?” So is she going to be married into the clan? Is she going to be married into Boaz’s family?

What Ruth does at this point is she shares with Naomi something that Boaz had told her when Boaz was giving this barley to her, but the narrator waits until this point when Naomi is in the scene for us to hear what Boaz has said.

You follow that? Boaz said something earlier, but the narrator didn’t tell us Boaz said it earlier, when it actually happened. The narrator is waiting until this point when Naomi is there to reveal what Boaz has said. Why? Well listen.

Scene 3 — The Providential Pause

Ruth 3:17 “She said, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, ‘Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ””

Now why would that be significant? Have we seen that word empty before in the book of Ruth?

It immediately takes our minds back to Ruth 1:21 when Naomi came back from Moab with Ruth by her side, and what did she say, “I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back” what? “Empty” (Ruth 1:21).

And so here’s the picture. The narrator, in God’s sovereign design of this book, gives us a picture of Ruth coming back from Boaz with not just grain, but a promise to redeem, to see to it that their family is redeemed. And the message is, you’re not empty.

This is a reminder that when we feel empty and alone, when it seems that God is far from us, He may just be setting the stage for the greatest display we have ever seen of His faithfulness to us.

When it seems like nothing is working out like it was supposed to—that’s Naomi, end of Ruth 1, standing there with Ruth by her side, telling her friends, I’ve got nothing. And little does she know that standing right beside her is a picture of the fullness of God in ways that she never could have fathomed.

Ruth 3:18 “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.””

In other words, sit tight, today is going to be the day, and he’s going to take care of things. And this scene comes to a dramatic end.

This is the last time we will hear from Ruth or Naomi in this book. They will not speak again in the book of Ruth.

And what happens here at the end of chapter 3 is the curtain closes on two women in need of an heir, sitting in their home, waiting.

Boaz has taken center stage, but the reality is, things are not in his hands or Ruth and Naomi’s hands. Things are ultimately now in the hands of the Yahweh, the Lord, and we’re waiting to see what He’s going to do.

So what does Ruth 3 teach us today

Main Point: God Accomplishes Great Things When We Are Obedient

Remember the historical context of Judges: everyone did that which was right in their own eyes…here were 3 people who took a risk…they knew the provision God made through the law of levirate marriage…they stepped out in faith and took steps indicating their willingness to obey God when others were not!

Ruth shows us the importance of walking in faith…she didn’t know what would happen, but she obeyed anyway…Naomi’s plan only made sense because she believed God would provide through a willingness to do something that was in obedience to the Law…Boaz was a man of integrity who took the necessary steps of obedience in a time when everyone else did what they wanted to.

Though they don’t know it yet, their steps of obedience would bring about a union that will produce a child who will be the ancestor of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

Life Step — Stay Obedient and Wait On the Lord

(if time allows, share journey to Open Door)

Faith waits on the Lord…what steps do you need to take to show you believe God is a God of hope…steps that may involve risk…

God may not reward your faith right away…but rest in knowing that God does bless your obedience...

There is Always Hope!