The book of Ruth is one of the shortest in the Old Testament,
only four chapters containing
eighty-five verses. In the Hebrew Bible this book is found among the
Hagiographa as one
of "the five rolls," Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
and Esther.
Historically, this book is connected with Judges (Ruth 1:1), "the days
when the judges ruled."
When the book was written and by whom is still unknown.
This little book gives us an important glimpse into what
was going on in Israel during the
time of Judges. All too often we center in on the negative that was
going on during this time
period, but in this book we find the positive. Not all of the people
had forgotten God. At least
in this book there was a group of people living that were living by
God's ways. Both Boaz and
Ruth reveal that even during times of gross immorality people can still
live like God wants
people to live. Ruth's love and concern for her mother-in-law should
touch all our hearts. She
gave up a great deal to go with and stay with Naomi. Boaz treated not
only Ruth but his
workers with respect and kindness. He was an honorable man and an example
for all men
today. One of the great lessons we can learn from this little book
is to stay faithful to God and
you will receive great reward.
Boaz the Righteous Man of Ruth
In the book of Ruth, we are shown the opposite side
of the children of Israel from what we read
about in the book of Judges. In Ruth, two of the four chapters deal
with the Law of God in action;
the right of the poor to glean fields and of the near kinsman's duty
to a widow.
In Ruth 2:4, we read, "And behold, Boaz came from
Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers,
"The Lord be with you." And they answered him, "The Lord bless thee."
In this verse 4 is
revealed many things about the man Boaz. He was a man of wealth because
he has reaper:
gathering in his harvest. By his greeting he showed a great respect
for God. Also his life must
have been such that the reapers knew that Boaz meant what he said by
their return greeting to
him. We also see that he was concerned about his harvest and for his
workers because he came
out himself to check on them. In the very next verse we found that
Boaz personally knew his
workers because he saw someone he did not know and inquired about who
she was. The head
servant revealed that Boaz truly followed God's law because he allowed
Ruth to glean in the
field without first checking with Boaz.
The treatment Boaz extended to Ruth showed his uprightness
and his willingness to
follow God's commandments even at a cost to himself. He allowed her
to glean right behind the
reapers and commanded them to let extra grain fall in her path. He
provided her with water and
invited her to eat of the lunch that was prepared for his reapers.
We see further evidence of his
uprightness in the fact that he commanded his servant not to touch
Ruth and to protect her. He
also told Ruth to glean only in his fields with his maidens throughout
all the harvest, from the
barley through the wheat. In chapters 3 & 4 again Boaz's uprightness
shined brightly. When he
is informed that he is a near kinsman and Ruth's willingness to marry
him he went through all
the steps required to fulfill the law correctly even to the point of
taking the matter up with the,
nearer kinsman who refused to fulfill his obligation. After reading
Judges and the way many of
the people of Israel acted, Ruth is like a breath of fresh air!
© Copyright 2001. Paul D. Fisher. All rights reserved.