Ruth 3:1-5

“After Mourning Comes Movement”

By Pastor Rich Paradis

Ruth 3:1-5

With two chapters of Ruth in the rearview mirror, we now come to a place with lots of initial application. After the deaths of their husbands, and Naomi’s sons, and a time of grief and mourning along with eking out a living, we saw at the end of our previous chapter a ray of hope. The man Boaz has provided for both Naomi and for Ruth and the hope that was dashed against the rocks of hard living is now restored. So what should be done after a time of mourning? It’s time to “move forward”, not forgetting what has happened but remembering the provision of God for the day and for the future.

I.                 Moving Forward Involves Right Attitude    Ruth 3:1

a.      In the space of about an eighth of an inch in your Bible, the space between chapters 2 and 3, we have another scene opening up in this incredible story. We are not offered much of a time marker as Verse 1 opens up, but we are merely given the word “then”. I believe that this “then” is “when” God helped her to realize that it was time to move forward.

b.     Naomi’s hope has been restored in the provision of God. He has provided a hope in the person of Boaz, a near relative. Naomi has moved from a time of mourning and despair (1:20-21) to a place of hope. So what will she do? We’ll see that in a moment, but let’s consider the attitude of Naomi. The God that she thought had it in for her has provided for her and for her “daughter” Ruth.

                                                    i.     Has God ever provided for you?

                                                  ii.     Do you remember it?

                                                iii.     How do you remember it?

c.      Some of us remember the provision of God by wondering why He didn’t come in the way that we thought He should! We will never forget the pains that life can sometimes bring us, but we can remember the provision of God with forward movement in faith. Remember Habakkuk 2:4? It says that the “just shall live by faith”. Not wondering why He didn’t do more or sooner, but remembering that His timing and His provision are right and at the right time.

d.     So what does she do? Naomi takes a look at her beloved Ruth and takes the focus off of herself. The question that she asks her has lots of interesting insight. The questions that Naomi asked in 1:10-13 now are being answered for Ruth in the man Boaz. Naomi’s desire is for “rest” or “security” or a “home” for Ruth. The idea is in the word in Hebrew. The very word “manoh” means a place of quiet, a settling spot, a home.

e.      Naomi’s desire for Ruth was a home, which implied a husband and provision. The time had come for Naomi to put together a plan that was not at all scheming, but completely within the law and provision of God.

f.      Do you pray for and act toward these things for those that you love?

II.               Moving Forward Involves Right Actions    Ruth 3:2-5

a.      With the question of “shall I not…” from verse 1 in mind, Naomi reminds Ruth of the potential answer to the question. Boaz is a near relative, a family member, and a possible provision for Deuteronomy 25:5-10. She hardly has to remind Ruth of this man, but she does here in Verse 2 with a piece of information that will begin the plan to consider him as the answer to both a home and a husband for Ruth.

b.     Boaz will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor tonight is the first piece of information passed along to Ruth. Why such a well-to-do man is doing this work is sometimes questioned. That can be answered as simply as he is there working instead of asking one of his trusted servants to do it, revealing the kindness mentioned before. Someone will need to be here to guard the grain from thieves, and he is on duty tonight. Again we are faced with the providence of God in all of this. We can simply say that coincidence brings him here, or the hand of God has him there. It is also sometime thought that the time that has passed is the two months between the start of the barley season and completion of the wheat season. I don’t tend toward that timeline in that Boaz is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Thus my contention that the “then” of verse 1 is when she realized that it was time to move forward.

c.      A threshing floor sounds like a very intricate apparatus, but it could be simply a flat place of either rock or packed earth  where the barley or other grain could be winnowed, or thrown into the air allowing the evening breezes to separate the grain from the chaff.

d.     Naomi continues her information and instruction to Ruth in Verse 3. She tells her to wash herself, something that although the need was constant in the environment that they lived was impossible regularly because of water shortages or unavailability. She was also to “anoint” herself, for put on some perfume to make herself smell good. And finally she was to not make herself known until the end of the evening after dinner.

e.      We need to resist the temptation to see Naomi as a matchmaker of some kind. She has merely seen the activities of God and Boaz and began to see that in this man might be a fulfillment of the need that Ruth has if she is to have a future of provision and rest.

f.      The instruction continues in Verse 4. Naomi instructs Ruth that eventually Boaz will finish his meal and will lay down to rest. She is to notice where he lies down, and go there. Additional instruction is given as she is told to uncover his feet and lie down. This is not some woman throwing herself at a man. It is a woman placing and submitting herself to one that she knows can offer provision and a future to her.

g.     The last phrase of this verse is interesting. It says that “he will tell you what you shall do”. In other words, he will not be some shocked old man that finds himself with a young woman lying at his feet. Instead, after briefly being startled and identifying the young lady he will completely understand this as part of a request based on the very law that God set up to provide for her going forward. There are others (Verse 10) that would be interested in Ruth surely, but none of them could serve as this kinsman redeemer.

h.     And the paragraph ends with words that we long for from all of our children when we give them instruction based on the word and provision of God. Verse 5 tells us that Ruth replied that she would do all that Naomi had told her to do. In a way that reminds us of Ephesians 6:1 and Colossians 3:20, we have a daughter obeying her parent which is something that our Lord loves to see. Ruth trusts Naomi and follows her instruction to a situation that could have been embarrassing or even humiliating. Naomi trusted God with the plan that she was offering her beloved daughter.

III.             An Application For All Of Us

a.      God is at work, not only in the circumstances of life, but also in shaping the attitudes of life.

b.     A time of deep mourning can lead to a time of again following God and moving forward.

c.      Careful adherence to the provision of God through a trusted person of God is a right choice toward forward movement for God.