Ruth and Boaz, Odd Couple / God Couple
Boaz and Ruth, Rembrandt - 1643
Is the Book of Ruth about a romance or a marriage of convenience? I think it's more of an arrangement that turns into a romance. Maybe. But that’s the wrong question. The right question is "why do they matter?"
Their union is the two poles of the faith of Israel. It blends Ruth’s personal relationship with God, and her personal choice to follow God, so well known here…
where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17
…complimented and completed in the Boaz’s adherence to the traditions, laws, and enduring principles of scripture. Their marriage results in the start of the line of King David and Yeshua the Messiah. That is not a quirk of fate.
The setting
Like the story of the "Akeidah", Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac which is read at Rosh Hashanah, the story of the Book of Ruth is read at this season, in particular at Shavuot (Pentecost for Christians). Interesting reasons why, but one that JUST became clear to me (lo these many years of reading it) is that it starts at Passover time (the early barley harvest, though some debate re. this) and ends at the later wheat harvest at Shavuot: 50 days . The theme of being "redeemed" and "a redeemer" is repeated ten times, a foreshadow of Messiah’s role as redeemer. Ruth is David's great grandmother and the start of the line of Yeshua. The period between Passover and Shavuot is called "sefirat omer" = "the counting of the Omer (a sheaf of wheat") Lev 23.16. Traditional Judaism has calendars to cross off the fifty days, or beautiful count-down clocks. It's the period from the death and resurrection (Passover) until the Holy Spirit is poured out (Shavuot, Acts 2.1-4).
I am struck by how sudden Ruth and Boaz's meeting and marriage was... less than 50 days. God's redemption comes suddenly, from nothing. There are no conditions, no time frame.
Is this a romance? On the one hand…
IT ISN'T A ROMANCE
They certainly aren't a "match".
Boaz is twice Ruth's age. He calls her "my daughter" Rt 2.9.
She's flat broke and mostly needs a redeemer. He's rich and lacks nothing. It’s hard to see it as an equal relationship.
He's knowledgeable about Jewish law and tradition, she probably doesn't even speak the language well. She comes from Moab, and spoke a related Canaanite dialect. At the very least, they are not equals in their practice of the Jewish faith, though her declaration that “your people will be my people, your God will be my God” is quite powerful.
Believing women often say “I am waiting for my Boaz to come”. Have you readBoaz does not come, Ruth does!
Their “courtship” is a mere acquaintance. It’s only 50 days long. No counseling, no "successful relationships" books studied, not pre-nup... rather rash by today's standards ;-).
Even more jarring, their whole engagement is ONE DAY long. Rt. 3:18
Certainly she didn't get the memos about boundaries... she visits him while he is snoring, passed-out-drunk on the floor in the barn (Rt. 3.7) and gets under the covers with him (foot to foot? Is that a Hebrew version of Amish pre-marital “bundling”, where engaged couples sleep together with a board between them? Or was Boaz just shocked to find her there?
Was she a great beauty and was Boaz smitten? He certainly notices her Rt. 2:5 But why then didn't Naomi introduce her to eligible unmarried men but instead just left her to go glean?
Boaz says he is (just?) fulfilling a family duty of the law to give Ruth a child and his deceased relative an heir. Dat ain't no romance.
All we really know about their relationship is a rather spicy Ruth 4.13 and that a child resulted. And that Naomi (not Ruth specifically) was blessed by their union. (ok the whole story was written by a man, not Daneille Steel, it's no paperback romance!).
At least we know he took her out for a nice dinner (kidding… that’s no date, but it’s a nice meal). Rt 2.14
And yet …
IT IS A ROMANCE,
one in which the Holy Spirit moves,
Ruth was in fact King David's great grandmother, and the beginning of the line of the Messiah Himself so there is some manner of supernatural success to their union. When women are named in scripture, they are often extraordinary women. Ruth’s presence merits an entire book.
Boaz is very kind towards her with tenderness and affection.
- He is impressed with her dedication to family Rt. 2:11, her character. and praises her for it.
- he praises her virtues Rt. 3:10
- he promises to care for her Rt 3:11
- he brings her into an entire community Rt. 4:10, proud of her, not ashamed she is both a foreigner and poor.
Yet I have more questions than answers. (from my new book "Overthinker's Guide to Scriptures" ). I'd like to think their story is a romance, but that’s only a theory. Heat but no fire. We are left to figure out for ourselves what made their marriage work, what legacy they had to pass on, and why they became the great grandparents of King David.
NEITHER? BOTH? A PICTURE OF MESSIAH AND ISRAEL,
Sorry to be a spiritual downer to many who see theirs as a pattern for marriage, or an "upper" for those who see marriage as a spiritual thing. Boaz is referred to as a גאל " ga'el" "redeemer" 10 times in the story.
Strange? The possible marriage of Boaz to Ruth redeems... her mother in law? And certainly Ruth is redeemed as well, the legal formula for that is spelled out.Then the women said to Naomi...“Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. Ruth 4:14
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.“Even after my skin is destroyed,Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Job 19:25-26
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