So she lay at his feet until the morning, but
arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known
that the woman came to the threshing floor.” And he said, “Bring the garment
you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six
measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she
came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she
told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “These six measures of
barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to
your mother-in-law.’” She replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the
matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” (Ruth 3:14–18 ESV)
While the central verse (v. 16) is only
a small part of the entire story of Ruth and Boaz, it is very important to
understand if we desire to know the fullness of Jesus and the rest He provides
to all His followers. The story begins with a woman named Naomi, who lives with
her husband and two sons in Bethlehem. One day there’s a famine in the land,
which is ironic, because Bethlehem means “city of bread.” Because of the
famine, Naomi and her family move to Moab, historically an enemy of Israel.
Eventually her sons both marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Sadly, after
about 10 years, Naomi’s husband and sons die.
The story continues. Having lost
everything in Moab, Ruth and Naomi return to Bethlehem when they hear the
famine has ended. But in the ancient world, there weren’t many ways for women
to provide for themselves. They arrive at the beginning of the barley harvest,
and Ruth is able to glean in the fields of their relative Boaz, who turns out
to be generous toward them. But when the harvest ends, Naomi and Ruth are back
where they started, in the same poverty they’ve been trying to overcome for ten
years. It must have seemed hopeless.
It is at this point that Ruth seeks rest
from her plight. Naomi asks Ruth, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you,
that it may be well with you?” (Ruth 3:1; cf. 1:8–9). Naomi has a plan for how
to attain this rest. Having seen Boaz’s generosity, she hopes he will provide
the rest they need. It turns out he is “a kinsman-redeemer” (a close relative
who can provide), so Naomi tells Ruth to propose marriage to him.
Boaz accepts, but he first needs to ask
permission from the “redeemer nearer” than he (Ruth 3:12). As a demonstration
of his devotion to Ruth and perhaps even as a sort of pledge, Boaz sends off
Ruth with a gift. He gives her six measures of barley, which might have been as
much as 95 pounds. When Ruth returns home, Naomi affirms her faith in Boaz. She
tells Ruth to wait. And the word used conveys the sense not only of waiting,
but a worry-free attitude as she waits. Amid uncertainty, Ruth and Naomi wait
for their redeemer to “settle the matter” and bring them rest (cf. Ruth 3:18). The
book of Ruth shows us that deep soul rest is possible even now if we, like
Ruth, wait for the day of our redemption, trusting our redeemer to finish what
he started.
This part of the book of Ruth aptly
describes the period in which we live our entire lives. Just as Boaz pledges to
redeem Ruth, so God has promised to redeem us. In fact, Jesus secured our
redemption on the cross. And just as Boaz sent Ruth away with a gift and
pledge, so Jesus has sent us his Holy Spirit as a pledge (cf. Ephesians 1:14).
But just as Ruth awaited final resolution, we still await the day when God will
give complete rest.
Boaz meets with the other relative who
says he cannot redeem Ruth, “lest I impair my own inheritance” (4:5). So, Boaz
redeems Ruth through a costly marriage, and Ruth gives birth to a child in
Bethlehem. The baby’s name is Obed, which comes from the Hebrew word “to
serve.” The women of Bethlehem say to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not
left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!
He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age” (Ruth
4:14–15).
Well, generations later, the women’s
prayers were answered. This son was the grandfather of King David (4:22), who
secured rest for Israel against her enemies. And the ultimate answer to their
prayer came a thousand years later, when another son was born to another poor
woman traveling to Bethlehem. This child was from the line of Ruth and David.
And as he was about to be born, a priest in Israel named Zechariah, filled with
the Holy Spirit, cried out, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has
visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in
the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:67–68).
Jesus is the promised redeemer, the true
Servant of the Lord, whose costly marriage to his people—a marriage that cost
him his life—restores our life and brings us rest. He gives us rest from our
sin and striving, and he welcomes us into the security of his family. One day
he will also remove every trial from our lives. He will transform our weak and
weary bodies into new, glorious bodies. He will satisfy all our deepest needs
and desires.
When you trust in him, you can
experience rest even now. If you place your confidence not in your own ability
to control your life, but in this Redeemer—if you seek peace not in your
circumstances, but in this Redeemer—then you can sleep at night no matter what
the day ahead has in store, because your Redeemer has given you rest.
