Oh, how rich is today’s reading! Have we said that before???

It is impossible for a believer to read the story of Ruth and not be overcome with its significance.
It is a story of how God puts ordinary people (Ruth and Boaz) together to do “extra” ordinary things.

The commentary in today's reading states that Ruth is a Gentile.  This word is used in the New Testament to differentiate between those who were Jews and those who were not.  The primary reference is to a difference of religion and worship.  In Ruth's case she was a Moabite, a descendant of Lot who was a Hebrew.

Can we draw some conclusions here about Ruth's statement concerning Naomi's God? Was Naomi's faith so strong, her witness so great that Ruth wanted to follow after this God of Naomi? Is our Christian faith and witness that strong? Ruth left her country, her family, her home to go with Naomi. Had Ruth not gone with Naomi, Naomi would have been hard pressed. She may not have been able to glean for herself.

When they arrived in Bethlehem it was during the barley harvest, late spring.

Was it love at first sight when Boaz saw Ruth? He told the harvesters to deliberately drop some good stalks for Ruth to pick up.

What a beautiful illustration of a kinsman redeemer in Boaz for Ruth. It shows us the connection with Jesus as our kinsman redeemer.

Naomi told Ruth to wash, perfume herself, and put on her best clothes and go to Boaz at the threshing floor. This meant that Ruth was no longer in mourning and was available for marriage. When Ruth went to the threshing and removed the garment from Boaz, she was letting him know that she was ready for marriage.  The obligatory time of mourning was past.  It was again time for the barley harvest, which meant a year had passed.

Boaz sent Ruth back to Naomi with a bundle of barley. But it was much more than that, Ruth returned to Naomi with the knowledge that she would be redeemed.

The transaction at the city gate was a legal binding agreement. The city gate was where the business of the town was taken care of, like a courthouse or town hall. Notice they didn't write out contracts, a sandal would do.

When the elders of the town say, to Boaz, "may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah", they were in effect amending the established law that the son of the kinsman redeemer would be considered the son of the dead husband of the woman he was marrying. They were giving permission for Boaz to be listed as father in his son's genealogy, rather than Ruth's dead husband Mahlon.  They made an exception of the law as was done with Judah and Tamar. Also, Naomi was considered the grandmother of the son of Ruth and Boaz even though technically, he was a distant relative.

Think about the genealogy of both of these people. Ruth was a descendant of the incestuous relationship of Lot and his daughters. Boaz was the son of the Jericho prostitute Rahab. And yet God chose Ruth and Boaz  to be great grandparents of King David and so the ancestors of Jesus.

What foreshadowing in this quote to Boaz from the elders at the gate, “May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.”

Through the descendants of Boaz certainly came One who is and who was famous in Bethlehem!