UNDER HIS WINGS
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, that your Word is trustworthy, that I can come to it confident of receiving truth, confident that I will find in it what I need to please you.
Read RUTH 3
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor
3 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[a] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!
9 “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer[b] of our family.”
10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”
15 He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he[c] went back to town.
16 When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”
Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her 17 and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”
Footnotes
- Ruth 3:1 Hebrew find rest (see 1:9)
- Ruth 3:9 The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty (see Lev. 25:25-55); also in verses 12 and 13.
- Ruth 3:15 Most Hebrew manuscripts; many Hebrew manuscripts, Vulgate and Syriac she
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge’ (Psalm 91:4). Enjoy imagining how it feels to rest under God’s protective wings.Proposals of marriage today are becoming increasingly elaborate, from treasure hunts to prearranged public declarations or even taking to the ocean in a kayak—all provide modern settings to pop the question. In the climax of our story, Naomi maneuvers Ruth into a position for a proposal of marriage to Boaz: a vulnerable, bold, and yet strategic move to ensure Ruth’s future security (v. 1).
Although unorthodox, the wider context is that Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer (v. 9), responsible to safeguard the family, including marrying the childless widow to perpetuate the family name, as stated in levirate law (Deuteronomy 25:5–10). Although creeping through the dark to lie at Boaz’s feet may seem provocative, culturally it was viewed as an act of submission. Trusting Boaz, whom she’d come to respect, Ruth approached Boaz humbly and courageously, to be redeemed in marriage.
‘Spreading the corner of your garment’ (v. 9), sometimes translated as ‘wing,’ was an ancient custom where kinsmen claimed a widow in marriage. Boaz had already prayed for God’s protection over Ruth, ‘under whose wings you have come to take refuge’ (2:12). Covering Ruth in this way, providing protection and security through marriage, reminds us of God’s commitment to cover us under his loving, protective care.
Apply
Pray for someone who needs to shelter under God’s protective wings today.
Closing prayer
Mighty God and Loving Father, thank you that you have called me to abide in your shadow, that you shelter me with unfailing love and faithfulness, and there is nothing I need fear.
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