What does Marriage look like? Part 4 This is the final part of the what does marriage look like series Well take up where we left off yesterday, let’s get back to… “As the threshing Floor Turns”, starring Ruth and Boaz: Ruth 3:7; “And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, (in other words… he was drunk) he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn; and she came softly to his feet, and laid herself down and spread his skirt over herself. And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was startled, and turned over; and, behold, a woman lay at his feet. Now, Boaz was a working man. And he spent season after season not only supervising but being hands on, working in the fields and celebrating these feasts, where presumably, he got drunk every year since buying strength drink is actually listed as part of a celebration. He worked at the threshing floor to finish the harvest. I’m taking liberty here but I think it is safe to say, that he is used to his workers passing out on the threshing floor with him piled in an assortment of positions and places. Imagine several workers passed out, laying haphazardly all over the floor. Rolling over and bumping into each other. Snorting and making noises! Why would a person used to those conditions wake up startled just because some person was laying near him? Well, let’s reconsider the following passage. Ezekial 16:8; “Now I passed by you again and looked upon you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore and oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Master, Yahweh, and you became Mine.” Yahweh became intimate with Israel… by using the idiom “I spread my skirt over you” What did Ruth do? Didn’t she cover herself with His skirt? Is it possible that she is trying to make something happen? So I’ll ask again, what would startle a man’s man out of his sleep if he thought he was sleeping in a room full of men? “And Boaz said: Who are you? And she answered: I am Ruth your handmaid; spread therefore your skirt over your handmaid, for you are a near kinsman. (she is literally indicating to him… my womb is open to you… I am offering myself to you, take me.) And his reply is a typical guy reply… And he said: Blessed be you of Yahweh, my daughter; for you have shown more loyalty in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as you did not follow the young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, fear not, I will do to you all that you require; for all the city of my people knows that you are a virtuous woman. Now it is true that I am your near kinsman; yet there is a kinsman nearer than I. Wait this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform to you the part of a kinsman, good and well: let him do the kinsmans part; but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to you, then I will do the part of a kinsman to you, as Yahweh lives. Lie down until the morning. And she lay at his feet until the morning; and she rose up before one could recognize another person. And he said: Let it not be known that a woman came into the threshing floor. Also he said Bring the veil that you have upon you, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her; and he went into the city. (the fact that he ‘laid it on her’ meant it was heavy enough that she couldn’t pick it up herself. I couldn’t find a good way to translate ‘a measure’ because it seems to be a lost or very vague term. However, basing it off the Ephah measure… she carried back to her house, it may have been a burden of anywhere from 63 to 330 lbs.!) “And when she came to her mother in law, she said: Who are you, my daughter?” Do you notice that both times, when Ruth went to Boaz and when she went to her mother… they said, “who are you”? Is it because she was giving up her own identity? As we strive for intimacy with Yahweh, our identity should start blurring as we become more and more Christ like. “And Ruth told her all that the man had done for her. And she said: These six measures of barley he gave me; for he said to me, Do not go empty to your mother in law (we are not supposed to come to God empty handed). Then she said: Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will fall; for the man will not rest quiet until he finishes the matter today. (We are to wait upon the Lord) So we know the story… Boaz did what he said… he confronted… “Hey you”. A guy not even worth mentioning by name, and in front of witnesses took Ruth as his. Moreover, Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Machlon, I have acquired as my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place; you are witnesses this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said: We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman that is come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel; and be prosperous in Efrata, and be famous in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Peretz, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the seed which Yahweh shall give you of this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife; and he went in to her, and Yahweh gave her conception, and she bore a son.” So… that very last sentence says that Ruth gave birth to a son, right? Now watch this! “And the women said to Naomi (Wasn’t it Ruth that gave birth to a son?): Blessed is Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be to you a restorer of your life, and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter in law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, she has born him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and began nurse to it. Did you see that? Naomi (the grandmother)) not the Mother, Ruth… started breastfeeding that baby! And the women, her neighbors gave it a name, saying: There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Oved--he is the father of Jesse the father of David. So Naomi started nursing this baby and now the women are saying that the baby belongs to Naomi! What?! Do you know why? The baby is breathing life back into the family line and the family (the fellowship) will help raise him. We are a fellowship (whether a marriage, family or fellowship) and WE must nurture each other and help each other grow strong… this is a very important part of marriage! We need to learn to stop gossiping and destroying. Why do we insist on working for Satan. That is his job! We need to learn to not gossip and tear down, but to encourage and build up. I want to strengthen my spouse and I desire my spouse to strengthen me. I want to teach everyone what I have learned and have everyone teach me what God has taught them! This is how the gates of hell will not be able to prevail! When we really learn to love God and each other!
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 12:39:17 +0000