Opportunities Are God's Gifts

Introduction

Missed opportunities. We have all had them. We have all had opportunities that we took advantage of and things didn’t work out well. Then we don’t call them opportunities but unfortunate events. Are they really? Sometimes unfortunate events lead to opportunities that we would never have had without the unfortunate event. Such is the case in our study of Ruth. Naomi returns to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, in tow. In chapter one, Ruth has pledged her life, love, and future to Naomi. This is a vow of great commitment and love. But it is an unfortunate event. This pledge came out of being a widow and knowing that the widowed mother-in-law has little to build into a great future. In fact, Naomi’s future is bleak at best.

These two women come to Bethlehem broken, bitter, uncertain and desperate. What will they do to survive? According to chapter 2 because it is the barley harvest season, Ruth volunteers to go to the fields to work and harvest what is leftover. This practice was done because poor people needed to survive and the farmers knew this. But there was also a stigma attached to such practices. Young women could be harmed in trying to gather grain. Men might take advantage of the women and because they were poor and didn’t have male protection, these women often harvested at their own peril.

When we get to chapter 3, the barley harvest is in full swing and it is now a time for action. Naomi guides the process with wisdom and Ruth follows Naomi’s lead with courage. Chapter 3 poses some interesting dialog and events to bring about a decision for their future. Arriving in Bethlehem, the future looked bleak, but there is a window of opportunity. Will things move forward or will this confirm that God has failed them. Don’t allow knowing the ending to the story to keep you from experiencing the events leading up to the ending. Hear the plans. Sense the tension. Feel the uncertainty and watch as two women use an opportunity as God’s gift to them.

The Text

We don’t know how much time passed from Naomi’s entrance into Bethlehem to the beginning of chapter three. It wasn’t long. But the pressure is on. They have some grain. They can eat for a while but that is only a short term fix. It is time to act. Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer. This role was long ago established as the means by which families could take care of each other. Because Boaz is a relative to Naomi’s husband, then he can be encouraged to take the kinsman-redeemer position for the family. However, usually with this position comes marriage. There is an expectation that a man will marry a woman with the specific intent to have children together so that the firstborn male son will carry on the deceased father’s name and subsequent children will be his heirs. This preserves a family unit while making sure that the kinsman-redeemer also expands his own family unit. While this may seem an odd custom and requirement, God used it to diminish poverty.

Naomi sees an opportunity to push Boaz into the kinsman-redeemer position. The text indicates (v. 12) that Boaz knows this is a role that he can fulfill but he also knows that he isn’t the next in line for this role. Naomi, however, is certain that Boaz will act responsibly if he given a bit of a nudge. So Naomi takes matters into her own hands. She prepares Ruth for a late night rendezvous with Boaz. Ruth bathes, perfumes, put on good clothes and following Naomi’s instructions waits until it is absolutely pitch black and approaches Boaz. While asleep, Ruth uncovers Boaz’s feet so that eventually he will get cold during the night. When he awakens, Ruth has been coached on what to say. “Marry me!” Actually Ruth uses Boaz’ own words from 2:12 in 3:9. Boaz had previously prayed for God’s wings to protect Ruth and Naomi and now Ruth basically uses those words to say that God’s wings are found in Boaz.

Under the darkness of night, the narrator is allowing us to see that this opportunity has possible sexual overtones and can be potentially embarrassing for both Ruth and Boaz. Yet, in their conversation, Boaz promises that the very next day he will press for a legal and binding conclusion for Naomi and Ruth. He understands their plight. He understands that there are safeguards in place to prevent poverty and to carry on a family legacy. And he understands that he has an obligation and an opportunity to see this to completion. He and Ruth rest together. Ruth is at Boaz’ feet. I doubt there was much sleeping. But it would have been dangerous for Ruth to leave the threshing floor in the middle of the night. So under Boaz’ protection, Ruth stays and Boaz knows tomorrow is the day to settle once and for all what will happen to this courageous young woman and her mother-in-law.

So What?

Two things to notice. First, Boaz is a man of great integrity. He does not take advantage of Ruth’s proposal nor does he try to find a way out of what is going to be a delicate situation. When Ruth gets back to Naomi even Naomi recognizes that Boaz will do what he says he will do. There is nothing in the text to suggest that Boaz was getting ready to act but once the situation is presented, Boaz is quick to act. This reveals his integrity and reveals his resolve. To be a person of integrity breeds confidence. Naomi is confident of Boaz before the night that Ruth proposes and she is confident the next morning. Being a person of integrity means a number of different things but it includes being truthful and following through on commitments. It means being trustworthy and consistent. Such traits are not often found. Do not misunderstand—integrity provides confidence to others because it often extracts something from the person who is trying to be a person of integrity. To maintain integrity means at times that it costs you. For Boaz to complete his task, it is going to cost him. And yet, as a man of integrity, the cost is incidental to maintaining his integrity. I have known people like that. Men and women who are more interested in doing the right thing than in trying to figure out how to avoid the cost. Two lawyers set up a partnership and agreed to divide all their income equally. On their first day in business, a man made an appointment for some advice. “That will be $100,” said one of the lawyers. The client gave him the cash, but unknown to him, there were two notes stuck together. The lawyer was confronted with his first ethical dilemma: Should he tell his partner about the extra cash?

The second thing to notice is what is not stated in the text. The text does not mention God except as a blessing. And yet, it “feels” like God is at work. In verse 10 Boaz blesses Ruth for her courage and what she has done for Naomi. To bless Ruth means that Boaz recognizes this opportunity as God’s gift. This takes special effort to think this way. First, he doesn’t see this as an inconvenience. Boaz sees this as an opportunity. Second, he blesses Ruth recognizing that she has honored her mother-in-law and in reality honored God. Third, Boaz wants to be a part of this. Again the text does not suggest that Boaz was getting ready to do something before Ruth’s night time appearance. But once Ruth proposes Boaz is quick to respond. Why? Opportunity to do God’s bidding.

What would happen if we started looking at life this way? What would happen if we understood interruptions were God’s opportunity? What would happen if we understood inconveniences as opportunities? What would happen if we thought that God was working all the time and even though we didn’t mention his name, we assumed opportunities were divine gifts? What would it take to think this way instead of despising the interruptions, sighing over the inconveniences, and assumed that God only worked at things when they made sense to us?

Joseph didn’t understand being sold into slavery or being seduced by his master’s wife or spending years in a prison but with every event he believed God was at work. Job didn’t understand his great loss nor how his friends refused to believe in his blamelessness but he never stopped trusting that God was still at work. Naomi returns to Bethlehem uncertain of what God is going to do but nonetheless acting in ways of faith and when the time is right pushes Ruth to propose marriage because this is God’s way of doing things. Jesus knew what was best for all. He healed, loved, taught with compassion and confronted with care and at the cross he still knew that God was at work. Invitation.

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