The Quest

Who are you?

Ruth 3:9,16

In our studies thus far, we have already noted the fact that the Book of Ruth has a significance that is out of all proportion to its length and even its setting within the canon of Scripture. It seems on one level to be a very simple story of love, set in the countryside, sandwiched between two great books of the historical narratives of the Old Testament, that speak of wars and of rumours of wars. And yet the Book of Ruth reminds us that God is in the business of saving souls and of bringing sinners into the bond of the covenant.

And to remind ourselves of the structure of the Book of Ruth, we remind ourselves that the first chapter is one of wasted years. It is a chapter filled with tears and full of the disappointments that come from living for self and living for sin. Instead of hearing God's voice in revelation and in providence, and repenting of their sin, Elimelech and his family went to Moab, forsook God and looked for help and provision in the land of sin and in idolatry. And the wages of sin, as always, for them was death.

Chapter two was a chapter that spoke of working days, in which Ruth went in to glean in the fields of Boaz. The law that created the barrier to her communion also opened the door to that communion. There was a law that allowed strangers to glean and to share in the blessings of God's provision. God, through Boaz, made provision for Ruth. So Ruth came and gleaned in the fields of Boaz.

Chapter four is going to be a chapter of wedding joys. But first there must be a night of seeking and of waiting. And in many ways chapter three is the most difficult to understand. Yet it is essential to this story and to the revelation of God's salvation that we have here in the Book of Ruth. The chapter, we must note, is precipitated and set in motion by one great concern on the part of Naomi for her daughter-in-law. "My daughter," she says in Verse One, "shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you?". That is the one great issue that is burning in the mind and in the heart of Naomi. The goodness of God has been so evident; the blessing of God has been so bountiful; the grace of God has been so conspicuous and so real and so abundant and so overflowing. But Naomi knows -- and this issue burns in her heart -- that Ruth is still a stranger in the land. Naomi's great concern is that she will have 'security'.

The word that is translated 'security' in verse one, really means 'rest', and it takes with it the idea of being settled, being established, having a foundation, having confidence. Though Ruth gained by gleaning, gleaning was not enough. She needed confidence and assurance that she had a place among God's people. That is the 'rest' that Naomi wants for Ruth. And she knows that if and when Ruth gets that rest, it will be well with her. There will then be no more uncertainty about her future, no more shadows over her life. The past will then have been gone and dealt with. The clothes of mourning that she wears as a widow can then finally be put away. And all that she has been carrying with her -- the burdens that she took home from Moab, and all the tears and all the loss and all the grief that Moab ever meant for Ruth -- will then have been dealt with decisively, definitively and finally. Ruth will have a place among God's covenant people. And that is what sets these strange, intriguing events of chapter 3 in motion.

This is the fundamental issue that lies at the very heart of the Gospel. The Bible comes to us in the words of the Gospel and in the words of Naomi, "Shall I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?" The only thing that can give us security and the assurance of God's blessing and of eternal life is to find the rest that there is in Jesus Christ. Jesus himself uses that very word when he speaks to the Jews of his day. "All you that labour and are heavy laden, come unto me and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). The kind of rest that Jesus gives the longing soul is a rest that brings with it fullness and security and pardon; it's a rest that washes away all the burdens of the past. It's a rest that deals finally and definitively with all that we ever did and all that we ever thought and ever said, that came short of the glory of God. The peace that Jesus gives passes all understanding because it comes with the promise of eternal security for the man or the woman who sets his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me put it another way. The world has its own promises of security, of fulfilment, and of promise. The world says to us that if we do this or that it will be well with us. The world says to us that if we get this or that, or if we have this or have that, it will be well with us. That is the kind of security the world offers: a satisfaction confined to the experience of certain pleasures, the possession of material things, or the knowledge that comes from learning and from education. But it is an elusive dream, as Ecclesiastes 2:13-18 testifies. How many people have lived for these very things? And yet their lives ended up in ruins. How many of the great achievers of our modern age have found real peace in their lives? They have raked in millions of troubles along with their millions of pounds! The world is littered with broken dreams and broken homes and broken lives, all of which remind us that there is no rest outside of Jesus Christ.

The great issue of this Bible is that our souls will find rest. And there is only one place where real, lasting security may be found. It has been put magnificently in the opening words of the Heidelberg Catechism: What is your only comfort in life and death? Answer: That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

That is a security that the world cannot give us, and that the world cannot steal from us. In that assurance, there is rest for our souls and security for our lives. Whatever may come our way, there will be rest and peace for us in the knowledge that we belong to Jesus Christ. So it was a great blessing for Ruth that Naomi was burdened for her welfare and security.

Twice the same Hebrew phrase is asked of Ruth in the course of this chapter. In verse 9, Boaz asks Ruth on the threshing-floor, "Who are you?", and in verse 16 Naomi puts the same question to Ruth, with probably a slightly different meaning; Boaz can be forgiven for not recognising the woman who had crept in to lie at his feet at midnight, but Naomi obviously was not asking about Ruth's identity. Instead, she was asking about how the midnight meeting had gone. The repetition of the same phrase, however, is significant, and reminds us of the fact that this encounter with Boaz caused a momentous change in Ruth's relation to Boaz, and her personal situation. Commentators have pointed out the contrast between these two meetings between Boaz and Ruth, the first accidental, the second deliberate; the first by day, the second by night; the first in public, the second in secret; the first for purposes of work, the second for purposes of marriage. Intriguing as the plan initiated by Naomi was, one thing is clear: the midnight confrontation was momentous in its significance.

And it was necessary; the whole purpose of this meeting was that Ruth would have security. And Ruth found the security for three reasons.

Ruth Came To the Right Person

She found rest first of all because Naomi directed her to the right person. Naomi reminded Ruth of the kinship of Boaz. "Is not Boaz of our kindred?" We saw that at the end of Chapter Two. We are reminded that the whole redemptive work of Jesus Christ is effective for our salvation because he has identified himself, in his nature, in his life and in his death, with the sinners that he saves. He took our nature. He is able to stand in the breach between God and men because he is the God-man. All that is true about God is true about Him. All that is true about man, apart from sin, is true about Him. There is no other God but Jesus and there is no other God-man Jesus is our redeemer because he is the God-man. He is a Saviour because of his nearness of kin.

Just as Peter could say of Jesus "To whom shall we go but to you?" (John 6:68), so Naomi can say to Ruth "To whom shall you go but to Boaz?". This whole momentous, singular issue of her rest and security hinges upon her relationship to one person: not to Naomi, but to Boaz. The promise of Ruth's security lies in the uniqueness of Boaz, in precisely the same way that the promise of our rest and security lie in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth, therefore, had to come to this particular person.

Ruth Came To the Right Place

Boaz, then, was the one who could change Ruth's whole life. But if he is to do so, Ruth must go to see him at a particular place. Naomi asks Ruth to wash herself and to put her clean clothing on her and to go down to the threshing floor. It was the end of the harvest, and at the end of the harvest there came the time for threshing the corn, for separating the kernel from the husk, separating what was inside and valuable from what was outside and unnecessary. Threshing depended to a large extent on the breeze; the sieve was used to separate the wheat from the chaff by tossing the corn into the air and over the sieve. The breeze would carry the chaff away and leave the wheat. The threshing time, therefore, was a time of separation at the end of the harvest.

It was also a time for festivity. A great deal of energy was expended at harvest time. Once it was gathered in, responsibilities were over, workers could relax, and there would be a party. Naomi knew that after the festivities of the threshing, Boaz would be at the threshing floor, and Ruth could go to him there.

It seems to me that in the Bible, the threshing floor is a very significant place. It's the place where the corn is sifted, and where the husk and the kernel, the wheat and the chaff are separated from one another. It's the place where what has been gathered can be separated. Then, what is of use can be kept and made into food, and what is of no use can be discarded, or used as fuel. Throughout the Old Testament there are times when the threshing floor becomes the place where God deals finally and climactically with men and women.

For example, you will recall that on one occasion David was tempted to number the people of Israel. God told him not to number them, but David yielded to the temptation and numbered them. God told David that what he had done was wrong; it was a sin, and God gave David three choices: three years of famine, three months of war or three days of pestilence. David was at the threshing floor of Ornan when God came to him and said, "David, you've got to decide what you want". David cast himself upon the mercy of God and chose the three days of pestilence, which Israel then endured it. The threshing floor was place where God finally and climactically dealt with David and the sins of the people. And the interesting thing was that the site of God's judgement and climactic dealing with David's sin was the very place where the Temple was going to be built. In another generation Soloman's Temple was built on the very spot of the threshing floor of Ornan (see 2 Chronicles 3:1) where God dealt finally and definitively with David.

The same was true of Gideon. God came to Gideon and called Gideon to be a judge over Israel. Gideon refused to entertain the thought and said, "No, I'm the least of my father's house and my family is not great in Israel." Here was a man wrestling with a call of God in his life, and what is he doing? He is threshing wheat (Judges 6:11). And he is doing it secretly, so that the Midianites will not steal the wheat from them. Here it is again: at the threshing floor God separates Gideon, winnows away all his self-interest and all that is a barrier between Gideon and his service for God. So the threshing floor becomes the place where God says, "Gideon, you must follow me, and you must do my will and you must obey me." The threshing floor becomes the place where the scene is set for the deliverance of Israel out of the hand of Midian.

Or think of Peter. Peter too, at one of the most climactic points of his life was on a threshing floor: Peter was on the threshing floor of Satan. Satan has a place where he sifts and where he tests, where he tries the mettle of the people of God. Christ said to Peter, "Satan has desired to have you to sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31). There are places and times and experiences in the people of God where God allows them to go to Satan's threshing floor, where they are tested. God allows them for a time to be in the Devil's sieve. Someone has said that it is better to be in the Devil's sieve than in the Devils's cradle. Jesus wants Peter to be a minister to his brethren -- to comfort and encourage them after the resurrection. For Peter, the best preparation for ministry is on that spiritual threshing floor, where all the self-confidence and self-reliance of Peter has to be sifted away.

Indeed, the final judgement is represented in exactly in this way. When the nations are gathered before him and God sends the angels to gather his elect from all the corners of the earth, it will be like the reapers gathering in the corn from the field. The wheat and the tares that grew together till the time of harvest, will all be brought to God's threshing floor, and he will separate chaff from wheat (cf Matthew 3:12; 13:30). There are many who have nothing more than an external profession of religion with no internal reality. But God says "This is of no use to me" and at his threshing floor of judgement God will separate the sham from the real. The wicked are like chaff which winds drive to and fro, whereas the righteous will stand in the judgement (Psalm 1:5-6).

Do you see -- the threshing floor is the place of decision, it's the place where God deals definitively with men and women, the place where God enters into final resolution with his own people. And the threshing floor of Boaz was to be the place where Ruth would find the peace and the security and the rest that her soul cried out for.

For us, for those who by nature have no security before God, who are without God and without hope in the world, God has a place where he finally resolves the issues that affect the relationship of men and women with God. There is a threshing floor to which God is asking us to come, a place where God deals definitely and finally with every sinner who comes to him.

Where is this threshing floor? Where else but at the cross of Jesus? It is there that God's judgement is poured out on his Son. It is there Christ is made the curse. It is there that sin is dealt with -- blood is shed, and Christ endures the judgement on behalf of his people. There is separation, testing and judgement. Christ says "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46) -- he becomes the cast out one, in order that we might be the brought near ones. God's judgement on his son is in order that a final resolution of man's sin problem will be effected. The reason Jesus is made the curse is that we might have forgiveness and justification. In the Gospel, God asks us to come to the threshing floor of Calvary. That is the place where God is able to deal finally and definitively with all our past, able to wash away every sin and every stain and 'all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:8). So at that cross, Christ asks us 'Who are you?' and deals with us personally and effectively. Justice is satisfied. Judgement becomes the basis for mercy, and mercy is expressed in the willingness of the Son to become the substitute and to bear our sins.

So Naomi directs Ruth to go to the man who can redeem her. If she is to have security she must go to Boaz. And if it is to be well with our soul, we too must go to the man who alone can redeem. But where is he to be found? It is interesting, is it not, that Naomi gives three explicit directions to Ruth about where she will find the man who can redeem.

She says to Ruth first of all, "Mark the place where he lies." There he was at the end of the harvest with all his servants and his fellow labourers around him at the place of the threshing floor. And Naomi says to Ruth, "Mark the place where he lies". Does the Bible not say the same to us about about the redeemer? It asks us to mark the place where the redeemer lies. It asks us to come to the infallible and inerrant pages of Scripture if our soul is going to find peace and forgiveness and satisfaction, and there we can mark out and trace out in the word of God, the place where the redeemer lies.

See where he lies as an infant in the manger, dependent on the ministry of his mother to feed him and to clothe him and to look after him. Here is the second person of the Godhead. He has entered into our nature, he has entered into our world and into the stream of human history. He has come from the outside and he is lying there as a child in the manger. Love has taken him this great distance to Bethlehem's manger.

And then you must mark out where he lies in death on the cross. You must mark out where he goes, where he has his final place, where he is seen before the eyes of men conspicuous in his death, watched by thousands as the spectacle of their scorn and ridiculed at Calvary's cross. He does not have a quiet screened-off bed in the corner of a hospital ward; not for him a place surrounded y the warmth of his family and friends. His place of death is full of mocking and scorn. He is there as an object of comedy; he is there to be looked at; he is there to be spat upon; he is there to be laughed at. Mark out where he lies, dying and dead, as the Saviour of Calvary.

Then trace where he lies in the cold of the tomb, sealed there and guarded there; his body is put there, handled so lovingly by these people who were secret disciples until their service calls them. And out of their closets come Nicodemus and Joseph to do what they can for Jesus while there is still time to do something for Jesus. Joseph gives him his tomb, and his arms carry him, to the grave. There Jesus lies, in his state of humiliation, continuing under the power of death for a little time. There he is "tasting death", in the words of Hebrews, grappling with death, taking the sting out of death.

Just as Ruth needed to mark the place where Boaz lay, we too need to mark where our Redeemer lies. We cannot know salvation, or peace, or security, until we have seen him bowing under the weight of the great work of salvation, reaching down to a world of need, to the cross of Calvary, to the grave itself. If we are to come to him, we must come to him there.

Then, secondly, Naomi said to Ruth, "uncover his feet". "Mark the place where he shall lie, and go in, and uncover his feet". That's the place for Ruth - at the feet of the redeemer, the feet of the kinsman redeemer. And the Gospel bids us do the same. You too must uncover the feet of the redeemer-Jesus. Watch the path that these feet have trodden. Realise that this redeemer came purposely in to this world in order to save. It's not a work that was thrust upon him in the years of his maturity or adulthood -- it's a work that was given to him before the dawning of the ages. And he came into the world walking the path of God's will and obedience to Jehovah. At the age of twelve he knows that he is about his father's business. At thirty he says to the world, "This is the father's will which sent me that of all that he has given me, I should lose none" (John 6:37-9).

And as the shadows lengthen over the life of the Saviour and the cross comes nearer, Mary comes, another New Testament Ruth, to Jesus, and anoints him, and washes his feet. In fact, it is interesting that the three times we meet Mary in the New Testament, she is found at the feet of Jesus. When she entertains Jesus in her home, she sits at his feet to hear his word (Luke 10:39). When Lazarus dies, she falls at Jesus' feet (John 11:32) to unburden herself following the death of her brother. And on Passover week she anoints Jesus' feet with the precious ointment (John 12:3). Mary has learned the value of coming to Jesus' feet. She can learn there, and weep there, and worship and serve there. And her anointing of his feet is so significant. More than the disciples themselves, she has learned that he is going to the cross. His hands and feet are to be pierced because of the sins of men and women in order that sins might be forgiven. His body will not be available for anointing afterwards, so Mary anoints his feet for burial beforehand. She has learned the secret of peace -- the peace that comes from the Saviour who will die on her behalf.

Listen to him when he rises with triumph over the death and over the grave, and he appears to the disciples and says to them "It is I. Behold my hands and my feet" (Luke 24:39). Jesus' feet were offered in evidence of his risen victory. My friend, uncover the feet of your redeemer! He is risen! He is alive! There is no salvation without a vision of Jesus. And there is no rest for the soul of a sinner until he comes face to face with the risen Saviour, who says "Behold my hands and feet -- a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see me have" (Luke 24:39). The resurrection is the seal on his saving work, the basis of the hope he gives, and the assurance of the salvation he imparts.

Then, thirdly, Naomi said, "Lie down and wait." That's the language of absolute humility, of absolute subjection. Naomi says to Ruth, "Wait there at the feet of Boaz." There were things Ruth had to do -- no-one could go to the threshing-floor for her. She had to go there herself. But Naomi was absolutely confident that once there, Boaz would tell her what to do (3:4). It was precisely because Boaz alone could effect the redemption that Ruth needed to make use of this opportunity and go to the threshing floor of Boaz that very night. This was the accepted time; this was Ruth's day of grace.

It is absolutely fundamental, that if we are going to find rest for our soul, we can only find it by shaking off self and lying down at the feet of Jesus Christ. And there is an urgency about the Gospel which means that we dare not delay dealing with this great issue. For Ruth, there was only one redeemer and she had to see him that very night. For you too, there is only one Saviour -- and we must go to him immediately. It is one thing to know that he is there -- but it is something else to put faith in exercise and go to him, and deal with him person to person.

So Ruth did as she was counselled, and at midnight she uncovered the feet of Boaz. Perhaps the exposure of his feet to the cold stirred him; at any rate, he woke and saw that a woman lay there. It was at that point that Boaz asked Ruth "Who art you?". I don't think that Boaz failed to recognised her. I think he asked her to identify herself in order to uncover the reasons that led her here at this point and at this time and in this place. What is it that is so troubling her that it has brought her here at midnight when the rest are sleeping? When Ruth is asked "Who are you?" Boaz is really saying, "What is it that's leading you here?"

Well, what was it that was leading her there? Why did she come to follow these directives that Naomi had given her and these signposts that had pointed her to Boaz and where he was? Well, she came with a sense of great need. She came because there was nothing else that she could do. To whom else could she go? Boaz alone had the promise of security and of hope and of rest for her soul. There is a redeemer who alone can deal with the fundamental issue of our estrangement from God, who alone is able definitively and finally to take away every spot and every stain and make us into what we cannot make ourselves. She came in great need.

Have we experienced this sense of need that drives sinners to Christ? Without that sense of need, we will never come to Christ. If the world can satisfy us with what it has to offer, we will sense no need for Christ, we will not come to Christ. But every sinner who ever came to Christ came in their need. The world develops within us a sense of independence, of 'needless-ness'. But there is a real need, and only Christ can satisfy and meet that great need.

So Ruth came to Boaz with great need. But she also came with great boldness. She is pushing the boundaries of decency to their limit by coming at this hour of the night to Boaz. Some might question her integrity and her motives. But Ruth is restless. The matter needs to be settled. There is an urgency. She can't leave it off. She's got to deal with it now, and deal with it finally, once for all. That's why she comes so boldly, even in the night's silent watches, to lie at the feet of Boaz.

It may be that you do appreciate your need, but the devil robbed from you a long time ago a sense of urgency. Perhaps there was a time in your life when you sensed your need as a sinner and knew then that you must be saved, but you let that moment go. And now you've drifted along into a comfortable lifestyle that has eroded the cutting edge of the Gospel's call, because the Gospel says to you to come now and to come boldly to Christ. The Gospel says that there is life for you now, and there is rest for you now, and there is security for you now, and there is a Saviour for you to come to now, and there is a sacrifice which is sufficient and efficient if you come now. There is blood that will atone now. And there is a dead Christ for you to come to now, because it's a dead Christ you need, a Christ who's dead at Calvary, for sinners, to save sinners, whose blood can atone. That Christ is dead at Calvary for you to come to now. Let others question your integrity and motives. But let the need fuel the boldness. Let the urgency fuel the boldness. Let the immediacy of the issue remove anything that would tempt us to postpone settling matters between us and God. So Ruth came, in great need, with great boldness, to the right person, at the right time, and in the right place. She came to the threshing floor of Boaz.

Ruth Came With the Right Petition

What is Ruth's request? There is one thing she asks: "Spread your robe over me and make me yours." It's the same image that God uses in Ezekiel 16:8, where God pictures his church as a child left to die by the roadside. God said, "I came along in a time of love, and I spread my robe over you, and I made you mine". That is what Boaz does. There is an interesting wordplay between the Hebrew word for the corner of Boaz's garment in 3:4 and the word meaning 'wing' in 2:12. There, Boaz had blessed the Lord that Ruth had come to rest under the shelter and shadow of Jehovah's wings. That is to be realised when Boaz's garment comes to cover Ruth as a symbol of betrothal and marriage. As one commentator puts it, "this association assumes a theological connection between the two: Boaz's covering of Ruth ... implements Yahweh's [Jehovah's] protective covering of her". Security will come through redemption, and redemption will be made good to Ruth through marriage.

Ruth is given a guarantee: the robe of her redeemer covers her. And it is still the case that a sinner requires nothing more, and can do with nothing less, than the covering of the robe of the redeemer at the feet of Jesus Christ. So in the morning, Ruth comes back to Naomi. Naomi asks the same question, "Who art you?" It's almost as if she has gone through a total transformation. Matters have been brought to a head. The promise of rest has been given. Ruth will not be the same again. And there is no sinner who comes to Jesus for him to deal with sin who is not changed. So Naomi asks, "Who art you?" And Ruth reveals to Naomi the six measures of barley which Boaz gave her. Naomi says, "He will do the thing". These measures of barley were a pledge, folded in the veil of Ruth, that Boaz would fulfill the promise he made at the threshing-floor in that midnight meeting.

Those who have found the Lord, who have entrusted the care of their soul to Christ, know what it is to have tokens of his love and assurances of his saving grace folded away in the depth of their heart. And when the devil comes to you saying that your conversion was a sham and that you cannot be a Christian at all, remember the promises God made you, and the times he spoke to you. Let your mind dwell on what Christ has given you from his word to assure you of the promise which you have accepted by faith. He has covered you with his robe and brought you into a bond of marriage and union with himself, and folded away in your soul are these pledges of his love and grace.

There was, however, a difficulty -- the fact that there was an unnamed relative who was closer in blood tie than Boaz. Boaz was not the closest relation. But Naomi knows that Boaz will settle the matter. It is interesting that the chapter opens and closes with Naomi speaking. Naomi has become the minister, counseller and guide of Ruth. She said to Ruth at the outset "Shall I not find security for you...?" but she closes the chapter saying "He will settle the matter today". Ruth needs rest and security, but the focus of the chapter moves from what Naomi wants to do (verse 1) to what Boaz will certainly do (verse 18). The focus, as in all good preaching, moves from preacher to redeemer. Indeed, the chapter could end on no greater note than this -- "he will settle the matter today". And if that was true of the redeemer in the fields of Bethlehem long ago, how much more is it true of the child of Bethlehem who is the redeemer of God's people. Jesus will settle the matter for all those who trust him, whatever problems and difficulties there may be in the way.

© Iain D. Campbell 2001