The Story Of Ruth And Naomi, The Wedding

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the wedding. The turning point behind the story of Ruth and Naomi. Through the story, we have been the witnesses of where faith and obedience take the sincere hearts. Let’s see how God’s powerful hands orchestrated this beautiful ending…

At the town gate

While Ruth was telling Naomi all about her amazing experience from the night before, Boaz went up to the town gate. The guardian redeemer, who Boaz told Ruth about during the night, was passing by… Boaz called him over and asked him to take a seat. Boaz also called ten elders of the town and asked them to take seat as well. Once all were seated and ready to listen, Boaz addressed Naomi’s recent situation, in front of them all.

He went on and explained how Naomi had just come back from the foreign land of Moab. That Naomi was now selling the piece of land which belonged to Elimelech, their late relative. Boaz proceed by asking the guardian redeemer, if he would be interested in purchasing the piece of land or not, and make it official in front of everyone. If he was not interested Boaz assured him that he was going to take the lead and redeem it for himself, as he was the next suitor in line. The man hastily said ” I will redeem it”.

Boaz agreed, then mentioned to the man that the day he would purchase the land from Naomi, he would also have to redeem the widow Ruth, the Moabite. All in order to maintain the name of the deceased with his property. After hearing about all what a simple transaction of a piece of land involved, the man instantly declined his redemption right. He stated that it might endanger his own estate and was suddenly, no longer interested in this transaction, to Boaz’ great surprise!

The witnesses

After the man had articulate his final decision, then came the time to proceed and complete the well-awaited transaction! The custom in ancient times, in Israel, to confirm the redemption and transfer of property, was that one party had to remove his shoe and give it to the other party. So that is exactly what happened. The redeemer removed his shoe, thus, legalized the transfer. Boaz with great joy and contentment said to the leaders and all the people there:

” Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from hometown. Today you are my witnesses!”

Ruth 4: 9,10

All the people who were at the gates, along with the elders all said ” We are witnesses”. As witnesses, they expressed with great joy and happiness, multiple words of wisdom and blessings, to the newly weds. First, they prayed the Lord, may bless Ruth as He had blessed Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. Secondly, they prayed they may do well in Ephrata and be famous in Bethlehem. Finally, it is recorded that they prayed for their progeny, asking the Lord to bless their offspring in great abundance !

Words to live by

Before the earth was formed, God knew the fate of Ruth and Boaz. The way He put those two together, is wonderful to see and an example for us christians. After the loss of her husband, Ruth did not start looking for a new husband to take care of her. By no means, did she worry about her present condition. Instead, she decided to put her trust in the Lord and focus on helping the needy ones and serving them. Ruth focused on making other people’s lives better by her candor, her presence and obedience. She was solely concerned about Naomi’s well-being and comfort. As we saw earlier, Ruth worked hard in the field, to make sure Naomi would have sufficient food and care. She was following God’s principles and studying His Law and was focusing on listening to Naomi’s words of wisdom and counsels.

This is exactly the main point of interest, every single women should have. God, serving others, being a blessing to all and let the Lord take the lead, for His glory. No matter what the Lord has in store for a single woman, whether it be marriage or not, may we all let the Lord orchestrate the events of our lives. Because we know that before the world was formed, our fate was already before The Great I Am.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, them who are called according to his purpose. 

Romans 8:28