Title: Proposal
Ruth 3:6-9
She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had commanded. Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was happy, so he went and lay down by the rag. Ruth went quietly and laid down with her feet blanket. And he lay at his feet and said, "Who are you?" And he answered, "I am your maid, Ruth, and cover your maid with the hem of your robe, for you are the ruler of our inheritance."
Naomi directed her mother-in-law Ruth to do what she hoped would go well. Now let's see what Ruth does.
3:6, "She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had commanded."
Ruth obeyed Naomi, prepared everything and went down to the threshing floor. The threshing place was in the middle of the mountain. If you go to Jerusalem or Bethlehem, the village is on top of a mountain. Ruth descends from the mountaintop village to the threshing floor at the foot of the mountain.
Ruth did everything Naomi had commanded. What did Naomi command? He told them to bathe first, anoint them second, and go down with clothes third. Ruth obeyed Naomi's words. It is wonderful that Ruth honored her mother by gleaning diligently, but it was also beautiful that she obeyed her mother's words. The Bible says that obedience is better than sacrifice.
1 Samuel 15:22, "Samuel said, "Does the LORD take delight in burnt offerings and other sacrifices, as does the obedience of his voice? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hear is better than the fat of rams."
We, too, must be people who obey God's word and obey the words of our superiors. That way you will be blessed. Trying to do well on my own is of no use. You must always be a person who can obey.
In verse 7, we see that Boaz is doing what Naomi expected. Things are going the way Naomi predicted.
3:7, "Boaz ate and drank, and his heart was glad, so he went and lay down by the sack. Ruth went quietly, took the blanket at her feet, and lay down there."
What he ate or what he drank is not listed, but he must have ate to his full and drank too much wine. It would have felt good. Your heart would have been happy. He must have been full and his face was burning with the wine he drank. You can see many stars in the sky. A breeze is blowing. Did Boaz go home with a happy heart? It wasn't. You have to get up early tomorrow morning and work hard. And you must also keep the harvest. So where did you lie?
"He was lying down by the sack."
After the harvest is over, the piles of grain are piled up. You must keep this. Who lies beside the heaps of wheat? The owner lies down. If someone else is lying down, there is a risk that you will be questioned unnecessarily.
What did Ruth do when Boaz lay down? I went quietly. It would have crept in without anyone noticing it. But can you hear this in your ears? "Boom! Boom!" What do you mean? It's the sound of Ruth's heart beating. What did Ruth do as she approached cautiously?
“He took the blanket at his feet and lay there.”
Ruth did not go and lie down beside Boaz, but at his feet. It was said that lying under your feet means that you have a wish and a wish to say. We kneel down at Jesus' feet and pray. It is to fulfill the wishes of our hearts.
Let's see what happened.
3:8, "In the middle of the night the man was astonished and turned and saw a woman lying at her feet."
What do you start with? "At night." It happened in the middle of the night, at midnight. It's midnight. According to the Bible, midnight, midnight is the time when history takes place.
Exodus 12:29, "In the middle of the night the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the prisoners and the firstborn of livestock."
Judges 16:3, "Samson lay down until midnight, and got up in the middle of the night, took the gates, the two posts, and the bar, and carried them all over his shoulders, and went to the top of the mountain in front of Hebron."
Job 34:20, "They die in an instant in the middle of the night; the people tremble and pass away, and the mighty are put aside without a hand."
It was the middle of the night when God traveled through Egypt to strike the firstborn of Egypt. In Matthew 25, the bridegroom came in the middle of the night. He came in the middle of the night when all ten virgins were asleep.
Matthew 25:6, "In the middle of the night there came a voice, Behold, the bridegroom, come out to meet him."
Boaz was surprised while he was sleeping. Perhaps when Boaz was sleeping, he could feel the cold air coming into the quilt. Because Ruth was lying down, a cold wind came in at her feet. It's cool and I pull the duvet, but it doesn't pull well, so something gets stuck at my feet as I roll up and down. So startled, I woke up and found a woman lying there. How could you tell in the middle of the night that you were a woman? The dark but beautiful scent of perfume, the long hair, and the figure made you think you were a woman, right?
How did Boaz react now? Do you think Boaz would have asked what kind of bread this is with a sinister laugh? Or, like Ruth, with a red face and not being able to speak properly? Or was it that he yelled at me that this was a bad thing?
3:8, "Who are you?"
Boaz asked Ruth who she was. At 2:5, Boaz's question was a little different.
"Boaz said to the servant with the cuters, Whose girl is this?"
In the past, I asked "Who are you?", but here I asked, "Who are you?" What is your name? I ask you in the hopes of a quick answer. What was Ruth's answer to this?
"I am your maid Ruth."
I replied that it was your maid. Look again at Ruth 2:13.
"Ruth said, "My lord, I want to find favor with you. I am not like one of your maids."
In the original Hebrew, the handmaiden of 3:9 and the handmaiden of 2:13 are different words. The maid in 2:13 is a fully working, unmarried maid, and the maid in 3:9 is a maid of some higher status who can marry. What did Ruth say? "I am your maid Ruth, so I can marry you."
"Cover the maid with the hem of your robe."
This means to propose. They say, "Marry me." Find the Bible cross-references attached to "clothes" here. It is marked to look at Ezekiel 16:8.
Ezekiel 16:8, “As I passed by you, I saw that your days were lovely, and I covered you with my robe and covered your nakedness, and I swore to you and made a covenant to make you mine, saith the Sovereign LORD.”
This is what God said symbolically about things related to marriage. To cover one's nakedness by covering it with a hem means to get married. Conversely, look for the following verses:
Deuteronomy 22:30, "A man shall not take his father's offspring and expose his father's nakedness."
Deuteronomy 27:20, "Anyone who seeks a stepmother shall say, Cursed is he for revealing his father's nakedness, and all the people shall say, Amen."
These verses in Deuteronomy are the opposite of covering with a hem. Covering the hem is a normal, legal marriage, and revealing the cloak is a divorce. Even now, if you go to the Middle East, when a man likes a woman and wants to marry you, he symbolically throws his clothes. Then it means I want to marry you. In the case of Koreans, when they say, "I will obey my parents," does it mean that they want to get married?
An important word follows. After saying, “Cover your maid with the hem of your robe,” Ruth added:
“You are the one who will take over our inheritance.”
“It is not for me that I am offering you this daring and courageous marriage proposal, but for my poor and poor mother-in-law Naomi. Please grant the poor mother-in-law's request." How beautiful is that heart? Originally, Naomi was worried about Ruth's future, so she planned to marry Ruth and Boaz. However, contrary to Naomi's thoughts, Ruth intends to marry Boaz for Naomi's sake. Ruth's feelings of devoting, sacrificing, and giving up on her poor mother-in-law, even for her own happiness, not living for herself, but for others, cannot but be beautiful. So the book of Ruth is beautiful.
As husbands, wives, parents, and children, we should not only think of ourselves, but also our husbands, our children, and our parents. If I can sacrifice myself and my whole family can be peaceful and happy, then I must become a person who can do that. I hope that all of you today can live a life where you can give yourself up for others.