The Story of Joseph Part 4--Sold

 Genesis 37: 18-28

Jacob had sent his youngest of his 11 sons, Joseph, to search for his brothers who were shepherding the flock miles away from home, and he finally found them. 

(18) When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 

While Joseph was still some distance away from them, they recognized him, and before he could hear what they were saying, they plotted to put him to death. This is some serious negative passion being expressed here, this family is very dysfunctional. This will not be the only "sin" these brothers will commit against the family. 

(19) They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer! 

(20) "Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, 'A wild beast devoured him.' Then let us see what will become of his dreams!" 

They were thinking about the dreams Joseph had told them about, with their sheaves and the stars representing them bowing down to Joseph as though he were a king they would do obeisance to. They already hated him for being their father's favorite, and they resented him and were jealous of him. They couldn't see anything about him to say anything nice about. 

(21) But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life." 

(22) Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"--that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father. 

But Reuben tried to talk them out of it. He wanted to make sure that he could be brought back home again to his father. So he rescued him from immediate death. 

(23) it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 

(24) and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. 

(25) Then they sat down to eat a meal. 

By the time Joseph came to them, they had decided, and they grabbed him, tore off his fancy robe, and threw him into a hole in the ground, a dry cistern. Then they sat down to leisurely eat their lunch, a meal Joseph could have brought to them. How cold! What unfeeling apathy! 

And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 

While they ate, they looked up and saw a caravan approaching. 

(26) Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 

(27) "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him. 

Now Judah speaks up, as he sees an opportunity to gain a profit off of selling their brother into slavery. And they all listened to his "good idea." So Judah also saved his life, from being left to die in the pit. 

(28) Then some Midianite traders passed by, 

They are Ishmaelites by bloodlines, and they are Midianites by where they come from geographically. These are the samy guys, people. 

so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. 

Twenty shekels of silver was the price of a slave. A shekel was twenty gerahs (Exodus 30: 13; Ezekiel 45: 12), which came to 2/5ths of a troy ounce of silver, or about eleven dollars that they received for him.  

Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt. 

So these traders brought Joseph into Egypt as a slave to be sold on the block. 

His brothers thought they'd never see Joseph again. Little did they know, until years later, that their evil scheming would set up everyone for where God wanted them to be! 

God is so wise and smart and clever that He uses even evil and destructive decisions to further His will for all of us, for our good, both now and forever. And He will have all the credit, all the glory for He planned all of it out ahead of time. 

O my Father, You knew what would happen, and how Your chosen people would be, and You still gave them every advantage. 

Now today, Father, now that Your Son has come to be our Lamb of God to die for us, and You raised Him from the dead, now You give us even more advantage than Israel, in giving us Your own Holy Spirit to live in each of us. Now we have Your Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Strength, Spirit of Wisdom, Your very Spirit of Life itself. 

My Father, You gave us Joseph to see so much of Christ's character. So far, we've seen his unquestioning obedience to his father Jacob, and his betrayal by those who were close to him, his own brothers, being sold as a slave. 

Father, You have loved Your Son as Jacob loved Joseph. Jesus obeyed You every moment and every step He took, and every word out of His mouth, and every act and miracle, and even His death was in obedience to Your will. And He was also betrayed and sold by His close friend, His own disciple. 

O Father, send out Your messengers and missionaries to all the world. Let every living person hear and respond to Your Love, Your generous and gracious gift, to seek You, and accept Your Salvation; or to reject You and suffer the consequences. 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen. 

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

The Story Of Joseph Part 3--Obedience

 Genesis 37: 12-17

We just learned that Joseph was one of twelve sons of Jacob, and that because he was the baby, he was his father's favorite; which caused his brothers to be jealous of him, and think badly of him. 

Then he had a couple of dreams that made them dislike him even more. 

(12) Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem. 

We see here that they were shepherds. 

(13) Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go." 

(14) Then he said to him, "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 

Joseph was not working with his brothers, he was left at home when they went out, and Jacob sends him out, maybe with a lunch for them, to see how they're doing, and he obeys his father and goes. 

(15) A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, "What are you looking for?" 

(16) He said, "I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock." 

(17) Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 

Some unnamed guy sees him looking kind of aimless, and asks him what he's doing, so he goes all the way to Dothan to take his brothers their lunch. He doesn't have any problem being the errand boy here, and goes as far as he needs to execute his mission for his father. 

Everything we've seen about Joseph up to this point is directly leading to how he will end up in Egypt. It has to be God's hand that is guiding this young man's steps. Even though Jesus will not derive from Joseph's line, but of his brother Judah's, Joseph is still a type of Jesus, in so many ways. 

O my Father, please help us to realize that we all as Your children need to be illustrations of the character of our Lord Jesus. Teach us how to think Your thoughts, to have Your attitudes, and to accomplish Your will for each of us as we live our lives. 

O Father, help us to understand that when other people act against us, to realize that it's not to harm us, but to bring about good for everyone. Even if they intended it to harm us. Your purposes will be accomplished through our choices, and when we cooperate with You and not let others upset us, but continue to trust You through it, then You will even reward us for what we're doing in Your power. 

Father, send out Your children as Your messengers and missionaries, to share with everyone how much You love us all. Let every person hear to want to know You, and draw near to You. Fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable family, Father. 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

The Story Of Joseph Part 2--Dreams

 Genesis 37: 5-11

The Dreamer.

God often gave dreams to certain chosen ones, especially before Scripture was written. 

(5) Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 

(6) He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; 

(7) for behold we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf." 

(8) Then his brothers said to him, Are you actually going to reign over us? Are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and his words. 

Who else would he share this information with, but those he lived with, and who were in the dream. But it didn't help with the relationship he had with his brothers. They already hated him.

(9) Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." 

(10) He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?" 

(11) His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. 

Now God repeated the dream to him, and included his parents, also. Would these dreams come true, were they a prophecy? All he can do is just remember that he had the dreams and wait and see what would happen. 

His brothers were jealous of him, taking their father's love, but was it his own fault? His father Jacob responded as though Joseph was thinking more of himself than he should, but he just kept it in mind. 

Here we see that God is already working in Joseph's thinking, maybe to encourage him later when hard times come. It will be many years he will have to hold on, so God is preparing him for what is to come. 

O my Father, You are so good to all of Your created beings. You made Mankind to be Your own children, and You do everything possible, and even the impossible, to draw Your chosen ones to Yourself, while still allowing us to make a free choice. 

When You show Yourself to someone, though, how can we not be entranced and enamoured with You? How can we not draw closer to You, and want to love you back? 

You gave Joseph such an encouragement to sustain him when You knew how much he would have to suffer before he would be able to enjoy prosperity. 

And, Father, You gave me the desire to share Your love with people all over the world. And it has been many years, and I am still wanting to be Your foreign missionary! Father, are you just sending my writings abroad, or are they going ahead of me? Will you be sending me out there? 

O Father, send out all of your children, to every living person! They all need to hear from Your messengers and missionaries who can carry Your story, Your love, everywhere, into every nation! Everybody needs to hear, and open their minds and hearts to understand how much You love everyone! So they will be able to choose to turn to you, while they still have a free choice, before You allow the enemy to deceive them in such a way that they will no longer have freedom of choice, and cannot turn to You! 

My Father, bring all of Your embryonic children to the birth into Your own family, and fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable progeny! 

And at the end, every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come! 

The Story Of Joseph Part 1--Coat Of Many Colors

Jacob (Israel) had 12 sons, who became the 12 Tribes of Israel. I will write about one of these sons, Joseph, who led a very remarkable life. 

Genesis 37: 2-4

(2) Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 

(3) Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 

(4) His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. 

This does not look like a very good beginning. When he's still a kid, he tells on his big brothers, and probably got them in trouble. 

And, because he's the baby, their father favored him, and made him a "coat of many colors" which was probably a long, full-length coat with long sleeves. This word is also used of the "kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore" later in II Samuel 13: 18-19, talking of one of King David's daughters. So this was a very distinguished piece of clothing. 

This caused his brothers to resent him and dislike him so much that they couldn't even say anything nice about him. 

This looks like a pretty dysfunctional family. We will see how God uses this dysfunction to have them act out His plan in their lives. 

O my Father, since you showed us that You can use dysfunction in this family, then You can also use the dysfunction in my family, too. Please call all of my family members into Your own family, also. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Happily Ever After!

 Ruth 4: 13-22

This little love story actually began when Ruth decided that the real God was the God of Israel and gave her love and allegiance to the Lord, when she came with Naomi to Judah from Moab. 

Being a poor widow without a man to support her, she needed to get a job, to work for food for herself and her mother-in-law to eat, so she began to glean some grain that the reapers had left, in a field that she just happened to find. 

Lo and behold, who would own that very field, but a relative of Ruth's deceased husband, who qualified to be a go-el,  "kinsman-redeemer," and he had even noticed her and given her extra favors. 

So Naomi advises her in a very bold and risky plan to let Boaz know what his options were, and to leave the outcome with him. 

Well, Boaz has been watching this beautiful, exotic girl all summer, and when she showed up after the harvest party, asking him to marry her, he wasted no time to seal the deal, convincing the "closer relative" to give up the foreign girl! So Boaz bought all of their property and claimed Ruth the Moabitess to be his wife, and their prospects for happiness were very bright. 

(13) So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 

Boaz married Ruth, and even though she had not conceived during her 10-year marriage to Mahlon, God opened her womb now, and she had a little boy! 

(14) Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. 

These are the women who witnessed Naomi's despair when she first got home to Bethlehem, and they are rejoicing with her at God turning everything around for her, providing this grandson, who will grow up to take care of her. And they bless this baby with fame and popularity. 

(15) "May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him." 

They recognize that having this grandson will encourage her discouragement, giving her back her life, and bring joy and sustenance to carry her in old age. And that her dead son's wife has given her more than a whole passel of sons, in loving her so much and obeying her which led to having this son. 

(16) Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. 

This doesn't mean that Naomi was a wet-nurse, which was not possible, but the word used here, aman, means that she "cared for him" as a guardian. 

Some scholars have taken this as a ceremony in formally adopting this child as her own, but it may have been just a loving grandmother delighting in her first grandchild. 

(17) The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi!" So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

This is a different group of women, these are Naomi's close neighbors, rather than the acquaintances who lived in the town. These friends are the ones who named him, which is the only example of a child being named by someone other than the immediate family. The name means "a servant," probably as an indication that he would serve Naomi in enriching her life. 

(18) Now here are the generations of Perez: to Perez was born Hezron,

(19) and to Hezron was born Ram, and to Ram, Amminadab, 

(20) and to Amminadab was born Nahshon, and to Nahshon, Salmon,

(21) And to Salmon was born Boaz, and to Boaz, Obed, 

(22) And to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David. 

This genealogy expands the brief account in V. 17, giving the whole line from Perez, the son of Judah. This line was honored by God in choosing David to be the king over Israel, but it was already honored with Nahshon being a prince of the house of Judah, also, in Moses' time (Numbers 7:10, 12). 

This list agrees with the accounts of Jesus' ancestry lists in Matthew 1: 3-6 and Luke 3: 31-33. 

O my Father, You are so good to all of us. Thank You for this beautiful love story, that demonstrates so wonderfully how our Redeemer rescues us, the foreign outsiders! You are Love, and even romantic love! You called Israel your wife, who was repeatedly unfaithful to You with other demonic gods; and now the church is the bride of Christ, the Bridegroom, looking forward to the Wedding Feast, and so romantic! 

Father, You had Solomon also give us the Song of Songs, but this little tale puts it all in a nutshell. You love us so passionately, even our Lord's death on the Cross is called His Passion. Help us to see and understand these romantic concepts clearly, without any of the distortion the world puts on it. 

O Father, help us to see our relationships with one another through Your pure eyes, to not allow anything in that would sully our friendships or our romantic entanglements. Keep the marriage bed pure, and guard us from overstepping the bounds of Your narrow road our feet trod. 

My Father, help us to enjoy the one-flesh pleasures innocently as we anticipate the one-Spirit marriage with You forever. Let us understand the pictures You give us to see Your spiritual realities that You are preparing for us. 

O my Father God, send out your children while it is still today, to share Your love with every living person before tomorrow, when they will not be able to hear. Show us how to bring every embryo to the birth into Your family, Father, to fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable family. 

And eventually every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Messiah, our Bridegroom, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

He Carries The Ball

 Ruth 4: 1-12

Last night Boaz tells Ruth not to worry because he will take the ball and do for her everything she needs to have done. 

And Naomi assured Ruth that Boaz "will not rest until he has settled it today." 

In a small town like Bethlehem, everybody went through the city gate, which served as the courtroom where legal transactions were conducted. It's morning now and Boaz lets no grass grow under his feet, first thing he's there at the gate, looking for the "closer relative." 

(1) Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, "Turn aside, friend, sit down here." And he turned aside and sat down. 

He immediately sees the guy he needs to deal with, and calls him over. 

(2) He took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down. 

Then he convenes the legal witnesses for the transaction. 

(3) Then he said to the closest relative, "Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 

(4) "So I thought to inform you, saying, 'Buy it before those who are sitting here, and before the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if not, tell me that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am after you.'" And he said, "I will redeem it." 

So he lays out the presentation for this man to consider, and lets him know that if he chooses not to act on this opportunity, then he will himself. 

So this closer relative figures this would be a good deal, he'll have more fields to gain more wealth, and it would be a good investment. 

(5) Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance." 

But then Boaz informs him that the deal also includes marrying this foreigner. 

(6) The closest relative said. "I cannot redeem it for myself, because I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Redeem it for yourself; you may have my right of redemption, for I cannot redeem it." 

Well, this threw a monkey wrench into the works! He says that he's not able to marry this woman without somehow endangering his own livelihood and future. So he relinquishes the whole right of redemption, and hands it over to Boaz. 

(7) Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel. 

This aside shows that the story was written down sometime after it happened, as it describes a process that was not being done any more by the time it was transcribed. And it also gives us insight into what is going on here, so we can understand it. 

(8) So the closest relative said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself." And he removed his sandal. 

This custom looks like it came from the earlier practice of claiming land by walking on it (see Genesis 13: 17). By giving his shoe away, he is stating that he will not "walk on it," or claim it for himself. 

This case differs from the levirate law (Deuteronomy 25: 5-10) on several accounts:

    1. Here a more distant relative than a brother was expected to marry the widow, 

    2. The kinsman removed his own shoe instead of the rejected widow doing it, and 

    3. Apparently no disgrace was involved, as the significance of removing the shoe here was to seal a legal transaction. 

Here, the "closer relative" removed his shoe, handed it to Boaz, and relinquished all his rights of redemption in this case. 

(9) Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses today that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 

(10) "Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, to be my wife in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased will not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today." 

Now Boaz has legally claimed the right of redemption of all of the land involved, and also the widow of the son of the deceased owner, to marry her and raise up the first son on his grandfather's land. 

(11) All the people who were in the court, and the elders, said, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel; and may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem. 

(12) "Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman." 

And all the people that were gathered there, along with the elders who were legally there, all approved of this whole transaction, especially this marriage; and blessed them with many children and much wealth and even the fame of a widespread reputation among their neighbors in the town. 

Rachel and Leah had the twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel, and Perez was the son of Judah whose descendants became the kings of Israel and Judah. 

So, this is the beginning of a wonderful life. The foundation upon which will be built a marriage and family with far-reaching results through many generations. 

I love this story! I think this is the most tender and touching love story in the whole Bible, and it is a really good illustration of the relationship I have with my espoused Husband! 

Boaz and Ruth are founding their marriage on meeting each others most fundamental human needs. And how they got together is remarkable in that Boaz is her Redeemer, and she is the foreigner who has embraced the real God! Just like Jesus and me! 

I make this personal, because even though God made the whole human race to be His children, He still knows each one of us by name. He loves each one of us personally, and He saves us one by one, individually. And He told Zephaniah that, "The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." (Zephaniah 3: 17.) 

We as the church are the "bride of Christ" and, as He loves each of us individually, this tells us that when He rejoices loudly over us as His bride, His loving us will be quiet, secret, personal, one by one. 

He has given us marriage to picture the intimate relationship He wants to have with us. Earthly marriage is one-flesh, and God blesses that union with children. Our Bridegroom-and-bride relationship with Christ is one-Spirit. I can only imagine what His blessings will produce in that union. Jesus prayed "that they may be one as We are one" (John 17: 11).

When He saves a person, He causes us to be born into His family by His Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit of Life, that is the vitality and power and strength of God. And He lives in each one of us as Christians. One Spirit with Him and with one another. This blows my mind. Just think about it. It will blow your mind, too, when you get the full impact of it! 

O my Father God, You are amazing! You are astounding! That You would make the human race to be Your own children is amazing enough, but that You would give us free will to choose to love You back, and even those of us who do, could never deserve You. Each one of us is born with "original sin," that damaged DNA that we inherit from Adam, and it causes us to commit personal sins against You! 

O Father, we all have gone astray, like dumb sheep; we all have turned our own way, making our own decisions, in our pride, away from You. And yet You have put all of that tremendous burden on Your own Son on the Cross for us! You took that heavy load off of my shoulders that Saturday and placed it onto Jesus at that moment in time, and I felt as light as a feather with it gone! 

Father, You washed me as white as snow in the blood of Christ splattered onto the sides of His altar the Cross! And made me so perfectly and permanently clean that You could live in my spirit as Your Spirit, cutting away the connection between Your Life in me and my body of flesh (Colossians 2: 11), so that I never again am powerless against the onslaught of sinfulness; in my human passions, or in the world around me, or from our enemy the devil, to ever enslave me again in addiction to anything but Your love, Father. 

My Father, Your whole Plan of the Ages includes all of our little personal paths we're walking on, and it will end with our spiritual "marriage" of being one together with You and one another, enjoying all the benefits and bounty and joyfulness and fun of living with You and serving You by helping You rule all the future universes You have in mind throughout all the future eternity! 

Send us all out now, Father, while we are still here, to all the world; to let every living person know about who You are and how much You love us all! Open eyes and hearts in every nation to realize and understand enough to choose to seek You and receive the gracious and generous gift You offer with open arms! 

And eventually every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Bridegroom, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, do come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

Working The Plan

Ruth 3: 6-18

Ruth has been working all summer and now it's the harvest party. Naomi told Ruth to dress up for the party, but hide until Boaz lays down, then be there to ask him to be her kinsman redeemer. A bold plan, that could work out either way. 

(6) So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law had commanded her. 

Ruth is courageous and trusting, and does just exactly what Naomi laid out for her to do. 

(7) When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came secretly, and uncovered his feet and lay down. 

After Boaz is done partying and passes out, that's when Ruth approaches quietly and softly lays herself down across at his feet, like a "T" and covers herself with his cover. 

(8) It happened in the middle of the night that the man was startled and bent forward; and behold, a woman was lying at his feet. 

After he slept off most of the wine, he suddenly sits up and finds her at his feet! Surprise, surprise! 

(9) He said, "Who are you?" And she answered, "I am Ruth your maid. So spread your covering over your maid, for you are a close relative." 

It's dark, the middle of the night, and they have no lights, so he has to ask. And her reply is asking him to be her kinsman redeemer. She shows tremendous bravery to be so bold as this, she's asking him to marry her! 

(10) Then he said, "May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. 

And he is impressed that she would "settle" for an "old man" instead of setting her skirts for a young man closer to her own age. She is asking him to meet her most basic female need, security, and she is giving him what is his most basic male need, admiration and respect, in choosing him over younger men. This is a very good foundation to base their relationship on. 

(11) "Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. 

He tells her not to worry, that he will take up the ball and carry it, to do everything she needs, because of his admiration of her for her sterling reputation. 

(12) "Now it is true I am a close relative; however there is a relative closer than I. 

But he warns her that there is another man who would have first dibs on her, before Boaz. 

(13) Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning." 

He says that only if this other man would refuse, would he be able to do this for her, but if the other guy wants to, then he has the right. In any case, Boaz will do everything he can for her, so just relax, rest until morning, and he will take care of her. No matter what happens, she will be cared for. 

(14) So she lay at his feet until morning and rose before one could recognize another; and he said, "Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor." 

So they both quietly lay back down, and get up while it's still dark, so no one will know the risk she took that could tarnish her reputation. 

(15) Again he said, "Give me the cloak that is on you and hold it." So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. Then she went into the city. 

And before he let her go, he made sure she had plenty. He gave her six measures of barley, an uncertain amount, as the epaph measure varied. It was probably as much as her shawl would hold. 

(16) When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, "How did it go, my daughter?" And she told her all that the man had done for her. 

When she got home, she told Naomi every detail of what went down between her and Boaz, and how everything had been done in the dark so no one else was even aware of her being there, the whole scoop! 

(17) She said, "These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said, 'Do not go to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'" 

And she emptied out her shawl showing his generosity to them. 

(18) Then she said, "Wait, my daughter, until you know how the matter turns out; for the man will not rest until he has settled it today." 

And Naomi assured her that Boaz will do exactly what he said he would do, as soon as possible, that same day, just as she expected. 

Naomi had most likely explained the levirate law to Ruth, but in any case, Boaz certainly understood it, and was willing to do whatever he could to help these women, especially after watching Ruth all summer working in his field. And he was flattered by her performance last night. 

Ruth has been living in Israel now for a while, and has been having interactions with the people of Judah in Bethlehem and in the field, and her reputation among these Jews that she has acquired was golden. She had accepted these people as her own, and she has recognized the God of Israel to be God, and is doing her best to follow His ways, even when she may not fully understand it all. 

And even when it means boldly and courageously stepping out of convention and asking for help. And she was willing to do whatever was right, even if it meant marrying an old man! 

O my Father, this is such a good story! I love reading the drama and the suspense of "what will happen next?" even when I know the story! Both Naomi and Ruth were very godly women, Naomi having been born into the Chosen People, and Ruth having been married into this family and converted to the True Faith. 

O Father, You told Israel not to marry women who were not of Israel, because their pagan religions would draw Your people away from you. But when individual people opened their eyes and recognized You, You accepted them, no matter where they were from, even back in those days (both Ruth and Rahab are even in the bloodline of King David and Jesus of Nazareth, our Redeemer). 

Today, Father, You are calling to Yourself people from every nation of the world to be in Your own family. And one day soon, all Israel will be saved, too, when they see their Messiah coming through the clouds to set His feet on the Mount of Olives! 

O Father God, You are not willing for anyone anywhere at any time to be destroyed, because You made this human race to be Your children. But You are kind and gracious to not force us into Your will, because You don't want puppets! Yes, you can pull our strings as you wish, but You want us to want to love You back. So You will not interfere with our free will, to choose to turn toward You or away from You. And many will turn away, being deceived. 

But there will be so many that will turn toward You, that You will fill Your great house with children that are too many to even be counted! However, You know each one by name! 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ Messiah, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over the whole World; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!