Divine Destiny: Ruth and Boaz come forth
THE THRESHING FLOOR
“A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops to the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat — all because one grain died.”
(John 12:24)
A few days ago, the Lord woke me up from a dream about Ruth and Boaz. I was excited because this is one of my favorite love stories in the Bible, but I knew that Jesus wanted me to teach something very specific. God often speaks to me through dreams, but He expects me to search out the greater meaning.
So I sat on it for a few days and just waited for the Holy Spirit to guide. Finally, He pointed out one particular verse in Ruth 3:2:
“Tonight [Boaz] will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.”
At first glance, I was unclear what made this one piece of scripture so significant, but the Lord revealed a treasure trove of information the deeper I studied. Even if you know this story well, I encourage you to “glean” some new revelation Christ shared.
For those who don’t know the story of Ruth and Boaz, it’s such a beautiful example of a love story that Christ orchestrated between a man and woman. It also points to Jesus Christ — our ultimate Kinsman Redeemer. It’s a perfect example of divine providence.
Although God is never explicitly mentioned in this small book in the Bible, the readers understand that the Lord is putting everything in motion behind the scenes. Ruth and Esther are the only two books in the Bible named after women. What’s fascinating is that both of their redemption stories involved new relationships! They were both the lowest in society and were uprooted from their homes to start over in a new land. However, the Lord created a new identity and restored their lives to transform history! Even all these years later, we can learn a ton about the purpose of Ruth meeting Boaz at the threshing floor.
THE BACKSTORY
There’s a famine in the land and Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi arrive to Bethlehem. At this point, Naomi is bitter and heartbroken and returns to her homeland after losing her husband and two sons. Meanwhile, Ruth is a widow after the death of her own husband and she takes the bold step to follow Naomi into the unknown.
Ruth has a steady assurance that she’s supposed to go and follow. Ruth does not know God at this point, but the Lord has been divinely ordering her steps the entire time.
In Biblical times, widowed women are at a great disadvantage and at high-risk of vulnerability because they can’t protect themselves. Ruth is courageous and determined, so she decides to work in this field to gather the leftover grain.
Unbeknownst to her, she stumbles upon a field belonging to her future boo, Boaz, only she doesn’t know that at the time. She’s just thankful to gather leftovers as she gleans the field and is willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to survive.
She arrives in Boaz’s field at the beginning of the barley harvest, which takes place in spring each year. The grain matures as much as a month before the wheat, so this is likely around late April and early May (Exodus 9:32).
Anyway, Boaz later notices Ruth and tells the others in the field to leave her some leftovers. He’s a man of great character, upstanding and full of compassion. Then Boaz fills Ruth up with barley to take home and the grain sustains Ruth and Naomi.
Ruth continues to work.
“So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.” Ruth 2:23
WORKING ALONGSIDE SOMEONE, WHETHER AT A JOB OR VOLUNTEERING, REVEALS CHARACTER
At this point, Ruth and Boaz just worked alongside each other, but that was likely the extent of their relationship. They were always in groups with other men and women working each day. There is value watching someone work with no agenda. You get the chance to watch from afar how they really are in an atmosphere around others. It’s easy to carry a facade one-on-one, but when you’re under the hot sun and doing labor work and with other people, many times the essence of your heart emerges.
Your character comes out. Are you loud, obnoxious, gossipy, prideful and showy? Or do you simply go about your business?
Ruth was humble, a hard worker and clearly compassionate to gather grain for her mother-in-law. She had one goal and never lost her focus because her livelihood depended on what she gleaned.
Meanwhile, Boaz was a wealthy landowner, but he had no problem working with the others and took special notice of Ruth. He essentially keeps an eye on her and makes her feel special and gives her extra grain to take home.
One day Ruth returns home and Naomi shares something very important: Boaz is actually a close relative and kinsman redeemer of the family! There’s a reason why Naomi likely waited to mention this news, but I’ll save that for another day. The main point is that Naomi has the perfect strategy for Ruth to prepare for Boaz and then encourages her to present herself to this man. We can safely assume that God was pulling the strings behind the scenes and timed it perfectly.
Naomi tells Ruth to bathe, put on perfume and get dressed. It’s time for the place of revealing.
That’s when we come upon this specific verse in Ruth 3:2:
“Tonight [Boaz] will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.”
Ruth 3:2
#1: THE THRESHING ROOM FLOOR IS AN ACTUAL PLACE
The threshing floor is the place where separation — and revelation — happens. It’s the place where you make a proactive decision what to keep or toss.
Winnowing is the process of hurling threshed grain into the wind. Before the invention of fans, owners of the fields would use the wind as a fan to separate the valuable grain from the chaff. The landowners would toss the grain in the air and the wind would carry off the chaff and lighter stalks. Meanwhile, the heavier kernels and valuable grain basically plummeted to the ground. This was like gold. This was valuable. The good grain meant life and death during ancient Biblical times.
Since the wind often slowed down during dry, arid time periods, the wealthy landowners would seek higher ground and elevation because it provided the best exposure to the wind.
This was the time of Judges and thieves were rampant. The men slept out there in the open to protect their harvest.
Boaz was a very successful man, but he didn’t pay anyone else to come watch his harvest. Nope, he was there at the floor putting in the work and it’s the very work that actually aligned Ruth and Boaz in the first place.
So this is how Naomi knew that Boaz would be there in the evening and instructed Ruth at that time. She instructed Ruth to wait until Boaz ate and fell asleep before presenting herself. In many respects, Boaz was in a vulnerable position, which is likely the exact reason God orchestrated the timing of this union at that moment.
Again, the Book of Ruth has four chapters, so we know that every verse and every line has purpose and was inspired by the Holy Spirit. My favorite thing about the Bible is searching out the larger meanings of various passages in the Living Word, especially when it stands out or is noted for a reason.
The threshing floor was mentioned because it had purpose then and it has purpose now.
PURPOSE OF THE THRESHING FLOOR
Spiritually, the threshing floor often represents the separation of good and bad and it’s a common metaphor for judgement in the Bible. However, Joel 2:24-26 explains the idea of threshing as a place of NEW BEGINNINGS and HOPE!
The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…
You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
In Joel, the people have experienced a loss of everything for four consecutive years. The Lord steps in and makes a promise to restore everything that was lost and the fields would yield a ripe harvest and abundance.
This is not just a promise of material abundance, it’s a promise of God “who works wonders for you and you’ll never again be shamed.”
The threshing floor is the place that Christ separates the yesterday from the tomorrow. The old is gone away and the new has come. This is a specific place where the turnaround happens. The harvest and the newness of life is discovered and gathered here. It’s the very place where we praise the name of the Lord who continues to work wonders among us.
Christ takes it a step further and promises to also restore and repay time at the threshing floor.
WHAT DOES A RESTORATION OF TIME LOOK LIKE?
The restoration of time can mean an acceleration in relationships and new families at lightning speed.
God can deepen your love for Him and create fruit in places you’ve struggled with for years.
You can experience an acceleration in your career and go from the bottom to the top overnight. Or new opportunities can come your way and the Lord will restore the dreams you tucked away.
The Lord can heal your heart at rapid speed. He can give you new spiritual gifts that propel you to help others and also bring joy and fulfillment to your own life.
The Holy Spirit can speak words and download revelation and wisdom in an instant and you can gain Biblical knowledge simply by spending time with Him. He restores time by giving you divine strategy to get ahead.
Divine favor comes in other areas you simply could not do on your own.
The fact that Ruth and Boaz finally come together at the threshing floor is a beautiful story of redemption. Here they have worked together in the field for a length of time and now their relationship is ready to start at the threshing room floor. The same thing happens for many of us when the Lord redeems our life and creates us whole and new in His image.
Whether it's a new relationship between a couple or a new walk with Christ, there has to be a separation between the past and present.
Each person has to seek higher ground and allow the wind, the Holy Spirit, to separate the good and bad from our lives and separate us from any sin.
This story of Ruth and Boaz also happens around the Passover season, the very period Jesus ultimately went to the cross. It's an incredible story of redemption because the union between Ruth and Boaz ultimately led to King David. They were his great-grandparents. King David is in the lineage of Jesus. So here we have this woman who was once alone and forgotten, an outcast and one that experienced great loss of her family and identity. Then Christ made her new and whole. God hand-selected Boaz to ultimately lead to the birth of His Son generations later.
I believe God hand-selected Boaz because this man had also endured a life of tragedy and hardship. He was successful and righteous and admired in the eyes of God and society, but his story was much deeper. The Bible says Boaz was the son of Rahab, who was the harlot woman the Lord saved in the Book of Joshua. Sometimes Biblical genealogy skips generations, so there’s a chance that Rahab was Boaz’s grandmother. The point is Boaz had heavy maternal influence in his life.
So Boaz likely recognized Ruth’s spirit because he also recognized the hardships the women in his own life experienced. Even though the Lord spared Rahab, Boaz likely grew up understanding what all she endured at the hands of men. She was mistreated and looked down upon by others. Boaz likely knew how to love Ruth correctly because he understood how God can redeem anyone; he saw it with his own mother. And the Lord eventually brought Ruth and Boaz a baby boy to continue their family line for generations to come.
We talk about Ruth a lot, but man Boaz was such a godly man full of so much integrity, kindness and love.
The story of Ruth and Boaz is the ultimate Cinderella story of all stories.
These men and women are prototypes of a what a covenant relationship looks like.
And it all started on the threshing room floor -- the same place Christ meets us and redeems our lives. He is our ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer, the one who separates our past from our presents and makes us whole and new again in His eyes.
This time of the year is a special time just to reflect and remember how the Lord orchestrated this divine union between Boaz and Ruth in what seemed like the simplest of ways — they just worked — but the threshing floor was the place of revelation.
The past merged into the future. Ruth received a new identity and it all happened really fast.
#2: PREPARE FOR YOUR SOCIAL STATUS TO CHANGE
For some of you, you’ll meet the Lord at the threshing floor in the coming weeks and everything will change in an instant as He revives and makes you new again in His identity. Others of you will come into contact with the person Jesus picked for you as a spouse. The Lord shows us with Ruth’s life how quickly He accelerated her destiny and completely changed her identity.
Here’s how the Bible describes her ascension and climb in society throughout the four chapters in the Book of Ruth:
nokhriyah = a foreigner, alien, outsider (how Ruth identifies herself)
shiphchah = female servant/slave/considered the lowest in rank (how Ruth identifies herself)
amah = Handmaid [amah marks a new beginning. We see here that Ruth has transformed and understands her identity in the community now. She is in a class of women now that can be a legitimate wife. She still identifies herself as a servant, but she can answer the call and knows her position. It’s similar to doule that Mary uses when the angel tells her that she’ll be the mother of Jesus. It’s like when the Lord calls you forth in ministry with no formal training. “Who, me?! I’m just a lowly servant and the least of those!” But you also understand your identity in Christ and where you belong in His family now].
ishah = Wife
Ancestress of King David, which leads to the lineage of Jesus (Ruth 4:17)
Soooo, just to recap fam: Ruth went from being a single, outcasted, alien, slave, didn’t-belong-anywhere, bashful and humble servant — to a wife — within verses?! Why yes she did!
“Now don’t worry about a thing…for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman.” (Ruth 3:11)
To all my Ruth’s out there and fellas looking for a Ruth, take a moment to read the Pulpit’s commentary for the word “virtuous” in this verse. It is simply…beautiful.
The word חָיִל in the expression אֵשֶׁת ךחיִל has no synonym in English, German, Latin, or Greek. But every side of its import brings into view one or other or more of such affiliated ideas as strength, force, forces, capability - whether mental and moral only, or also financial; competency, substantiality, ability, bravery. All who had taken notice of Ruth perceived that she was mentally and morally, as well as physically, a substantial and capable woman. She was possessed of force, both of mind and character. She was a woman of "faculty.” She was full of resources, and thus adequate to the position which, as Boaz's wife, she would be required to fill. There was no levity about her, "no nonsense." She was earnest, industrious, virtuous, strenuous, brave. There was much of the heroine in her character, and thus the expression connects itself with the masculine application of the distinctive and many-sided word, "a mighty man of valor."
In Ruth 2:1, Boaz is described as a mighty man of strength. These two are a match made — literally — in Heaven!
Oh my heart! I can just imagine the look on Ruth’s face when Boaz referred to her in this special way! Here she was a foreigner and everyone knew she didn’t fit in there, yet Boaz sees her as a woman of purpose, destiny and strength in the same way God views us! Boaz would later go on to redeem Ruth and follow the customs of the day to marry her properly.
Everyone knew Ruth was special and she was likely the last one to realize it. She was special and different because of her character and virtues, which always hold greater weight for Kingdom men. She was the gift of the harvest and I believe the threshing floor is when she finally awoke to her true identity in Christ.
Ruth was just a lowly maidservant, yet this sweet, humble, little soul is the exact person Christ chose to change the world. She couldn’t do it on her own. Boaz couldn’t do it on his own. It was only through their union that even greater favor came upon them.
Then, everything changed.
#3: SOME OF YOU ARE BECOMING AN ‘ISHAH’
In Ruth 4:10, Boaz claims this woman in front of the people as his ishah, which is a Hebrew term for wife.
This is the exact word Adam uses for wife or woman in Genesis 2:22-24
(Adam) said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman (ishah), Because she was taken out of Man (ish).” For this reason a man (ish) shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife (ishah); and they shall become one flesh.
It’s also the word used to describe Rebekah when she left everything she ever knew, including her family and land, to set out to a new place to be joined with her husband Isaac.
“Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife (ishah), and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” Genesis 24:67
The 67 in the verse above sticks out to me because in Mark 6:7, Jesus commissioned His people to go out in partnership as “two by two” and He gave them authority as a pair. In the same way, godly unions have a mandate attached to them with power and authority to bring more people to Christ.
I shared in one of the first posts to this website how the Holy Spirit has repeatedly shown me that the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 will match up with Genesis 2:22-24 and Genesis 24 where many new marriages and covenants will be established at accelerated rates. As I wrote these words just now, the Lord also flashed the year 2034, so I suspect all these new unions and families will blossom for the next 12 years specifically.
That makes sense because 12 in the Bible is the number of Kingdom Governmental Rule, A Stepping into Right Order.
When Ish and Ishah come together, they will be modern-day examples of Ruth and Boaz, Adam and Eve and Rebekah and Isaac. They become one under God and the Lord will work powerfully through their lives to advance the Kingdom of God.
The word adam (a-dahm) is fascinating in the way it's used in the Hebrew text in Genesis. At first, the word does not apply specifically to man, but it's a general term that means "human being." There's a ton of commentary on whether this term adam is referring to all humans or specifically to a man. I believe it's both. Adam was the first man, so he was the only human being on the earth in comparison to the animals.
However, when God forms a woman from this man, only then is the man’s identity complete.
One Bible commentator explains: “It is as if the text is implying that male and female cannot define themselves fully as human without the other. In God’s design, it is the two together who ultimately reflect the image of God.”
#4: THE JOY COMES FROM ‘FINDING’
Proverbs 18:22: “He who finds a wife (ishah) finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”
In our modern culture, we often read the above scripture and believe that just picking anyone means we “found them” and we earn favor!
The proverb is pointing to the treasure that is found in searching with the Lord. And you don’t just find, but obtain.
When a man has a close relationship with the Father, God will speak to him about a certain woman. This creates a closeness and bond as they walk together and do the ‘finding.’ The man doesn’t find the woman on his own. The Lord is ultimately leading this man to the woman, and the treasure is found in that intimate walk with our Savior who bring this union together.
Even more, sometimes the ‘finding’ part requires ‘waiting’ with the Lord. This isn't passive waiting, but rather actively waiting by working on your relationship with Christ during this time. One day, Jesus will give the man the go-ahead to find. This deep intimacy with the Lord is when the Holy Spirit will usually open his eyes to "see" the woman.
The word “find” is important in Proverbs 18:22 because it's used twice.
“He who finds a wife (ishah) finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”
The Hebrew lexicon uses the word matsa (to find) and it means:
to find, secure, acquire, get (thing sought)
Be discovered, be recognized
To meet, encounter
To learn, devise
To come upon, To happen upon
To Detect
Wow!!! Go back and read each of those descriptions over and over!
“To happen upon” literally is what happens with Ruth and Boaz. They come upon and happen upon each other. It was never by their own initiative, but the Lord orchestrated it all. Jesus put them in the same field and the “finding” for the man is the discovery and journey to realize who she is. The “finding” is understanding it was God all along who outlined this path even when the journey didn’t always make sense.
Note to men: Pay attention to who Jesus places or placed upon your path at some point.
This is what happened with Boaz when he stumbled upon his field one day and “found” Ruth just out there minding her own business and working. When Boaz noticed her, he didn’t seek to date her or go after her. He had no idea that someday she would be his wife (that we know of). He simply noticed and went about his life. He walked in union with the Lord, continued to work hard, loved people, treated others well and just honored the current season. A lot of “threshing” took place here, too, and it didn’t always feel great. But separation and sanctification has to happen with Christ.
Then one day, God put everything in motion. God essentially “found” Ruth for Boaz — but Boaz also got to relish in the discovery that she was who Jesus picked. God gave him the clues, but Boaz found the treasure.
“He that findeth a good thing…”
The “good thing” mentioned in the verse is ṭō·wḇ — which is the same word God used when He created light. “It was good.” In the same way, an ishah chosen by Christ will bring light into the life of this man and their union will reflect the love of Christ.
The “good thing” here doesn’t mean just finding any woman and that makes it good. The “good thing” describes a woman hand-selected by the Lord for you. She will add value and favor because her heart is deeply rooted in the Lord.
Christ tells us why she is "good" in Genesis 2:18, which is the very first reason the Lord brought this first man and woman together as an example for eternity. The woman would be a suitable helper for him and bring fullness to his heart and life.
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:18"Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.” 1 Cor. 11:9
We were created for companionship and love in a healthy way. Some people are called to single-hood, like Jesus or Jeremiah, but for the majority of us, God has ordained us to be in healthy marriages under the Lord's covering.
All that to say -- the Bible clearly outlines for us the importance of "finding" for a man and why it's a good thing when found.
The Hebrew text of “obtains favor” basically means “fullness.” When a divine relationship comes from Jesus, the ish and ishah no longer have a separation in their hearts and experience fullness and completeness under the wings of Christ. The wheat and grains will be separated with good and bad, just like what happened at the threshing room floor where Ruth and Boaz are separated from the old, so their new life can bloom.
Moral of the story: Seek God, and He will lead you in the finding.
This entire blog post was a great lesson for me in the adventure of "finding." I didn't know any of this before writing this post, I just knew about the general story of Ruth and Boaz.
However, through "finding" and "searching" with Jesus, He taught me more than I could ever learn listening to a sermon. He gave me the joy of self-discovery with Him guiding and opening my eyes to certain things. That's exactly what happens when a man "finds" a wife. There's great joy when we adventure with the Holy Spirit and the couples get to "discover" many new things about each other over and over again. Someday you will also get to “discover” why God specifically chose this person for you at this period in your life. The backstory is the adventure and fun part!
The mark of a great relationship is that it's always growing. It won't be perfect, but there will be growth and renewal. Christ does this for me all the time and the "finding" and searching out His mysteries is the best part! A Godly union will look the same way!
#4 WE ONLY FIND TRUE ‘LIFE’ IN CHRIST, NOT THROUGH OTHERS
Just as I was finishing this writing, I glanced at the clock and it was 10:39. The Lord nudged me to look for Scripture with that same number. So check out what I got to "discover!"
Right away I came to Matthew 10:39:
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
The word ``finds" here is heurisko = “I find, learn, discover, especially after searching.”
Definition:
to be discovered, recognized, detected, to show one's self out, of one's character or state as found out by others (men, God, or both)
to acquire, obtain, win, gain
to find by experience, observe, gather
to find by enquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and experience
to get knowledge of, come to know, God
Life with Jesus is an adventure. When we journey with Him in radical obedience, He constantly gives us new wisdom, knowledge and revelation that only comes from Him. We get to learn about His heart in new and intimate ways. When Jesus walked the earth, He often asked His disciples a question. He already knew the answer, but Christ understood that the searching and discovery ultimately brought His faithful ones closer to Him.
When we find the Treasure — who is Jesus Christ Himself — the old version of ourselves will die. We no longer want to chase after the desires of our flesh, but our wholeness and completeness is only discovered in our Savior. When we remain separate from Christ, the other half of our rib will always feel missing. We will never be complete and whole without our union with Jesus.
When we lose our old life for the sake of Christ — only then do we ultimately find life.
One morning last year, the Lord woke me up with the phrase "Rule of 3." I took it to mean Father, Son, Holy Spirit -- but now I see it in a new light.
It's also God, Man, Woman.
Many of you have walked this journey with just the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and they have been your Kinsman Redeemers. They will always be your One True Love. All along, though, they were preparing you for a man who was hand-selected by God, just like Boaz was for Ruth.
Soon you will come across each other on the threshing room floor. This is a spiritual place of separation. It’s where you die to your old identity as an individual and your new life is born in partnership with this man.
This is what happens when God helps a man and woman find each other. There is pureness and wholeness that can't be described - but only felt - because Jesus forms you as one person under His watchful wings.
