Boaz - A Pillar in the temple of God
Boaz – A Pillar in the Temple of God
Ruth was talking to Naomi, but God heard the sincerity of her words and gathered them to Himself as prayer and incense. He heard her and He acted on what He heard:
“Do not urge me to leave you or to turn away from following you. For wherever you go, I will go and wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die. And there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me so severely if anything, but death separates you and me.” Ruth 1 v 16 – 17
When Ruth began this journey with Naomi, she did not know that God was already planning to welcome her into a prominent position within His family. A position that would hold a permanent place in the history and genealogy of the nation of Israel and the eternal purposes of God for the Kingdom of God – the restoration of our souls through our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.
Love bound Ruth to her mother-in-law. They were bound in their love and in their shared grief. Two women facing the same destitution and the same seemingly uncertain future. Yet Ruth choose to be positive and pro-active. Ruth gave up everything for the wellbeing of her mother-in-law – even her pride. What are we willing to do for the ones we say we love?
Ruth humbled herself in order, to take care of them both. She was willing to do whatever it would take for their survival. She went to glean in a field. She was willing to gather a little and to gather enough grain to feed them both. She kept her attitude right. She was not selfish, and she was not resentful. She was brave, courageous, and wise. She recognised that as an outsider she would need favour to find work.
“Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favour.” Ruth 2 v 2
She was talking to Naomi, but God heard her words and accepted them as prayer and incense to Himself. He directed her feet to a specific field, for a specific purpose and it was not just to glean wheat!
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Proverbs 16 v 9
God had a pre-arranged plan to bless a man named Boaz!!!
God could have easily sent Ruth to the field of the rightful kinsman redeemer, but He did not. He sent her to the field of a good man He knew to be loyal and devoted to Him.
“Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.” Ruth 2 v 1
From that one verse we learn so much about Boaz:
- He was well known and respected.
- He was important.
- He was principled.
- He stood out as worthy of honour.
- He was noticeable and easily recognisable.
- He was dignified.
- He was upright.
- He was righteous.
- He was honest.
- He was God fearing.
- He was a good leader.
- He was of noble birth.
All this before we get to the meaning of his name! The prominence of the name of Boaz is honoured in the book of 1 Kings:
“Huram (the master craftsman from Tyre) set the pillars at the entrance of the Temple, one towards the south and one towards the north. He named the one on the south Jakin and the one on the north Boaz.” 1 Kings 7 v 21
A pillar symbolises the bridge between Heaven and Earth. Boaz was one of the two pillars that stood on the porch of Solomon’s Temple. This first temple was built by King David’s son. It honoured the name of his great-grandfather Boaz, who sat at the city gates with the other elders passing righteous judgment between the people. God honoured Boaz’s name in His Temple.
God heard and answered the declaration within Ruth’s prayer when she said “Your God will be my God” Ruth 1 v 16
Boaz was God fearing in that he acted upon the Words of the Lord. He left food for the poor, the widows, and the foreigner to glean, to feed themselves from his field. He did not harvest everything. He did turn use his wheat as a commercial enterprise as a ‘for profit only’ venture. He took care of others. He led by example and was praised for it. Both the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus taught Boaz (and everyone else) the principle of gleaning and taking care of those who are in need. It is no different today. We are to use some of the resources God gives us to help others in their time of need. The Apostle John asked:
“If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?” 1 John 3 v 17
This is what Boaz knew:
“Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of our vineyard. You shall leave them for the need and the stranger. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19 v 9 – 10
“When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the stranger, for the orphan and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Deuteronomy 24 v 19 – 21
Boaz was wise. He understood the principle and experienced the blessings of gleaning. Boas was a very generous man who went beyond the requirements of the law.
“When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her. Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”
Ruth 2 v 16
God was answering Ruth’s prayer:
“Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favour.” Ruth 2 v 2
God answered her prayer with more than she asked or hope for when Boaz said in recognition of all she had done for her mother-in-law Naomi:
“May the Lord repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.” Ruth 2 v 12
Boaz gave more than he needed to bless Ruth, but we serve a God:
“Who is able to do so much more than we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3 v 20
Boaz was not to know at the time how prophetic those words he spoke over Ruth were to be for his own life. He was not the first in line to be the kinsman redeemer and yet God honoured him by blessing him by returning his own words of blessings to him. God blessed him because he was faithful to God. He was loyal and he was devoted. God could trust Boaz because he was a ‘doer’ of the Word and not just a ‘hearer’ of the Word. Unlike his ancestors, his heart was not hardened:
“Today, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah in the day at Massah in the wilderness.” Psalm 95 v 7 – 8
“Today, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Hebrews 3 v 15
God could confidently entrust Ruth into the care of Boaz, knowing that he would be diligent in fulfilling the answer to her prayer in leading her to know more and more about Him:
“Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.” Ruth 1 v 16
He needed a man who served Him wholeheartedly. That man was Boaz!
God repaid Boaz for his long and honourable life by using him in his plan of redemption. He stayed close to God and kept his heart right.
“Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you. Bind them around your heart. Then you will find favour and high regard in the sight of God and man…” Proverbs 3 v 3 – 4
At last God blessed this leader with a wife and heir. The elders were glad that he had finally found the one he had patiently been waiting on God for, and that patience came with added riches. The elders blessed him saying:
“May the Lord make the woman entering your home like Rachel, who built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Jerusalem. And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah because of the offspring the Lord will give you by this young woman.” Ruth 4 – 11 – 12
Boaz married Ruth and he became the father of Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse and Jesse became the father of King David. And the lineage of King David led to the birth of Jesus Christ. God choose the right man. A man whose name was honoured in the temple of His God, symbolizing the bridge between heaven and earth. That bridge is Jesus. Jesus came and stood in the gap for humanity, became sin for us, died on the cross and is risen to everlasting, eternal life so that we may have eternal life through Him. And He has promised that He will come again.
Amen xxx