“Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.” Ruth 3:1-4
If you didn’t know God, the Bible, the history of Israel, Mosaic Law and Hebrew customs you may think Naomi is sending her daughter-in-law out on a covert mission to trap Boaz, by creating a sexual interlude situation that would force Boaz to marry Ruth, but you would be horribly wrong. If you do know God, the Bible, the history of Israel, Mosaic Law and Hebrew customs you would know that, “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.” Deuteronomy 25:5 Naomi was instructing her daughter-in-law, (who was from Moab and not completely versed in Hebrew customs) concerning the custom of the “kinsmen-redeemer”. Ruth was to go and from a distance watch Boaz and when he went to sleep, she was to remove his shoes and lay down at his feet. This was a sign that Ruth wanted Boaz to be her kinsmen-redeemer, marry her and then help her produce children to honor her dead husband, continue his line and secure the inheritance of her dead husband’s property. This would insure that the children would have an inheritance and continue the family line. This is also called a levirate marriage and if no living brother was available, then a cousin, uncle or the next closest relative could be called upon as kinsman-redeemer.
This is important, because without Boaz stepping up as kinsman-redeemer, Jesus would never have been born. “… And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.” Ruth 4:18-22. “ … and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; And Solomon begat Roboam; … And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ”. Mathew 1:6-16. For a more complete lineage, see Ruth 4 and Mathew 1. Boaz was an honorable man that was willing to step up and be reliable, righteous and a servant of God.
Step up and be a person that makes a difference for Christ, not as a kinsmen-redeemer, like Boaz, but in any activity the Holy Spirit leads you to accomplish, in harmony with scripture. Step up and step out for Christ.