Samuel 3:1-21 - God Establishes the Prophet

1 Samuel 3:1-21

Samuel’s First Prophecy

1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. 2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 3 and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

6 Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!”

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)

8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”

Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

11 Then the LORD said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

15 So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!”

He answered, “Here I am.”

17 And he said, “What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

19 So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

Samuel did not choose to be a prophet nor did he study or pursue this calling as something he felt entitled to or even earn it for fame or profit; rather, he was called and chosen by the LORD to this service from birth.  When he was growing up under the priest Eli in the temple, there was no widespread revelation of God through prophets, so when the LORD spoke to the boy as he lay down for the night and heard the call of the LORD, he answered as if to Eli as the one calling him, “Here I am, for you called me.”  Eli of course had no idea what the boy was saying about and sent him back to bed.  As the account records for us here, Samuel did not yet know the LORD or had His word revealed to him as of that time by Him.  It took a third time of the call that even Eli began to have it click to him what was happening there was a revelation, a word from God to Samuel.  He had enough wisdom to tell the boy to answer to the one calling him who was God with, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”  The message revealed to him was disturbing at best, terrifying at the least.  The LORD was about to reveal things to His people that would shake their ears upon hearing the prophetic warning and work of God among them, beginning with judgment on Eli’s house for the sins of his sons which he knew and did not deal with by restraining them.  Not even the sacrifices offered on that altar would ever atone for the abominable evil against the LORD whom they denied and mocked with their father’s knowledge, the father who as a priest ministering sacrifices knew all too well how their actions and attitudes offended Him.  He did not deal with egregious sin as we are to do even now to correct towards (Matthew 18:15-16, 17) repentance and restoration.  When Samuel heard these things he lay awake until dawn, afraid to reveal the message of God to the offender.  We likewise find ourselves as fellow sinners in a difficult position to deal with church discipline when we know the offender of God amongst us may not repent and may need to be held accountable to God and banned from the assembly to avoid adversely affecting others spiritual health.  Samuel gives us the example to speak humbly and true to the point of what God has told us in the finished prophetic word written down for us to live by as we approach what He may reveal to deal with such unrepentant or hopefully repentant sins within or among the body.  As for Samuel, he was obedient to God’s word and the LORD honored him (1 Samuel 2:30) for his faithfulness and used him to speak straight and true to God’s people so they acknowledged that he spoke for the LORD because God had revealed Himself to him and was using him as a messenger mouthpiece.  May we who are called to teach and preach do likewise, knowing we can only but speak His word (Acts 4:20, 1 John 1:3) as given to us all for His honor and glory of the gospel message.  God has established His son as the final Prophet we are to hear and heed (2 Samuel 7:12, Matthew 17:5, Acts 3:22, 23-24, Luke 24:25-26, 27), and it is Him we are to hear and His word and work we are to testify and live according to in holiness for pure and humble worship as living sacrifices to honor Him.

1 Samuel 2:12-36 - Wolves Amongst the Flock

1 Samuel 2:12-36

The Wicked Sons of Eli

12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. 13 And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.”

16 And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”

17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

Samuel’s Childhood Ministry

18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD.” Then they would go to their own home.

21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

Prophecy Against Eli’s Household

22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them.

26 And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.

27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. 36 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”

It is written here that the the sons of Eli were corrupt because they did not know the LORD and continually acted on their sinful desires for self-satisfaction.  They pretended to serve the LORD in the house of God but stole people’s sacrifices meant for God and demanded the people give directly to them as well to swell their own bellies, threatening all who questioned or resisted them.  They were wolves adorned with priestly robes under Eli their father as if above questioning and masquerading as sheep of the flock of God’s people.  Matthew 7:15 likewise warns us in the completed people of the Lord God, the church, about such interlopers who dress in the fashion and speech of true believers but are only out for their own gain.  They are marked by self-serving and cunning deceit (Ephesians 4:14) with words that speak of authority and often sound the part, yet are opposed to serving the Lord and subsequently subtly devour His flock by fleecing their offerings of goods and selves to the Lord.   These sons of a godly man were quite the opposite, proving one cannot quote a scripture of raising children as a guarantee (Proverbs 22:6) they will come to know, follow, and serve Him themselves.  Each is personally accountable to the Lord and responsible for their own repentance of God-given faith exercised in response to His calling as already written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and parents are responsible to teach them (Deuteronomy 6:7, 2 Timothy 3:15) that if called they will know the scriptures to ha able to repent and be reborn when called.  By contrast, young Samuel served the LORD faithfully in the house of God under Eli even though them sons of the priest did not; this demonstrates that our faithfulness is not genetic but as a calling from God, not as a position inherited from our parents but as a pronouncement of the Lord according to His purposes and plans.  Even when warned by Eli, his sons did not relent or repent from their evil dealings and their causing others to share in their sins (Ephesians 5:6-7, 1 Timothy 5:22, 2 John 1:9, 10-11).  As a type of Christ (Luke 2:52), Samuel by contrast to these “grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.”  God then confronted Eli and reminded him of the necessity of faithfulness to his calling with these words of promise to keep Eli’s house as ongoing to serve, ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.’  By contrast to those honoring Him, He promised that those who despise the LORD would themselves be lightly esteemed by Him.  Do we take our lives as living sacrificial offerings (Romans 6:13, 12:1-2) lightly?  He took away the blessing because Eli failed to keep the covenant of promise to serve the LORD as he did not stop or attempt to restrain his two ungodly sons, Hophni and Phinehas.  God would take both of them off the earth at the same time and prophetically promise a true and righteous Priest to faithfully do just what is in His heart and in His mind forever, a picture of the Christ, the Messiah, to come (Hebrews 2:17, 7:26-27, 28) with a house built on a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24, 1 Corinthians 3:10, 11) and anointing (Psalm 18:50) to minister righteously.  Those who muse so calls in faithful service will desire to serve Him rightly and with true desire, unlike the wolves who only use the appearance of service to abuse their positions disguised as callings.  May we then distinguish between the two and make certain our calling (2 Corinthians 13:5-6, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Peter 1:10-11) as we follow faithfully like living sacrifices to and priests of (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6, 5:10) the Lord in serving Him and others.  We are called to serve and to beware the wolves (Ezekiel 22:27, Matthew 7:15, 10:16, Acts 20:29) among the flock that we might serve faithfully (2 Corinthians 4:2) and to expose them (Ephesians 5:11) with the truth in word and deed. 

Samuel 2:1-11 - Hannah’s Prayer of Salvation

1 Samuel 2:1-11

Hannah’s Prayer (cf. Luke 1:46–55)

1 And Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
My horn is exalted in the LORD.
I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

2 “No one is holy like the LORD,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.

3 “Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.

4 “The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.

Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

6 “The LORD kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.

7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and lifts up.

8 He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.

“For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
And He has set the world upon them.
9 He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

“For by strength no man shall prevail.
10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;
From heaven He will thunder against them.

The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.”

11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

This was Hannah’s Prayer for salvation, deliverance not only of he barrenness, but of the spiritual emptiness of God’s people that is answered by His power over life and death, over the enemies set against Him and them, and over all rulers who will face the eternal Judge of righteousness in the final judgment.  She prophetically prayed these words that now challenge and encourage us with hope through that judgment on the world as we find in God’s character, His very word made flesh (John 1:1, 14) who made our salvation possible and clearly understood in His written words conveyed by the apostles (Acts 1:21, Luke 1:1-2, 2 Peter 1:16, 2 Peter 1:21, 3:2, 1 John 1:1, Jude 1:17) chosen for the task of recording scripture as the prophets before them had done and which nobody since has the authority to add to (Revelation 22:18) these things.  Hannah therefore pronounced these words for us to show her understanding of God’s word and work, His sovereign rule and power and purpose over all creation in the face of those who rail against Him.  His good grace and providence had given Hannah a son who would be a servant to judge Israel and defeat the enemies of them both.  We read how strength and joy are found in the LORD and His deliverance of saving grace, how He alone is completely holy and righteous (a reminder that only we who are in His righteousness are ourselves reckoned as holy - Romans 3:21, 10:3, 1 Corinthians 1:30, Philippians 3:9), and that He alone is the Rock of our salvation on whom we can stand firm (Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 7:24, 1 Corinthians 3:11, Ephesians 6:10, 13).  We see the criticality of humility because all knowledge comes from the Lord (Hebrews 5:14) who teaches us all and anything we can know as we look to Him, unlike the arrogant pride of sin which took such hubris to assume the serpent was right in taking knowledge of our own reason (Genesis 3:1, 5, 6) apart from His instruction.  God breaks these weapons of spiritual warfare by His word of power and true knowledge to trip up those trusting in their own strength and wisdom.  He takes away all the proud seem to have to prove He is the source of all things we possess.  He alone has the power of death and life and all provision or destitution in His hands.  He picks up we poor sinners out of the dust of the earth to cause us to reign with Him (Romans 5:17, 2 Timothy 2:12) as princes to inherit (Job 36:6-7, Psalm 113:8, Romans 8:17, Colossians 1:12, 1 Peter 1:4) a place with the Lord on His throne (Revelation 3:21) of glory!  He guards and guides our steps and thunders judgement on our adversaries (Psalm 35:17, Revelation 6:10) as we await His ruling of the final judgment over all creation.  He lifts us up as His own and pits down those opposing Him and we who have the testimony (Revelation 12:17) of Jesus Christ, His living word, whom He has exalted over all (Philippians 2:9-10) in heaven and on earth.  After this prophetic prayer, Hannah returned home and their son Samuel then served this great LORD God of whom she had told us of these things to remember and live by.  We likewise remember our prayer of the person of our saving deliverance and ministry as 1 Timothy 3:16 also reminds us as we serve Him in the gospel of our salvation. 

1 Samuel 1:19-28 - A Child’s Dedication

1 Samuel 1:19-28

Samuel Is Born and Dedicated

19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

21 Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever.”

23 So Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the LORD establish His word.” Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

Samuel, “Heard by God,” was finally conceived and born to faithful Elkanah and Hannah according to the promise of the LORD God given to her through His spokesman Eli the priest in the house of God.  They waited until the boy was weaned to go to the yearly feast in Jerusalem, as he transitioned from mother’s milk to solid food, sometime after Samuel reached six months old or so.  She would then take their son and leave him there permanently as promised to be brought up in the admonition of the LORD and serve Him in the temple as a servant of God.  This is reminiscent of our current baby dedication ceremonies, except we keep the children at home, but the handing over of their lives and service forever to the Lord is the same except we anticipate and hope that the forever may one day be their eternal salvation.  Her husband reminded her of the vow to dedicate Samuel and bring him to stand forever before the LORD as he said, “let the LORD establish His word.”  The day arrived, they went and offered offerings to God, and they left him with Eli there as long ‘as he lives, being lent to the LORD,’ as they reminded him of the answered prayer and promise from God through him.  Then the proud parents joyfully worshipped the LORD for His goodness to them in their son dedicated to God.  We must also hand over our children into God’s mighty hands (1 Peter 5:6-7) with the continuing prayers for their eternal dedication turning into devotion to the Lord through repentance and faith when their spiritual weaning in life brings them to the point where they reach an age to understand and believe to receive (John 1:12, 5:24) Jesus Christ as their Deliverer from God’s just judgment on the sin they and we are all born with since Adam.  May our children’s dedication lead to their eventual salvation that is the dedication of their lives to Him according to the gospel of grace! 

1 Samuel 1:1-18 - The Barren are Answered!

1 Samuel 1:1-18

The Family of Elkanah

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.

Hannah’s Vow

8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. 11 Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”

12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”

15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.”

17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”

18 And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

As with Elizabeth in Luke 1:7, 36 in bringing John the Baptist into the world as the prophetic Elijah, the barren can be made fruitful by the hand of the LORD according to His plan as was the case here with Hannah and her son Samuel the prophet.  She yearned for a child and vowed to give him in complete dedication to serve the LORD if she was only made fruitful.  Her desperate desire led her to pray in the temple with (Romans 8:26) groanings and inward sighs of her spirit echoing God’s in desiring this thing.  Every year she went up to the house of the LORD with her husband, and every time she was provoked by taunting of the other wife of her barren state.  Hannah wept in her bitterness and grief to the point where she could not even eat.  In some ways we can imagine that barren Elizabeth felt similarly until she was blessed with John, for she also lived righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord as blameless in going yearly to the house of the Holy in worship until she was answered for her years of barrenness and accompanying ridicule from others to have no heirs.  God shows us here how the barren can be answered when it is for His glory and their good in His sovereign purpose.  Hannah paired out her heart before God and was overheard by Eli the priest as she made her solemn vow in her plea to God for a child, but Eli did not understand this was God’s work and rashly accused her of wicked drunkenness.  When she explained her sorrowful state, he blessed her with God’s peace and promise to grant her petition to Him.  She left that place in hope and happiness that had been given through the servant of the LORD to her for that grace, that favor granted to her by promise, just as the priest (Luke 1:11, 13) Zacharias was given the message of joyous hope of a child to Elizabeth by God’s promise of sovereign grace.  How grace shows favor to the barren for a higher purpose as we read in Galatians 4:27, 28-29 of how the new covenant of grace makes we who were once barren in spirit become ever fruitful in the Lord by the everlasting promise of the gospel of grace.  We who once yearned for peace with God and fruitful lives now have this living hope (1 Peter 1:3-4) by the sovereign purpose and loving grace of our Lord whom we yearn to please.  The barren have been answered!

Ruth 4:1-22 - I Will Redeem

Ruth 4:1-22

Boaz Redeems Ruth

1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’”

And he said, “I will redeem it.”

5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”

6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.

8 Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal. 9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.”

Descendants of Boaz and Ruth (Matthew 1:2–6)

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. 17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; 19 Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; 20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon; 21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; 22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

The message of this historical account was a critical link in the lineage of king David on the way to its conclusion in Jesus the Christ, the promised Branch (Isaiah 11:1-2, Jeremiah 23:5, 6, 33:15, 16, John 1:41, 45) who is the anticipated Messiah of all God’s chosen people, out of both of Israel and all the nations (Genesis 17:4, Romans 4:17, 18, 22-23) as promised.  It began with the coinciding events bringing Ruth and Boaz together and a redeemer of the closest relative willing to pay the price took her as wife to make this happen in the series of events leading to the Son of God, the Anointed One, coming to us through their descendants to us.  What a glorious plan of good news for our deliverance, our salvation, from sin’s penalty of God’s wrath due to us all since Adam!  The closest physical relation to Ruth could not pay the price, so Boaz who was willing did so eagerly.  This account led to telling us of their son Obed who was the grandfather of king David who was the branch of God’s channel of salvation to us as we read later in Matthew 1:2-6 with great joy.  Jesus Christ is our closest relative as the descendant in the flesh of Adam who was willing to pay the price on the cross for our salvation!  He said to the Father and to us, “I will redeem (Hosea 13:14, 1 Corinthians 15:54, 55, Galatians 3:13, 4:5, Ephesians 1:7, Luke 1:68).”  

Ruth 3:1-18 - The Closest Relative Redeems

Ruth 3:1-18

Ruth’s Redemption Assured

1 Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? 2 Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”

5 And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that her mother-in-law instructed her. 7 And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

8 Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. 9 And he said, “Who are you?”

So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.”

10 Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. 12 Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.”

14 So she lay at his feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Also he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley, and laid it on her. Then she went into the city.

16 When she came to her mother-in-law, she said, ”Is that you, my daughter?”

Then she told her all that the man had done for her. 17 And she said, “These six ephahs of barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’”

18 Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.”

The closest relative redeems us as was foreshadowed in the customs of old.  Our closest relative is the One who took on our flesh and was able to redeem His own as Adam’s descendant.  For Ruth is was Boaz next in line after the relative closer than him to her who would redeem her and take her as his bride to care for.  She had declared her love and commitment to him by warming his feet as the custom allowed then, and did as he said just like her mother-in-law had advised her.  He saw Ruth as virtuous and faithful to choose him instead of running after the younger men and honored her desire to redeem her with duty and desire after first following the custom to see of the closer relative would honor and redeem her.  The LORD had set the stage of events that coincided with His plan of redemption for all mankind through her and Boaz’s lineage from Adam to the Messiah-Christ (Matthew 1:5-6, 16) to come!  This could on;y have been orchestrated by divine hands bringing these together through exile as sojourners in a foreign land, death of spouses, return in faithfulness to follow God, and to glean grain in this particular field to catch this exact pair of eyes and be accepted for,redemption.  How unsearchable (Job 5:9, Romans 11:33, 36) are His ways revealed to us through His word!  Ruth patiently waited to see how this matter would pan out the following day as her mother-in-law trusted Boaz would pursue it to the expected conclusion by faith.  We therefore also look forward by faith to the coming day of our final redemption of body and soul at the return of Jesus to take us as His bride forever as our closest relative through Adam that (Romans 5:14, 15, 17, 18-19, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45, 49) makes it all possible!  The closest relative will redeem us.

Ruth 2:1-23 - Faithfulness Coincides with God’s Will

Ruth 2:1-23

Ruth Meets Boaz

1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.”

And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

3 Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!”

And they answered him, “The LORD bless you!”

5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

6 So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.”

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”

14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.

19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.”

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”

20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.”

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’”

22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

Here Naomi found a wealthy relative of her deceased husband named Boaz and her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess asked permission to go to glean heads of grain in the fields (Leviticus 19:9, 23:22) to find favor of someone there to continue doing so as she gathered food for them.  Ruth went out to glean in the field after the reapers and ended up in the part belonging to Boaz by ‘coincidence.’  This coincided with God’s plan for her to gain his attention.  When Boaz heard this, he told her to work that field only and not venture into any other one to glean the leftover grain.  He looked out for her after catching his eye and promised that the men would not make advances to her because she would be under his protection as an owner of the fields and that she was free to drink from his water supplies drawn for her whenever she thirsted.  He was serving her and she asked him why he should notice and show favor to a foreigner from Moab of all places as she bowed before him in honor and thankfulness.  He told her that he knew her story and that of her mother-in-law, how they lost everything and everyone and how Ruth honored her and the LORD to be committed to follow and serve as a stranger (Exodus 2:22) in a strange land as we were before Christ redeemed us (1 Peter 1:1, Ephesians 2:19) and how we should treat (3 John 1:5) others.  Boaz blessed her faithless with a pronouncement of God’s grace on her as reward for her for coming under His wings for refuge (“your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”  After profusely and humbly thanking Boaz, he told his men to leave more for her by dropping bundles of grain for her to glean and discreetly provide for her and Naomi.  We find parallels as a picture of the Lord’s love and provision of grace for we who once were aliens from Him (Ephesians 2:19) and His protection as those of the world brought near and fed with and by Christ Himself.  Naomi was startled at the amount Ruth brought home and found out it was a close relative who had found favor with her daughter-in-law.  She blessed the LORD for such a co-incidence of His grace in the situation and advised Ruth to stay in his field and not to glean elsewhere.  God was at work to arrange all these things to bring about a greater plan that would lead to the Savior of us all (Ruth 4:17, Matthew 1:5-6, 16) through her.  We see a shadow of the bigger picture of history here where obedient faith coincides with God’s will and plan to redeem us (John 1:12, Galatians 4:4-5, 1 Peter 1:18) through the Anointed One, the Messiah-Christ provided for us.