R3-16: There Ain’t No Plan B In God’s Kingdom

“He said, ‘May Adonai bless you, my daughter. Your latest kindness is even greater than your first, in that you didn’t go after the young men, neither the rich ones nor the poor.'”-Ruth 3:10

So what did Boaz mean when he said to Ruth…

…”Your latest kindness is even greater than your first”?

First of all, the word for “kindness” here is CHESED or חסד.

This is another one of those Hebrew words that’s a little difficult to translate because it has multiple nuances to it.

It can mean “mercy,” “lovingkindess,” “steadfast love,” “compassion,” and even “goodness”.

In the context of Ruth Chapter 3, I’d say it means “an unselfish act of kindness”.

That’s exactly what Boaz was referring to.

In saying your latest CHESED is even greater than your first, Boaz is expressing his amazement and appreciation for Ruth’s marriage proposal.

He must have been quite flattered that such a young and attractive woman would make such a bold move towards an old man like him.

Recall that Ruth’s first CHESED or kindness was her wholehearted commitment to her aged Jewish mother in law Naomi.

A commitment that ultimately caused her to forsake everything resulting in her leaving her homeland and switching her loyalty over to the people of Israel and their God.

So what exactly was Ruth’s second CHESED or kindness?

Was it choosing an old gentlemen over a dashing young buck who more resembled James Bond?

And make no bones about it, a young and attractive lady like Ruth would have had suitors lining up to marry her.

Well, actually the answer is Ruth’s second CHESED or kindness is linked to her first one.

So committed was Ruth to Naomi and the ways of the Hebrews that it never even crossed her mind to do anything but marry her Hebrew family’s designated GO’EL.

Consider that Ruth could have easily married a young man and secured a good future for herself.

Yet that would’ve hurt Naomi…

Because if Ruth married someone who was not a Kinsman Redeemer (according to tradition remember), Naomi wouldn’t have gotten an heir to carry on her deceased husband’s name and preserve the clan line.

Ruth understood this and thus chose the unselfish route of marrying the elderly Boaz.

We gotta remember that Boaz was in the winter of his life.

After he married Ruth he probably only had a few more years left at best before Ruth would be a widow again.

Thus, it was an incredible sacrifice for Ruth to marry Boaz.

It is this SACRIFICE that was Ruth’s second CHESED or kindness.

Boaz was both a wise and practical man and he well understood the seriousness and incredible selflessness of Ruth’s decision…

And likewise, I think Ruth also recognized that Boaz was a man of kindness, purity and one who possessed a proper fear of the Lord.

So here’s the takeaway I’m getting for today.

When it comes to committing to the Lord, you can’t be lukewarm about it.

You gotta go balls to the wall man!

You’re either ALL in…

Or you’re ALL out!!!

There ain’t no Plan B in the Lord’s Kingdom just in case things don’t work out.

Ruth is a perfect example of this kind of balls to the wall commitment…

She left her hometown…

She left her family…

She left her former gods of Moab…

So committed was she to Naomi, her people and their God that she saw beyond Boaz’s elderliness and placed her future firmly in his hands.

I can only pray I’d have even one inch of one-tenth the faith Ruth possessed.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“I know what you are doing:
you are neither cold nor hot.
How I wish you were
either one or the other!
So, because you are lukewarm,
neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of my mouth!”
-Revelation 3:15-16

“For whoever wants to save
their life will lose it,
but whoever loses their life
for me will find it.”
-Matthew 16:25

“But Yeshua told him,
‘Anyone who puts a hand
to the plow and then looks
back is not fit for
the Kingdom of God.'”
-Luke 9:62

“And everyone who has left
houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or wife
or children or fields
for my sake will receive
a hundred times as much and
will inherit eternal life.”
-Matthew 19:29

“If anyone comes to me and
does not hate father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters
—yes, even their own life—
such a person cannot be my disciple.”
-Luke 14:26