RPG Adults
PROVIDENCE, RELATIONSHIPS AND MARRIAGE (2)
LORD’S DAY, AUGUST 25
Ruth 4:1-10
Matthew 16:24-26
“Whosoever will save
his life shall lose it.”
PROVIDENCE, RELATIONSHIPS AND MARRIAGE (2)
Boaz chose the ideal place for the business at hand. He chose the gate, the place where public business was conducted. This implies that though marriage is between two persons, a man and a woman, marriage is a public and social event that is to be witnessed and endorsed in the presence of others. No wonder the solemn charge at the beginning of a Christian wedding states that “we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company.” The process Boaz was embarking on was a public one, and so he sat in a public place and awaited the arrival of those concerned.
“…Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here…” (Ruth 4:1). The nearer kin was asked to turn aside and attend to the matters at hand, and the elders were called as witnesses. The nearer kinsman was not identified by name. Concerning this, Lange makes an insightful remark when he states that “even supposing that the narrator omitted the name merely because he did not know it, it remains none the less an instructive fact that he who was so anxious for the preservation of his own inheritance, is now not even known by name.” Indeed, true to what Christ said in Matthew 16:25, such a one who did not want to mar his lineage is not known by name, yet the names of Boaz and of Ruth are household names.
“And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here…” (Ruth 4:2). After calling the nearer kinsman, Boaz then gathered a group of elders to validate the contract that would be made that morning. According to Jethro’s advice to Moses in Exodus 18, the elders of a particular city exercised jurisdiction in that city. Likewise, Deuteronomy shows that the role was given to “the elders of that city” (Deut 21:3, 4, 6; 22:18) and “the elders of his city” (Deut 19:12; 21:19, 20; 25:8). With the kinsman seated and the elders witnessing, Boaz could then begin to address the matter and the requests placed by Ruth at the threshing floor. A matter would be settled well when addressed at its rightful place.
THOUGHT: (Read Proverbs 16:20.)
PRAYER: Father, may I do all correctly, bringing honour to Thy name.