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Read Ebook: A Farmer's Wife: The Story of Ruth by Willard James Hartwell
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Ebook has 62 lines and 6172 words, and 2 pages
Then the elders, or wise and respected citizens were asked to hear Boaz's case, and to be at once judges and responsible witnesses, and to ratify the proceedings. In their presence, and in the hearing of the people who gathered near, Boaz stated the facts, saying to the "redeemer":
And then Boaz went on and asked the man if he would redeem it, and the man said that he would do so. He further explained to him the customs and conditions of the law, and told him if he took the land he must also take Ruth the Moabitess to be his wife.
But this was a part of the bargain that the man did not want to perform, so he turned his right of redemption over to Boaz, giving as his reason, that he would not mind buying the field if it would become his own personal property, but if he should marry Ruth the field he bought would not belong to him; and so he would have paid out money for something which would bring him little or no benefit.
It is not at all unlikely that he refused to marry Ruth because she was a Moabitess, fearing that a marriage with an alien might mar his reputation and position in the city.
When the man had announced his decision, it was confirmed by the usual custom in all cases of redeeming and exchanging. The one giving up the claim took off his sandal and gave it to the one who received the claim. The matter was thus ratified, as though a bond had been drawn up and signed.
In this way the unnamed kinsman of Elimelech refused to redeem Ruth and her land, and as a proof of it he drew off his sandal and handed it to Boaz before the ten elders and all the people, thus transferring to him the legal right to be the "redeemer."
Boaz then called all present to witness that he had that day bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and all that was Mahlon's, and also that Ruth the Moabitess was to be his wife. And all the elders and all the people who were in the gate said they would be witnesses.
And because Boaz had acted so honorably, all present united in asking the blessing of God upon his marriage. So, with the approval and best wishes of his neighbors and friends, and above all with the blessing of God, Boaz and Ruth were married.
The story of Ruth is a beautiful one, for it shows how the sacrifice and service of love was rewarded. Naomi in her old age and declining days was made glad, and the alien found a happy home. In time a son was born to Boaz and Ruth, and the name of "Obed," or "the serving one," was given to it. This boy grew up to be the father of Jesse, whose son was the mightiest of Israel's kings.
When Ruth's baby boy was born, the matrons of Bethlehem congratulated Naomi, who became the child's nurse. The boy grew up to be the joy of his parents and the comfort of his adopted grandmother, and in time the ancestor of Mary the mother of Jesus.
The Saviour of the world, then, sprang from the tribe of Judah, and from the Gentiles, as they are called in the New Testament, through Ruth the Moabitess.
The memory of the faithful, loving Ruth has been a sweet and living picture for many centuries. She left her home, her friends, her all, to be kind and good to her broken-hearted mother-in-law, and to serve God, and found much more than she gave up. She brought consolation to Naomi, there came to her love, prosperity, and peace, and through her children's children, Jesus the Christ.
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