Ruth 4:3,4 – “Forthright”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³And he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has returned from the fields of Moab, has sold the portion of the field which [belonged] to our brother Elimelech. ⁴And I, I said, ‘I will uncover your ear to say, ‘Buy [it] before ones sitting and before the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem, redeem, and if he will not redeem, tell to me and I will know because none besides you to redeem and I after you.’” And he said, “I, I will redeem.”

Once again, I find in these two simple verses a great deal to admire in this man Boaz. Walter Baxendale wrote in 1892, “[Boaz] conceals nothing, overstates nothing, speaks apparently without bias. In few and fit words he propounds the cause and brings it to an issue … How much there is to be admired in the way Boaz proceeds to settle this delicate affair once and for all.”

I couldn’t agree more with Baxendale. In the first two verses, I was impressed with how Boaz simply took charge, how there was no timidity in him. Now I am admiring how he presents the case. Think about this: Boaz obviously wants to marry Ruth. He probably could have just done it and he’d have had his wife, but then the whole matter of the inheritance probably would have been become a legal quandary. The other kinsman could have made legal claim to the land, arguing that, even though Ruth had been Mahlon’s wife, she is a Moabitess, and therefore “not really” the legitimate heir. He probably could have argued, in fact, that Naomi was the only legitimate heir and since Boaz didn’t marry her, he had no legal claim to the land. It just simply could have been a mess.

Perhaps Boaz was wealthy enough, or politically powerful enough in the community that he could have just married Ruth and taken over the land, and the other kinsman would have kept quiet and let it go. But, in a small town, people would have known and they would have forever gossiped behind Boaz’s (and Ruth’s) (and their son’s) back that “it wasn’t right.”

So what does Boaz do? He just lays out the facts clearly, and asks for a decision. Reading this, it might seem a simple matter, but I know how it feels when you really want something, when you want a certain outcome, but don’t know how it will turn out. It is so easy to squirm around and, one way or another, try to manipulate the situation to make sure I get what I want.

Think about it: when Boaz finishes his presentation in verse 4, he has no idea how it will turn out. He presented the facts clearly and forthrightly and then the whole matter just hangs there in uncertainty. Will he or won’t he? Will the other kinsman end up with Ruth or not? As the group all sits there looking at each other, for that horrible brief second, the whole matter hangs in complete uncertainty. There is every possibility it will not go Boaz’s way. This moment of uncertainty is exactly what I think we all are driven to avoid. We want to be sure. We want what we want. And we don’t like when there’s a chance we won’t get it. That is precisely why we often are not clear and forthright.

And just to prove we’re the ones who are right, that we need to manipulate things, what happens? The kinsman says, “I will.” Noooooooooo! The worst possible outcome. Now that horrible uncertainty turns into complete disaster. Boaz presented the facts calmly and clearly and the outcome is exactly what we all feared. Our story is ruined. The glow of our little romance is shattered. Our beautiful Ruth is lost. See? That’s what we get for being honest!

Isn’t that exactly the way our minds work in the real world?

But Boaz’s way is still the best way. Even if the other kinsman would have prevailed, at least the whole matter could have been settled forever. There would have been no loose ends left. Ruth could have had a husband, borne children to be the heirs, and life would have gone on, just not in the way Boaz had hoped.

In fact, what Boaz has done by not being manipulative is, in the end, in everyone’s best interest. What he has done is in keeping with proper, open, forthright procedures. Paul says in II Cor 8:21: “For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.” As we see in Boaz, even though it may mean we don’t “get our way,” it’s best to simply “do right” and let the chips fall “where they may.”

The fact is, in many situations, we don’t know the outcome. We want things to go our way. We often (usually) try to manipulate the situation one way or another to make it turn out how we want. But there is a better way. Like Boaz, we need to just do right and trust God with the outcome. We need to be like Boaz and be clear and forthright, give up our attempt to control the outcome and just leave it to the Lord. As Prov 16:9 says, “A man's heart plans his way: but the LORD directs his steps.”

I fear that because we all know “the rest of the story” we might miss the very human reality of what is happening here. Boaz, at this point, does not know “the rest of the story.” He is doing what he’s doing because he is a man of integrity. And even though he has no assurance things will turn out as he desires, he just stays the course.

I’m realizing as I read and study this, as I consider Boaz’s example, that I am a miserable little manipulator. I often skew my presentation of “facts” to try to make sure things “go my way.” I need to stop it. I need to try to be aware when my heart is “wanting” something, some outcome, and, at those very moments determine to trust God and just be forthright. Be clear, state the facts, and trust God with the outcome.

What a good man Boaz is. Once again, it has been fun walking with this wise man. Hopefully I’ll be more like him!