Written by: Christopher Sernaque
Dear Readers,
The book of Proverbs leads us to the account of Boaz and Ruth. Solomon is hoping that his readers will cherish wisdom, however he starts off by referencing his family, specifically his parents. (Prov 4:1-3) Boaz was the great-great-grandfather of King Solomon. (Matt 1:5-6) Boaz was also one of the names of the two bronze pillars erected in the temple of Solomon. (1 Kg 7:21)
The same love that Solomon illustrated that we are to have for wisdom is dramatized in the account of Boaz and Ruth. Solomon stated that we are not to forsake wisdom due to its preserving power. (Prov 4:6) Boaz did not forsake Ruth, he chose to love her, and his account is preserved both in Scripture and in the Heaven. (Ruth 4:13) Solomon wrote that we are to exalt wisdom and that when we fully embrace the wisdom of God we will be promoted to honor. (Prov 4:8) Because of Boaz’s deep love for Ruth his name was made “famous in Israel.” (Ruth 4:14)
Solomon continued by saying that wisdom will give grant unto us both grace, glory, and life. Because of Boaz’s true love for Ruth, Jesus Christ came through this lineage and established His kingdom of grace and glory, all the while offering everlasting life to anyone who would receive it. (Heb 4:16, Matt 25:31-32, Jn 3:16) Finally, Solomon wrote of our relationship to wisdom as being something that grows day by day. Likewise, Ruth had come to Boaz, feeling unworthy and sinful, and asked that he spread his wings of redemption around her. (Ruth 3:9) Now, Boaz, though he had many redeeming qualities, was a sinner himself in need of the coming Messiah. Christ Jesus, our kinsman-redeemer, wants to daily comfort us with the healing in His redeeming wings. (Heb 2:11, Mal 4:2)
Ruth and Boaz seemed to have such a heavy influence on Solomon, and I hadn’t seen that before. I also hadn’t seen how wisdom could be incorporated into such a story as that of his great-grandparents. I really love the connection you made and how you managed to go point by point (Boaz choosing to love Ruth and not abandon her, Ruth feeling sinful and asking for the covering of Boaz) to show how our relationship with Christ and our interactions with wisdom, which, funnily enough, is personified as a woman throughout Proverbs.
And of course, it all leads back to Christ, the way that Boaz and Ruth’s union led to Christ through lineage, and how our accepting of wisdom…