In the intial post I covered Joseph as a model of an ideal godly husband I felt I needed to do a little more expounding on two more biblical models Abraham and Boaz (yes Boaz he's a gud guy)
First is Abraham, faithful Abraham, God’s friend. You know if Sarah had not offered Hagar to him, he most probably would never have impregnated another woman! And he had every means and every opportunity to. He was very wealthy. He could have any woman he wanted. But he practically worshipped the ground on which Sarah walked on, barren or not. When Sarah says jump, he says how high? (Lol!) Sarah says sleep with Hagar, he did. Sarah says Hagar insulted me, Abraham says “slap the insolence out of her (hahahahaha!!)”. This is Hagar who is pregnant with the child he has been waiting for all his life, yet because SARAH was not happy, he told her to treat Hagar anyway she wanted. The bible says he told Sarah – she is your maid, not my wife! Sarah says banish Hagar and her son, at first, he hesitated, then Sarah got God to back her up, he did! He just loved Sarah to bits. Abraham is rock solid faithful and dependable (well except for the time he lied that Sarah was his sister . He had every opportunity to forsake Sarah, especially after fathering Ishmael but he didn’t. He was stuck to her like everlasting super-glue. Oh.. are you still sitting reading this? You have not yet hit the floor and call forth your Abraham wherever he is? You know, most women don’t like their husbands talking with other women. But there are some women who can’t even stand the thought of their husbands being with someone else except them. Don’t worry. God feels you. He will provide you with your very own Abraham who will love you more than anything. Abraham will look at your ninety-year old body and still call you his sweet sixteen.
Next up is Boaz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. Rth 2:3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. Rth 2:11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. Rth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Rth 2:13 Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. Rth 2:14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. Rth 2:15 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not: Rth 2:16 And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.
What I love about this marriage is how God orchestrated their meeting and brought them together. In the first place, it would have been very awkward for Boaz, who is a very wealthy man, a man of stature and repute in the city to propose to a Moabite widow girl who just came into town (You know the Israelites can be very snobbish about preserving their culture and heritage! Mixed marriages were severely frowned upon). So now, Ruth went scavenging for food (Oh yes..Boaz found her hard at work, bent down in the most undignified position ever, picking up droppings of food from his field. He didn’t see her in a designer suit and heels, make-up all done, everything in place. He found her at work in his fields looking for food and from that minute, the Spirit of God started moving. God showed me a sneak preview of what happened here. Do you remember how Adam started blessing Eve the moment he set eyes on her? Come on now! That was exactly what happened when Boaz set his eyes on Ruth. If you read from Ruth 2: 8-13, oh..the guy prayed and blessed Ruth as if he was the chief priest himself! Secondly, Boaz happened to be a kinsman to Elimelech, so by law, he is actually doing a good deed and preserving the seed of the dead by marrying Ruth. End of story! The story of Boaz and Ruth has a very important significance especially for women who have moved to trust God in one way or the other. By so doing, they honoured God and God will surely move and honour them in a biggest way possible! Ruth trusted in a God that seemed to have abandoned her mother-in-law. She left her familiar surroundings and followed her mother-in-law to unfamiliar terrain. The minute she told her mother-in-law in Ruth1: 16 – 17 “ Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me"; God was stirred up and He went ahead of her and prepared a place for her in Boaz’s home. All she went out to look for was food for herself and her mother-in-law. She came back married to probably the wealthiest man in town! (OK OK..it didn’t exactly happen that fast, but you get my drift
Now just to sober up a bit .From the way I have analysed the story of Ruth and Boaz , modern day women mistake the fact that Ruth went to lie at Boaz's feet for stepping up to a guy and asking him out and thats not it. Naomi advised Ruth to do what she did because Boaz had already shown special interest in Ruth right from day one!!!! From the moment Boaz sets his eyes on Ruth he already begin to enquire "Whose damsel is this?" and I mean in his first conversation he is blessing Ruth as though he was the Chief Priest himself. He further on offers to provide food for Ruth, protection from young men in the fields and even goes a step further to instruct his men to drop "handfuls of purpose" for her to glean thats too much kindness from a stranger if you ask me that in itself is a clear sign that Boaz made the first move!!!!A modern day scenario would be a Brother shows interests in a girl, makes a few enquiries, asks for her number, initiates conversations with her on chat, watsapp and asks too spend time with her, and even shares some personal stuff about himself , in thats case a modern day sister can then tactfully play Ruth and ask the brother what his intentions are is he is dragging his feet and yet at the same time hogging hertime and attention.
So sisters who are getting ready to land a Boaz, heed Naomi’s advice ‘Wash and perfume yourself. Pimp yourself up and get a makeover or something and change your look and then go to the threshing floor where Boaz lies. The threshing floor becomes symbolic of a place where we deal with our flesh or sinful nature. It is a place where the chaff gets separated from the wheat. It is here we pray and cry out to the Lord for help or where we repent and determine to get victory over the sinful nature…and so that means the place of prayer is where Boaz is so lets get fasting and praying!!!!.And remember, we are not to go out looking for him ourselves physically. Our duty here is search the scriptures diligently, make a list, tender it before God and leave the rest up to Him. He will position us in such a way that it will be a perfect work....I await to hear testimonies from you sisters coz I see plenty wedding testimonies....
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