Unshaken (12 page)

“Trust me, my daughter. Unless you make it known to the man that you want him for a husband, he’ll live out his life the way he is. Should such a man go down to Sheol without sons of his own?”

“And what of you?”

“Me? What about me?”

“If Boaz does take me for his wife, what will happen to you? Should I leave you alone in this cave?”

Naomi’s heart softened. Precious girl! Ruth was a jewel with many facets. Naomi was all the more determined to see her in the proper setting. “Boaz gave you a double portion the first day he met you. Do you think he would leave me out in the cold to fend for myself?” She shook her head and smiled. “If all goes as I’ve prayed, we will all have a future and a hope, Ruth. If the plan succeeds, it will be because God makes it so and not because an old widow has done a bit of matchmaking.”

Ruth let out her breath slowly. “All right,” she said slowly and inclined her head. “I will do everything you say.”

Lowering her head, Naomi was silent a moment, disturbed by Ruth’s solemnity. Ruth was in the springtime of her life; Boaz, autumn. Naomi could understand Ruth’s hesitation, but she was certain Boaz could make her daughter-in-law happy. Still, she pondered. Would this please God, or was she making plans of her own as she had done before?

What am I to do, Lord? Many are the plans of women, but Your will prevails.

Be merciful, Jehovah-rapha. Let us all be healed of our grief and know love again. Let the homeless have a home again, a home where You are master. Boaz will teach my daughter the way of life and uphold her on her journey. I see the loneliness in the man’s eyes, Jehovah-jireh. I see the love there, too. If it be Your will, soften his heart toward Ruth and her heart toward him. If they come together only out of mutual respect and duty, if it please You, Lord, let those feelings grow into love. Build a fire in each of them that will warm them for a lifetime.

Boaz had the sheaves of barley loaded onto donkeys and carried to the high place near Bethlehem that he’d turned into a threshing floor. Shamash and the young men broke the bundles open and cast the stalks onto the hard-packed earth, where a pair of oxen were driven in a circle, dragging behind them a heavy wooden sledge. The stones fastened to the underside of the sledge crushed the stalks and loosened the grain. Girding his loins, Boaz joined his servants in the work. The air filled with the scents of crushed stalks, oxen, and the hot sun and earth. When the floor was heavy with broken stalks of barley, the oxen were led away and the men took up their winnowing forks.

Boaz pitched grain into the air. The afternoon breeze caught the straw and chaff and whiffed it away while the heavier kernels of barley dropped back to the threshing floor. It was hot, hard work. Over and over, he dug his fork into the piles of threshed grain. Sweat soaked through his tunic and beaded on his forehead. He paused and tied a cloth around his head to keep the perspiration from dripping into his eyes. Bending to his labor, he raised a song of celebration and his servants joined in.

As the threshing progressed, he set workers to gather the straw into piles to be stored and used through the year to fire stoves and feed his animals. When the bits of straw and chaff were too small to be pitched by fork, the men set aside their winnowing forks and used shovels instead. They paused to eat and drink and then returned to work. When the breeze died down, some of the servants waved woven mats to blow the chaff from the barley. Other workers began to purify the grain by sifting. As the grain passed through, bits of rubbish were caught in the sieves and thrown away. The darnel grains were removed, for if these weed and tare seeds were left, they would be eaten and cause dizziness and sickness.

The harvest was so plentiful, the work would last for several days. “Enough for today, men!” Boaz called out. His cooks were ready with savory dishes of bean-and-lentil stew. Trays of fruit were set out, along with plenty of bread and wine. The men relaxed, talked, sang, and laughed as the stars came out.

No lanterns were lit, for the risk of fire was too great.

Ruth sat some distance from the threshing floor and watched Boaz sing, laugh, and drink with his servants. When the stars came out, she moved closer as the celebrating slowed. When Boaz rose, the gathering broke up. His servants spread out and found places to cover themselves with their mantles for sleep. Work would begin again early in the morning. Ruth watched Boaz lie down beside the pile of grain.

She remained concealed in an outcropping of rocks for another hour. She wanted to be certain all of Boaz’s servants had settled down for the night and were asleep before she came out of her hiding place. She couldn’t risk being seen here. Gossip would spread through Bethlehem like a fire, burning up her reputation. That thought tortured her as she moved slowly, cautiously, toward the place where Boaz slept. Her heart thumped until she felt sick with tension.

When she finally reached him, she hesitated, studying the man in the half-moon light next to the mound of grain. He looked younger, his many responsibilities forgotten in sleep. He lay with one arm flung over his head. Trembling, Ruth knelt at his feet and drew his mantle back carefully so she wouldn’t disturb him. He moved restlessly. Her pulse jumped. She curled up quickly at his feet without making a sound and drew his mantle over her so that the cool night air would not awaken him. Then she released her breath slowly, wishing her heart would slow its wild, erratic pace.

She tried to make herself relax, but how could she with this man so close she could hear his breathing and feel his warmth? She could smell the sweat of his body mingled with the scents of earth, straw, and barley. She remembered how the odor of sickness and fear had clung to Mahlon during the last months of his life. The scent of Boaz’s body was that of life—hard work, the fruit of his labor, the land God had given him. His essence was at once provocative and soothing.

She swallowed and closed her eyes, disturbed by the emotions this great man stirred within her. Putting her hand beneath her cheek, she listened to the sound of her own heart racing in her ears and the slow, even breathing of the man so close his feet were against her back.

Boaz awakened in the middle of the night and lay still, wondering what had startled him. A dream? He couldn’t remember it. He listened for a long moment, but nothing moved. In fact, there was an uncanny stillness around him. He heard one of the men snoring loudly from the other side of the mound of grain and relaxed. Inhaling deeply, he closed his eyes, intending to go to sleep again, but instead he came more fully awake as he smelled a sweetness in the air he breathed. He frowned slightly, attentive to it. He breathed in again and thought he had never smelled anything so luscious. Where did it come from? Was an evening breeze bringing the scent of flowers? No, it was too rich and evocative. Like perfume.

When he stretched out his leg, he brushed against someone. The interloper was small and curved. He drew in his breath sharply. Pulling his foot back abruptly, he sat up and threw off his mantle. Who but a harlot would dare come to the threshing floor?

The woman sat up quickly and turned her head toward him. It was too dark to see her face. “Who are you?” he whispered roughly. He didn’t want to awaken anyone.

“I am your servant Ruth.”

His heart began to hammer.
“Ruth?”
His voice came out choked and confused.

Her voice shook. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”

A flood of heat swept through his entire body beginning with the foot that had brushed against her body. He could hardly breathe for the nearness of her and the request she made. Never in the solitude of his wishful thinking had he ever dreamed Ruth would make such a request of him. Did she know his heart had yearned for a wife to love and care for, a wife to walk with him and give him children?

Lord, Lord, how do I ever dare hope for a girl like this? There are obstacles. Is this a test? I must do what’s right rather than do what I want. And You’ve known since the first time I heard about this girl that my heart was softened toward her. Such a woman . . . but Lord, surely Naomi is aware of the other relative. She must know it’s not my right to fulfill this duty, unless . . . oh, God, give me the strength to do what I should, even if it means seeing another woman I love walk away with another man.

“The Lord bless you, my daughter!” His voice was husky with emotion. He was glad of the darkness so she wouldn’t see the longing and astonishment he felt. Did she understand the kindness she was showing him by coming to him? His head swam. He’d surrendered his hope of ever having a family of his own years ago. God was God, and for whatever reason, He had chosen not to give the blessing of a wife to him. And yet, here, in the middle of the night and cloaked in darkness, a few whispered words from Ruth made Boaz’s hope for a wife and children spring to life again. He forced himself to think, to consider her actions and motives. Surely she had done it for Naomi!

“You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man, whether rich or poor.”

“You have been kinder to me than anyone, Boaz. Will you put your mantle over me?”

He could hear the tremor in her voice and wanted to reach out to her and reassure her. It was beyond reason that she might love him, but his heart had been fixed upon her firmly from the beginning. He wanted nothing more than to take her as his wife, but was this God’s will?

“Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are an honorable woman.”
None more than I,
he longed to say. “But there is one problem.”

“A problem?” she said softly, distress clear in her tone.

“While it is true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am.”

“Another man?”

There was no mistaking the disappointment in her tone. When she moved closer, her hand brushed his leg. She drew back quickly, but not before his body had caught fire. He wasn’t such an old man after all. The power of his feelings for her shook him. He looked around, wondering if anyone had heard them speaking. What disaster would befall her if she were to be discovered here on the threshing floor! His mind raced unwillingly toward advantages to himself if that happened. The other relative would have cause to question her purity. He might then refuse to fulfill his obligations to her on the grounds of her ruined reputation. The entire city would gossip about her and speculate on what had happened between them here tonight. There would be talk for years to come. As much as Boaz wanted her, he would not dishonor her in such a way.