What role does trust play in Naomi's advice to Ruth in Ruth 3:18? Setting the Scene • After Ruth’s bold nighttime visit to the threshing floor, she returns to Naomi with six measures of grain and Boaz’s promise to seek resolution (Ruth 3:14–17). • Naomi’s words in Ruth 3:18: “Wait, my daughter, until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.” • One verse—yet it pulses with trust: Naomi trusts God, trusts Boaz, and invites Ruth to share that trust. Naomi’s Trust in God’s Providence • Naomi has witnessed bitter loss (Ruth 1:20–21) but has also seen God’s hand in Ruth’s gleaning “by chance” in Boaz’s field (Ruth 2:3). • Her counsel flows from a settled conviction that the Lord’s covenant kindness (ḥesed) is active. • Psalm 37:5–7 echoes Naomi’s stance: “Commit your way to the LORD… be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.” • Trust is not passive resignation; it is confidence that God is orchestrating redemption. Confidence in Boaz’s Covenant Faithfulness • Naomi calls Boaz “a relative of ours” (Ruth 2:20). She trusts him to fulfill the kinsman-redeemer role laid out in Leviticus 25:25 and Deuteronomy 25:5–10. • “He will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today” underscores Boaz’s proven character (Ruth 2:1). • Proverbs 20:6 distinguishes mere talkers from the truly faithful—Boaz is the latter, and Naomi counts on it. Trust Expressed Through Rest • Naomi’s command—“Wait”—is a call to stillness after Ruth’s obedience. • Isaiah 30:15: “In quietness and trust is your strength.” • Ruth stands poised between her part (bold obedience) and God’s part (sovereign outcome). Naomi guides her to cease striving and watch the Lord work through Boaz. • Trust becomes tangible through waiting, a restful posture that hallows God’s timing. Fruit of Trust: A Foreshadow of Redemption • Naomi trusts that God will secure “rest” (menûḥāh) for Ruth (Ruth 3:1), anticipating a settled home and lineage. • Ultimately, that trust blossoms into the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, the birth of Obed, and a lineage leading to David—and to Christ (Ruth 4:13–22; Matthew 1:5–6). • Ephesians 3:20 reminds believers that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” exactly what Naomi’s trust made room for. Take-Home Insights • Biblical trust is anchored in God’s proven faithfulness, not wishful thinking. • Trust often follows obedience; we act on God’s word, then rest in His work. • Waiting is active faith—choosing peace while God completes what He began (Philippians 1:6). • The same Lord who wove redemption through Naomi’s trust invites believers today to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5–6), confident He still “will not rest” until His good purposes are fulfilled. |
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