Messiah in Shavuot Chapter 12
- Blessed is Boaz (the Strong One)
- Going to the Threshing Floor…
- Adopted into the family of Adonai’s Strength
Blessed is Boaz (the Strong One):
The people of Bethlehem blessed Boaz, “May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman” (Ruth 4:12). The blessing in view here is the blessing of Adonai’s unending loving-kindness. The law cannot redeem us. For it does not wish to “mar” its inheritance. Therefore, more is needed. The “go’el” (kinsman redeemer) is an administrator of the love and compassion of Adonai. In the Brit Ahavah (Covenant of Love) of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (ben Yamin, “Son of my Right Hand”) it is the law of the Spirit of Life that sets us free from the law of sin and death. Ruth overcame the “letter of the law” by faith in redemptive love (chesed), just as her descendants King David and his greater son the Messiah overcame the judgment of the law by means of the heavenly Father’s greater steadfast love, mercy, and grace.
Going to the Threshing Floor…
Like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba we have to “go to the threshing floor” of the Almighty as forbidden outsiders to lay our claim to the redeeming love of the Holy One. We have to say to the Messiah our Strong One, our Kinsman Redeemer, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are my redeemer” (Ruth 3:9). The wings represents the N-S-E-W of the Merciful One.
The Merciful One’s universal grace must be our only covering. We have to push past our spiritual weaknesses, sicknesses and sins that accrue through the exercise of our failed Self-life, to claim the gracious healing and blessed abundance of life that is promised (Jew and Gentile) to all who put their faith and trust in the Kinsman Redeemer of Israel.
Adopted into the Family of Adonai’s Strength:
When we do Teshuvah and go to the threshing floor through faith in Adonai (and His Boaz for us, Ha-Mashiach) we are permanently adopted into the family of Adonai’s Strength. We come to a place where we absolutely know that Adonai is our Father and that our sins are forgiven. However, only in maturity, when we have fully embraced the “ahavah” (love) and “chesed” (love) of the heavenly Father, the Holy One who is our King and our Delight, then will we have passed the test of becoming the Companion of the Strong One who is our Kinsman Redeemer.