What is the biblical plan for finding a potential mate? The Bible presents several ways that people have found their spouses. You could follow Adam’s example and just wait until the Lord brings you a mate. You could follow Isaac’s example by having your father send a servant back to his hometown to find a girl who is willing to water his camels. Or you could follow the example of Ruth, who lay down near a potential husband and tickled his feet until he woke up. I would not suggest that young women today imitate Ruth’s example here, but it worked for Ruth.

The Bible does not give us a particular method of finding a mate, but in the book of Ruth, we find that Naomi comes up with a plan to find a husband for Ruth.

Remember that the theme of the book is how God demonstrates His faithfulness by loving, superintending, and caring for His people. Chapter 3 shows how God is going to provide a home and security for Naomi and Ruth. And he’s going to do it through, or perhaps in spite of, Naomi’s perilous plan.

We should also note that this passage uses the two words we studied last time—goel and hesed. Boaz is the goel, and he is impressed with the hesed that Ruth shows toward Naomi.

Today we’ll look at Naomi’s perilous plan to provide security for Ruth.