While at lunch on Friday, yesterday, a wife came in with her two daughters, her husband, her mother and her husband’s parents.  She needed to change the baby daughter’s diaper and her husband told her to take the other daughter as well to use the potty.  Headed to the bathroom, already, the wife stopped, turned around and firmly exclaimed how she couldn’t take both of them BY HERSELF.  Her tone was loud and demanding, and her look was like, “YOU ARE going to help me!”  I held my head down and whispered to my love that her behavior and speech towards her husband was not acceptable; that she should not speak to him like that (and in public).

I was burning to get to her and stated to him and my lads that I was going in the bathroom to have a talk with this wife.  They nervously laughed and told me not to do it – PLEASE!  My lads were certain that I was going to have one of my “nice and kind conversations.”  So, my love placed his hand on my thigh as a gesture to keep me from getting up, in which I had already pushed my chair back to get up.  He was basically pleading for me to not to go to that bathroom – PLEASE!  I sat there for a moment, but was so compelled to go talk with her.

When I walked in, the baby was on the changing table and I smiled at her and said, “I came in here to give you a hug.”  She smiled back and her face turned red as I hugged her and said, “I noticed the way you spoke to your husband, and I know you’re frustrated, but that shouldn’t BE.  I also have two sons who are 16-months apart and I remember the trying days of seeing after both of them by myself for days and nights and I was married too.”  She very jittery says, “Yes, I am frustrated!  He normally helps me, and it isn’t that I can’t do it by myself I just don’t want to.  His parents are here visiting and he’s been spending a lot of time with them and I’ve been doing this by myself since they’ve been here.  But, my mother came with us today and she is helping me.”  I said to her, while rubbing her back, “It’s good to have a mother’s help, and you need to apologize to your husband AND give him a BIG HUG!”  As I told her that I loved her and gave her another hug, she smiled and said, “I will!”

When we walked out of the restaurant, I told my love what I had said and he smiled at me, chuckled and said, “Ohhh!  Only you can do something like this!”

Truly I AM an advocate for healthy marriages and relationships.  COMMUNICATION!  How we speak to our spouses, in public or not, must BE the speech that will ultimately raise him up and honor him regardless of how frustrated we are.  And sometimes, just sometimes, that language is called SILENCE!  SELAH!  We can BE frustrated or in a funk and still speak with kindness that will draw him in to feel and understand where we are.  We can teach our husbands the philological posture that will help him perceive how to dwell with us according to knowledge.

It is refreshing that my love adores me AS IS, and that he LET me do what I was compelled to do in this incident.  Yeshua was exemplified!  It was what that wife needed to get through the rest of the day without frustration dominating.

© 2012 Angela M. Smith

And, in His image, God created me [the man] and ‘they’ [male and female] were created and called ‘them’ in me [the man] that God created.  God formed me from the dust of the ground and breathed into my nostrils the breath of life.

And, I became a living soul; and the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for me to be alone [for me to be visible without myself the help meet].  Therefore, I will make [manifest and visible] for him, his help meet [a perfect fit for him, from within him].  So, the Lord caused me to fall into a deep sleep.

While I was sleeping, God took one of my ribs and then closed me up.  And the rib that God took from me was called woman.  As it was, God had already created her [my rib, my woman, my help meet] in me.  Consequently, God took me [the help meet] out of me [the man] so that I may behold myself [my rib, my woman, my help meet].

And when I looked upon the beauty and wonderful creation of me [called woman, the help meet that was in me and is now living with and beside me], I spoke life to myself [the woman] and proclaimed…

…THIS IS NOW [at this instant, without delay] bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, marrow of my marrow, heart of my heart, soul of my soul, spirit of my spirit, love of my love, because she was taken out of me.

We [the man, the rib, the woman, the help meet] were naked, and I and my self [her, my wife] were not ashamed.  She is me, I am her; we are male and female; we are them and they; we are he and her; we together are ‘One’!

© April 7, 2007, Angela M. Smith

Inspired by this quote:  “Prophesy is never established to hinder, to kill, to abort, to make you cease from, but Prophesy is spoken to make you born with fulfillment to overtake Destiny!  Prophesy is the umbilical chord to life nourished through words spoken” (Kenner, D. Lamont 2010)!

In your soul,

Your umbilical,

There is a sound!

This sound was heavenly orchestrated before you were formed in your mother’s womb.

You are a composed name

Bar after bar and scale after scale in the keys of E-flat, F, then G.

Your harmony and melody,

Are perfectly pitched

The quality of your hum unmatched.

Oh yes, you are strings of praise!

With musical tones synchronized in a unique way

That breathes life to the desolate.

Your lyrics have been examined by God.

He has captured the writings on your heart

And they shimmer in His eyes with deep joy, never to part.

You are every instrument with a peculiar tone that is in tune with the music maker

There are hundreds and thousands of musicians and singers lined up to play

And sing,

Let your chord of life count for His Glory and His Anointing

Ministering to you…ministering to me.

We must never sever

The umbilical chord of music, harmony and life.

Stand fast, be-come and remain the salt of the earth

And preserve the sound and song of the Levites!

© Smith, Angela M. March 5, 2010

Yes, Ruth asked Boaz to marry her; to take her as his wife when she said, “spread therefore thy skirt over me,” because the right to redeem her (a widow) was his, being that he was a next of kin.   Boaz called her a virtuous woman!  We are not taught that a virtuous woman is still virtuous when she asks a man to marry her.  Selah!

“Was it his choice to cover her or not, or to take her hand in marriage or not?”  In accordance to Deuteronomy Law, it was not a choice to marry her, it was Law that when a kinsmen dies, without a son, that his next of kin marries his widow.  The widow was not permitted to marry outside of the family.  Boaz accepted her proposal and stated, “And now it is true that I am thy near kinsmen; howbeit, there is a kinsman closer to you than I” (Ruth 3:12).  Boaz continues by telling Ruth, “Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well let him do the kinsman’s part: but, if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, THEN will I do the part of a kinsman to thee as the LORD lives: lie down until the morning” (Ruth 3:13).

So, Boaz purchased Ruth as his wife because the nearest next of kin [who was already married] resigned his right to purchase Naomi’s land and her daughter in law (Ruth).  This kinsman refused lest there be contention in his own house and he becomes a corrupter of his own inheritance.  The kinsman thought he was just purchasing Naomi’s land.  Then he learned of the condition that if he purchased the “land” he had to marry the widow as well.  He then took off his shoe and gave it to Boaz in essence to say, “I can not redeem her because I will mar mine own inheritance; you purchase her for yourself.”  Boaz says, “Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day” (Ruth 4:10).

In present day when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirt or end of his talith over her to signify that he has taken her under his protection.  When going to the bed of their lawful husbands, through modesty, and in token of subjection, women go to the foot of the bed and gently raising the clothes, they creep under them up to their place.  In this particular story, Boaz didn’t throw his skirt, or talith, over Ruth; Ruth uncovered his feet on her own and ASKED him to marry her.  Boaz was not Ruth’s lawful husband by his initial desire and pursuit, but they became lawfully one through the purpose and destiny of God and Ruth pursuit of him.  It’s amazing that although Ruth and her mother-in-law planned her actions to marry Boaz, Ruth was yet called a virtuous woman. Selah!

I have come to learn that even though some biblical things have great merit, according to era and culture, it doesn’t always mean it is proper for today in all cultures.  Yet, on the other hand, all things are pure to him who believes it is.  What I’d like to know is would you do as Ruth did when she asked Boaz to marry her; to become one with her.  Or, would you rather be presented to your husband by God; to him who has found you – a wife – and have thrown his skirt over you?

© June 27, 2009 Angela M. Smith

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from The King James Version of the Bible

For many years, I’ve heard it come across the pulpit (toward single women) that we need to keep working and gleaning the fields and our Boaz will find us.  It can be understood that he finding us is an indication that he was searching for and was interested in us in regards to marriage.

The scriptures state in Ruth Chapter 2, that when Boaz returned from Bethlehem he asked the servant in charge of the reapers who the damsel was.  Well, they told Boaz who she was, “And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house” (Ruth 2:6-7).

When Boaz understood that she was of his family, through marriage, he was kind to her.  Now, Ruth asked Boaz, “Why have I FOUND grace in your eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing that I am a stranger” (Ruth 2:10)?  Per Boaz, he didn’t take knowledge of her because he was attracted to her, had marriage on his mind, and wanted to be her husband, etc.  This is why, Boaz says, “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.  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” (Ruth 2:11-12).

Then Ruth said, “LET ME (I DECREE that I) find favor in your sight, my lord.”  Now, the endearing term of my lord was only addressed from a wife to her husband and in the scriptures was done once, to my knowledge, from Sarah to Abraham.   When Ruth said LET ME, she was announcing to Boaz that I want to be her who finds favor (be pleasing to you) in your sight (in the private place), my lord (my husband).

So, Boaz, knowing she was the widow of a kinsman, takes notice of her decree, but he tells her to come eat at mealtime due to the fact that she has labored all day long; not because he was interested in her betrothal.  I’ve been asked concerning this matter:

Are you saying that because he was kind to her, that he was interested in marrying her?

As far as I have studied, Boaz was not interested in her as a wife at the time he saw her in the field.  He inquired of her and came to know all the good that she had done concerning his family i.e. her deceased husband and her mother in law.  Then, he extended great favor to her because she was family.  For he even said, “The LORD repay you for what you’ve done, may you be richly rewarded by the LORD.”

Now, although there was a closer kinsman than Boaz, the plot or arrangement of Naomi was to procure Boaz to marry Ruth because of his wealth, but the plan of YAH was because of the lineage of the Savior.  In this case, Naomi strategically sets the plan for Ruth to engage herself to Boaz, by stating, “Shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?”  In this passage – the Hebrew/Aramaic meaning of rest literally means safety, peace, wholeness, and no deficiency.  So in essence, Naomi was saying to Ruth, “Shall I not seek a place of safety, peace, wholeness, and no deficiency for you?”  Naomi knew exactly where Boaz would be that night i.e. working in the threshing floor.  She told Ruth to go prepare herself for him but don’t bother him until he has finished working, eating, drinking, and have laid down to sleep.  Go prepare yourself means, “Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.  And it shall be, when he lay down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lay, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.

Precisely, when Ruth startled Boaz at his bedfoot, she said to him “I am your servant Ruth; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.” In the Hebrew translation, she was saying to Boaz, “Let thy name be called on thy handmaid to take me for your wife, for you are a next of kin to marry me.”  The scriptures says, “And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followed not young men, whether poor or rich.  And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou require: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.”

© June 27, 2009 Angela M. Smith

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from The King James Version of the Bible

Don’t let anybody tell you that sex and intercourse isn’t satisfying; that it isn’t supposed to feel good with the results of you feeling good about the fact that it is good!  There is only one condemnation about sex, intercourse, and its affability; and that is partaking of it outside of the private chambers and covenant of marriage.  And even in such uprightness (the private chambers and covenant of marriage), there are times sex and intercourse will leave you victimized.  Selah!  This subject is open for discussion…

Erotica literature is written with the intent of mental stimulation to the point of sexual arousal…pornography with one purpose and that is to satisfy a gluttony sexual desire.

To me, this is a very dangerous area of writing when the author does not have a moral standard of living, and writes with a distasteful style of language.  This language may not be unpleasant to some readers.  However, for others it can cause an innocent mind to become mentally engaged in another man’s/woman’s world of sinful intimacy.  The author of the script can have a legion of unclean spirits released in his/her words (vulgar language, graphic sex acts, etc.) and the reader is partaking of those spirits through the eye gates, which excites the psyche in an unhealthy sexual manner.

Erotica in its purest form is still erotic (expressed from an Eros posture), and lacks purity.  It is by far better to embrace what is beautiful (expressed from an Agape posture), to love well and treat what you love with great affection.  This expression makes you want to act with integrity (and for what is good for the soul) with the one who is in covenant love with you, and the one you are in covenant love with:  “[You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.”

You can interpret the above phrase: her lover calls her a garden…a premier landscape…a maintained area of privacy that he, and he alone, has access to (eye gate, ear gate, touching, smelling, tasting)…she is pleased with his acceptance of her, and who she is in all her beauty, so much that she wants the wind to blow upon her garden (her secret place) ‘til the spices (the sweet aroma of the climax of her sexual excitement) freely flows, without any inhibitions, and satisfies him (her beloved…the two that share great affection) completely…her beloved is absolutely hers without boundaries, and she is his and compels him to come into HIS GARDEN where the best of the best of fruits are waiting to quench his palate…hmmm, this is certainly no place for the world to trample and contaminate…

This eloquent style is so pure…it does not stir your minds in an insulting manner where lust can rise to the occasion; it is written and spoken to turn you towards the one you love with untainted adoration…I’d read anything like what I’ve just explained…anything else (outside biblically acceptance) will undoubtedly be viewed as garbage to me.

© 2008 Angela M. Smith