DAY THIRTY:

The Story of Ruth

Ruth 1:1-4:22

The story of Ruth is a high point during the otherwise dismal period of the judges. It is a story of true love on several levels. This story is also an important link in God’s plan to redeem us from the curse of sin and death.

The story begins Elimelech and his family. They were from Bethlehem in the Tribe of Judah. A famine struck the land and Elimelech led his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, across the Jordan to Moab where there was food. The Moabites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot by his own daughter. They had been nothing but trouble for the people of Israel. The Moabites introduced them to Baal worship even before they entered Canaan, and Moabite raiders were a constant threat. Elimelech died, leaving Naomi dependent on her two sons. Mahlon and Chilion met and married Moabite women, Orpah (Oprah Winfrey is named for her) and Ruth. It looked like the family would settle permanently in Moab. But then Mahlon and Chilion took sick and died. Now Naomi was alone in a foreign land. Certainly her daughters-in-law would leave her to find new husbands. All that was left for Naomi was to return to her own people in Bethlehem and hope that they will provide for her. 

Orpah left with tears in her eyes and headed back to her people. But Ruth didn't want to leave. She said to Naomi, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May theLord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." (1:16-17) More than once couples getting married have chosen these verses to be read at the ceremony. But the context is not the love between a man and a woman getting married, but of a daughter-in-law committing herself to her mother-in-law. That makes Ruth's statement all the more remarkable! She is turning her back on her people and their gods. She will return with Naomi, where she will be a foreigner.

They arrived back in Bethlehem during the barley harvest in the early spring. This was a good time to arrive because there would be food for them. Leviticus 9:9-10 says, "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God." This was one of the ways God provided for the poor in Israel. They had a right to follow the harvesters and pick up the grain left behind. Landowners were not to interfere. But this could be dangerous for a young woman. The hired hands might harass her and even rape her. 

But God in His kind providence took good care of Ruth. She ended up in the fields of a man named Boaz. He was a godly man, who greeted his workers in the name of the Lord. He noticed Ruth and asked who she was. When he found out that she was Naomi's daughter-in-law he was impressed with her kindness. Boaz thanked her and told her to stay in his fields. He told her to drink from the water he provided for the workers any time she was thirsty. He also ordered his young men to leave her alone. Boaz even invited Ruth to join him and his harvesters for lunch. Then after lunch Boaz ordered his men to let her glean even among the sheaves, and to pull out handfuls of grain from the sheaves and throw it on the ground for her. The King James Version renders this as "handfuls on purpose." 

Ruth made out like a bandit, and returned to Naomi at the end of the day with a lot more grain than Naomi expected. Naomi asked where she went and when she found out that it Boaz's field she rejoiced! Boaz was a relative, and a close one at that. This could work out really well for Ruth. As a close relative Boaz was a "kinsman redeemer." If a family became poor and had to sell the land they received from Joshua a wealthy relative had the right to buy it and restore it to his impoverished relatives. He would also have the right, even the obligation to marry his relative's widow and produce a son to carry on the dead man's name (Leviticus 25:47-49, Deuteronomy 25:5-10) She told Ruth to clean up and go to the threshing floor, where Boaz will be sleeping after a long day. Go to where he's sleeping and lie down by his feet and lift the blanket off of them. When he wakes up he'll now what to do.

Boaz was sleeping soundly after a busy day and some celebratory wine at supper. He wasn't aware that Ruth was there. At midnight he rolled over and realized that someone was there and asked who it was. Ruth then revealed herself and said, "I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer." Boaz was deeply touched. He was an older man, apparently a widower who had no sons. Ruth could have gone wild with the young men all around her, but she chose to be faithful to God and to Naomi. He would be delighted to redeem her, but it turned out that there was a closer relative whose rights came ahead of Boaz's. He told Ruth that he'd find out if this man was interested in redeeming her and her dead husband's estate. He sent Ruth back to Naomi before dawn, with as much grain as she could carry. Naomi knew that Boaz was serious, and that he'd take care of the matter that day.

Boaz went to Bethlehem's main gate, where the elders gathered every day. Boaz may have been one of the elders. Then that closer relative came by and Boaz called him over. He told him about Naomi returning and that her husband's estate was up for redemption. Elimelech had good fields, and the closer relative was interested. Then Boaz said Ruth, the wife of Chilion, comes with the fields. He would be expected to marry her and produce a son who would be Chilion's heir. This closer relative balked. This would mess up his own estate so he told Boaz that Ruth was all his. He sealed the deal by taking his sandal off and handing it to Boaz (that was the custom of the day). The witnesses at the gate gave their blessing: "May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and 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." (4:11-12)

Boaz took Ruth the Moabitess, Naomi's daughter-in-law, as his wife. We read, "...the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son." Naomi was on top of the world! She had the privilege of being nursemaid for her grandson. They named the little boy Obed. He grew up and had a son whom he named Jesse. And Jesse had seven sons, the last of whom was David, the little shepherd boy who slew the giant Goliath and became the king of Israel. 

The story of Ruth has a very happy ending and serves as a transition from the judges to the kings. But Ruth teaches us so much more than that. First, we have another non-Israelite in Jesus' genealogy (the first was Rahab the prostitute, who hid the spies in Jericho). God promised Abraham "...in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3) Even though God chose to work through Abraham and His descendants, all of it was meant to bless every tribe, nation and tongue on earth. Jesus ministered to non-Jews and in the Book of Acts we see dramatic conversions among the gentiles. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:11-13, "Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called 'the uncircumcision' by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ruth trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that made her a member of His family.

Another important lesson from Ruth is the beauty and importance of love within families. Ruth's commitment to Naomi, expressed so eloquently, is the ideal for all of our families. Boaz and Ruth formed a new family and were blessed with a son. When family life is good, there's no greater blessing this side of heaven. When it's not it can be hell on earth. The family is the basic unit of human civilization. There were families before there were governments, schools or churches. We learn the most important lessons in life in our families, none more important than what it means to be loved and to love in return. When the family breaks down the other institutions, like government, school and church, are at risk. So thank God for your family, and pray for families everywhere!

Next week we'll look at Samuel, the last of the judges and the one who anointed Israel's first  and second kings. The commonwealth gave way to the kingdom.

Have a great weekend! I leave you with a song that we learned in Sunday School but which teaches a very important truth. Enjoy this rendition by Mahalia Jackson.