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Food for Thought: One Loyal, Faithful Woman

Dr. Mark Ruppert

Selected verses from the Book of Ruth

All the world loves a love story, wouldn’t you agree? I remember back as a kid when a love story, soap opera-type program, by the name of “Peyton Place” staring Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neil made its way onto nighttime TV and became such a big hit, and that was when soap operas were tame. Now-a-days soap operas continue to appear on daytime TV but have stepped it up a few notches where a TV-14 rating is the norm.

Today we are going to look at a love story with unexpected twists and turns of the drama of Ruth and Boaz and how these two unlikely people end up making modern day soap operas look boring because it is has such a fantastic story-line.

As we begin, let me say a few things about this book called Ruth. “The book is telling us that while the broad sweep of Israel ’s history was moving them further and further away from God and increasingly under the divine judgment, this was not the whole story. There were still men like Boaz who were faithful to the Lord and obedient to his word. There were still people like Ruth who were brought into the family of God’s people, through faith in [God], although she was born a foreigner and a stranger. Above all, God was still faithful in keeping his covenant promises and demonstrating his covenant love to those who were faithful to him. The story of Ruth is a microcosm of what life in Israel might have been, and would have been, if only the people had sought the Lord and followed him. …It contains several reminders of the pressures within the culture to turn away from the living God, but it shows clearly how God honors those who honor him, and encourages [people like us] to trust and obey him.” (The Communicator’s Commentary, Judges, Ruth, David Jackman, p. 311-12)

There are those who say that the book of Ruth is the most beautiful short story ever written. It has been said that the account of Ruth contains fear, anxiety, love and commitment that inflames the imagination and soothes the soul. It’s a story that begins with heartbreak and despair and ends with you cheering with delight.

There is a story told that when Benjamin Franklin was the Ambassador to France , he occasionally attended the Infidels Club, which was a group that spent most of its time searching for and reading literary masterpieces. On one occasion Franklin read the book of Ruth to the club but he changed the names in it so that it would not be recognized as a book of the Bible. When he finished, the listeners were unanimous in their praise. They said it was one of the most beautiful short stories that they had ever heard, and demanded that he tell where he had run across such a remarkable work of art. He loved telling them that it came from the Bible!

For those of you who have Jewish friends in just a few short days they will celebrate the Festival of Shavout in which the entire book of Ruth is sung or read aloud. As a matter of fact many people stay up all night studying the Book of Ruth.

So let us begin to dig into this book that contains only 4 chapters and see what it has to say to us today. First, the WHEN. The first verse indicates that the story unfolds during the time when the judges ruled Israel , however there has been great debate and scholars have suggested this book dates anywhere from the 3rd century B.C. to the 10 th century. Second, the WHERE. Ruth 1:1, says, “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab , he and his wife and two sons.” His wife’s name is Naomi and his two sons, Mahalon and Chilion. It would have taken them about a week to make the trip since Moab was about 100 miles from Bethlehem .

Now Moab was a land with rich, fertile soil and ample rainfall so that crops could grow. It must be noted that Moab was the enemy of Israel . It would not be a far stretch to say that it would be like modern day Israel and the PLO. Numbers 25 tells us that the Moabites lead the Israelites into sexual immorality and pagan worship and in Deuteronomy 23:3-6 strictly forbids any Ammorite or Moabite to enter the assembly of the Lord even down to the 10 th generation. The Israelites were forbidden to enter into a treaty or friendship with them as long as they lived. So Elimelech is disobeying God by going into their land and living there.

Third, the WHAT. Elimelech and his family are in Moab due to the famine in Bethlehem . But something happens in Moab . Verse 3-5 read, “But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth.

When they had lived there about 10 years, both Mahalon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.” So now Naomi, Orpah and Ruth are widows.

Now let me say that life for a widow was tough in the ancient world. They had no social status and no way to survive economically. And to the fact that here you have an Israelite living in a foreign land. In today’s times Naomi would have been homeless because at least her daughters-in-law could go back to be with their families. So verse 6 tells us that one day she decides to go back home because she had heard that God had come to the aid of his people and provided food back home in Bethlehem. God was providing, and her common sense tells her to go home and yet this was a spiritually sensitive move back to the God of her ancestors. God was beginning to put things back together for her by her return home.

We begin to see the sovereignty of God at work and when we look at the story from beginning to end we see that God did not act intermittently but continuously.

We read in Ruth 1:8-13 that Naomi leaves with Orpah and Ruth and along the way Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to return. But the women insisted and said they will return with her to her people. Eventually Orpah returns but Ruth offers a tremendous statement of faith when she says to Naomi in Ruth 1:16-17, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” WOW, what a commitment to a woman who is only her mother-in-law, and one that has taken her to a foreign land.

So the two arrive in Bethlehem and Ruth 1:19-20 says, “When they came to Bethlehem , the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ She said to them, ‘Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara [which means “bitter”], for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.”

In chapter 2 we are introduced to Boaz who belongs to the family of Naomi’s deceased husband. There is no doubt as to whom the future hope of Naomi and Ruth rests on. And if we look closely we can continue to see God continuing to work out His purposes.

It is the beginning of the barley harvest and Ruth tells Naomi in 2:2, Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor.” Ruth and Naomi are widows and are very poor. But there was an Israelite law that made the provision for the poor to provide for themselves by gleaning the fields after the reapers had finished their work.

In order to ensure that there would be something for the poor, the law required farmers to leave a portion of their harvest for gleaning by the poor (Lev. 19:9-10; Deut. 24:19-22). We read in Ruth 2:4-23 that Ruth attracts the attention of Boaz and he gives instructions to make sure that Ruth has the opportunity to glean enough grain. And in verse 20 we read, “Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’”

In chapter 2 we find Ruth coming to the field of Boaz looking for food, but in chapter 3 we find her retuning but this time looking for a husband. And in 3:1-5 Naomi even works to help her land Boaz. Now if we did not know the customs and laws at the time of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz we might think that Naomi is a scheming, pushy mother-in-law who is trying to manipulate Boaz and we might see Ruth as throwing herself at this poor man.

So let me stop right here and explain the concept of the kinsman-redeemer who Naomi saw as a man needing to be awakened to his responsibility. Read with me Ruth 3:1following as we see the happy ending to this once tragic story. “Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.’ She said to her, ‘All that you tell me I will do.’ So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed. When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down. At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and there, lying at his feet was a woman! He said, ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.’ [In other words, she is asking him to take her for his wife-pretty bold, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s keep reading] He said, ‘May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not be afraid, I will do for you all that you ask, I for the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman. But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is anther kinsman more closely related than I. Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do it. If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you. Lie down until the morning.’”

Let me explain the concept of the kinsman-redeemer. Since God had assigned each family of each tribe a section of land, this land was important and still is to Israel . In order to make sure it stayed in the family, the kinsman redeemer law was instituted. If a man died and left a widow and no sons, his nearest relative would be given the opportunity to buy his land and marry his widow so that she could have sons to carry on the deceased name. This relative would be obliged, as his own expense, to buy back the property and give it back to the relative who had sold it. If the nearest kin refused, then the next closest kin would take on the role of the redeemer. But there was a catch. The kinsman-redeemer couldn’t make the decision to redeem on his own. He had to be asked by the widow to buy back her husband’s land. Now Naomi is too old to do this but not Ruth, and so that is exactly what she does.

Now what do you think happened the next day? The long and the short of it is found in Ruth 4:8-10 which says, “So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, ‘Acquire it for yourself,’ he took off his sandal. Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have acquired from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to maintain the dead man’s name on his inheritance, in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place; today you are witnesses.’” The story ends with Boaz taking Ruth as his wife and she bore him a son and they named him Obed. And if you read Ruth 4:17 we find out that Obed became the father of Jesse, the father of David.

And we know that Jesus came from the linage of David, so Ruth, a foreigner, is a part of the greater fulfillment of grace and truth in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

So what can we take with us from this marvelous love story? First, as I mentioned earlier, there is a lesson for us to surrender to the sovereignty of God. God was everywhere in this story, working, weaving his purposes through the events and circumstances. He used a famine to bring a Jewish man and his family to Moab where his sons marry Moabite woman. Through the death of the three men God brings the two widows to the Promised Land and through it all Naomi teaches Ruth about her God and Ruth makes a life-changing commitment. Have we surrendered to the sovereignty of God in our own lives? Do we trust in His purposes for our lives, even when things look difficult?

Second, there is a lesson of Redemption . We read about the responsibility people have for other people, especially the strong and powerful for the weak and unprotected. We have the same responsibility if we are in a position to help those who are less fortunate. Who are the Naomi’s and the Ruth’s that we need to reach out to? Who do we need to redeem?

Isn’t it the way God works that tucked away in this story is the one who would come years later to redeem the world, Jesus Christ? Ruth truly was one loyal faithful woman. Amen.

Key Points

Introduction: all the world loves a love story

A few things about the book of Ruth…

The WHEN

The WHERE (Ruth 1:1)

The WHAT (Ruth 1:3-5)

The sovereignty of God- God did not act intermittently but ___________________

The WHO - Naomi and Ruth in Bethlehem

Chapter 2- the introduction of Boaz

Chapter 3- Ruth goes looking for a husband (Ruth 3:1-5)

The concept of the kinsman-redeemer (Ruth 3:1f)

The next day (Ruth 4:8-10)

What can we take from this marvelous love story?

First, the surrender to the __________ of God

Second, there is a lesson of ___________

Conclusion: Isn’t it the way God works that tucked away in this story is the One who would come years later to redeem the world, Jesus Christ?

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)