October 2008

A word
on the Word

A monthly series on the Bible by Carrie Boren, Missioner for Evangelism

Ruth, the extraordinary ordinary woman

he Book of Ruth is named after a humble Moabite woman. Set between the book of Judges and 1 Samuel, both of which chronicle well-known Israelite leaders, it tells the story of an ordinary woman whose life choices, character, and fidelity to her mother-in-law and the God of Israel brought her into the lineage of King David. The beginning words of the Gospel of Matthew highlight the significance of Ruth’s life, “Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed became the father of Jesse the father of David the King” (Matt. 1:5). Matthew’s long genealogy ends with, “Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus called the Messiah” (Matt. 1:16). Ruth became part of David’s lineage from which
Jesus Christ came.

Her story began with a famine in Judah. A man from Bethlehem, Elimalech, and his wife, Naomi, fled to Moab to find food, but Moab was a foreign, prohibited territory for the Jews. While there, Naomi and Elimalech’s two sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Tragedy soon struck this family. Elimalech and both his sons died. This left Naomi completely alone in a foreign land and all three women widowed.

Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem in Judah because “word reached her … that the Lord had visited his people and given them food” (Ruth 1:6). She told her two daughters-in-law to go home to their mothers, and she kissed them good-bye. Orpah left, but Ruth went with Naomi to Judah. This was a profound risk for her. She was going to a foreign territory where she might very well be ostracized for being a Moabite and never marry again. Yet, she felt a deep fidelity to her mother-in-law, and she was clearly drawn to Naomi’s God. She said to Naomi, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! For wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Wherever you die I will die, and there be buried. May the Lord do so and so to me, and more besides, if aught but death separate me from
you!” (Ruth 1:16,17).

Times were not easy for the two widows. Naomi, whose name meant “amiable and pleasant,” changed her name to Mara, which meant “bitterness,” because she believed God had brought this hardship upon her. When the two women became hungry, Naomi sent Ruth to glean from the harvest of a prominent kinsmen, Boaz. (All Jews were to leave 10% of their harvest fields for those in need.) Boaz noticed Ruth, and when he heard her story, he told her that she could glean from his field with his women servants and asked others to protect her. She fell prostrate before him and asked, “Why should I a foreigner be favored with your notice?” (Ruth 2:10). Boaz answered, “I have had a complete account of what you have done for your mother-in-law after your husbands death. May you receive a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge” (Ruth 2:11, 12).

Naomi was keen to find a pleasing home for Ruth, and because Boaz was a kinsman, she suggested that Ruth bathe, anoint herself, put on her best attire, and go to the threshing floor where Boaz was eating and drinking. When he reclined, Ruth was to uncover a place at his feet and lie down. “He will tell you what to do,”
Naomi said.

Being a godly man, Boaz responded to Ruth’s gesture with respect and care. He said, “You have been even more loyal now than before in not going after young men, whether poor or rich. So be assured daughter I will do for you whatever you say.” Then he promised he would marry her if a closer kinsman did not claim her. That kinsmen refused to “redeem” Ruth because he feared it would impair his own inheritance, and he told Boaz, “Take my right of redemption yourself.”

Boaz and Ruth’s marriage honored the God of Israel. The Lord “enabled Ruth to conceive and she bore a son” (Ruth 4:13). The town’s women said to Naomi, the new grandmother, “Blessed is the Lord who has not failed to provide you with an heir! May he become famous in Israel!” (Ruth 4:14). They called the son Obed who was the father of Jesse, the father of David.