Ruth: Loyalty and Love

Last week we discussed the life of Rahab, her great faithfulness to a God she personally knew little about and her boldness in caring for her entire family and placing her life on the line believing in 

the Gracious and all Powerful God! 

We were reminded that:

•  Once again, God is so gracious!  He can, will and does use us all even in the darkest of circumstances.
• We simply cannot judge a book by its cover!  We miss out on the opportunity of knowing some wonderful people and also miss the opportunity to shine the “true love” light of Christ.  As Terry put so perfectly, we would look at Rahab with ??s but you never know what you would do in certain situations.  Walk a mile in people’s shoes!
• From a human perspective the lineage of Christ was checkered with examples of outcasts and failures “Collectively, they illustrate” so wonderfully “how God is able to work all things together for good”  Remembering that “[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7

Comments?

What surprised you about the “Rahab” study?  What did you take from it; did anything stick for you this week?

Ruth:  Loyalty and Love

How do you recall Ruth?

MacArthur would argue that the story of Ruth and “how her whole life was changed is one of the most deeply touching narratives in the whole of Scripture”   Her story began near the end of the era of the Judges in the Old Testament about a century before the time of David.  There was a severe famine in the land of Israel at the time.  We are introduced at the beginning of Ruth to the family of Elimelech  (ee-LIHM-eh-lehk )

Ruth 1:1-5

 ¹ In the days when the judges ruled,^[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. ² The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon (MAH-luhn) and Kilion (KIHL-ee-ahn). They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

 ³ Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

The famine in Israel forced Elimelech and family to seek refuge in Moab, just as a similar famine had driven Abraham to Egypt.  Which was a measure of the severity of the famine for a couple reasons…

1. “These must have been desperate times because Moab itself was mostly a desolate region, a high tableland bounded on the wet by the Dead Sea and on the west by arid desert wasteland.”

 The Moabite people and the Israelites generally despised one another. (The Moabites were descendent of Lot’s eldest daughter through her incestuous relationship with her own father, the child born of that illicit union was name Moab.) It was the nation whose King Balak engaged the “hitman” prophet Balaam to prophesy against Isreal and during the time of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, Moabite women were known to seduce Israelite men and entice them to participate in sacrifices to idol Gods.

Numbers 25:1-5

¹ While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.⁴ The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”⁵ So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”

So in this week's saga of “As the Bible World Turns”… we see that first Elimelech dies leaving Naomi widowed – fortunately for her, her sons were close to adulthood and they soon married, unfortunately they were Moabite women – which any Israelite would have been unhappy with… Israelite men had been forbidden to marry Canaanite women lest they be turned away to other Gods

Deuteronomy 7:3-4

³ Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴ for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

“Common sense would suggest that for similar reasons, marriage to a Moabite would not have been appropriate, either.”  Nevertheless Naomi seemed to have graciously accepted these daughter in laws which shows us a lot about her character.  One was Orpah (whom Oprah was named after by the way – and it means stubborn) and the other was Ruth the star of today’s episode (whose name meant friendship – how appropriate!)  Now back from commercial J  things have turned for the worst – both Mahlon and Chilion died too now leaving the three women to care for themselves which was in that culture and time “a near impossible situation with no children and no responsible relatives, in a time of famine they could not hope to survive for long, even if they pooled together their meager resources.” So it’s only natural that when Naomi heard of the famine breaking in Israel she quickly made up her mind to return and so she and her widowed daughter in laws began the journey back to Bethlehem – although as they trekked on, Naomi considered the circumstances that lay before Ruth and Orpah – the difficulties they would continue to face as widows in a foreign land and as Moabite women at that – and so she “released” them back to their families where they could hope for a “more stable” future.  And the scene of agony from all three women that follows is gut wrenching:

            

Ruth 1:8-14

⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. ⁹ May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud ¹⁰ and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? ¹² Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— ¹³ would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has turned against me!” ¹⁴ At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

Ruth and Naomi had no doubt a close bond – both of these girls for that matter – but Ruth and Naomi not only had a close loving friendship and cared deeply for one another but as we see from Ruth’s beautiful and poetic response to her MIL’s urging her to a “secure” life we see that they also share the love of the one true God.

Ruth 1:16-17

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” ¹⁸ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

“This was an amazingly mature and meaningful testimony of personal faith especially from a young woman who was raised in a pagan culture.  The witness of Naomi and her family must have made a powerful impression on Ruth.”

A Point to Ponder:
Ruth was willing to commit to Naomi and God by distancing herself from the gods of her past…  This could serve as a great reminder that to make a commitment to God, we need to distance ourselves from the gods of our past.  Is He calling you to do that today?  What are some of the gods of our past we need to distance ourselves from to move forward in commitment to God and His will and desires for our lives?

Naomi and Ruth continued on to Bethlehem and having chosen to stay with her aging MIL, Ruth went to work in the fields, gleaning what the harvesters left behind – think of it as an early form of the welfare system – in order to provide enough grain to provide for her and her mother in law.  Naomi , although having returned to her homeland had no kin close enough to be legally obliged to support her and of course Ruth didn’t have any family in Bethlehem so Ruth did what she had to do and worked hard in the field to attain it too!  

How many of us can relate to that?  Stepping up and doing what needs to be done to either support ourselves, our families, friends, children, our churches?

As it so happened one day Ruth was gleaning in the fields of Boaz and while overseeing his fields, he took an immediate interest in her and sought out his foreman and inquired about her (and although in human terms it was just happenstance – we of course know that God himself was the orchestrator of these events)

A snapshot of Boaz…

Boaz was a relative of Elimelech (cousin or nephew maybe) who had prospered in Bethlehem despite the years of famine.  He was a landowner and held considerable influence.  And he was Boaz was a direct descendant of Rahab (likely a grandson or great grandson) which connects him in the lineage of Christ and may explain his sympathetic view on Ruth as he’d be familiar with his grandmother’s own plight as a foreign and pagan woman who had come to know the one true God.

When Boaz inquired about Ruth, he was told of her “relation” to Naomi and having realized she was his relative by marriage began to show special favor on her.  He encouraged her to glean only in his fields, he allowed her to drink from the water he provided to his servants and instructed the young men not to touch her.  Ruth was moved by his kindness and generosity knowing very well that this favor was highly unusual especially on a poor woman from a foreign land.

Ruth 2:10-16

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” ¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. ¹² May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” ¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” ¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”   When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. ¹⁵ As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. ¹⁶ Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

When Ruth returned home to Naomi with about a ½ bushel of barley – which would have been enough to sustain them for 5 days a gleaners dream gathering – and some leftover food from lunch Naomi was clearly surprised and pleased and even more so when Ruth shared that she had been given special favor by Boaz and told her he was a close relative.

The Hebrew word she uses is “goel” which Wikipedia defines as:

Goel (go'el) is a Hebrew term which comes from the word gal'al ("to redeem"), hence meaning "redeemer", which in the Bible and the rabbinical tradition denotes a person who as the nearest relative of another is charged with the duty of restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs. In the Authorized Version, it is rendered "kinsman", "redeemer", and "avenger".

In the book of Isaiah God is called the redeemer of Israel, as he redeems his people from captivity; the context shows that the redemption also involves moving on to something greater. In Christianity, the title goel is applied to Christ, who redeems us from all evil by the payment of a ransom.

A beautiful comparison of THE Redeemer, Christ Jesus.  Boaz would become Ruth’s goel and deliver her from the widowhood and poverty she chose by being faithful to her mother in law. Likewise as with Christ the redeemer, we see the love that comes with redemption here from Boaz as he steps up to this title quite well.  And to help him step into that role, Naomi steps into another soap opera role quite well, one that as women we are quite naturally good at and fond of…. Matchmaker!

Naomi’s plan was bold and unconventional, it wasn’t indecent or unrightwous, just shockingly forward.  Her plan was basically for Ruth to propose to Boaz!

Ruth 3:3

¹ One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. ² Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. ³ Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. ⁴ When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

By the custom of this time, this would indicate her willingness to marry Boaz.

 ⁵ “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. ⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. ⁷ When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet! ⁹ “Who are you?” he asked.   “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer (GOEL) of our family.” ¹⁰ “The LORD bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. ¹² Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer (GOEL)  of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. ¹³ Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the LORD lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.” ¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.” ¹⁵ He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he^[c] went back to town. ¹⁶ When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”   Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her ¹⁷ and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’” ¹⁸ Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”

Nothing indecent or immoral happened that night, the Scripture is very clear about that and just another reason why biblical soap operas are WAY better than any on TV J  But Boaz did sent her off home before sunrise to protect her virtue. – I like this guy!
Naomi of course was right and Boaz rushed right off to the elders and negotiated his right to be Ruth’s goel.  Now, the other man that could have been her goel – the other relative could have been a cousin or sibling to Boaz and was going to take over the rights to Ruth… (there’s always a snag before the happily ever after remember) but Boaz was quick to jump in and explain that because of the circumstances, the only way to make sure all land rights etc. would stay in the goels’ family line was to marry Ruth, which the other man could not or would not do… and thus the wedding bells were ringing!  Everyone loves a good love story and the people of Bethlehem were no exception… news spread quickly and they pronounced a blessing on the soon to be wed couple…

Ruth 4:11-12

Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. ¹² Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

Boaz and Ruth were soon married and had a son. And Naomi was blessed too:

            Ruth 4:14-15

¹⁴ The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him.

A Point to Ponder:
Boaz paid a price to redeem Ruth.  How did this change Ruth’s perception of her value?  What is your value to God based on the price he paid to redeem you?

Ruth was extraordinary because of her extraordinary unselfishness, her measure of faith and love that carried her away from her people into poverty, but surrounded by the love of God and her dear friend and Mother in Law, Naomi. 

“She is a fitting symbol of each believer and the church itself giving us a clear picture of what it means to be redeemed, brought into great favor, endowed with privilege, exalted as the redeemers own bride and loved by him with profound affection.

That is why the extraordinary story of her redemption ought to make every true believer’s heart resonate with profound gladness and thanksgiving for the One who, likewise, redeemed us from our sin.”

Next week is – Hannah:  A Portrait of Feminine Grace

1. Please feel free to share this study with the extraordinary women in your life and invite them to join us for this exploration either in person on Wednesday Mornings at the Church of the Vine, 5 Wareham Street, S. Carver, Mass. From 9:30-11:30 (a time of prayer, study, fellowship and coffee!) or online at http://e-study-12extraordinarywomen.blogspot.com