April 7: Ruth 1-4

April 7, Ruth 1-4

Here we start and finish an entire book of the Old Testament today. Ruth is about God as our Redeemer and His Sovereignty is overwhelming. Even though life can be hard, God is still good. Another aspect to the book, we gentiles (non-Jews) are Ruth, Naomi is the Jews, and that Jesus is just like Boaz, redeeming us and letting us join into the family of God. The book of Ruth…

Ruth 1 The book starts out with a really brief into on what is going on. This story happened during the time of the Judges - which you just read - and you are quite aware of how corrupt the world was during that time. We learn about a man from Bethlehem and his family that went to travel to  live in Moab because of the extreme drought that was taking place in Judah. Moab was one of Israel’s traditional enemies. While living there, the father dies. The two sons marry Moabite women and they lived in Moab about ten years. Both of the sons die and had no children by them. Now Naomi, the widow, was in a foreign land with only her daughter-in-laws. Back then, the woman were dependent on the men for work and for protection. It was custom that if a husband died, then the wife would marry her dead husband’s brother, so that the family would stay together and the widows taken care of. But Naomi knew that she was older and wouldn't be able to give husbands to her daughter-in-laws, so she told them to go back to their previous home so that they could be provided for and prayed a blessing over them that Yahweh would help them find new husbands. Originally, both girls agreed to stay with Naomi, but then the one daughter went home, back to her people in Moab and back to her gods. But Ruth, she ‘clung’ to Naomi and refused to leave. Ruth made an oath to Naomi that she would stay with her and that Naomi’s God would become Ruth’s God. So, they both traveled back to Bethlehem in Judah where Naomi was originally from. Naomi changed her name to ‘Bitter’ because she felt that God had dealt very harsh with her, assuming that it was some sin that had brought this on to her as well as claiming she had come back to Bethlehem ‘empty.’ I can’t imagine how that made Ruth feel, as she had left everything to stay with Naomi, only for Naomi to not realize the blessing of Ruth staying with her. This was during the spring of that year.

Ruth 2 A couple of things right out the gates on this chapter… We then learn that Naomi has a family member still in Bethlehem and a good man. His name was Boaz. Also, Ruth, a foreigner from an enemy nation, is now in Israelite territory. 

Ruth decides to go glean from the fields. Gleaning was set aside by God for those in need. People could go to the edges of the crop fields and gather food, as God instructed the Israelites to take care of the needy, and this was one way to provide for them. There is a bit of humor in this part of the story, as Naomi just ‘happened’ to end up in Boaz’s fields (There is no such thing as coincidence!). Boaz came out to his field and blessed all the ladies that were gleaning that day and he inquired to his superintendent about Ruth. The superintendent told him that she was Naomi’s daughter-in-law and that she had asked permission to glean there, and she worked hard all day long with only little rest. 

Boaz took Ruth aside and told her only to glean from his fields, and not to travel to glean from the fields of another. He made sure none of his workers would bother her or assault her, as she was alone and a foreigner. Boaz also took note of the extreme kindness that she had showed to Naomi, by not abandoning her and taking care of her, by gathering free food for the both of them. Boaz understood that Ruth had left her homeland and came to a foreign place, with a foreign God and now was under the refuge of God. Boaz made sure that she knew that she was welcome there. She got to eat with him as well until she was full. Boaz instructed his men to leave bundles of grain for her to take with her, making her glean that much easier, as he was providing for her. 

She brought home all the barley she had worked all day for, as well as some leftovers from eating with Boaz back to Naomi and told her the whole story. Naomi was thrilled and explained that Boaz was a relative. As you know, historically, if a woman was widowed, the nearest relative was bound to take care of her. In this case, Ruth is a foreigner and Naomi is an Israelite native, so it is Naomi’s family that would take care of her, and subsequently, Ruth. Naomi encouraged Ruth to stay in Boaz’s field so that she would not be assaulted by other men. Ruth and Naomi continued living together.

Ruth 3 Naomi explains to Ruth how she is to propose to Boaz. Not traditional back then, or even now for that matter. She explains that after the feast, to go to Boaz’s feet when he goes to sleep and lay at his feet. So she does. After the harvest feast, Boaz is full of food and wine, and he goes to the heap of grain on the floor to sleep. Ruth quietly laid down at his feet. About midnight, he awoke and was startled, and said who is there? Ruth told him and asked him to protect her and basically in our modern terms it would be the same thing as her getting on one knee and proposed to him to marry her. He told her that he was impressed that she didn't go after some young rich guy but instead wished to redeem the heritage of Naomi’s family. How does this make sense in the 21st century? Just imagine that an old family farm is up for auction, and the only ones that can buy it are family. So an outsider might want to marry someone else for a different farm, but here she decides to marry in the family, so that the farm can be bought and remain in the family, thus keeping the farm in the family. In our culture, this doesn’t make much sense, but I hope you can see the importance of her listening to Naomi and choosing a man who could give back to Naomi all of her inheritance. Anyhow, Boaz sees the sincerity of her, and the love that she has for her mother-in-law. Why is Boaz so sweet to a foreign, false-god pagan woman? Why is so willing to give her a chance? Well. Do you remember who Boaz’s mother was? His mother was Rehab, the prostitute that let down the red cord and saved the Israelite spies. A woman who left her foreign, false-god pagan city of Jericho and came into he camp of the Israelites. This is why we can see that Boaz, isn’t as judgmental. And it could even possibly be why a older, wealthy sweet guy is still single, because he had a past-pagan mother and looked out for the woman that left everything for Yahweh, but that is just my wife’s romantic ideas… Anyhow, Boaz agreed to marry/protect her, but then remembered that there was another man that was a closer relative than him, that had first dibs (rights) to Naomi, Ruth, and all of their family land. This other guy was the first ‘redeemer’ in line. If he didn't want them, Boaz would happily take them. She stayed there till morning and went home with a massive amount of food so that she could bring food to her Mother-in-law. Ruth explained everything to Naomi… 

Ruth 4 Boaz wasted no time and met up with the closest relative. Notice how smart Boaz was! Boaz explained that Naomi had some land and that this guy had first right to buy it. The guy was all in, until he found out that if he bought the land, he would also have to take Ruth as his wife, as the Law of the Lord stated, so that all the widows would be taken care of. He didn't want to screw things up for his family or his future inheritance, so he passed on the family farm and the new widow wife. They did the customary contract agreement, where they would take a sandal off and give it to the other person, also having witnesses. We might not understand this either, but think of like a mix between a hand shake and giving someone something that was evidence for the deal that was made. The shoe was a physical deal reminder for the agreement. So if they wondered, “Did I really make that deal?” They would look around the house, and say, “Yes, I must have. I have their shoe to prove it!” Silly maybe to us, but then again we might be keeping more of our promises if we were walking around with only one shoe to remind us that we made a deal… Anyhow… The elders that were there as witnesses, all blessed Boaz for his kindness, and they prayed that God would bless Ruth like Rachel and Leah (who started the house of Israel!). 

Boaz married Ruth, and they consummated the marriage, and she became pregnant. As well as redeemed and bought the farm back for Naomi, as it would now always stay in the family. The women of the town took to Ruth well and blessed God for being the Redeemer. The boys name was Obed - who was King David’s Grandpa!

The lineage at the end of this book is quite interesting. Long story short - Our Messiah, Jesus Christ, comes from the line of David, which came from Ruth and Boaz! God is a Redeemer that has a mighty plan - all laid out.

To sum it all up:

• Sometimes God brings us through trials that we cannot comprehend or even see that we have the ability to get through. But, God is there for you. Lean on Him and look to Him so that He can guide you through it. 
• There is no such thing as coincidence! God guides everything…
• In Ruth 1:13, Naomi states that the ‘Hand of the Lord was against her.’ Here, Naomi thought that since life was hard and painful that Yahweh’s Hand was against her. But she was wrong. Yahweh was planning out His will and plan for His Story. Yahweh’s Hand, was really guiding her, even though she didn’t know it. And as we see, Naomi was the great great- grandmother of King David. 
• When you are going through hardships, remember this story… a widow and her widowed daughter-in-law travel to a place without their men, only to be led to where God wanted them to be to meet the man that would provide for them, and ultimately the Son of God would be born out of their lineage. Coincidence, I think NOT!