Ruth
Ruth
This week, our blog post is on a well known woman in the Bible. Her name was Ruth. Ruth is one of the finest examples of a Godly woman that we see in the Bible. Sometimes, after tragedy happens, our sinful human flesh causes us to give up on God. This was not what Ruth did at all. After famine struck the land she lived in, and her husband died, she didn’t give up on the Lord. She traveled to Moab, trusting Christ throughout everything.
Before trip to Bethlehem
There was a man named Elimelech. He had a wife named Naomi and two sons named Mahlon and Chilion. They lived in Bethlehem but then
there was a famine in Bethlehem and they moved to Moab. It’s not clear how but Elimelech died in Moab. Mahlon and Chilion married two Moabite women and their names were Orpah and Ruth. They all stayed in Moab for ten years before Mahlon and Chilion died (the Bible doesn’t say how they died). Naomi heard that the Lord had visited his people in Bethlehem and she decided to go back. Naomi told Orpah and Ruth that they should go back to their parents and live with them. Orpah decided that she would go back home but Ruth wanted to go with Naomi.
“And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17
Journey to Bethlehem
They made their way to Bethlehem and when the people saw her they asked, “Is this Naomi?” And Naomi said to them, “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; (which means bitter) for the Almighty hath dealt bitterly with me.”
They had come during the time of barley harvest, so Ruth would have to go out into the fields and collect the barley.
Life in Bethlehem
Ruth was “coincidentally” collecting barley in a field that belonged to Boaz, Naomi’s kinsman. Back then a kinsman was a cultural practice in Israel. If a man in the family had died then it was the kinsmen’s responsibility to marry the widow and then take care of the land and family. Keep in mind that at this time Ruth does not know that the field belonged to Boaz. Ruth asked Boaz’s servants if she could collect barley in that field, and when they allowed her she had worked since morning and took little breaks in the house. This tells us that this woman was a hard worker! Boaz had noticed Ruth while she was collecting barley in the field, and asked his servants about her. They told him things like, where she came from, who she came with, and what a hard worker she was. Once Boaz had found all of this out, he told Ruth that she could work beside his maidens (his maidens were working in an area where the barley was better and there was a lot of it, unlike the area she was originally allowed to work in). He also said that she could drink the water that his servants drew. Ruth thanked him and asked why he was being so kind to her. He tells her that he was told of her loyalty towards Naomi and that’s why he had been so generous to her! Not only that, Boaz invited Ruth to eat with his servants at meal time. He obviously really respected this woman and wasn’t bias to the fact that she was a Moabite (Moabites had a bad reputation in Israel). This says a lot about both of them! It shows the kind of person Boaz was, because he didn’t judge her by her past and where she came from, but saw her kind heart and loved and admired her by her recent actions instead. It also shows that Ruth gave this man reasons to trust her, love her, and respect her, despite her past.
Marrying Boaz
Ruth came back to Naomi after she collected barley for that day and Naomi asked Ruth where she went to collect the barley. Ruth tells her that the man whose field she worked in was named Boaz. Saying Naomi was thrilled is probably an understatement!! “And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.” (Ruth 2:20 KJV). Naomi tells her to stop wearing clothes of a mourning widow and present herself as a bachelorette. After Ruth does that, Naomi tells her “get thee down to the floor:” which meant she wanted her to go to the field that Boaz was working in that night, and ask him to be her protector. She wanted her to do that after Boaz had eaten and drank. Once Boaz had his meal “his heart was marry” (Ruth 3:7). Aren’t we all “marry” after we have supper?! Boaz laid down “at the end of the heap of corn”. Verse 3:7 says that Ruth “came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.” Why on earth would Ruth uncover Boaz’ feet and then LAY THERE at his feet? Ewwww!! I mean this man had been working and they didn’t have nice Adidas shoes to keep dust and dirt off of their sweaty feet back then. What was Ruth thinkin’? Back in those days it was a custom that if a woman slept at a man’s feet, then she was asking for his protection (so basically asking him to marry her!). Something in the middle of the night wakes Boaz up and he sees Ruth at his feet. At first he didn’t know it was Ruth, so whenever he saw her and asked who she was this was her response: “I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.”. For him to “Spread therefore thy skirt [cover/blanket/cloak] over '' her meant that, yes, he would marry her!! HE SAID YES!!! From Boaz’ response in verse 3:10 we can really see that Boaz loved Ruth. It says “And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich.”! That and also all he had done for Ruth to begin with. I really believe that this was more than just a “Oh, I need to marry this man for protection”, but I think God truly blessed their marriage and brought Ruth and Boaz together through love. Love for Naomi and love for each other! Now we find out that there was another man who was closer to Naomi which meant he should have married Ruth. But where there is a will there's a way! God shut that door and Ruth and Boaz did get married! This is just another thing that shows me that Boaz and Ruth were in love. If it was all about Ruth and Naomi’s protection then it wouldn’t matter to God that the other kindsman married Ruth. But God did care, so He made a way!
After marriage
I wonder what weddings were like back in those days. I highly doubt Boaz and Ruth had a DJ announcing “Please welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Boaz!!” to the dance floor, but something similar probably happened… Right? Haha! However they celebrated their marriage after the other kinsman gave Boaz his shoe (this meant that Boaz could marry Ruth instead of the original kinsman), we are told in verses 4:9-10 that they were now married! This story started out with Naomi and Ruth in a terrible situation and in a mourning stage of life, yet still loyal to God. It ended with Naomi, Ruth, AND Boaz celebrating the birth of their son, Obed! This story is believed to have taken place within 10 years. Year one, Ruth was a Moabite widow who could have easily gone back to her family and gods, and then year 10, was a wife to an amazing, wealthy, Godly man, and was a great-grandma (she was years up the line, but still a great-grandma!) to the One and Only Messiah, Jesus Christ Himself! God always has a plan, and can use anyone who is willing to follow Him!
What can we learn from Ruth?
When we take a few minutes to focus on God's word, (just like what you’re doing right now) we always want to take something away from it. After all, the reason that God put the Bible in our lives is so that we could learn from Him. Well the question is, “What can we take away from the story of Ruth?” Well, first of all, Ruth did not leave Naomi. In the passage that was mentioned in an earlier section, Ruth 1:16-17, “...Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:” Ruth is basically saying that she would die, as long as she could stay by Naomi’s side. Secondly, she trusted God through all of the bad things that happened in her life.