When people ask me what my favorite
movie of all time is they are shocked when I tell them “When Harry Met
Sally”. They are shocked all the more
when they discover I love a lot of movies that are considered “chick
flicks”. I know I may not look like I do
but I really am a sucker for romantic comedies and serious love stories. Now, don’t get me wrong I do also enjoy a good
zombie movie, horror movie, action flick and science fiction but nothing beats
a good ole story about a man and woman falling in love. Maybe this is why I really enjoy the Old
Testament story of Ruth so much. This
story has all the ingredients necessary to make a blockbuster chick flick… it
has sorrow, tragedy, loyalty, redemption, obedience, love and marriage.
Ruth is our O.T. hero that we will be
looking at today in our ongoing series. The
book of Ruth is a short book nudged in between Judges and 1 Samuel. It consists of four chapters and is at the
surface level a love story between a man and a woman. At a deeper spiritual level it is not just a
love story between a man and woman but ultimately a love story with the
underlying truth of God’s love for his children that is displayed to us through
the act of redemption (namely of his son Jesus).
Background
We are unsure of the date of writing
of this book; some have suggested anytime between 1000 to the second century
B.C. We do, however know the approximate
time the actual story takes place as we see in the opening chapter that it was
during the time when the Judges ruled (before Israel had a King). Geographically our story begins in Bethlehem
and then moves to the land of Moab and concludes back in Bethlehem once again.
There are three key characters and four minor characters who all have some sort of role in the story. They are as follows…
There are three key characters and four minor characters who all have some sort of role in the story. They are as follows…
a.
Elimelech – The
husband of Naomi. Not much is said about
him other than who he was, he moved his family to Moab and then he died.
b.
Naomi – She is the first key character in the
story. She is the wife of Elimelech,
mother-in-law to Ruth and one who orchestrates the love story.
c.
Mahlon – All we
know is he is the Son of Naomi and Elimelech and husband to either Ruth or
Orphah.
d.
Chilion – All
we know is he is the Son of Naomi and Elimelech and husband to either Ruth or
Orphah.
e.
Orpah – A talk
show host… er not Oprah, I mean Orpah… She is a Moabite woman who is a widowed wife
to one of the sons and daughter-in-law to Naomi.
f.
Ruth – A
Moabite woman who was a widowed wife to one of the sons, a daughter-in-law to
Naomi and our main character.
g.
Boaz – A
wealthy relative to Elimelech, a kinsman redeemer and eventual husband to Ruth.
Ruth – A Story of Romance and
Redemption
- Elimelech and Naomi
were from Bethlehem and when a famine occurred they moved to Moab to
live. They had two sons who married
Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah).
- Moabites - The
Moabites were descended from Lot (Gn. 19:27) and so were distant relations
of Israel, but they had been hostile when the Israelites had approached
from Egypt after the exodus (Nu. 21:29). Early in the period of the judges
Eglon King of Moab had invaded and dominated the Israelites for eighteen
years (Jdg. 3:14).[1]
- Tragedy eventually
strikes when Naomi’s husband dies and soon thereafter her two sons die as
well.
- Naomi becomes
embittered (and who would blame her) against God. She tells her daughter’s-in-law to go
back to their homes, families and gods so she could return to
Bethlehem. At first both daughter’s
said they wanted to go with her but she convinced them that she was of no
use to them. Orpah eventually
leaves yet Ruth clings to Naomi and insists on going with her.
- 1:16, 17 - Naomi
urges Ruth to go back to her people and her gods but Ruth insists on
staying with Naomi; she says, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return
from following you. For where you go I will go and where you lodge I will
lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will
I be buried. May the Lord do
so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” In this statement we see loyalty
evidenced in Ruth.
- Naomi gives in and
returns to Bethlehem with Ruth.
Upon their arrival all of Naomi’s friends recognized her and she
informed them her name is no longer Naomi it is Mara; because the Lord has
dealt bitterly with her.
- Enter Boaz… One day
Ruth informed Naomi that she was going to the field to glean after the
reapers and the field she chose just happened to be a part of Boaz’s land.
- The law of gleaning
– The Mosaic Law states (Lev. 19:9, 10 & Deut. 24:19) that when a person
reaps their fields they are not to pick their entire crop; instead they
are to leave some for the sojourners, widows and orphans to pick for
themselves. In some ways it was the
Jewish food assistance program.
- As Ruth is gleaning
she catches the attention of Boaz.
He asked the man in charge of the reapers who she was and he
responded that she was a Moabite woman who is with Naomi and has asked
permission to glean in his fields.
- Boaz then talks to
Ruth and tells her that she can glean all she wants and asks if she would
do so in his fields exclusively.
She asks why he is being so kind to her and he tells her it is
because of her faithfulness and loyalty to Naomi. He then asks her to join him for dinner.
- After the meal she
goes out to glean some more and Boaz instructs his reapers to let her
glean as she pleases and to let some of the grain fall from their baskets.
- When she took her
gleanings to her mother-in-law she was excited and then asked where she
gleaned. Ruth told her where and
Naomi informs her that Boaz is a close relative and he is also one their
redeemers.
- A Redeemer - A
relative of the same family. It was
the right of the “kinsman” to receive the inheritance of a family without
heir (Nu 27:11). He was also obligated to reclaim property of a kinsman
who had gone into debt (Lv 25:25–28), especially if it involved someone’s
enslavement to a non-Israelite (vv 47–49). In this function the kinsman becomes
the kinsman-redeemer [2]
- In chapter three
Naomi devises a plan to “set up” Ruth and Boaz. She tells her to wash up and get into
her best outfit (so to speak) and when he lies down to bed, uncover his
feet and sleep at his feet. Her
hope is that he would accept the offer to be her kinsman redeemer.
- As Boaz goes to
sleep and Ruth does as she’s told he asks her what she is doing. Basically she asks him if he would be
the redeemer for the family. He
tells her he will but the problem is there is a closer relative who can
act as the redeemer and by rights he has the first choice.
- Boaz says that if
the other relative will redeem her then good, but if not he will redeem
her.
- He has a talk with
the other relative and informs him that Naomi is selling her land and he
has first options to buy it. He is
willing to buy the land but unwilling to redeem Ruth so he gives the right
of redemption to Boaz.
- The transaction is
made and Boaz marries Ruth. They
have a child together and his name is Obed. He is significant because he is the
father of Jesse, who is the father of David was promised that the Messiah
would come through his lineage.
Conclusion
I have quickly and concisely retold the story of
Ruth. I would encourage you to take some
time and read the it for yourself. I
think one question we can ask ourselves after hearing this story is, “What does
all this mean? Biblically speaking and
for us personally?” Is the story of Ruth
intended to be a feel good love story written to attract the romantics who
aren’t really into the blood and guts, rules and regulations, Kings and wars of
the Old Testament? No, everything in the
Bible is intentional and has a purpose to it.
With Ruth we see two key ingredients as to why she (in particular) is an
important character in the O.T. that plays into both the Kingdom of God and the
coming Messiah. We see in this the story
the concept of redemption and the truth of God’s sovereignty.
Symbolically Boaz is a type of Christ
as he is the willing and able redeemer of one who is poor, widowed and
abandoned. He is capable and willing to
allow this person, who really didn’t have much of a future, and redeem her; to
accept her into his family and take her as a wife. This is very similar to what Jesus came to
do. He came to redeem those who are spiritually
deprived and lost individuals of the world.
He is the ultimate kinsman redeemer as he is the rightful, willing and
able redeemer of those whom the Father has given to him. His way of paying the debt is through giving
his life for the lost and dying on the cross so that those who believe may be
redeemed through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Not only was Jesus willing to become our
redeemer he was also able as he was the perfect and chosen redeemer of all humanity.
Secondly we see God’s providence in
Ruth. None of what happened in this
story was by accident. Every detail was
orchestrated by God. In this we see that
with all the tragedy and uncertainty in the lives of these women, God had a
plan. The plan served his purpose
because it was through Ruth’s offspring that the Messiah would come. What is even more astounding is that in the
Genealogy of the Messiah four women are mentioned (all except for one were
women who had some sort of noted sin that was recorded)… Ruth – is our good girl but had suffered the
pain of loss. Tamar – she had an
illegitimate child by her father-in-law as she tricked him by dressing up as a
prostitute. Rahab – who was a prostitute
and mother of Boaz. Bathsheba – Had an
adulterous affair with King David who had her husband killed in battle. Three of the four women were of “ill-repute”
yet God in his sovereignty used them for his plans and his purposes. This is how God’s providence works. Sometimes we may not understand why certain
things happen or even how God could work in some circumstances but God loves to
defy the odds. He is a God who uses the
underdog. He loves to make the
impossible, possible and He does it all on His own terms.
This should be encouraging to us
all. Why? Because I know some of us are in situations
in life where things seem bleak, hopeless or just downright depressing. God knows this and he is a God who can make
amazing things happen. If God can use a
conniving daughter-in-law, a prostitute, an adulterer and a widow to bring the
redeemer of humanity to be then he can certainly use us for his plans and
purposes regardless of where we are today.
As a closing I would invite you to
pray with me for God to do some amazing things in our lives personally and as a
congregation. For some of us things may
look bleak right now but this does not mean God has abandoned. He is simply waiting for the right time to
magnify his name and show us that He has a plan and purpose. Let us pray expecting God to do some
amazingly miraculous things in our lives and in this church.
[1] New Bible commentary: 21st century edition.
1994 (D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer & G. J. Wenham, Ed.) (4th
ed.) (Ru 1:1–7). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.
[2] Elwell, W.
A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale
Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (786). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale
House Publishers.
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