Acceptance in Community

March 28, 2010

Background Scripture: Ruth 2, 3
Lesson Passage: Ruth 2:5 – 12; 3:9 – 11

This week’s lesson continues the historical account of Ruth the Moabite. Some time after she and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem, Ruth requested permission of her mother-in-law to go into the field and glean grain behind the reapers so that the two of them would be able to survive. Naomi granted Ruth’s request and addressed her as her daughter. Although Ruth was from the land of Moab, her reputation concerning her kindness to her Jewish mother-in-law had become known in the region of Judea. Ruth’s past reputation would prove to be a present blessing for her and Naomi. God ordered her steps so that she would end up in the field of a kinsman of her deceased father-in-law, Elimelech. When Boaz saw Ruth, he asked who she was. When he was told that she was Ruth the Moabite, he had already heard about her. Ruth did not know Boaz but Boaz knew of Ruth. (It’s not always who you know; sometimes it’s a matter of who knows you.) This was the beginning of Ruth’s blessings and as a result, it was also the beginning of Naomi’s blessings as well. In spite of Naomi’s lamentation that she had left Bethlehem full and came back empty, God still had blessings in store for her through the daughter-in-law that she tried to send back to the Moabites. Boaz ensured that Ruth would receive a blessing as recompense for her extraordinary kindness to Naomi. Boaz used the occasion of blessing Ruth to give all credit to the sufficiency of the Lord God of Israel. Boaz instructed Ruth to only glean in his field and he ensured her that his servants were instructed to not bother or harass her. Furthermore, he instructed his servants to drop some extra grain on purpose so that Ruth could reap a bounty without having to do much gleaning. When Ruth brought her bounty home, Naomi knew right away that there was something unusual about the large amount of grain that Ruth had. This amount was not typical for gleaners. When Naomi understood that it was Boaz who had provided for Ruth, she knew that it was God’s intervention that had made it possible. Not only had God brought them in contact with a near relative of Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, but God had previously provided a law through Moses that required the near relative to redeem the widow of his kinsman so that offspring could be provided and the family would not be cutoff because of the death. Naomi taught Ruth the proper way to approach a Jewish man so he would behave towards her according to the Law of Moses. Ruth obeyed and Boaz accepted his role as a near kinsman and redeemer. Although he considered himself to not be Ruth’s first choice because of the difference in their ages, he still expressed the honor he felt in being selected as the kinsman redeemer of Elimelech’s family.

Through these actions that were no doubt orchestrated by God, Ruth became the physical salvation for Naomi that she had given up hope of finding. Ruth’s reputation as a virtuous woman had preceded her and she became accepted in the community of Israel.

Robert C. Hudson
March 22, 2010

Family as Community

March 21, 2010

Background Scripture: Ruth 1:1 – 16
Lesson Passage: Ruth 1:1 – 9, 14b – 16

The Book of Ruth is one of two biblical books that bear the name of a woman for its title. It is a glimpse of history written in short story form. Although it is a short story, it moves at a pace such that one can experience Hebrew history during the time of the judges. The main character, Ruth—from whom the book gets its title, isn’t Hebrew by birth but a Moabite. She marries into a Hebrew family and is widowed a short time afterwards. From that point to the end of the book, this becomes a novel that vividly displays the sincere love and devotion Ruth has for her mother-in-law Naomi. In fact, passages from this book are used in weddings today to establish vows between the groom and bride. It is striking that those passages are not vows or commitments between Ruth and her husband but they are vows that Ruth makes to her mother-in-law. So strong was the admiration and love Ruth had for her mother-in-law that Ruth willingly forsook her kindred, homeland, and religious worship, or gods, in exchange for those of Naomi. One must suppose that she could only have known about these through her interactions with Naomi.

As the book opens, we see a caring Hebrew husband and father uproot his family from their homeland in order to provide a living for them during a famine. During their pilgrimage in Moab, the husband, Elimelech died and left his wife and two sons to fend for themselves in a foreign land. It was this situation that led his two sons to marry women of Moab; this was a practice that Israel avoided. A timeframe of ten years is given but it is not clear if this is the timeframe of the sons’ marriages or the total time of stay in Moab. What is clear is that both sons died within this timeframe and left their mother Naomi with their now widowed Moabite wives. As fate would have it, while Naomi was experiencing hardship in a foreign land, God was blessing her relatives back in her homeland. Although she was now destitute by Hebrew standards, being without a husband or sons to fend for her, she decided to be destitute in her homeland rather than in Moab. Naomi advised her daughters-in-law to return each to her mother’s house and she pronounced a blessing of God upon them. Naomi told them that they were young enough to remarry and build households. Both daughters-in-law expressed a tearful desire to stay with Naomi and return to her homeland with her. Naomi assured them that this was an unwise decision since she would not be able to supply them with husbands of herself—even if it were possible, it could not be done in a timely manner. After shedding more tears, one of the young women left but Ruth remained steadfast. Ruth’s verbal response to Naomi can be considered the central theme of the entire book. Ruth was committed to giving up her kindred, her homeland, and her gods in exchange for all of these that belonged to Naomi. Although Naomi was destitute by Hebrew standards, Ruth saw a wealth of benefits in her and she was sold out on the idea of not walking away from it. Naomi had become Ruth’s family and Ruth was committed to this new community.


Robert C. Hudson
March 15, 2010