Presenter: Rev. Dr. JoAnne P. King
Date: May 19, 2024
The book of Ruth was written during the time of the Judges in Israel. The book of Judges is a record of Israel’s failure during the rule of the Judges. It records 9 apostasies, 7 servitudes, 14 judges and 5 civil wars. Because of Israel’s apostasies, they suffered 7 bouts of servitudes along with many other catastrophes. The good Israelites unfortunately had to suffer with the bad Israelites.
The book of Ruth starts out with “Now it came to pass in the days,” this statement is used 5 times in the Bible and it indicates impending trouble, followed by deliverance and a happy ending.
Events in the book of Ruth occurred when the Judges ruled and there was a famine in the land of Judah. So, Elimelech of Bethlehem-Judah took his wife Naomi, and his two sons named Mahlon (means sick) and Chillon (means pining), and sojourned in the land of Moab and remained there.
Naomi’s husband Elimelech died in Moab. Naomi’s sons married wives from Moab and dwelled there for ten years. One of her sons’ wives was named Orpah and the other was named Ruth. In the course of time, both of Naomi’s sons died and she was left with two daughters-in-law.
Then, she arose with her daughters-in-law to return to her people from the land of Moab because she had heard that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread. Naomi said to her daughters-in-law “for each to go, return to their mothers’ house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead, and with me.” “The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.”
Both of the daughters-in-law said that they would return with Naomi to her people. Naomi said to her daughters-in-law: “go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. And if I should have a husband and should bear sons; would you wait for them till they were grown? It grieves me much that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.” (Ruth 1:12-13)
[Naomi, like many others, considered the trouble she had gone through as personal and directly from God against her. However, famines, wars, pestilences, and general calamities are not personal curses or they would affect only the person involved. Such misfortunes show no respect of persons and affect the righteous as well as the wicked. In Israel, such general conditions were the result of breaking the law; the people were promised immunity from such curses for conscientious obedience to it (Lev. 26; Dt. 8). When God found it necessary to punish apostate Israel, the righteous naturally suffered along with the majority who were wicked.]
[The Targum says that the sons died for transgressing the law in marrying foreign women, but this is hardly likely unless they also went into idolatry with the Moabites. One thing is clear from the Law –that long life was promised if the Law was obeyed and the cutting off of life, if the Law was disobeyed.]
After hearing what Naomi said: “the daughters-in-law wept and Orpah kissed her mother in-law, but Ruth cleaved unto her. Naomi said unto Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back unto her people and her gods; return thou after thy sister-in-law.”
And, Ruth said: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for wither 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).
When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it. So, the two continued until they came to Bethlehem. [Bethlehem means the house of bread.] After arriving in Bethlehem, many of the people were happy to see her and asked if this wasn’t Naomi.
Evidently, the family of Elimelech was well known and liked in Bethlehem. The name Naomi in Hebrew means pleasant. So, when they asked if this wasn’t Naomi, she replied: “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara which means bitter, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”
[This is the second time she accused God of being personal and singling her out to make her life bitter and unbearable. One of the worst kinds of slander against God by His so-called people is that of blaming Him for all the human sorrows and failures which they bring upon themselves by their own sins. We do not mean personal sins in every case, but general sin and apostasy which make it necessary for God to bring judgment upon a people. The righteous become automatically involved in such curses and suffer along with the wicked, and often do not understand that God is not punishing them for any particular sin.]
So, Naomi and Ruth, her daughter-in-law came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Now Naomi had a kinsman in her husband’s family of Elimelech, who was very rich named Boaz. Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field, and glean ears of corn (really wheat) after him in whose sight I shall find grace. She said unto her, Go, my daughter. And, she went, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz” (Ruth 2:2-3).
Boaz came from Bethlehem and after blessing his reapers, asked the supervising reaper who is the damsel, referring to Ruth. He replied it’s the Moabitess damsel that came back from Moab with Naomi. The supervisor said that she asked him if she could glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: and she has been here all day except for a little while when she tarried in the house.
Boaz said to Ruth: “Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but bide here fast by my maidens: Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou are athirst go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn.”
“Ruth bowed herself to the earth and said unto him, why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?”
Boaz answered and said unto her: “It has been fully shown unto me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in-law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” (Ruth 2:11-12)
[Here, Boaz made it clear that he had already been informed of her consecration as a proselyte to the Hebrew faith of her decision to leave her own people, her native land and its gods to live with people who were strangers to her. He then pronounced a blessing from the God of Israel upon her. The Targum adds to this answer of Boaz to Ruth, “It has been certainly told me by the word of the wise, that what the Lord hath decreed (Dt.23:3). He hath not decreed concerning the women but the men. And it hath been surely said to me by prophecy, that kings and prophets shall proceed from thee because of the good which thou hast done.”]
Ruth asked Boaz that she might find favor in his sight because he had spoken friendly and comforted her even though she was not like one of his handmaidens.
Boaz told Ruth: “At mealtime come and eat of the bread and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. Sit beside the reapers and he gave her parched corn and she ate and was filled and left.”
When Ruth left to go and glean, Boaz commanded the reapers: “Let her glean even among the sheaves and reproach her not: and let some fall by the hands full on purpose for her and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.” (Ruth 2:15)
Ruth gleaned in the field until evening and beat out what she had gleaned which was about an ephah of barley. She took what she had gleaned back to Naomi along with what she had reserved for her after she was filled. This act showed how much she cared for Naomi.
Naomi inquired where she had gleaned that day and blessed the man that had taken notice of her and allowed her to glean. Ruth told Naomi that the man’s name was Boaz. Naomi blessed the Lord for Boaz and told Ruth that Boaz is near of kin to us, one of our next kinsmen. Ruth told Naomi that he had told her to stay by my young men until they have ended all my harvest.
[Naomi, knowing the customs of her people, took the acts of Boaz as a good sign that her plan for Ruth and her own inheritance was working out perfectly. She informed Ruth that Boaz was of near kin and could fulfill the Law of kinsman redemption, then advised her regarding the next step – keeping close to the maidens of Boaz throughout the entire harvest, and never being found in another’s field.]
Naomi’s advice was heeded by Ruth and she stayed by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest and dwelt with her mother-in-law.
Naomi advises Ruth how to get her kinsman redemption. Naomi tells Ruth that Boaz will be winnowing barley in the threshing floor. Therefore, wash yourself, anoint yourself and put your garments on and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known until after he is through eating and drinking. Watch where he lies down, then go and uncover his feet and lay down. He will tell you what to do. When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
[It is said that women of the East, when going to be with their lawful husbands would through modesty, and in token of subjection to them, go to the foot of the bed, gently raise the covers, and creep under them up to their place. In the case of Ruth, she merely was to uncover the feet of Boaz and lie down there until he should discover her presence and tell her what to do. Naomi evidently knew the moral character of Boaz and could safely advise this. She must have known also that it would require such bold means on their part for him to take action in the matter of kinsman redemption. At least, the plan worked and even Boaz recognized that Ruth and Naomi had been more righteous than he by causing him to do the right thing by them.]
At midnight, Boaz was afraid because when he turned himself there was a woman at his feet. He asked, who art thou, and Ruth replied: it is Ruth thy handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
[Spreading the skirt over a woman was a symbol of taking her under one’s protection and entering into marriage with her. Ruth’s act was the proper way of saying to him, “Take me for your wife, let your name be called on me, and fulfil your lawful duty to me, for you are my kinsman redeemer to whom the right of redemption belongs.” When marriages were solemnized among the Jews, the man threw the skirt of his talith or robe over his wife and covered her head with it.]
Boaz told Ruth that she was right to exercise her legal right requiring him to fulfil the part of a kinsman. He was honored that she had chosen an older man, instead of rejecting him for a younger one, rich or poor. He vowed that he would settle the matter today. He made it clear though that there was one other kinsman who was closer than he. If he did not want to be the kinsman redeemer, Boaz let her know that he would do so without delay. He told her to lie down until the morning.
Ruth rose up early in the morning before anyone else and Boaz gave her six measures of barley and she went to the city. She told Naomi everything that had transpired. Naomi told Ruth to sit down for the man will not be in rest until he has finished the thing this day.
Boaz sat at the gate waiting for his near kinsman to come. He gathered ten elders of the city as witnesses and had them to sit down. Boaz said to the next kinsman that Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling a parcel of land which was our brother’s Elimelech’s. Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou will redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee: and I am after thee. And he said I will redeem it. Then said Boaz, what day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. “And the kinsman, said I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself: for I cannot redeem it.”
[It was a custom in Israel that when a man gave up a piece of property, he took off his shoe in the gate before the elders as a sign that the one to whom he sold it had the only legal right to walk on the property. A transfer of the shoe symbolized the transfer of the property. This settled the matter between Boaz and his relative who had the first right of redemption. When he pulled off his shoe and gave it to the elders as a sign of the property rights passing to Boaz, the elders witnessed the transaction and blessed Boaz and Ruth. All that was Elimelech’s, all that was Chillon’s, and all that was Mahlon’s were bought by paying the redemption price the one who had bought it from Elimelech when he left Bethlehem to go to Moab. The land was thus redeemed and Ruth, the Moabitess became the wife of Boaz.]
“All the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, we are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah which two did build the house of Israel, and do thou worthily in Ephratah and be famous in Bethlehem: And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.” (Ruth 4:11-12)
So, Boaz took Ruth as his wife, and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. The women said unto Naomi, the Lord has not left thee this day without a kinsman that his name may be famous in Israel.
[This is referring to Boaz. He did become famous in Israel and did restore the life and hopes of Naomi, nourishing her in old age. Her daughter-in-law, Ruth, did love her and was better than 7 sons who would have married and scattered to different parts away from her. Ruth cleaved to her in great affection, while sons may not have done so.]
Naomi cared for the grandson along with the parents. The son born to Ruth and Boaz was Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David. So, Ruth is the great-grandmother of David. She is one of the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew.
We have learned from this teaching that:
- There is hope even in the most trying times of our life.
When life brings devastation, it’s not easy to hope. It’s hard to have faith. But when things are the most difficult, that’s when we need faith and hope the most in the moments where life feels like it’s crushing you, start with a little faith. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And looking at the book of Ruth, we can see that even when we can’t see beyond our pain to his plan, we can have hope that our story isn’t over—better days are coming. - The past is not our final destination when we trust God.
The journey to Israel must have been frightening for Ruth. She made a choice to stay with Naomi and help her, all the while knowing that she was going to a country that wouldn’t like her very much. Her country of origin already made her an outcast, and being a childless widow gave her plenty of reason to shrink back into a shell and simply live her life in obscurity.
But that’s not what she did. She declared that she was going with Naomi to Bethlehem, left her Country and her family behind, and refused to let her past hold her back. She chose to serve the God of Naomi; and believed there was still life left for her to live.
No matter your past, you still have a purpose. Your past is not your final destination when you make a choice in faith. While your confidence may be wavering, God’s promises are not.
- Doing the right thing often takes great sacrifice.
Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. In fact, it often takes great sacrifice. Naomi reminded Ruth that she was free to leave and go back to her family, her people back to her gods and free to search for a new husband to take care of her. Ruth made a different decision even when her sister-in-law chose to go back. Ruth chose to go with her mother-in-law, showing not only how dedicated she was to Naomi, but also her dedication to the God of Israel. In that instant, she decided, “…Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
It was a sacrifice for Ruth to refuse to return to her family. Her commitment to journey on with Naomi was a beautiful, selfless act, and a stunning example of the love of Christ—the same Christ who would be of her bloodline years later.
- Sharing openly about our relationship with God brings intimacy to relationships.
The two women shared great sorrow, but they also shared great affection for one another. We also see the freedom in their relationship. Naomi loved Ruth, but she was willing to let her go back to her family. But it was Ruth’s love for Naomi that made her willing to leave her country to return to Israel. Even though Naomi knew that a new marriage for Ruth would change their relationship, she still played an important part in arranging the marriage of Boaz and Ruth.It was their faith that was at the center of their relationship and intimate communication. Through Naomi, Ruth learned about the God of Israel and chose to put her trust in Him. Naomi’s ability to be open and honest with Ruth about her relationship with God is inspiring.
Naomi was open with Ruth about the joy, the fear, the pain, and the anguish that came with her faith in God. She admitted that she felt that God had dealt with her bitterly. And yet it was that sharing and intimacy that was the foundation of the deep relationship these two women shared.
- We must be people of character even when we think no one is watching.
Character—it’s who you really are when no one else is watching. Ruth had no idea that millions of people would read her story. She lived a simple life in obscurity. Yet she showed incredible character. Even Boaz makes mention of her character.
Ruth went above and beyond in the way she honored and respected her mother-in-law, and in doing so became known in the entire city as a “virtuous woman.” She worked hard to provide food for her and her mother-in-law. Everything that she did show her character, and because of that character, she was honored by God. Like Ruth, we also need to work to be women and men of integrity. - God uses unlikely people for His purpose.
Ruth was a poor, hurting, outcast, widow. She grew up in an evil country—an enemy of Israel. She was childless. She moved to a foreign land where she knew no one but her mother-in-law. They struggled with poverty. She had to go gather behind the harvesters in the fields to get a bit of barley so they could survive. Anyone who looked at this foreign widow would have never guessed that God would choose her bloodline for the line of the promised redeemer—Jesus.
Ruth reminds us that no matter what lies in our past, and no matter how difficult our circumstances may be, a little bit of faith makes a huge difference. And even in our obscurity, and in the mess of what may be our lives. God finds a way to use the most unlikely people in ways that we could never imagine.
- We see a preview of Christ’s redeeming power
Throughout the Bible, we see previews of Christ. In the book of Ruth, Boaz as kinsman redeemer of Ruth is a foreshadow, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who came to earth as a man and paid the price of His life to save and redeem not only Jews but every nationality from their sins who would accept Him as the Lord of their lives.
Ruth’s ancestry had its origin in the incest committed between Lot and his oldest daughter. Ruth’s people were polytheistic pagans, occasionally offering human sacrifices to idol-gods like Chemosh. Through personal tragedy and loyalty, she wound up at Bethlehem and in the arms of Boaz.
I must mention again that Ruth has a book of the Bible named after her!! How did that happen? Jews were prohibited from intermarrying with Moabites (Ezra 9:10-12). Unless a Moabite renounced all that being a Moabite meant and became all that it meant to be a Jew. Because one of the canonical books of the Old Covenant is named after a Moabite woman, God is shouting something about His grace. The fact that Ruth, a Gentile, is in the genealogy of Jesus proves that because she was willing to give up her native country, family and gods to accept Naomi’s people and God, shows that our God is not a respecter of persons.
In modern times, we can apply the concept of Kinsman Redeemer in our own lives by being there for our family members and helping them in times of need. We can also understand the importance of family ties and make sure to maintain these relationships as a way of honoring and protecting our families.
Additionally, we can see the principles of family redemption in our drive to protect and care for our loved ones. Christians have a duty to protect and care for their spiritual family through love and support. We also have a responsibility to seek justice and goodness for those who are marginalized or forgotten by society.
This story reminds us that kinsman redemption is not only about family honor or inheritance but also about redeeming love and selflessness. It teaches us to look beyond ourselves and our own interests to care for others in our communities.
In the New Testament, we see the ultimate kinsman redeemer in Jesus Christ, who through His death and resurrection offers spiritual redemption to all who accept it. He bought us with a price and as His followers, we are called to extend that same love and forgiveness to others.
So, any sinner only has to repent of his sins and accept Jesus as the Lord of his/her life in order to be saved. He/she becomes a member of the body of Christ and spends eternity in Heaven with God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and Jesus along with the other Saints of God. Praise God and to God be the Glory!