Today’s Old Testament reading includes the entire book of Ruth. The account of Ruth shows us how God can use anyone, even a foreign woman (which in that day would have been seen as a nearly impossible scenario) to accomplish His purposes. The back story of Ruth is a Israelite family from Bethlehem (Bethlehem means “House of Bread”) left God’s provision during a time of famine to travel to the foreign land of Moab. While there the two sons married Moabite women. Then first, the father dies, and then the two sons, leaving Naomi, the mother, and Orpah and Ruth, the two Moab daughters-in-law. Naomi decides to return to her homeland and tells Orpah and Ruth to return to their families. In those days, unmarried women were low on the societal and economic scales. Their futures were bleak, and Naomi assumed at least if the women went back to their families they might not starve.
Both Orpah and Ruth told Naomi they would go with her, but after Naomi pointed out there was no future for them in Israel, Orpah agreed to return home, but Ruth showed her character by how she responded. She told Naomi she was going back to Israel with her. In a beautiful statement of commitment, as well as Ruth’s change of heart (She would have worshiped the pagan gods of Moab, but must have come to faith in the LORD while part of Naomi’s family.), Ruth said, 16But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” Ruth 1:16-17 (NLT) Ruth’s pleading convinced Naomi and they both returned to Israel.
Once back home, Ruth demonstrated her character again by going out to the fields to glean grain. She showed her willingness to work to support both Naomi and herself. She “happened” to end up in the field of a man named Boaz. Boaz was impressed by Ruth’s commitment to Naomi. He extended courtesy to her, then protection, then he made certain she would gather enough grain for her and Naomi. Once Naomi saw what Boaz did, she came up with what seems to us an absurd plan: Ruth was to go to the threshing floor in the middle of the night, and lie at Boaz’s feet. She was to do this after Boaz had finished threshing the grain, and had lain down to sleep. Naomi told Ruth to uncover Boaz’s feet, and when he woke up, he would tell Ruth what to do. Can you imagine putting a woman you cared about in that position? Sleeping at the feet of a relative stranger, and leaving her well-being in the hand of the man? Obviously, cultural mores dictated what an honorable man would do in that situation. Boaz was an honorable man. When he woke up and realized what was happening, he committed to marry Ruth. Show his integrity once again, Boaz gave Ruth grain and sent her home while it was still dark. That way no one would be able to make any accusations about Ruth’s behavior.
One problem stood in the way of the storybook scenario. According to custom, a closer relative than Boaz had a right to redeem Naomi’s land. Boaz went to the the elders of the town the next morning, and brought the situation to everyone’s attention. The nearer kinsman, agreed to redeem the land, until he learned the “deal” included marrying Ruth, the Moabitess. At that point Boaz redeemed the land, married Ruth, and the account ends by telling us about the male descendants of Boaz and Ruth for three generations: Obed who was the father of Jesse, and Jesse’s son was David, who became the greatest king in Israel’s history. He was also an ancestor of Jesus! Ruth’s faithfulness led to God using her to be a progenitor of the line of Jesus.
While we can’t cover every important detail in this brief summary, one more point about Ruth comes out in the townswomen’s comment about her to Naomi: 14Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the LORD, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!” Ruth 4:14-15 (NLT) The statement “…has been better to you than seven sons!” is incredible. Daughters, let alone daughters-in-law, were nearly always seen as a burden, and sons a blessing. But Ruth was better than seven sons. That might be the greatest compliment anyone was ever given in the pages of the Bible. Of this we can be sure: Ruth is a role model for all of us. May we demonstrate the same commitment to God, our families and our community as she.
As we review John 19, we’re reminded of Pilate’s cowardice. He succumbed to the pressure of the people to crucify Jesus, even though he determined Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong. As we read about Jesus’ crucifixion and death we note John recorded Jesus’ last words as “It is finished.” That did not mean “I’m done, or “It’s over,” but “I have completed what I came to do.” Jesus’ willingness to endure not only the pain of the crucifixion, but much more painful for Him, enduring the weight of human sin, that separated Him from His heavenly Father. As we read it again, let’s pause and thank God for His great grace and mercy to us in this incredible event!