Ruth 1:1–4:22
Based on an idea by Steve Zeisler
Sickness destroys our desire to get well. Think about it: what do we do when we catch a cold? We pull the covers over our head, draw the curtains, and refuse even to poke our nose outside. Yet by sitting in a room like that, all darkened, we shut out the very things that would help us recover more quickly — sunlight and fresh air.
When a head cold strikes, it not only makes breathing harder, it also blocks our sense of smell — we can no longer tell the aroma of warm bread from the odor of old, spoiled food — and this leads to a loss of appetite at exactly the moment we most need wholesome food.
Sickness not only makes us suffer; it also keeps us from making the right decisions that would speed our recovery.
Spiritual illness is much the same. When our inner being grows faint, we are less hungry for the fullness of God and more inclined to resist the godly choices that would draw us back closer to Him. It happens that when some well-meaning spiritual friend gives us good advice, even though in our heart we feel he is right, we refuse to listen. Because we have lost our spiritual health, we are left without any hope that we could ever get better.
What we need in such a moment of spiritual illness are good stories. That is why the Bible is full of them. They are truth made flesh, showing us how God sets circumstances in motion in someone’s life, bringing that person new life and hope. When we hear such accounts, our spiritual hunger sharpens, and we say to ourselves: “I want that too! Maybe there is hope for me as well.”
The story of Ruth is one such account. The things of life that the people in it run up against are the very same things we meet ourselves — shattered dreams, fears, opportunities, the relationships between men and women, work, confusion, the recovery of hope — these are all part of our everyday lives. Things bound up with the heart and with our very nature, which does not change with time and differing cultures.
The book of Ruth tells us a story of redemption. It begins with famine, loss, and death, and it ends with harvest, a wedding, and a birth. It remains relevant even today, because it describes a redeemer and the transforming love of God.
THE CHARACTERS
There are five main characters in this story. They are not, however, invented figures, but real people who lived some three thousand years ago in Bethlehem.
The main characters are Ruth the Moabite and Boaz the Judean. The central plot of the book turns on their falling in love, the romantic exchange of feelings between them, the tension in their relationship, the resolving of the situation, the wedding, and the birth of their first child.
Another character, just as important, is Naomi — Ruth’s mother-in-law — the mother of Ruth’s first husband Elimelek, who dies in the land of Moab. In the story she serves as a contrasting figure, a counterpoint, an opposite, and a backdrop that highlights the virtues of Ruth and Boaz. It is precisely her grumbling, her doubts, her confusion, her questioning of everything, her inner struggle to trust God, that underscore and bring out the strength and beauty of the faith and godliness that Boaz and Ruth possess.
The fourth character is the unnamed nearer kinsman of Elimelek, who steps onto the scene in the fourth chapter. He wants to take advantage of the privileges of a redeemer, but he refuses to fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law, because doing so would to some degree cost him something himself. So he hands this right of his over to Boaz.
The fifth character in the story is the least noticeable — it is the collective body of the citizens of Bethlehem. The events unfold in the town where, about a thousand years later, Jesus would be born. The son of Boaz and Ruth would become the grandfather of King David. The women of Bethlehem are mentioned at the end of the first chapter (1:19), the men at the beginning of the fourth chapter (4:2, 11, 12); and at the end of the fourth chapter the women speak up again like the voices of a chorus (4:14). They watch what happens and at certain moments join in the action. As God teaches Ruth and Boaz how to love one another and to live a life of faith, the result of their actions is that all the townspeople are blessed as well.
THE MAIN SCENES
In the narrative we can mark out four main scenes — one in each of the book’s four chapters.
The first act describes how a family, together with its two sons, emigrates to the land of Moab to look for a livelihood during a time of famine and crisis. In Moab the father dies. The sons marry Moabite women, but after about ten years they too die. So the three men leave behind three widows. Two of the women — Naomi, and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth — decide to return to Bethlehem.
The second act unfolds in the fields at harvest time. It is a scene filled with enough particulars and details to stir our imagination so that we can picture the colors, the aromas, the people, and the events. It describes a remarkable exchange of feelings between Boaz and Ruth when they meet for the first time. A love begins to take root.
The third act unfolds at night, after a celebration marking the end of the harvest. Ruth and Boaz lie next to one another, whispering to each other under the starry sky. The situation grows tense and cannot be left unresolved.
The fourth act unfolds in the town square — by the gate the next day. Boaz announces his intention to marry Ruth. He meets another man who, according to God’s law, bears the greater responsibility to take on the care of Ruth and Naomi. Boaz publicly challenges him to take up his responsibility. And because that man refuses to do so, the door opens for Boaz and Ruth to marry one another.
Each one of these four scenes contains important dialogue. From the book of Ruth we can learn more about the art of communication than from almost any other book. How can people share their hearts with one another? How do we build a relationship with someone by opening ourselves to them and being honest about our feelings? These are questions whose answers we can find by studying the book of Ruth.
PEOPLE LIKE US, IN A DIFFERENT PLACE AT A DIFFERENT TIME
Let me explain some of the things that make the story of Ruth hard to understand, so that its sometimes startling moments will not trouble your soul or your reading. The book begins by describing the time in which the action takes place (Ruth 1:1a):
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. (Ruth 1:1)
“The days when the judges ruled” were some of the harshest, cruelest, and spiritually darkest days — a time of the greatest apostasy, coldness, unrest, wars, and insecurity in all of Israel’s history. In Judges 21:25 they are described in a single sentence:
25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. (Judges 21:25)
The absence of a king created the conditions for anarchy. Every person was a god to himself. Every person said, “My understanding is better than everyone else’s. My desire must be satisfied in the name of freedom. My needs demand to be met.” Every person had himself as the measure of all things. Everyone sought his own rights and insisted on going his own way. It was a time like ours. Yet even in such a cruel time God keeps working. And this can encourage us, because it shows that God works even in a time when there is no revival! From the book of Ruth we can see that even in such an unfavorable time of spiritual and material crisis God keeps on caring for ordinary people! This fact scatters light in the midst of the darkness of life! It breathes into us the hope that just as God worked back then, so He will keep on acting today in our lives.
UNUSUAL CUSTOMS
Even though in its spirit the time of Ruth was largely the same as ours, we still meet several different customs in the book. The first of these is the gleaning of grain. At the root of this custom is God’s command from Leviticus 19:9,10:
9 When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:9–10)
This was God’s provision for the poor in Israel. In those days there were no social programs, pensions, or benefits, but even so, if such needy people were willing to work, they would not go hungry.
The second interesting custom is the duty of the brother-in-law. It too is based on God’s law (Deuteronomy 25:5-10):
5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. 6 The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. 7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9 his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10 That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. (Deuteronomy 25:5–10)
For God, preserving the family lines and households of His people was of special importance. That is why He had provided a way so that, even if the husband in a given family died before fathering offspring, his line and name would not be crossed out of the tribal registers, but his family line would be carried on.
Ruth’s case, however, was unusual, because she herself wanted the nearer kinsman to decline to fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law, so that she could marry Boaz, whom she truly loved.
The third unusual custom was the role of the kinsman-redeemer. His duty was to restore to a family what had been lost under tragic circumstances (Leviticus 25:23-25).
23 The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. 25 If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. (Leviticus 25:23–25)
The nearer kinsman was willing to buy Naomi’s field, but not to fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law toward Ruth.
OTHER DIFFERENCES
The role of women in that time was very different from what it is in ours. Today, and this is to a large degree the fruit of Christianity, women are far more emancipated. In those days, however, a woman could not control her own life. In order to have any security at all, a woman needed a man — a father, a brother, a husband, a son, or some other male figure — to care for her, to protect her, and to preserve the property and the land.
Beyond that, Ruth’s time could be called an “agricultural age.” The Jews lived in the “promised land” given to them by God, and preserving property was of decisive importance for the survival of their name and family line. People’s material condition depended to a large degree on the fruitfulness of the land.
SIMILARITIES WITH OUR OWN TIME
We have mentioned several differences between Ruth’s time and our own age. Yet once these are understood, everything else in the story is largely just as it is in our own conditions. On the inside, in their hearts, the main characters are the same as we are.
First, they are ordinary people — not aristocrats, super-intelligent, super-spiritual, or geniuses. There is nothing to keep us from imagining that we are in their place. To a large degree Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi are people like us.
Second, it is about ordinary things — human suffering over the loss of a loved one and the poverty that follows, the wonderful friendship between Ruth and Naomi, the forming of the family of Ruth and Boaz.
How does God use sufferings to build faith in a person? How does Ruth manage to trust God in the midst of all the tragedy that had befallen her? How does Naomi wrestle with herself in her trust in God? How does Boaz — a lonely man who could afford any woman — cope with his loneliness? We can learn a great deal from them.
A RISK-TAKING FAITH IN A CARING GOD
There are three main lessons we can learn from this wonderful story.
First, true faith is ready to take risks. Ruth, who grew up in Moab — a country with a terrible pagan religion — hears about the God of Israel and risks everything, placing her trust and her whole life in His hand. In contrast, the ever-practical Naomi sends her to go back to her gods (1:15).
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” (Ruth 1:15)
If Naomi had a motto, it would be “You only have what you can see,” not “The Lord will provide.” If life is easy — she is happy; if life is hard, she is angry, on edge, and bitter. Do we not look far too much like her?
Ruth’s answer is in the next verse (1:16):
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
Her faith was in what cannot be seen, what cannot be predicted. Something like betting on God without hedging her bets. She risked her future and everything, in order to let go and place herself entirely in the hands of the God of Israel.
Not only Ruth, but Boaz too had such a faith — a faith ready to take risks. After the night at the threshing floor he risked everything in order to challenge another man — the unnamed kinsman — to do what was right. That man could have agreed to marry Ruth, and then the union between Boaz and Ruth would have been impossible. Even so, in order to do what was right, Boaz took the risk, trusting in God’s plan and providence. The actions that Ruth and Boaz carried out called for truly great courage. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 we are told that as believers we:
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
To have faith means to stake everything on God, whom we do not see, because He is more worthy of trust than the things that can be seen.
THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
The second lesson we can learn from the book of Ruth is that God is a God of the plan. He is a God of providence. He has a plan for us. He is in control over all the circumstances of our lives. As is said in 1 Corinthians 10:13, He will not let us be tested beyond our strength, but together with the testing He will also give us a way out, so that we can endure it. In Ruth 1:6 it is explicitly said that after the time of crisis and famine that had forced Naomi’s family to emigrate to Moab, God had visited His people.
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. (Ruth 1:6)
Terrible things had happened in the land of Moab. All the husbands had died. The poverty had deepened. And yet, all of this actually opened a door to something better. Every difficulty, question, doubt, uncertainty, and broken heart became a way by which God was doing something better than what would have happened otherwise. We must always be confident that God has a plan for us. He will never forsake us.
Later, at the beginning of the second chapter (2:3), the author, as if smiling to himself under his breath, notes how “by chance” Ruth went to glean grain behind the harvesters in exactly Boaz’s field:
3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. (Ruth 2:3)
It is perfectly clear that this was not by chance, but that God’s ordering of the circumstances was behind it. Today, from the distance of time, we can see God’s care and providence before Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi saw it, because when we read the book, we already know its ending. But back then God’s providence was being revealed to them only gradually. God had chosen Ruth and Boaz to become the ancestors of David — Israel’s greatest king — and later of Christ as well — the Savior of all humanity.
In Ruth 4:13-15 the women who had listened to Naomi’s complaints draw an important conclusion: even though at times we may even be angry at God, He nevertheless is not angry with us, but silently and in the most hidden ways is working out our blessing.
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” (Ruth 4:13–15)
Naomi held the little child who had been born to Boaz and Ruth. He was the tangible proof of God’s care and providence. And she, who before had said “the Almighty has made my life very bitter,” could now say: “The Almighty has done something wonderful for me. Here is the boy who will grow up and care for me one day, when I am old.” Naomi’s blessing came through her daughter-in-law Ruth — from the very place where she least expected it. In fact, throughout all her complaining and grumbling, the channel for her blessing was right beside her. Perhaps now her friends were saying: “You wanted a man to care for you — God gave you a woman. You wanted a Jew — God gave you a Moabite. But is she not better for you than seven sons? Was God absent? Did He treat you badly? Did He not provide for you? No. He was beside you the whole time, but you simply could not see it.”
God is with us. He cares for us. We think we are taking the greatest risks in the world in order to trust Him, but when we let go and lean into Him, underneath us are His eternal and almighty arms.
There is no great miracle recorded in the book of Ruth. There is no mass repentance or revival either. And yet God’s working and the outworking of His plan for our lives are seen perfectly clearly in the narrative. Sometimes God performs instant miracles that leave us astonished, but far more often He simply, quietly and imperceptibly, sets the circumstances of our lives in motion. In both cases, however, the results are the same — redemption and change for the good — just as in the book of Ruth — from famine, loss, and death to abundance, a wedding, and a birth. And is that not a great miracle too?
THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING LOVE OF GOD
The last lesson we can learn from the book of Ruth is that God has a blessing for everyone. Ruth and Boaz are remarkable. They are brave and honest. They love God and love one another. Ready to undertake risky ventures, they are straightforward and charming. Yet it was not only Ruth and Boaz who were blessed. In the course of the narrative we see that Naomi, who wrestled with God and reproached Him for the failures and misfortunes in her life, was loved by Him just as they were. She did not end up forsaken. God found a way to change her, and His blessing did not pass her by.
The citizens of Bethlehem, who watched things unfold, were also moved by what was happening and touched by the Spirit of God. Even though they lived in the time of the judges — in the midst of lawlessness and unfaithfulness, mired in their sins — they too recognized God’s hand in the whole situation. Their faith in God and in what is good was strengthened. Their spiritual appetite awoke. Perhaps some of them were ready to take a risk again and to trust God completely. Perhaps they said to themselves: “After all, there is nothing better than to trust God. The only thing worth anything in this life is to live for Him.”
This is what this story does for us as well — it makes us want to taste of God. It breathes into us the desire to trust Him completely. It gives us back our sense of smell and our taste for spiritual things, which may have been blocked by a spiritual cooling toward our Heavenly Father.
Read the book. Do it with imagination and prayer. It will help you against the spiritual head cold and will sharpen your sense of smell and your hunger for a life with God at its center.