Ruth cares for Naomi: Love the foreigner

Ruth is an amazing character in the Bible. She is an strong woman. She is loyal and she is full of love for her mother in law, Naomi. Many people are amazed that we have this story about a woman, because we think Bible times were only about men and that women had no power. That is partly true. I explain how Ruth got into the risky position of being a foreign widow in ancient Israel. Naomi didn't want to ruin Ruth's chances to find a new husband in her home country. But Ruth insisted to stay with her, but in the most famous verse Ruth insists that she will stay with Naomi. And then she will try to become Boaz's wife. I also explain that while this story is beautiful by itself, it had a very important message. The people of Israel discriminated against the people of Moab, the country where Ruth was from. She was very bold to stay in Israel where she would not be accepted. It was through the kindness of Boaz that she got to stay. And then she would become the great grandmother of King David, the most important king of Israel, and then many generations later the ancestor of Jesus. It is a good lesson for loving the foreigner and to trust in God. 


Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to abandon you, to turn back from following after you. Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do this to me and more so if even death separates me from you.” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome to the Real Bible Rob teamcast. And today we'll talk about Ruth, one of the most interesting books in the Old Testament. Really excited interesting story, really great message. Especially if you're a girl or a woman, you can, as a young woman, you can identify with Ruth and you can see that she's such a great example for us. Now it's a little bit like the book of Jonah, and that's real short. It's only four chapters, but it's a lot less silly than Jonah. Jonah actually has kind of a um a funny story to it, whereas Ruth is more serious and um a little bit more complicated and more real feeling than Jonah. Uh, and what does that do for us? It tells us so much about Jewish society at the time. There's so much in the background, but also tells us a lot about the foreigner and about how we should uh work with um people who are immigrants, uh, think about people who are different than ourselves. How do we love the foreigner that the Bible uh commands us to do? And um Ruth is kind of a great example of that, and it's a fun story to read because it has such a good narrative. So, what I will do is I'll walk through it a little bit with you. I won't read the whole book, of course, but what I'll do is I'll walk through a little bit chapter by chapter so you can see this and you can see how it fits in with this idea of um not only faithfulness uh and some famous uh words in Ruth, but also this idea of that the foreigner be accepted and strangers be loved. And that's what it's really all about. So let's get started with this and talk about a little bit about where this comes from. Ruth is a Moabite. That means that she's from the country of Moab, which is to the east of where Jerusalem is and where Israel is. Now, at the time, uh Judah, which is where Jerusal is the tribe, the part of Israel where Jerusalem is, is uh talked about here. And some very familiar things uh like uh Bethlehem. You heard about Bethlehem, that's where Jesus would be born. Now, Jesus would be born about a thousand years after this story, so there's a long time in between there, but it's that a familiar place with familiar uh sounds of cities and and locations. So think about that. You have Judah where Jerusalem is, and you have Moab to the east. So um the the narrative starts, the the story starts with um going back before uh Ruth at all, and that is there's a um during the days when the judges ruled, it says there was a famine in the land. So in Israel, in Judah, there was starvation happening. So a man and his wife and two sons went from Bethlehem of Judah in Judah out into Moab. Now, um the name of the wife is uh uh Naomi, and we hear about Naomi throughout the book of Ruth, and Naomi has two sons, and when they settle in Moab, um I assume that there's going to be food there, right? That's probably why they were there, and they were there for a while because these two sons would marry uh Moab women, and one of those is named Ruth, and the other one is named Orpah. So here's Naomi and her two uh um daughters-in-law, because Naomi's husband dies very early in the story, and then only a few verses later, the two sons also die. So here are these three women, and they're in Moab all alone. There's Naomi, who comes from Bethlehem, and there's the two Moab uh daughters uh-in-law of their of hers. And um, so they pick up and they have no way of supporting themselves in this time. There was just no way for uh women who didn't have a husband or uh a family, men to support them, uh, they had to go find food again. So Naomi wanted to go back to um Jerusalem, go back to or Bethlehem near Jerusalem, and uh because she had relatives there and she knew people there, so she could go back and she could um you know make a living and she can be to eat. And she told her daughter, she said told Ruth and Orpah, you know, you don't have to come with me. You can stay here, you have family here, you can you can do that, and I'll let you go and do that. In fact, it would be the best idea for you to stay in your homeland. Maybe you can find new husbands that way. You're both young ladies. Um, you can go and find a new new husband. Naomi, you know, being older, probably had less chance of finding a new mate, a new husband. But at least if she went back to Bethlehem, then she could eat, she could find some relatives. Well, Orpah said, okay, I will do that. And you can just imagine the pain of living together and loving each other, and uh, and then she just but she she did go back to her family in Moab. Whereas Ruth did not. And uh Ruth says, uh, no, don't don't let me go. And Naomi's like, no, go, go, Ruth. You need to go. And then the most famous part of Ruth, the most famous lines from Ruth read like this, and it says, Ruth replied, Don't urge me to abandon you, Naomi, to turn back from following after you. Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, your God will be my God. Wherever you die I will die, there I will be buried. May the Lord do this to me and more. So if even death separates me from you, then I can I will be with you. So now we when Naomi was heard from Ruth that she was determined not to go back, she stopped speaking about it. She let Ruth stay with her. And you know, um, I'm I she's probably wondering, Ruth, why do you want to be in Bethlehem? You don't have any relatives here. You uh you don't have to stay with me. Your chances of finding a husband here are a lot less than they are in your home country. But Ruth is determined to stay, and Ruth is determined, and and what makes this really hard, maybe even for us to understand, is that Ruth is a foreigner. And uh in Bethlehem, she was probably not going to be well liked, and it was dangerous for her to be there, uh, to be a foreigner. It's a little bit like what when we run it, we hear about people, especially if if people like us in in America, in the United States, you know, there are people coming from Mexico, from uh South America, from other countries are coming here, and it can be very dangerous for them to be here. They take a big risk in doing that. It was like that back then, and in fact, they didn't have the rules and the laws and the um and the structure that we had. You know, they didn't have the police that we had, for example. So, for example, um, as a woman, uh uh Ruth was vulnerable, she she could be afraid because she wouldn't be protected by not having a husband, by not having a family around her. So just think about how bold Ruth is and how bold is gonna stay with Naomi to help Naomi. Now, this is where the story gets kind of interesting because when you go to um then that's chapter one, when you go to the next chapter, then you start uh seeing how how are they gonna support themselves and um how are they going to uh you know to eat. Well, the way you did this in though in that time, there was some rules about um farmers, and farmers were not allowed to take all of the grain from their fields, that farmers were uh supposed to do something that they're supposed to leave some of the grain, some of the harvest in the fields, so that poor people could come through the fields and take some uh of the grain. This is called gleaning. So when you you uh so it says that let me go out into the field, Ruth says to Naomi, let me go out into the field of of uh her relative. Now there's a distant relative of Naomi in Bethlehem, and his name is Boaz. And Boaz is uh probably rich, you know, he probably has lots of land and lots of servants and everything. And um, so he is a farmer and he's leaving grain in his field like he should, according to the law. It's like charity to the poor. So Ruth says to Naomi, let me go out into the field so that I may glean among the ears of grain, behind someone who is in the eyes who might I might find favor. So she was hoping to go into the field, find grain to get something to eat, but also to find favor with the farmer, so that the farmer can uh take take care of them. And that's what she does. So she says, Go out there and do that. And then Boaz uh sees her and sees Ruth and says to his um to his farmers, to his young men, and these were men who were harvesters, they would go out into the fields, the servants to Boaz. And he says, Um, he goes, Who does that woman belong to? And uh young man says, Well, that's a Moabite woman, she is a foreigner, she's one that returned from Moab with um Naomi, and Naomi is uh your cousin, basically, or your that your relative. And um, and she said to go out and glean the field so that she could get some. So Boaz says, Um, you know, yeah, uh don't go and anywhere to glean. Come and glean in my field, and um, I will tell the young men to um not assault you, not take advantage of you, to protect you, to bring you water when you need it, and things like that. So remember, this is a threatening thing. You can imagine a young woman all by herself in the fields, and if she doesn't have any protection or support, she could be, she could be assaulted, she could be um, you know, in a threatening position. So Boaz is saying, no, take care of her, you know. In a way, what Boaz is doing is saying that she can be part of the household, um, because she, even though she's a foreigner, even though she's not somebody that he knows, but he does know Naomi, and that she's part of Naomi's family, and that there's this Naomi's his distant relative. So he offers his protection. Now, in in that world, in in the Jew in those Jewish times, um, to offer your protection was a was an oath that you gave, and that you uh and it was a kind of showing of grace and love to somebody to take care of them. And so he he does that for uh Ruth. He must have thought Ruth is a really nice lady and that she could be maybe part of his family, be one of his servants or something like that. So she did uh glean the field, it says she gleaned it until evening, and when she threshed what she had gleaned, there was about an epob, which is kind of like a uh a basket full of barley grain. And uh and her mother-in-law, that is Naomi, saw what she gleaned, and that um that there's enough food for them, so she does this, and then uh she uh maybe she does this for a couple days or something like that. We don't know, but what happens next? So that's chapter two. In chapter three, some then uh the story really picks up in an interesting way, and that is that at the end of the harvest, what would happen after they have taken all of this grain from the fields, they would go and they would beat the grain on the threshing floor. That's what threshing means, and they would beat the grain to separate the the kernels, you know, the grain, from the the straw and the what they called the chaff, you know, the parts of the plant that you don't eat, but you eat the grain. And they would beat it on the threshing floor, and then they would throw it into the air, and the light things like straw and chaff would blow away, and then the heavier grain would fall to the floor. So they would do this, and when they were done uh with the harvest, they would have a party. Uh, they would have a harvest party. And it looks like that's exactly what's happening here is that there's um there's gonna be a party. Now, uh, of course, when there's a party in this kind of thing with all the workers and with Boaz, they're probably drinking, and uh they're drinking some, you know, some alcohol alcohol, alcoholic beverages, and um and they're having, you know, they're mid-dancing and singing and stuff like that. And um they Ruth and uh Naomi know that this party's gonna happen. So what Ruth does is she says, you know, you should go um with with them and with the young women, and you should put on some uh you should bathe and you should put on some perfume and wear some nice clothing and go basically go to the party, but don't make yourself known uh to Boaz Um until later. You know, just be part of the party, enjoy yourself, but look pretty um and everything, and and you know, enjoy that. And then when um Boaz goes to sleep uh on the threshing floor next to the grain, um go with him and and lie next to him. And uh, and so that's what she did. That's what Ruth did is that uh she didn't make a big uh show of herself, but she could already tell that Boaz liked her and took care of her. And so they she was taking a chance. She was thinking, well, if he likes me enough, maybe I can get close to him and he won't send me away. And again, this is another risky thing when you think about it. What if uh she were to come close to Boaz and he would be uh he wouldn't want her there, he would send her away. Um, or worse, he could assault her or mistreat her. But the story is that after Boaz ate and drank, he was in a good mood, and he went down and lied on uh next to the edge of the grain pile on the threshing floor, and he fell asleep, and she came and she laid down next to him. And then in the middle of the night he wakes up and he goes, Wait a minute, there's a woman here. Who who is she? Who are you? And she says, I am Ruth, your servant, your servant. Spread out your robe over me, over your servant, because you are a redeemer. Now, this may not make sense to you because this isn't the kind of language that we use, but uh in Jewish society this meant a lot. What she's saying is that I'm uh I'm asking you, I'm your servant, if you put the robe over um me, that's a symbol of m taking you, uh taking me into your family. And because you are a redeemer, what that means is he knows that Ruth is um you know is a widow and that her husband is is dead. So she's available to be remarried. She's available for marriage. So it's a kind of a proposal in a way. He's uh it may be a little bit of a uh reverse proposal than what we're used to, but in this case, this young woman says to Boaz, you know, I want to be part of your family, I want to be your wife. And by the rules, you are a relative, and you um will become uh you can be my redeemer by putting your cloak over me. So um that's what was meant, and and and he did that. But what happened was that and and they were together for the rest of the night. Then in the morning, he realizes uh-oh, there are two things that need to happen if I'm going to make Ruth my wife. I've already kind of taken given her my protection, she's already figured that out, she's already taken the risk of uh being next to him, and he goes, Okay, but what I need to do is I need to do two things. One thing is I need to make sure that Naomi is taken care of. And the way he does that is he offers six measures of grain for Naomi. Now, uh we we don't know what that is, but this six measures of barley was a lot of barley, an enormous amount of barley. And by giving that to Naomi, having Ruth take that to Naomi, then that takes that is that's like you know, giving a donation to Naomi. It's like giving Naomi money. Naomi could probably sell it, she could eat make some of it into bread for herself or to sale for for sale, and um, and that's the one thing. But then he quickly figures out he has to do another thing, and that is um, and this is something that happens in chapter uh in chapter four, the last chapter, and this is uh in order to take him, uh take her into his household, he has to um figure out if he really is what's called the redeemer, because in Jewish society, if you have a widow, the man that is the closest relative to that widow, so it that's usually like um the husband's brother, cousin, whatever, um uh is supposed to be the one that marries the widow to take care of her. But Boaz was not the closest relative. He goes, uh-oh, wait a minute. I need to do this next thing, and that is I need to go talk to the Redeemer and I need to do this right away, so that there nobody gets a bad idea about me or what happened and and what happens with me and uh Ruth. Um, so he uh because I don't as Boaz, he can't marry Naomi without the permission of the closest relative. Again, not something that we would have in our world, but it's something that we can understand, right? In the ancient world, in ancient Israel, this is how they protected women, this is how they protected people, is they just didn't cut them off. No, they would uh take care of it when the husband died, then the next brother or relative, the closest relative, would take care of the woman. But in this case, it's um it's Boaz through Naomi. Remember, uh Ruth is a um a foreigner, so it's not like her direct, but it's Naomi's closest relative. So here uh Boaz immediately goes out and finds that man and asks for permission, and then that permission. Is given. And he says, Um, if you will uh redeem it, redeem it. But if you won't redeem it, then tell me uh that I may know there isn't anyone to redeem it except you, and I'm next in line after you. So uh Boaz uh is given permission, he becomes the redeemer for um Naomi or for Ruth. And and you can you can wonder, is Naomi kind of engineering this or trying to make this happen? Is she going around and figuring it out? Like, you know, gee, Ruth, if you go to Boaz's field, if you um wake up next to Boaz at the Harvest Festival, um if you uh ask him to be Redeemer, that he will take care of you. Maybe, you know, we don't know for sure, but maybe Naomi kind of said, you know, uh I want I'm gonna help you, Ruth, to find a husband. And uh it works, whatever that is. Whether that was Ruth's doing or whether Naomi was helping her do that, it works because Boaz does find favor with Ruth. Now we don't know if um Ruth is uh his only wife, because remember, at this time in Israel, uh a man with lots of property uh who was a rich man uh could have several wives. So maybe Ruth was an additional wife, we don't know. But um the the beauty of this is then they become married, and they become married in you know, in uh under the law in the most official way you can think of. And everything that um Boaz does is he shows great love uh for Ruth in showing favor and giving protection and now marrying her. And this is the way that the ancient people thought about love. They they didn't think about it the way we do. Um, for them, love was giving uh loyalty and honor, receiving loyalty and honor and offering protection. Now, of course, we do that too, but maybe not not with the same rules, not with the rules that they had. And this is the way they did it. So it's really kind of a beautiful love story in a different culture and a different way that we're used to, but it's still something that just feels so beautiful because of the loyalty that uh that Ruth offered, the support that Naomi uh gave and received, and the protection and love that Boaz that Ruth gave to Boaz and Boaz uh gave back to Ruth. And what's so interesting about this story is that um Ruth then uh with Boaz, of course, um Ruth Ruth then becomes a mother with Boaz, and um Ruth then becomes King David's great-grandmother in this story because Boaz uh his son with Ruth is named Perez and then or Obed, and then Perez and uh um and then Obed's uh the father of Jesse, and Jesse is the father of David. So you can see there are a couple of generations. So here's this foreign woman, not an Israelite, not in Judah, becomes the great grandmother, comes into the line, the ancestors of King David, the most important king in all of Israel for all time. And then what we learn is that uh in the line of David, many, many generations after David, a thousand years later, then we get Jesus. And Jesus is in the line of David, he is of the house of David, they call it. And there's all that whole story about how Jesus becomes that. But isn't that interesting? So we're thinking um she's a foreign lady coming into this culture. This culture, uh the the Israelite culture, Judah culture was very tight-knit, very close. They didn't like foreigners necessarily, just like the I told you about um Jonah and the way Jonah felt about the Ninevites and the foreigners there. In this case, it's the same way. And for so it's this beautiful story of accepting and loving the person that you don't know, the foreigner, the stranger, and bringing them into your household. What a great lesson for them. If they could do it, we can do it too, right? We can uh welcome the stranger, welcome the foreigner into our household and be part of that, and then maybe even become part of our family like this. What a great story, and what a great way to show loyalty and receive loyalty, show goodness and receive goodness. So that's why the book of Ruth is so wonderful, and I hope you get a chance to read it. It's it's very touching in a way. Like I said, Jonah is kind of silly and fun. Uh, Ruth is maybe not so fun, it's but it's a it's a great love story, and it's very touching and very heart filled. So, with that, uh thank you so much for listening to me. I hope you're enjoying these stories. Um, please subscribe. Uh, let me know what you think about it, and um God bless you.