Old Testament Study -
Ruth
- +++
- Our study
- of the
- th book of the Bible,
- Ruth
, which
is a brief account of two widows, an Israelite widow named Naomi, and her Edomite daughter-in-law named Ruth. By persevering in her faith, Ruth's labors are rewarded, and she not only turns around her life and that of her mother-in-law's, but is made worthy to be an ancestor to Jesus Christ in the flesh
- Discussion Questions
- Ruth 1
Who were Elimelech and Naomi, and what happened to their family?
Elimelech was an Israelite from Bethlehem, which is in the area that the tribe of Judah was given when the 12 tribes got their land divided up.
Naomi was his wife, and they had 2 sons. They moved to Moab (
one of the Gentile nations in Canaan
) to flee a famine, and he gave his sons to marry 2 Moabite women. He and his sons both died eventually, and Naomi and her daughter-in-laws
- (D.I.L)
remained.
Was Elimelech wrong to allow his sons to marry non-Israelite women?
- Yes, as read in
- Deut 7:3
, and it was even explicitly stated against the Moabites in
Deut. 23:3
. So the fact that he let his sons marry them shows that he probably didn’t uphold the law much. The C.F. say this reveals that he was probably exiled for disobedience, most likely during Joshua’s time.
So they were continuously breaking the Law for every day they remained married, that is until they died.
So then why does this even get a book in the Bible?
Keep that question in mind…
Why did Naomi go back to Judah, and what was the dialogue between her & her daughter in-laws?
She heard the famine was over, and because in accordance with the Law/Middle Eastern culture, she had nothing left to make her stay, in that she had no remaining sons to give to her D.I.L.
What follows is that we see that both her D.I.L. initially offered to go with her, but eventually after much sadness and crying, one of them, named Orpah, eventually goes back to her people, and thus pagan gods, but Ruth clings to Naomi and goes with her back to Israel, saying in
Vv.16-17
“Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried.”,
which displays her loyalty, even more so when you consider that Jewish tradition maintains that they were actually sisters.
Why did the women in Bethlehem ask “Is this Naomi?”
It is said that Naomi’s appearance had changed a lot since she left, partly because of aging, but mostly because of how much sorrow she endured as a result of her husband and 2 son’s deaths.
- That’s why she says
- “call me Mara”
, which means “bitter”, like how we say in Assyrian
ܡܲܪܝܼܪܵܐ
Although it seems like she is blaming God for her suffering, but note that she never curses Him, but rather recalls that He is Lord and Almighty, recognizing His sovereignty.
- Ruth 2
What happens in chapter 2?
Ruth gets up to go work gleaning in a field, and there she ends up gleaning in a field that belongs to a man named Boaz. Boaz is actually related to Elimelech, which verse 20 states, and some translations may even say he was their kinsman/guardian redeemer. A redeemer was a close male relative responsible for protecting the family interests, property, and name of a deceased relative. It’s the same sort of concept as godparents in a Baptism.
So Boaz sees hers and treats her very well, allowing her to basically glean from stacked grain piles if she wanted, and she leaves with an ephah of barley. An ephah ia dry unit of measure equalling about 5 gallons, which would have been around 30 pounds of barley.
So Boaz has shown interest in her, and so the rest of this book is a love story of sorts🥰
What happens in chapter 3?
Naomi encourages Ruth to essentially go and get courted by Boaz. She goes to him during the night and “uncovers his feet”, which is NOT an innuendo; she literally takes the blanket off his feet so that they get cold and he wakes up. It was as humble and respectful a way for a woman back then to approach a man of his prestige as you could get.
Boaz says he’s willing to marry her, but that there is a relative closer in line than him that has to be asked first.
Some twistedly say this chapter has sexual innuendos, but note how careful reading of the Scripture destroys this error.
Naomi is shown to be chaste and pure in that Boaz says of her “all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman,” and that she did not go after “young men” i.e. lusting after immoral pleasure.
Boaz is shown to be chaste and pure in that he abides by the Law and says there is someone closer-in-line than him and that he has to verify if wants to marry Ruth first, despite the fact that he loves Ruth himself. This shows his self-restraint!
So she stays at his feet the rest of the night, and the chapter ends with Boaz sending her off with more grain the next morning.
What happens in chapter 4?
Boaz approaches that relative that is first in line as redeemer for Elimelech’s family. That relative says he will redeem the family, but changes his mind after Boaz reminds him that if he buys the land of Elimelech and his dead sons, he has to marry Ruth too.
So then Boaz takes her to be his wife in front of the elders and people at the city-gate, and they witness the event, giving a couple of blessings to them as well. At the end of the chapter, we learn that Ruth gives birth to Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David. This means that Ruth is an ancestor of Christ, since she is King David’s great-grandmother.
BOOK REVIEW
There are some major learning points for us from this book, and some key themes, namely faith in action and marital propriety.
Let’s go chapter by chapter to examine where we see those two key themes.
In chapter 1
, we see two women presented with 2 options: Ruth and Orpah can either cling to their mother-in-law
(M.I.L.)
and her God, leaving their land and people behind, or they can return to live amongst their people and return to worshipping their gods.
Orpah returns, Ruth does not. Both would have known about the God of Israel because they married Israelite men, and Ruth here shows immense faith and love for not only her M.I.L., but more so for this God foreign to her people. She sympathized with her M.I.L. because they were both widows, but Ruth considered that her M.I.L. was a widow who was also deprived of her only 2 sons.
In chapter 2
, we see the true sacrifice of that choice Ruth made, as her and Naomi are in extreme poverty, but Ruth honors Naomi by more than just speech but by getting up and going to work to support the both of them. We see her interaction with Boaz and have a stark contrast presented with what we saw to end Judges. Boaz accepts this foreign woman and treats her with intense hospitality, where as we ended Judges with the Levite man who was rejected by all but one of his fellow Israelites, and even then his wife was raped and murdered by them.
We also continue to see Ruth and her M.I.L. get along very well and develop a strong bond.
In chapter 3
, we see more of the same with Ruth and her Naomi, with Naomi acting as a prudent and loving M.I.L., giving Ruth practical and good advice and directions, and we see Ruth listening to it!
We also see the chastity and pureness of Boaz and Ruth in that their “courting process” (if you will) is undefiled.
In chapter 4
, we see more of the same, with Boaz upholding the Law and going to the relative 1st in line instead of just taking Ruth right away, and we see him still have the elders witness, confirm, and bless him and Ruth after the 1st relative passes up.
- Firstly
, covering marital propriety (properness)
, how stark is the contrast between Naomi and Ruth as mother and daughter-in-law compared to those of today!
Today, the mother-in-law
will constantly drive a wedge between her son and her D.I.L. in many ways. She might constantly criticize her D.I.L.’s cooking, or education, or job, or family lineage, or looks. She might tell her son he messed up by marrying her as opposed to others, oftentimes telling her son AFTER HE IS ALREADY MARRIED THAT ONE OF HIS EXES HE HAD OR OTHER SINGLE GIRLS ARE BETTER THAN HIS WIFE (CRAZY!!!) She might refuse to decrease the burden that young couples have now, especially those with little kids, by refusing to help cook or clean for her son/D.I.L, or to help take care of the kids, or to help financially if possible.
- Today
, the daughter-in-law
will constantly scorn and despise her M.I.L., i.e. HER HUSBAND’S MOM, in many different ways. She might also criticize her M.I.L. 's cooking, or education, or job, or family lineage, or looks, or health. She might insult her M.I.L. or tell her husband THAT SHE HOPES HIS MOM DIES (I have heard this personally) or that she gets sick. She might try and keep her kids away from her M.I.L., or try to start drama by making up lies. She might refuse to fulfill the obligation she has as a D.I.L. to her M.I.L. by refusing to cook or clean or do shopping for her in her old age, or help her when she’s ill, or take her to the doctor and help translate (prevalent in our community). She may also refuse to help her financially if applicable.
And in both cases, you will see that there is no prayer involved on either end. The M.I.L., who is most likely retired and has free time, is not continually in Church services, praying and beseeching God to help her son and her D.I.L’s marriage. She’s not beseeching God to help them raise and protect their children, or for God to guard them from sickness and disaster. She’s not praying for God to support them financially.
The D.I.L. is not offering the same prayers to her M.I.L. for good health and for the wisdom, tenderness, and love that old women/grandmothers possess.
So to our sisters, be very careful what type of D.I.L. you are to your future M.I.L. In the Christian and Assyrian community, marriage is incredibly sacred, and A LOT of responsibilities comes with it. It’s not solely about you and your husband, but especially as a woman, again, both Scripturally and culturally, you join the family of the man you marry and it comes first 99.9% of the time.
- As we read in
Psalms 45:10-11
“Hear, my daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house. For the King will desire your beauty; he is your Lord, worship him.”
That doesn’t mean to ignore your ailing parents, but it means that everything outside of something like an obligation to your parents is now secondary to you and your new family.
Ruth portrays the true meaning of the Psalm in that she forgot her people and her father’s house, namely their gods, and clung to the One True God, as was her responsibility as a wife, no other things considered.
And what blessing did Ruth gain from this faithfulness and marital propriety? Well, going back to the Psalm, it’s actually referring more specifically about the Church, and Ruth herself is a pre-figurement of the Church.
Ruth is a type (i.e. model) of the Church because she was a foreigner, but nevertheless she was married to Boaz. So, too, the Church is from among the Gentiles. For like Ruth, these Gentiles had been foreigners and outside the covenants, yet they forsook their people, their idols and their father (the devil). And as Ruth was wed to Boaz of the seed of Abraham, so too was the church taken as bride by the Son of God
In fact, so much so was Ruth’s reward that she was deemed worthy to be reminded as a part of Christ’s lineage, as we read in
- Matthew 1:5
From Ruth’s seed, the Messiah is born!!!
And so the blessing the elders gave Boaz and Ruth comes to fruition thousands of times more than they could have expected!
And lastly, for our guys, you must be like Boaz, who married Ruth first and foremost to fulfill his obligation as outlined in the Law, which made Him a redeemer for Naomi’s dead husband, Elimelech. And Boaz also took Ruth as a wife because of the qualities of faith he saw in her! He didn’t rush to get married so that he could have his pleasure; he instead patiently waited to fulfill the righteousness of the Law.
The faith in action and marital propriety of Boaz and Ruth resulted in them being an ancestor of the Son of God in the flesh. When you build your life and marriage with Christ as the foundation, you will also receive blessings like this. For example’s sake, if you emulate this, God may bless you to be the parent of a bishop or grandparent of tons of grandchildren, or both!
God-willing, we will visit Christian marriage one-day fully in-depth, and we will revisit this!