As Naomi left Moab she told her daughters in law “God has raised His fist against me” and I’m sure it felt like that, but it wasn’t the whole story. Have you ever felt like God had “raised his fist” against you? If so, read on…
Let’s think about the events in chapter one for a minute. Naomi celebrated 2 weddings about 10 years ago…and there are still no children to either son at the time of their death. If the boys were at least 20 when they were married, then the girls are late 20’s to 30 years old now. That’s plenty of time to find another husband and settle down…so when Ruth refuses to leave Naomi and offers her now famous statement “where you go I will go, your gods will be my gods” she is making an incredible sacrifice. She cannot guarantee that anyone in this new land will want her for a wife. Her decision to follow Naomi and care for her puts her whole future on the line.
Naomi is convinced that this is the worst year of her life. God is against her, she renames herself “bitter” to remind everyone of how terrible she has it. And yet, there are very few people in the world who were as blessed as Naomi was. She just couldn’t see it at the time.
I wonder if the same isn’t true of us. We are busy being upset and bitter because of all the terrible things that are happening to us, and to our community and to our country; so busy that we miss the fact that God is setting up a wonderful blessing by using those same events.
I have had times when I believed that I was walking through the “valley of the shadow of death”, and what I really needed was simply to “make it through to the other side”. As I read this I wonder if I may have missed the significance of my circumstances altogether. Perhaps I have been guilty of the same incorrect conclusion that Naomi made. I may have mistaken victory for a valley, or been bitter as I was being blessed.
Sorry about that Lord.
Chapter 2
Did you ever wonder how Ruth fell into such a sweet deal in Boaz’s fields in the first place? Look closely, Naomi didn’t send her there. Ruth happened on the field “by accident”…as if there are any accidents or coincidences with God. And today I notice that the reason Boaz originally took notice of her is because 1. She was a hard worker 2. Her reputation for kindness preceded her. I wonder if Ruth was attractive. If she were very beautiful I doubt she would have still been single…men often run after the prettiest face, or the most comely figure. But the only thing Boaz mentions is that she is young. I’m not saying Ruth was homely, I don’t think she was. I’m willing to bet she was “average”. Not a person that stood out in a crowd. It was her work and her kind heart that had made her known to Boaz. And Boaz doesn’t race after her, she works in the fields all summer without any further incident. (that we know of). I also just noticed that Boaz is Elimelech’s relative, not Naomi’s. And Ruth is her daugher in law, not daughter. So, this woman who is participating in the genealogy of Jesus Christ himself doesn’t have a blood relative in the game. She’s married in, and eventually so will her daughter in law. Who could have imagined that?
Chapter 3
Naomi says “do what I tell you” and Ruth replies “I will do everything you say”. Boaz says “everyone in town knows that you are a virtuous woman” and “there is someone who is closer in line than me”. And, “you have demonstrated more family loyalty now than you did before”. Here’s what I’m thinking. God has been working in Boaz’s heart to cause him to fall for Ruth. He knows already that someone else is first in line, so he’s thought of it before. He knows she is virtuous, so they have discussed her before. I imagine that Boaz has said to himself “whoever ends up with that girl has really found a good one”. How excited, no, how jubilant he must have been to wake up and see Ruth laying at his feet. I’ll bet he couldn’t scoop grain into her sack fast enough, he was so happy and excited. But even still, Boaz is no dummy. He has to get the first guy in line to turn this huge blessing down before he can collect. How in the world can he do that? Everyone knows that Ruth is a prize.
Chapter 4
The cunning old fox Boaz arrives at the city gate to purchase property! Ha! He couldn’t care less about the property. But, this is the right way to approach the transaction. Once the closer relative hears that he “has to marry” Ruth, he considers that it might endanger is own estate, so he declines. Actually, had he agreed it would have solidified his place in history forever…as it is, we don’t even know his name. In choosing to protect his holdings over helping his family he actually lost everything. Funny how that works.
Boaz on the other hand jumps on this immediately, and the rest is history. Precious history actually…because Ruth’s son Obed becomes the grandfather of King David. Wow.
Oh wait….there’s more. (of course you already know) There’s a good reason that Mary and Joseph travel back to Bethlehem when Jesus is going to be born. It’s because they come from Bethlehem. Jesus Christ was Ruth and Boaz’s descendant. Jesus was born to the line of David. That puts Ruth in Jesus’ family tree…and that’s a long way from being a widow in Moab.
Bitter? Forgotten? I think not.
Faithfully,
PR