Ruth
One of the many extraordinary things about the Bible is that there are relatively unknown passages that sit amongst the more celebrated and talked about parts of the Old and New Testaments, but which are often overlooked. One such example is the ‘Book of Ruth’-it sits sandwiched between ‘Judges’ and ‘Samuel 1&2’. It consists of just 4 chapters and in my Bible it runs to less than 3 pages, but for its size it has led to numerous interpretations about why it was written and what it means.
If you are unfamiliar with it, it is a tale of two people, Naomi, a Judean woman, and Ruth a Moabite woman, both of whom loses their husbands (Ruth has married one of Naomi’s sons) and rather than stay in that country, Ruth elects to travel with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem-a foreign land to her. There, depending on what interpretations you accept – Naomi instructs Ruth to seduce or get to know an old, rich man (Boaz) and they later marry giving her and Naomi the financial and emotional security they need. Ruth as an outsider is accepted into the Jewish faith, they have a child (Obed), who becomes the grandfather of King David-and we all know that leads us to Jesus.
The story can be understood in a variety of ways- how someone outside of a faith can be accepted, how women needed to find themselves a financially secure man for them to survive in a fiercely patriarchal society, you can see it as a story of God’s love for the dispossessed and oppressed or a justification for ‘mixed marriages’: the choice is yours.
I feel though to understand its story we need to appreciate the legal and historical background to Ruth’s predicament. At that time (we are probably talking about 500BC) a widowed woman such as Ruth was not allowed to marry a man outside of their family in that someone within the family had to accept them and the inherited land-again except in rare circumstances, women were not allowed to inherit their land. Ruth was a Moabite – a land now part of modern Jordan across the water from modern day Israel- but who were disliked by Jewish people. Moab was a son who was conceived following Lot’s daughters tricking their father into an incestuous relationship with them to carry on the family line and they worshipped a local icon and not God, so the combination of a Moabite and Jewish person having a strong relationship was unexpected.
Sex rears its head again here, as Naomi realises that a wealthy landowner Boaz, who just happens to be related to her late husband, is on good terms with Ruth. Naomi who can be viewed as a bit of a schemer or ‘gold digger’ asks Ruth to in effect ‘tart it up’ and seduce Boaz for his affections telling her “Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying, then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3:3-4).
After their night together, Boaz, an upstanding individual, realises that there is another member of the family closer to Ruth who could marry her, but that person wants her land but not her! That leads to Boaz and Ruth marrying, starting their family and ultimately that leads to Jesus.
What though are we to make of Ruth and her story? To me it demonstrates the strong commitment Ruth had for Naomi her mother-in-law. In Ruth 1:16-17, she says this to Naomi when she is asked to go back to the kingdom of Moab: “Don’t urge me to leave you or 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. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me”. Strong emotional words that tell of their sisterlike bond.
Although it is rather uncomfortable to see how Namoi effectively acts as matchmaker to ensure she and Ruth are well looked after, it is understandable-how else were women like themselves to survive as they were not allowed to marry men outside of the family and were not entitled to their husbands’ land?
I also love how Ruth, although being an outsider to the Jewish faith is accepted as part of the greater family, accepts and honours God and of course ultimately plays a key role into Jesus’ earthly family heritage.
For a book that can be read at one small sitting, it packs a big spiritual punch!
Tags: The truth will set you free, The Bible, Naomi, Bible