What Ruth was like as a Moabite we do not know. We are only introduced to her when Naomi is trying to convince her to return to her people and stay in Moab. We do know that she loved Naomi and had enough of a relationship with her that she was determined to leave everything and go with her. She left her mother, father, relatives, culture and the place she grew up in to go somewhere she had never seen and that was, in fact, in famine. ”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. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.’ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” (Ruth 1:16-18) That’s faith! Ruth chooses to return to Judah, the believing remnant of Jews returning to Palestine, even though she does not know these people and in fact, Ruth and Naomi don’t even know where they will be staying! Ruth has faith.
Ruth also has friendship. That is what the name Ruth means, friendship. “Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.’ Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’ So, she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.”
Ruth has been a loyal friend to Naomi, but it is in Boaz that Ruth findsa friend who is loyal to her. “At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.’ When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain.’’ (Ruth 2:14) Boaz gives orders to his men to let Ruth gather among the sheaves, not to embarrass or rebuke her, and he sends her home with food for her mother-in-law so that she is not empty handed. (Ruth 2:15-19; 3:15-17) Boaz is a kind and thoughtful friend. He also happens to be from the clan of Elimelech (Naomi’s husband).
One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, ‘My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight, he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 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 3:1-6) Irving L. Jensen says, “The manner in which Ruth’s betrothal to Boaz was brought about must not be judged by Western customs and conventions. The ritual of 3:3-9 was apparently a well-recognized custom of seeking a husband in that day. There is everything about the story to indicate that the heart motives and the actions of Ruth and Boaz were pure and righteous (3:11). Boaz’s advice of 3:14 [So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, ‘No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.’] was either to avoid misunderstanding by others or to withhold from the public the news of his intentions until he officially became Ruth’s ‘redeemer.’” (4:9-10)
Naomi is a friend trying to find a more permanent home for Ruth, and Boaz is the kind man who provides Ruth with daily food, protection, friendship and eventually, a home and family.
Boaz and Ruth eventually marry and have a son. She is no longer a widow and her husband’s name is carried on. Naomi is redeemed from her bitterness and we can only imagine what a joy it must have been for her to care for her grandson Obed. “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. The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the LORD, how this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 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.’ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son!’ And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (Ruth 4:13-17)
Faith. Friendship. Family. A future. In the story of Ruth, we see a happy ending. The women have found faith in God again. They have friendship. Naomi is Naomi and not Mara (bitterness). She has a grandson and Ruth has a new husband who is loving and kind and she is blessed with something she did not have before—a child. She is safe in the refuge of love.
Yahweh has a plan for us, and although at times it may be hard to know what that is, we can trust that we are safe in the refuge of His love. He grants more faith as we ask for it. He provides friendships and family. And He will make all things beautiful in His time.
Our song for today is Trust in You by Lauren Daigle.