The big lesson in the small book of Ruth
Every year I study the book of Ruth in preparation for the Biblical festival of Shavuot. Shavuot is a Hebrew word that mean “weeks” and for 49 days (seven times seven) we “count the omer” leading to Shavuot (Pentecost in Greek). The count of these 49 days begins the day after Passover.
Shavuot is set during the times of the barley and wheat harvest in Israel, which coincides with the time setting for the book of Ruth. The story takes place in the tumultuous and volatile time of the “judges”. The judges are military leaders that help deliver Israel from foreign invaders and restore some semblance of order. Four times the book of Judges says, “every man did what was right in his own eyes” twice adding, “there was no king in Israel”.
Ruth opens as the family of a man named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons leave Bethlehem to live in Moab, a gentile kingdom in what is now Jordan. The reason for this abrupt departure: famine. Not long after they arrive, Elimelech dies. His two sons marry Moabite women and after 10 years they both die childless. The narrator never tells us what he thinks about this leaving for Moab or marrying Moabite women but the inference is that it wasn’t a good thing. The only survivors of this family are Naomi, and her daughters-in-law, the Moabite women Ruth and Orpah.
Naomi makes the decision to return to Bethlehem and does all she can to persuade Ruth and Orpah to stay with her there. Eventually Orpah leaves, but Ruth stays and makes a faith statement that is incredible. The crux of it is, “your people, my people; your God, my God”. Notice that the people of Israel are inseparable from the God of Israel.
Gleaning in the fields
In Bethlehem, Naomi and Ruth have no food or anyone to support them. Ruth goes out to the fields to glean food. The Torah tells farmers they must allow the poor, widows, and foreigners to enter the fields after the first harvest to glean what is left. Not all landowners obeyed. Ruth, however, went to the field of Boaz, who allowed her to glean.
Boaz tells everyone to leave Ruth alone and do nothing to embarrass her. Unbeknownst to Ruth, Boaz is a kinsman redeemer, meaning that he has the responsibility (if financially able) to buy the land Elimelech left when he moved to Moab. Hearing that Ruth has been protected and provided for by Boaz, Naomi encourages Ruth to propose to him in hopes that he will marry her. Ruth comes to the threshing floor and proposes that Boaz marry her and he likes the idea. But Boaz tells Ruth that there is one man ahead of him who has the first right on Elimelech’s land.
The next day, Boaz goes to the city gate and offers to sell the land of Elimelech and informs the elders that he plans to marry Ruth. The unnamed elder ahead of Boaz steps out of the way, allowing Boaz to redeem the land and marry Ruth. Following their marriage, Boaz and Ruth have a son named Obed. This small book ends with a genealogy and the last name is David — as in King David. So David, the second king of Israel, has Ruth as his great-grandmother. David is a descendant of a Gentile woman from Moab who made a conversion by profession of faith.
You might be thinking “this book of Ruth is a great story but what does it matter to me?”
If you go to the opening verses of Matthew chapter 1, you will find the genealogy from the end of Ruth. Turns out that Yeshua’s (Jesus) earthly father Joseph is a descendant of King David. So this story of Ruth, with all its twist and turns, tells us about the line of Messiah Yeshua. Ironically, Yeshua will be born in this same town of Bethlehem where Naomi and Ruth settled down to raise a family. While ordinary people went about scratching out a meager existence, God was at work giving Israel a king, and building up the family of Yeshua, the ultimate king of Israel.
Brent Emery leads Congregation Beit Tefillah of Gig Harbor. Reach him at torah4today@comcast.net
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 12:00 AM.