Ruth – An unlikely love story (Topical)

ATTN: Last Saturday, I got these pictures from Dara…. As I was praising God for His faithfulness at providing a husband for our Dara, I thought of the story of Ruth in the Bible. How God was so faithful in providing for an immigrant named Ruth in the Book of Ruth. I want to tell you her story today and lay out some lessons we can learn about God’s faithfulness. But for those of you who are not familiar with the story of Ruth or are fuzzy about what happened to her, let me retell you the story. By the way, it’s only 4 chapters and it’s a moving love story, and so you should read it yourself. But here’s the summary of the story.

The story: The book begins with a woman named Naomi. She was an Israelite and was married and had two grown sons. There was a famine in Israel and so she and her family moved to a nearby country called Moab. There, her husband dies. Her two sons marry the Moabite women, one of whom was Ruth. But after ten years, the two sons also die in Moab without leaving any children of their own. Now, Naomi is left with only her daughters-in-law. She has heard that there is now food in Israel and she wishes to return home. And as she prepares to return home, she tells her daughters-in-law to leave her and stay in their own country. One does as she suggested and leaves her but Ruth, the other daughter-in-law insists following Naomi no matter what saying, “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.” (Ruth 1:16-17). 

Naomi has no choice but to take Ruth with her to go back home. Here were two widows – one too old to get married, and the other, a foreign woman now in Israel, with no prospect of getting married because she was a gentile. They were probably thinking that they will grow old together only to have each other as support, and die together. Since they needed food to survive, Ruth suggests that she goes to a field nearby and glean behind the harvesters – that means as the harvesters are harvesting wheat and barley, she will walk behind them and pick up whatever may have been missed. Well, it  just so happened that the field at which she was gleaning belonged to a man named Boaz, and he was from the same clan as Naomi’s dead husband. Neither Naomi nor Ruth knew this. Now, Boaz, the rich field owner, noticing this young woman gleaning in his field, asks his servants who she was. And when the servants tell him that she’s the Moabite woman who came back with Naomi, his relative, Boaz is impressed with her and shows her immediate favor.

He tells her to stay only on his field to glean and not go to any other field! And then he tells her to take a break and have some water and bread and dip it in the wine vinegar. Then, when she went back to work, he tells his servants to leave out chunks of stalks for her to gather. By the time she was done, she has gathered 30 lbs worth of barley! Enough to eat for a month! When she goes home to Naomi, Naomi is flabbergasted asked her where she had gleaned. She tells her at a field belonging to a man named Boaz. At this Naomi immediately senses that the Lord might be work because he is a close relative of hers, one of her kinsman-redeemer – one who could redeem (or buy back the land) that Naomi’s husband sold long time ago.  

Now, Naomi might have expected Boaz to make a move toward Ruth and propose to her, but he’s not making a move – perhaps because he was an older man and he thought Ruth may not be attracted to him. Whatever the reason might be, Naomi instructs Ruth to nudge him a bit. Sometimes guys need a little help to get moving in romance… Naomi devises up a daring plan. She tells Ruth to go lie down on the same floor that that Boaz is sleeping. Traditionally during the harvest time, the owner would sleep on the threshing floor to protect the grain from theft. So, Ruth listens to her mother-in-law and goes quietly and lays down near Boaz while he’s sleeping. Something startles Boaz in the middle of the night and he wakes up to find a woman sleeping near his feet! He says, “Who are you?” Ruth says, “I am your servant Ruth. Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman redeemer of our family.” That needs translation. What she’s saying is poetic – she is saying, “cover me under your wings and provide protection for me.” In other words, in that culture she was saying, “marry me!” If there ever was a precedent for a woman proposing to a man, well, here it is in the Bible! Very bold move on Ruth’s part to say the least! 

How does Boaz respond to such a request? “The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.”

In other words, Boaz says, “You are such a godly young woman. I gladly accept your proposal!” 

A quick sidenote. Young ladies, don’t look for the cutest bad guy there is. Look for a godly man who is kind. And young men, look for a woman like Ruth who is dedicated to God and hard working and not just a pretty face. 

But there is a plot twist. There is another relative who was even closer to Naomi than Boaz. And according to the law, he has the first dibs on redeeming Naomi and her property – that means buying back her property that she lost when she went to Moab and giving it back to her. So, if he says “yes, I will redeem (buy it back for)  Naomi,” then he also gets Ruth as his wife – and our man, Boaz won’t be able to marry Ruth. So the very next day Boaz goes to the town gate where they take care of such legal matters and it just so happened that that other relative was walking near it as well, not knowing any of what was going on – another of God’s providence. Boaz calls him to himself and tells him the whole story. And then asks him if he will buy back the land for Naomi. And he said, “I will!” That means he will buy the land that Naomi sold to an outsider and give it back to Naomi. Our heart sinks at this moment because that means he will marry Ruth and not our man Boaz! But this relative said he will redeem it figuring that since Naomi is old and has no sons, when she dies, the land will become his. And that is when Boaz mentions, “By the way, if you want to redeem it, you also get Ruth, the dead man’s widow.” At this, the man says, “Oh, in that case, I can’t redeem it.” Why? Because that means he will have to have children through Ruth and Ruth’s children will inherit the land rather than himself and he didn’t want that. So he says, “I cannot do it. You do it!” 

To borrow Peppermint patty’s words in Peanuts, this is a “sly dog” move by Boaz. I really think he liked Ruth. But knowing that there was a man in front of him, he needed to scare him off. And he did by simply mentioning the fact that along with the property, comes a foreign wife, which he knew he didn’t want. But Boaz saw something that relative didn’t. He saw godliness, kindness, loyalty, and diligence. 

Boaz, at this point, announces that he will redeem Naomi’s property and also he will marry Ruth to maintain the family line. And the townspeople all rejoiced at this wonderful romantic story. And 9 months later, out came a son. And the women of the town said to Naomi – the old widow, “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 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.”

The epilogue goes like this – 16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. And on the very first chapter of the book of Matthew, you see Ruth’s name in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! 

What a story of God’s faithfulness to a couple of hopeless women. It is a story of trial, providence, love, and redemption. What are some takeaways from this story? Spiritual implicaitons? 

 

1. The night is the darkest just before dawn. 

I don’t know if that’s true scientifically, but it’s true often in life. Naomi’s and Ruth’s circumstances looked bleak. In that society, women without their husbands’ protection were exposed to abuse and being taken advantage of. Naomi knew this and so when she returned to her home, she says, “20 “Don’t call me Naomi (pleasant)” she told them. “Call me Mara (bitter), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

APP: Do you feel like that sometimes in your life? Things look so bleak and dark that it’s hopeless? But look at what God was cooking up for Naomi and Ruth while they were despairing just to make ends meet. They had no other recourse and yet God did something wonderful for them! This story is written for your encouragement. The same God that worked for Ruth and Naomi works for you. God hasn’t abandoned you. He is working out something wonderful on your behalf if you will stay faithful to the Lord.  

 

2. God honors those who make faith choices. 

Orpah is the other daughter-in-law who didn’t stay with Naomi in the beginning. You don’t hear anyone naming their daughter Orpah, but many are named Ruth. Ruth had to make a hard choice. After losing her husband, It was either stay at the comforts of her own country and people or follow Naomi to Israel. It would been far easier for her to stay in Moab, her own country, with a better prospect of one day remarrying and having children. But following Naomi to Israel, that would be akin to shooting herself in the foot. She was a gentile woman, and she’s following a widow who had no means to provide for her. Then, why did she follow Naomi? I believe it was she saw the God of her dead husband and the God of Naomi was the true God and not the god of Moab that she grew up with. We can see this in what she said to Naomi: “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.”

So, she chose God rather than the comforts of her own home. And God honored her. Again, perhaps Orpah also remarried and lived a good, comfortable life in Moab. But Ruth, by siding with God and His people, not only became the great grandmother of king David, but also became related to Jesus Christ the son of God! There is no greater honor than that. 

APP: I want to encourage those of you who have made a hard choice to follow God and do what He prompted you to do rather than following the comforts of the world. The reward is not apparent immediately. Ruth and Naomi faced the prospect of homelessness and the topic of gossip among the towns-people. But this story along with Abrahams’, Joseph’s, Daniel’s, David’s, Esther’s, and countless others who made faith choices have been honored by God. 

Hebrew 11:39 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Therefore, don’t lose hope. Keep looking to God. He will honor you. 

 

3. God weaves together a bunch of “coincidences” to bring about his will. 

There is no outright miracle that is recorded in the book of Ruth, however we see God’s hands in sovereignly orchestrating all events. You read in this book “it just so happened…” Like when Ruth unknowingly starts picking grain at Boaz’s field. Boaz happens to see this woman glean that day. And it just happens to be harvest time where he would sleep on the threshing floor soon after. And then when Boaz wanted to talk to the relative who was even closer, he just happens to be walking in. And then where was the baby born? In Bethlehem, the same place where Jesus was born years later who became our Savior and Lord. 

God works all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28. There is no such thing as a coincidence or luck in this world. God is absolutely sovereign and He is providential. Oftentimes we don’t realize it at the time it’s happening, but time to time we need to look back and recognize how God wove together some of the threads in our past, so that we can give glory to God. 

 

4. The best is yet to come! 

What made this story of unlikely love truly significant is because of what it foreshadows. Like what comes after the credits in some movies to foretell the next movie, this book ends with a foreshadow. 21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.

As good and pleasant was what happened to Ruth and Naomi, it was a set up for something bigger in the future – the birth of the greatest king the Israel has known. But even that was not the biggest. King David himself was merely a foreshadow, a set up, of even greater thing to come – the Son of God who will become the King of kings and Lord of lords.

CONC: Our greatest of joys, our triumphs, our requited loves, proposal accepted, our children born, our first real job, are just a foreshadow of things to come. The best is yet to come! With that promise which lies in death and resurrection of Jesus christ, would you persevere through the darkest of nights, and hope crushing circumstances?