At the time Ruth’s story was being told, there was a law within the nation of Israel which prohibited women from owning any property. All of a family’s holdings – land, livestock, houses, and the like – were owned by the male head-of-household. The women of the household were completely dependent on their husbands, sons, brothers-in-law, or other male family members who were within the lineage of their husbands.
If no one would lay claim to the property – the land, livestock and such – it would automatically be awarded to whoever was the highest religious or political authority in the area. If nobody laid claim to the women, however, they would be deemed widows and orphans and as such would be considered outsiders of the community and unclean in the eyes of the temple. This would mean that any woman whose husband died was truly at the mercy of any male relative who thought enough of them to care for them as part of the man’s own family.
Such is the place Naomi and her two step-daughters find themselves in today’s story.
During a time of famine, Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, moved from Judah to Moab in the hopes of finding a new life for themselves and their two sons. This had to be a difficult move for them as Moab was known as a pagan land where the one God which they worshiped in Judah did not exist. But, as it is now so was it then, the safety and security of their family outweighed all else, causing them to move into a life where they would do the best they could.
Unfortunately, Naomi’s husband dies while they’re in Moab, leaving her and her two sons alone in a foreign country. Of course, according to their laws, when they move back home to Judah the sons will automatically inherit their father’s properties, so they really don’t have anything to worry about.
There’s still a need for them to be in Moab as the famine which enshrouds their homeland of Judah is still in effect. So they stay there and take Moabite wives as women. This is a good thing as now there would be a way to ensure that their father’s inheritance would continue through their lineage.
As fate would have it, after 10 years of toiling away in Moab and trying to make a living for themselves and their families, Naomi’s two sons die. This one event leaves Naomi with nobody to continue watching out for her safety and security as she gets older. It also leaves the two women who married into the family with a decision to make. They are both Moabites, and according to Jewish laws at the time were unable to participate in any way with the traditions of the Judeans. This means that they also don’t have any of the safeties or securities being married brings.
However, because they are Moabites they are free to re-marry as they wish. So along the way back to Judah, where the famine has apparently ended, Naomi tells her two daughters-in-law that they are free to return to their place of birth in order that they might find a way to provide for themselves. Naomi understands that she is returning to a place where there are no guarantees for her livelihood and her wish is that they don’t share in the same possible fate.
One of them decides to return to Moab, while the other, Ruth, makes the decision to stay with Naomi and together face whatever may come.Ruth and Naomi return to a land where fields are once again producing and where the people are living within the blessings of God. But, they neither have a place to live or a way to provide for themselves; so they glean. Gleaning is the act of following harvesters as they pick the wheat or other crops, gathering whatever might be left over in the fields. Naomi and Ruth, as well as many others, survived in this way.
Now, we’re not told about the well-being of Naomi’s husband before he passed away. We know absolutely nothing about what kind of a lifestyle Naomi had before the famine and before they decided to settle in Moab. What we do know is that at this point in the story Naomi has nothing – no home, no land, not even dignity in her self. What we also know is that Naomi held dearly to the truth that she had an undying loyalty from Ruth, and that God was in her life.
Those are two things that, when all else seems to be falling apart around us, we can also count on: we are loved by the people who are loyal to us and we are always in the presence of a God who never stops loving us.
When I first started in ministry I was blessed to work with young people. I say blessed because working with teenagers also gave me the opportunity to be in ministry with their parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunties, and even their friends. I especially enjoyed talking with their grandparents who gave me a keen insight into life; not just those of their grandchildren or their families, but of life in general.
I remember when one of the youth I ministered to lost a grandparent. It was difficult for her, to say the least. She completely shut down, not knowing how to act or react to anything or anyone. One day, after church was done and youth group was winding down, I asked her to go outside with me so we could talk. We crossed the basketball court and sat on a wall by some classrooms where we simply sat quietly for a while.
She started to cry and I gently placed my arm around her shoulder. She leaned into me and started crying more. After a minute or so she calmed down enough for me to ask her what was going on. She told me how much she missed her grandmother and how empty life was without her. I turned her towards me and just listened.
She told me of all the times her and her grandma would bake, or go shopping, or just hang out and enjoy one another’s company. But now that she was gone, life didn’t seem worth living. I let her be silent again. I gently asked her to look up at me, and when she did I said to her, “I consider myself to be very lucky to have known your grandmother. She was a woman filled with life and love and gave hope to everyone she met. I miss her too.”
Then I said, “I especially remember one day when we were talking after church and she said to me, “Randy, life will always be good for me because I have love. Not just the love of those around me, but the love of God in my heart.”
Then I asked the young girl, “Do you believe you have love?”
She nodded.
“Do you believe there are people around you who love you?”
She nodded again.
“Do you believe that God still loves you?” She shrugged, then after a few seconds she nodded.
We talked more about the pain we feel when someone close to us has gone, and how much life will be different because of that loss. Then after a while she looked up at me and smiled. It was in that smile I knew she would be okay.
Naomi’s story reminds me of these kinds of moments. Moments when all seems lost, but because of our love for God and our trust that God is always at our side, we know that things will get better; just as things got better for Ruth and Naomi.
You see, Naomi had a relative of her passed husband in Judah; not just any relative but one with money. So when they get to Judah, Ruth tells her mother-in-law that she would like to glean in his fields in the off chance she might find favor, or be noticed, by the man. And get noticed she does. Boaz, Naomi’s relative, really takes a liking to Ruth, even so far as to allow her to walk among the young men as they harvest the fields, taking as much as she needed.
As the rest of the story goes…At the suggestion of Naomi, Ruth goes into Boaz’s room during the night, where she is discovered by him laying at his feet. Instead of punishing her as was custom to their laws, Boaz sends her away with enough barley to sell in the markets, not so much for her to make money, but in order for him to make right that which should be made right.
As Naomi and Ruth sit in the marketplace, Boaz has a meeting with his older brother, the one who is rightfully in line to gain possession of Naomi’s fields. Boaz tells his brother that he should purchase that field in order to take what is rightfully his – the land and all that is in it. However, Boaz also reminds his brother that as a part of the purchase he must also gain possession of Naomi, and the Moabite woman Ruth.
Boaz’s brother wants nothing of the deal. You see, a Moabite is regarded as an outsider, one who can never enter into the Kingdom of God. They do not follow the rules of the Jewish faith and by taking possession of Ruth he puts into jeopardy all of his own possessions. Instead of claiming what is rightfully his, Boaz’s brother denies claim and Boaz, being next in line to the inheritance, redeems what now becomes his and takes Ruth to be his wife.
The story ends well, with Ruth bearing a son wo is named Obed. Obed grows old and takes a wife who gives him a son, whose name is Jesse. Jesse grows old and takes a wife who gives him a son, whose name is David. David will grow up to become the greatest king of the Jewish people and it’s from David’s house the lineage continues until Joseph is given a son by Mary, who we all know as Jesus, our Christ.It is in Jesus that humanity’s hopes are rekindled. It’s through Jesus we are all shown the way into God’s love.
My encounter with that young woman must have been 12 or 13 years ago and she must be close to 30 years old by now. I haven’t seen her recently, in fact I don’t think I’ve seen her for at least 8 or 10 years. I don’t know what she’s up to now, having lost track of her as she grew from a teenager into a lady.
I would like to think she’s doing fine. I’m sure her life hasn’t been all easy, nor am I led to believe she’s reached every one of her life’s goals; none of us really do. Somehow, though, I know that she is doing fine. I caught a glimpse into the woman she would become on that wall outside the church classrooms, and what I saw in her smile was a woman who knew that regardless of where her paths took her she would be surrounded by people her life to help her who would be there through the difficult times as well as share in her times of joy. I saw a woman whose faith in God was made stronger because for just a while it had gotten weaker. I saw a young woman who knew that regardless of her circumstances she would find a way into a better situation.
Somehow, I also knew that her trust in Jesus Christ would endure all things and that she would find a way to heed God’s call to better the lives of those around her; in the process being as Jesus was to many – a way into reconciliation with others, our self, and with God.
God is with us always. Amen.
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