Moabite

Unexpected Faith.

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And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law. – Ruth 2:14-23 ESV

In verse one we were introduced to Boaz and told that he was a kinsman or relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s deceased husband. The Hebrew word the author used is mowda and it refers to a close relative. This is important, because in verse 2o, Naomi refers to Boaz as “a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” And the Hebrew word she used is ga’al, which refers to a close relative who holds the responsibility of acting as guardian and protector for those family members who might be in need.

…to act as kinsman, do the part of next of kin, act as kinsman-redeemer.  (“H1350 – ga’al – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 30 Dec, 2016)

This provision was established by God in the Mosaic Law.

If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. – Leviticus 25:25 ESV

It also extended to care for widows. In the book of Deuteronomy we read:

If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. – Deuteronomy 25:5 ESV

So the kinsman-redeemer was an individual who was required to play a significant and God-ordained role in the lives of those in need. He was to be their advocate, redeemer, protector, surrogate, avenger and benefactor. Strong’s Concordance provides a comprehensive description of the role.

…by marrying brother’s widow to beget a child for him, to redeem from slavery, to redeem land, to exact vengeance.

So when Ruth returned to Naomi and informed her of all that had happened and about her surprising encounter with Boaz, Naomi is thrilled. For the first time in a long time, she was receiving a bit of good news. While she firmly believed that God was the one who had brought all the misfortune on her (see Ruth 1:13), she was willing to see that God was the one who had guided Ruth to the field of Boaz. This had been a divine encounter.

The author goes out of his way to remind his readers that Ruth was a foreigner and not a blood-relative of Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest,’” – Ruth 2:21 ESV

This is significant. Ruth is a non-Israelite. Even though, as a Moabite, she was a distant relative because she descended from Lot, the nephew of Abraham, she would have been considered a Gentile, a non-Jew. She was not a worshiper of Yahweh. Her people were seen as enemies of the Jews. This makes Boaz’ treatment of her all that more remarkable. He was showing her undeserved, unmerited favor and kindness. But at the same time, he had been impressed with her unconditional love for and commitment to Naomi. He had earlier told Ruth:

“All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” – Ruth 2:11-12 ESV

Ruth, a Moabite, had been willing to leave her homeland and her family in order to care for her mother-in-law. She had stepped out in faith, casting her lot with Naomi and her God, relying on Him to meet their needs and provide for their future well-being. She could have stayed in Moab and remarried, beginning a new life. But she had told Naomi, “wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God. Wherever you die, I will die—and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! Only death will be able to separate me from you!” (Ruth 1:16-17 NLT).

There is something familiar in Ruth’s actions. They are reminiscent of what Jesus saw in the lives of the Gentiles among whom He ministered. When Jesus had encountered a Roman centurion whose servant was paralyzed, He marveled at the man’s faith. The centurion fully believed that Jesus had the power and authority to order his servant’s healing and it would take place. And Jesus told His disciples:

“Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – Matthew 8:10-12 ESV

Ruth’s faith in God was seen in her commitment to place all her hope for her future in His hands. She was a Moabite widow living in foreign land with her nearest relative being another widow who had no capacity to care for her. And yet, Ruth got up in the morning and headed to the fields, determined to work, but also dependent upon the favor of God.

Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. – Ruth 2:2 ESV

And God had come through. He had led her to the field of Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer. God had chosen to show favor on Naomi through Ruth, the Moabite. When Naomi, a Jew, had lost all hope, her Gentile daughter-in-law had stepped up, casting all her worries and cares on the God she had committed to follow. And God must have looked down from heaven and said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9 ESV).

Lost Hope ≠ Lost Cause.

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Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. – Ruth 1:6-18 ESV

For Naomi, the wife of Elimelech, life had not been easy. She had followed her husband to Moab in order to escape a famine in the land of Judah. But then she was forced to stand back and watch as her husband and two sons died suddenly and prematurely. She was left alone with the two widowed wives of her sons. So it is not surprising to read the words she said to her daughrers-in-law: “No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me” (Ruth 1:13b ESV). Naomi’s conclusion, based on all that had happened to her, was that God was afflicting her. This reflects her strong belief in the sovereignty and providence of God, but also reveals a poor understanding of the character of God. She could only see her suffering as a byproduct of God’s displeasure with her of His punishment of her for something she had done. In her current circumstance, she found it difficult to find any good coming out of what had happened. The only silver lining she could see was the fact that the famine had finally ended in Judah and she would be able to return home. But she would do so with little to no hope. She even begged her daughters-in-law to remain in Moab, remarry and start their lives over. She considered herself too old to remarry and had resigned herself to the fact that she would remain a widow for the rest of her life.

Naomi’s bitter and overly pessimistic outlook provides a striking illustration of how easy and quickly God-followers can find themselves living as practical atheists. Naomi obviously believed in God. She believed He was afflicting her, but she did not believe He was powerful enough to deliver her. In her mind, she was too old to get remarried and have more sons. Her child-bearing days were over. Had she forgotten the stories of Sarah and her barrenness? Was her God too powerless to find her a husband and provide for her more sons? Could her God not find husbands for Orpah and Ruth from among the men of Judah? Naomi was experiencing a crises of faith. She was having a hard time finding any good in her circumstances or placing any hope in her God. Every word she said to Orpah and Ruth reeked of resignation and resentment.

But Ruth, a Moabite and a pagan, provides us with a powerful testimony of faithfulness in the face of hopelessness. Ruth was not a God-follower, yet she exhibits godly characteristics that put Naomi to shame. Like Orpah, Ruth was young and had a long life ahead of her. It would have been relatively easy for her to find another husband and begin her life over. But unlike Orpah, Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law alone. She begged Ruth, saying:

Stop urging me to abandon you! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God. Wherever you die, I will die—and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I do not keep my promise! Only death will be able to separate me from you! – Ruth 1:16-17 NLT

Here was a non-believer in God, expressing more faith in Him than Naomi, one of His chosen people. Ruth was willing to become a God-follower and to place herself at the mercy of God, willingly accepting His judgment, if she failed to keep her promise to Naomi. Ruth, a descendant of Lot, was going to return to the land of promise. Generations earlier, Lot had chosen the “cities of the valley” and settled outside the land of Canaan. He had pitched his tent toward Sodom (Genesis 13:12). Living by sight, he had chosen what appeared to be the best land. But Lot would go from living near Sodom to living in Sodom. And he would find himself running from Sodom, when God determined to destroy it for all the wickedness that took place within its walls. And it was not long after that event, that one of Lot’s daughters chose to have sex with him while he was drunk. And it was from that incestuous union that the Moabites were born. And yet, generations later, here was Ruth, a Moabite, pledging her allegiance to a daughter of Abraham and offering to leave her land and her people behind.

Ruth had no idea what the future held for her. She only knew that she felt a strong obligation to her mother-in-law and was not willing to let her return to Judah alone. Her faithful love for Naomi provides us with a vivid image of the lovingkindness of God. Earlier, Naomi had said, “May the Lord deal kindly with you…” (Ruth 1:8 ESV). The Hebrew word she used was checed and it refers to goodness, kindness, mercy and faithfulness. She was hoping that God would show mercy and kindness to her daughters-in-law, but she did not believe He would do so for herself. And yet, Ruth, a pagan, would show checed to Naomi by remaining with her, even to the point of death. Little did Naomi understand that this checed, shown to her by Ruth, was actually the checed of God. God was blessing Naomi through her unbelieving, Moabite daughter-in-law. And that blessing would have far-reaching implications that would last longer after Naomi disappeared from the scene.