Tricia Robinson Art, Used with her written permission

With our deepest gratitude!

The Four

 The next grandmother named is the woman whose quote is used in many a wedding ceremony.  A lady of loyalty and great-grandmother to the one and only King David!   Ruth

Ruth

Biblical references:  Matthew 1:5; Book of Ruth (only 4 chapters);  Leviticus 19:9-10; I Kings 7:21; Deuteronomy 25:5-10

 

Grandmother #3 Ruth tells her story

“Shalom, I am honored to tell my story of how I came to be the great-grandmother of a shepherd boy named, David, who would be anointed king over my husband’s homeland.  He was chosen by God and anointed by Samuel the prophet-priest.  According to the Laws of Moses, this should never have happened; me a Moabite married to a Hebrew, being an ancestor of such a great poet, warrior, and king.  And an entire book of the Bible has my name. 

Where It All Began

My first husband’s family was from the tiny village of Bethlehem in Judea.  The twelve tribes of Abraham were divided and foreigners constantly attempted to invade the land.  To make life even more precarious, a famine developed in the land.  My father-in-law, Elimelech, and his wife Naomi packed up their two sons and came to Moab.  The boys grew up and Elimelech died leaving Naomi alone.  The boys chose Moabites, who were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot, to be their wives.   I was one of those brides.  The other bride was a girl named Orpah, not Oprah.    

My Name means “female companion or friend”

I am Ruth.  Since the first two grandmothers have told you the meaning of their names, I will too.  My name means “female companion or friend” which is exactly what I became.  Orpah and I had been married for about ten years when our husbands died.  The circumstances are not important but the fact that three widows were without any male protection was critically important!  We were fixing to be “on the streets” if you get my meaning.

Unlikely Beginning

Naomi, my mother-in-law, decided she would return to her homeland because the famine had ended and she had a family who could look after her as she got older.  Her home was still in Bethlehem.  She was as sweet and pleasant as her name.  She gave us permission to return to our mother’s homes and marry again among our own people.  Then, Naomi kissed us and prayed a blessing over us:  ‘The Lord treat you as kindly, as ye have treated my sons.  The LORD give you a new house and a new husband.’ 

 

Orpah goes back home

At first, Orpah objected but then consented and returned to her people.  I did not.  There was something special about these Jews from Bethlehem.  I had no desire to return to my people for they were known to be ruthless and sacrificed babies on the altars of their gods.  These Jews served one God and sacrificing babies was not tolerated.

After Orpah left, Naomi begged me once more, “Go!”  This was my reply:

“Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:  for for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:  thy people shall be my people and your God, my God:  Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried:  the LORD do so to me and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”

Stepping into Unknown

Naomi relented and we began our long journey back to what she called the Promised Land.  Along the way, she told me the Torah stories.  How her God moved in miraculous ways to bring His people into her country.  Stories of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, and she even told me about Rahab!  

Somewhere along the way, Naomi seemed to have a change of heart.  Her grief overtook her and she wanted her name changed to Mar’a because she felt God had dealt with her unfairly.   I wondered about this too:  Such bad things happen to good people. 

Bethlehem “The place of Bread”

We reached Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest which was at the time of Passover.  It is a festival time in early spring called First Fruits.  Barley is the first crop to ripen in Canaan and Egypt in the month of Abib.  Abib means “green ears.”  I stayed confused for years because this time of year is called the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot, Pentecost, and First Fruits and it all runs together.    The men of Israel are required to go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Tabernacle.  All these feasts were about the Promises of God that He had already kept and the ones yet to be fulfilled.  But what a blessing for Naomi and me to arrive at this time.  We arrived without a penny and were half-starved from the journey.

Hunger and Fatigue

Jewish law allowed people like us, poor and destitute, to gather grain from the edges of the field.  This meant we could go and pick up whatever was dropped or left behind.  The poor would gather every grain of barley so there was no waste of the crop.  Since I was a foreigner I needed special permission.   It is back-breaking work and the sun bares down.  The grain must be gathered before it rains or it is ruined.

Kindness of Stranger

Naomi sent me to glean (that is a fancy word for gathering) the barley in her husband’s family field.  It belonged to a man named Boaz.  Naomi told me his name meant strength.  

While I was following the reapers, a man came to the field and spoke with the foreman of the reapers.  He asked who this foreigner was and whose household I was serving.  He was informed who I was, told I asked permission, and apprised of how long I had been at work.

Boaz Our Redeemer

Then, he came to me.  He spoke kindly and instructed me not to go to any other fields to glean and for me to stay close to all the other women.  This was Rahab’s sweet Boaz!  He told me he had warned the men to leave me alone and to be sure I had water available.

Gratitude brought me to my knees and I asked him what had I done to find such favor in his sight since I was a foreigner.  Jews didn’t really take too kindly to foreigners.    Boaz responded that he had heard all that had happened to Naomi and me after the deaths of his kinsmen.  He spoke this blessing over me……….. 

 ‘The LORD repay your work and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.’   I was stunned.  I had never had anyone say anything so kind.  It brought me to tears.  Then, he invited me to eat at his table with his workers.  When I finished, I thanked him and returned to work.  

This man of kindness and strength must have given directions for the reapers to intentionally drop whole sheaves because I was able to collect an ephah of grain!!!   That is over SIX gallons or 50 pounds or 93 cups of threshed grain!!!  Naomi and I could eat well tonight!

Cupid or Customs

When Naomi saw how much I had gathered, she asked where I worked.  Then, the strangest thing happened.  This woman I love so much spoke a blessing over me herself!  She thanked God for His kindness and then told me Boaz was our kinsman and encouraged me to stay with the women of his fields for my safety.  This kinsman was what Naomi called a goel.  This is one who comes to the rescue.  But it was deeper than that.  It meant to deliver, redeem, or avenge.  The “official guardian of the family’s honor.”  This goel could fulfill the duty of the levirate to provide heirs of a deceased family member, like Ta’mar.

Naomi The Matchmaker

Before I could clean up after our meal, Naomi starts playing matchmaker.  She said she wanted to secure my future.  She lays out a plan for me to follow.  It sounded risky and risqué to me!  

Anyway, she told me to go bathe, oil my skin, and put on something nice.  She sent me to the threshing floor but told me to stay out of sight until the eating and drinking were completed.  The next was the strangest thing I have ever heard.  

Strange Custom!

Naomi told me to uncover the feet of Boaz and lie down next to them.  WHAT???  Wasn’t that asking for trouble and the ruin of my reputation?  I told you these are strange people.   “He will tell you what you should do,” Naomi told me.   I was scared but I promised Naomi I would do all she instructed me to do.  Would you follow your mother-in-law’s instructions without question?

It seems this was a custom of these people to indicate I was willing to marry this most ineligible bachelor.  I was proposing to him!  No one else wanted him.  Why should I?

Around midnight, I was lying at his feet and he turned over in his sleep and realized someone was at his feet.  Startled, he asked, “Who are you?”  I answered quietly, “I am Ruth, your maidservant.  Take me under your wing, for you are a near kinsman (goel).”

His response shocked me.  It was gentle and kind.  He told me my actions had proven my worth as a virtuous woman!  I am lying at this man’s uncovered feet and he calls me virtuous!  He also told me he wanted to do his duty as goel but there was someone else who was a closer relative that must have first dibs on me.   He told me to sleep til morning and then return to Naomi’s house.  Before I left he told all the men on the threshing floor to keep quiet and to fill my cloak with SIX ephahs of barley.  

Kinsman Redeemer

I did not go to the fields but waited to see the outcome of my fate.  My fate was sealed by swapping shoes???  I will never understand their customs!  Levirate marriage, swapping sandals as a notary seal,  a kinsman willing to give a child the name of the first husband to
“Raise the name of the dead so that the name of the dead will not be cut off from among his family.”  

The men gathered at the gate where all business was transacted.  Men were the witnesses of the exchange between Boaz and his near kinsman of the swapping of sandals.   The witnesses blessed Boaz and me by recalling Rachel, Leah, and Ta’mar, who all helped build the house of Israel.

 Boaz married me and we had a son, we named Obed.  Obed became the father of Jesse, the father of David, the second king of Israel.  Boaz was loving, generous, and kind: a good husband and father.   As goel he insured Elimelech’s property would remain in the family and proved himself as my kinsman redeemer.  He may not have been handsome or had a good physique, but his heart was pure gold.  Boaz loved large and unselfishly.

How Will God Use You?

Who would have thought Yahweh would use a Moabite widow in His Grand Scheme of Redemption?  I stayed with my mother-in-law so she would not have to be alone and to learn of this God of Israel.  The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob proved faithful and true even to a foreigner.   I wonder…….. How will He use you?  You see it is not what you have done or what’s been done to you.  It is not who you know.  What matters is WHO knows you!  God is always working for your good and His glory.  Don’t forget this!”

God of All My Days, by Casting Crowns

Yvonne Jones