Ruth

Background

The time of the Judges (regarded as the period between the 6th and 4th Century BC) was a time of moral failing and shaping for Israel.

1. Moab

Moab - Was at the time considered Israel’s perpetual enemy. Psalm 60:8

Psalm 60:4–9 NKJV

4 You have given a banner to those who fear You, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah 5 That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me. 6 God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem And measure out the Valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver. 8 Moab is My washpot; Over Edom I will cast My shoe; Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.” 9 Who will bring me to the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?

Washpot was where men would wash their feet. It was an extreme way to say they would be brought low.

Genesis accounts for the origins of the nation of Moab. After Lot and his daughters escaped from Sodom, they lived in a cave in the hills near Zoar. When Lot became drunk, his daughters seduced him. Both conceived and bore children. Lot’s oldest daughter named her son Moab, from whom the Moabites descended, and Lot’s younger daughter called her son Ben-ammi, from whom the Ammonites descended.

The Septuagint (Greek Translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) explains that the name Moab means “he is of my father,” a perpetual reminder of Moab’s incestuous beginnings.

I want you to notice the theme of genealogies and family lines in this book.

Naomi - is a widow. Mother

A long time ago before the days of king David, a man named Elimelech lived in his ancestral village of Bethlehem. There was a famine in the land of Judah, so Elimelech and his wife Naomi with their two sons left their homeland and went to the foreign country of Moab.1–2

After they arrived in Moab, Elimelech died and Naomi became a widow. Her two sons eventually married Moabite wives named Orpah and Ruth. Then ten years later, tragedy struck again—Naomi’s two sons died. Naomi became a childless, destitute widow in a foreign land. With no children and no land, she had no status, no community, and no hope.3–5

Years later, Naomi heard that God remembered his people in Bethlehem and provided food for them. So despite her old age, Naomi decided to return to her ancestral village. She gathered everything to return back home.6–7

2. Kinsman Redeemer

The kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to various laws of the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need. The Hebrew term (go el) for kinsman-redeemer designates one who delivers or rescues (Genesis 48:16; Exodus 6:6) or redeems property or person (Leviticus 27:9–25, 25:47–55). The kinsman who redeems or vindicates a relative is illustrated most clearly in the book of Ruth, where the kinsman-redeemer is Boaz.’’

Think property law, not family law, at the time Widows and wives were more likened to the concept of property and therefore would come as part of the inheritance.

Ruth 4:1–6 NKJV

1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. 3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.” 6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

Noteworthy

The narrative of Ruth has major theological points, but there is one I do not want us to miss.

Ruth was a Moabite, the sworn enemy of Israel, but Boaz chose to look at Ruth’s character

The closer relative passed the chance to be the kinsman redeemer because he was looking at Ruth as a Moabite or as what she came from versus her character and in this, God’s provision allowed the one who saw her to redeem her.

Jesus Christ sees you. These ectypes all point toward Jesus.

This entire book is about how God’s hand is in all our lives down to the most intricate detail.

While the characters mention God a few times, the writer of the narrative goes not. This is intentional and shows us the overarching theme of the book. The theme is that God’s hand is in everything. The purpose is to show us that God is behind the scenes.