Ruth 1:1-11,14-16 (NIV)
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.
9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud
10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “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.
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.
2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.
9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud
10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “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 2:2-13 (NIV)
When they had settled in Bethlehem
2 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
“The Lord bless you!” they answered.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi.
7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.
9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
13 “May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
When they had settled in Bethlehem
2 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
“The Lord bless you!” they answered.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi.
7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.
9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
13 “May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
Reflection
By now you have the gist of the Book Of Ruth. It starts out with the story of Naomi and Elimelek and their two young sons moving away from Bethlehem because of a famine. After Elimelek dies, Naomi and her sons and their Moabite wives remain on the Plain of Moab.
Unfortunately, about 10 years later, both sons die leaving Naomi and the two daughters-in-law. Naomi now without husband or sons decides to return to Bethlehem but tells her daughters-in-law that they should return to their former homes and hopefully remarry. Orpah reluctantly leaves but Ruth pleads with Naomi declaring:
“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, after the two women return to Bethlehem, the story focuses on Ruth and Boaz, as Ruth goes out into the fields to pick up the leftovers after the workers have finished their harvesting. Luckily, she picks one of Boaz’s fields and with another stroke of luck – or maybe God was at work here- either way Boaz notices Ruth, asks about her and watches out for her making sure she has something to eat and that no one bothers her.
Naomi counsels Ruth to offer herself to Boaz, but Boaz proves to be a righteous man, and, although he, himself, is a relative of Elimelek, he is not the closest male relative and so in front of witnesses, he reminds that man who is that he has the “right of redemption”. It seems Naomi wants to sell the Elimelek’s ancestral land and this man, if he wishes, has the right to buy it or redeem it. And, at first, the man agrees to buy it. At least, until Boaz reminds him that his right to redemption includes Ruth, and that any children resulting from their union would inherit the land. The man then decides to forfeit his right to redemption, which he then passes on to Boaz, as the next nearest relative to Elimelek. The witnesses all concede to the transaction. So, the land Ruth has belonging to Elimelek can be sold to Boaz, who agrees to marry Ruth, all in one fell swoop. The union is blessed by the witnesses at Bethlehem’s gate.
And the scripture in chapter 4: continues: “And when they came together, Yahweh made her conceive and she bore him a son …and they called him Obed.” Obed is the father of Jesse, Jesse is the father of David.”
We can learn a lot from this story, the part we all remember and which has become popular in house plaques is the “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people ”; all about loyalty. Secondly is this story’s importance in the linage of King David and thus in the linage of Jesus; and bonus - why Bethlehem is so important in Christmas story. Also worthy of notice is that Ruth; the mother of Obed, is not Jewish, she is a Moabite. God is always doing surprising things, God is always making the circle wider.
So, this little book of just four chapters in the Old Testament, holds an important place in both the story of Israel and the story of Christianity.
But it is also a story about God working in the world and in our lives. I doubt if we ever really take the time when reading the story of Ruth, to really look at it. Most people, like me, just like the good parts: Ruth being loyal to Naomi; really caring about and for her, so much so that she is willing to give up a known future, of returning to her own family and village and eventually remarrying. She instead chooses to stay with Naomi and venture into an unknown country where the only person she knows is Naomi. And there her future with Boaz unfolds – it’s like something from a fairy tale really, as she bears a son, (Obed), who bears a son, (Jesse), who bears a son, (David), who becomes the King of a United Israel.
When you think about the breadth of this story it is easy to think of these two women as characters in a story that has a fairy tale ending, rather than as people in a story of despair and heartbreak.
Naomi. Elimelek and their two sons were fleeing from a famine; leaving their home, their relatives, their land to go somewhere- anywhere where their family had a chance of survival, maybe even prosperity. Not so different from so many people today who are taking a chance, risking their lives, selling what they can and borrowing money they don’t have to take a chance, just a chance at a better life for themselves and their families.
Naomi and her family settle down in Moab but Elimelek dies leaving her in the care of her sons and their Moabite wives. She has lost her husband and her two sons and her two daughters-in-law have their own grief as they have lost their husbands. They three of them are like little islands in a sea of family relationships- none of which they share. Heartbroken, bereft, grieving, Naomi blames herself and her God Yahweh for the situation they are in as she says in Chapter 1verse 14 when talking to Ruth and Orpah “It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!” and later she says to the women who call out to her as she and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem:
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara,
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.”
Life is hard and does not look like it is going to get better to Naomi.
Psalm 126 which we read this morning is a psalm that was written after Israel’s return from the Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Captivity as it is sometimes called.
A short history of a very convoluted story is that the deportation of Jews from Jerusalem and Judah began around 582 BCE with Nebuchadnezzar laying siege to Jerusalem and capturing the King of Judah, Jeconiah, his family and other prominent Jews and finally destroying the city and the Temple in 587 BCE.
Fleeing Jews settled in Moab, Ammon, and Edom, as well as, Babylon and Egypt. In 538 Cyrus the Great, of the Persian Empire decreed an end to the exile and most Jews returned to Judah.
When the Jews were exiled they fled leaving their homes (many of which were destroyed) leaving their friends and family, leaving their livelihoods and having to settle, to begin new lives in in a strange land with strange gods for over 50 years.
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
(Psalm 126:5-6)
This Psalm also sings about the joy of returning home, about getting your life back even if it not the life it used to be and you aren’t who you used to be, about abundance and God’s favour.
The Jews return from the Babylonian captivity, Naomi returns to Bethlehem.
Even though Naomi no longer has her family, she has land and she has Ruth. Ruth who willingly gives up everything she knows to be with Naomi. Ruth, who is a strong support for her mother-in-law and goes out to glean in the fields, so that she and Naomi will have food to eat.
Just like Yahweh is seen to manage the liberation of the Jews from Babylon, Yahweh’s hand is seen to be to have been working in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.
Just as the tears of despair turn to shouts of rejoicing in the Psalm, we see the lives of Naomi and Ruth turn from loneliness and poverty to a life of enough and family, especially with the birth of Obed who she cares for like a grandmother.
This turn around in circumstances is something we are all familiar with. One day the world is erupting all around us, our reference guides no longer valid, and we truly suffer because it seems God has left us on our own and we aren’t doing all that well. And then slowly, we are able to salvage what we can, pick up the pieces, pick up ourselves and start all over again.
I remember at some point in my life, around my mid-thirties when I realized that life wasn’t a straight line to get somewhere and then just stay there, living the one life you have worked towards. Life was more like you work on building something and then it kind of collapses (sometimes through our own choice, sometimes not) and then you work on building all over again. And again.
Our faith is that God is with us through it all- up, down, sideways, good, bad, chosen, forced upon us, Babylonian exile – God is with us, famine in Bethlehem- God is with us- a baby born on a cold night with a bright shining star overhead- God is with us.
Now and always – God is with us!
May it be so.
Amen
By now you have the gist of the Book Of Ruth. It starts out with the story of Naomi and Elimelek and their two young sons moving away from Bethlehem because of a famine. After Elimelek dies, Naomi and her sons and their Moabite wives remain on the Plain of Moab.
Unfortunately, about 10 years later, both sons die leaving Naomi and the two daughters-in-law. Naomi now without husband or sons decides to return to Bethlehem but tells her daughters-in-law that they should return to their former homes and hopefully remarry. Orpah reluctantly leaves but Ruth pleads with Naomi declaring:
“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, after the two women return to Bethlehem, the story focuses on Ruth and Boaz, as Ruth goes out into the fields to pick up the leftovers after the workers have finished their harvesting. Luckily, she picks one of Boaz’s fields and with another stroke of luck – or maybe God was at work here- either way Boaz notices Ruth, asks about her and watches out for her making sure she has something to eat and that no one bothers her.
Naomi counsels Ruth to offer herself to Boaz, but Boaz proves to be a righteous man, and, although he, himself, is a relative of Elimelek, he is not the closest male relative and so in front of witnesses, he reminds that man who is that he has the “right of redemption”. It seems Naomi wants to sell the Elimelek’s ancestral land and this man, if he wishes, has the right to buy it or redeem it. And, at first, the man agrees to buy it. At least, until Boaz reminds him that his right to redemption includes Ruth, and that any children resulting from their union would inherit the land. The man then decides to forfeit his right to redemption, which he then passes on to Boaz, as the next nearest relative to Elimelek. The witnesses all concede to the transaction. So, the land Ruth has belonging to Elimelek can be sold to Boaz, who agrees to marry Ruth, all in one fell swoop. The union is blessed by the witnesses at Bethlehem’s gate.
And the scripture in chapter 4: continues: “And when they came together, Yahweh made her conceive and she bore him a son …and they called him Obed.” Obed is the father of Jesse, Jesse is the father of David.”
We can learn a lot from this story, the part we all remember and which has become popular in house plaques is the “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people ”; all about loyalty. Secondly is this story’s importance in the linage of King David and thus in the linage of Jesus; and bonus - why Bethlehem is so important in Christmas story. Also worthy of notice is that Ruth; the mother of Obed, is not Jewish, she is a Moabite. God is always doing surprising things, God is always making the circle wider.
So, this little book of just four chapters in the Old Testament, holds an important place in both the story of Israel and the story of Christianity.
But it is also a story about God working in the world and in our lives. I doubt if we ever really take the time when reading the story of Ruth, to really look at it. Most people, like me, just like the good parts: Ruth being loyal to Naomi; really caring about and for her, so much so that she is willing to give up a known future, of returning to her own family and village and eventually remarrying. She instead chooses to stay with Naomi and venture into an unknown country where the only person she knows is Naomi. And there her future with Boaz unfolds – it’s like something from a fairy tale really, as she bears a son, (Obed), who bears a son, (Jesse), who bears a son, (David), who becomes the King of a United Israel.
When you think about the breadth of this story it is easy to think of these two women as characters in a story that has a fairy tale ending, rather than as people in a story of despair and heartbreak.
Naomi. Elimelek and their two sons were fleeing from a famine; leaving their home, their relatives, their land to go somewhere- anywhere where their family had a chance of survival, maybe even prosperity. Not so different from so many people today who are taking a chance, risking their lives, selling what they can and borrowing money they don’t have to take a chance, just a chance at a better life for themselves and their families.
Naomi and her family settle down in Moab but Elimelek dies leaving her in the care of her sons and their Moabite wives. She has lost her husband and her two sons and her two daughters-in-law have their own grief as they have lost their husbands. They three of them are like little islands in a sea of family relationships- none of which they share. Heartbroken, bereft, grieving, Naomi blames herself and her God Yahweh for the situation they are in as she says in Chapter 1verse 14 when talking to Ruth and Orpah “It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!” and later she says to the women who call out to her as she and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem:
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara,
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.”
Life is hard and does not look like it is going to get better to Naomi.
Psalm 126 which we read this morning is a psalm that was written after Israel’s return from the Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Captivity as it is sometimes called.
A short history of a very convoluted story is that the deportation of Jews from Jerusalem and Judah began around 582 BCE with Nebuchadnezzar laying siege to Jerusalem and capturing the King of Judah, Jeconiah, his family and other prominent Jews and finally destroying the city and the Temple in 587 BCE.
Fleeing Jews settled in Moab, Ammon, and Edom, as well as, Babylon and Egypt. In 538 Cyrus the Great, of the Persian Empire decreed an end to the exile and most Jews returned to Judah.
When the Jews were exiled they fled leaving their homes (many of which were destroyed) leaving their friends and family, leaving their livelihoods and having to settle, to begin new lives in in a strange land with strange gods for over 50 years.
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
(Psalm 126:5-6)
This Psalm also sings about the joy of returning home, about getting your life back even if it not the life it used to be and you aren’t who you used to be, about abundance and God’s favour.
The Jews return from the Babylonian captivity, Naomi returns to Bethlehem.
Even though Naomi no longer has her family, she has land and she has Ruth. Ruth who willingly gives up everything she knows to be with Naomi. Ruth, who is a strong support for her mother-in-law and goes out to glean in the fields, so that she and Naomi will have food to eat.
Just like Yahweh is seen to manage the liberation of the Jews from Babylon, Yahweh’s hand is seen to be to have been working in the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.
Just as the tears of despair turn to shouts of rejoicing in the Psalm, we see the lives of Naomi and Ruth turn from loneliness and poverty to a life of enough and family, especially with the birth of Obed who she cares for like a grandmother.
This turn around in circumstances is something we are all familiar with. One day the world is erupting all around us, our reference guides no longer valid, and we truly suffer because it seems God has left us on our own and we aren’t doing all that well. And then slowly, we are able to salvage what we can, pick up the pieces, pick up ourselves and start all over again.
I remember at some point in my life, around my mid-thirties when I realized that life wasn’t a straight line to get somewhere and then just stay there, living the one life you have worked towards. Life was more like you work on building something and then it kind of collapses (sometimes through our own choice, sometimes not) and then you work on building all over again. And again.
Our faith is that God is with us through it all- up, down, sideways, good, bad, chosen, forced upon us, Babylonian exile – God is with us, famine in Bethlehem- God is with us- a baby born on a cold night with a bright shining star overhead- God is with us.
Now and always – God is with us!
May it be so.
Amen
