I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ruth 1-4.

    I love the Book of Ruth. However, it gives me trouble when it comes up for my blog because there are really more things to be found here than I can cover in one day. In the first chapter we have Ruth refusing to leave Naomi, or, more precisely, refusing to allow Naomi to leave her. Ruth says one of the great lines in the Bible, “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” What had Naomi done to inspire such loyalty? How had she inspired Ruth to abandon the gods of her family and adopt God as her God? We do not know the answers to those questions, but we should strive to do likewise, to inspire those we meet to adopt our God as their God in place of whatever idols they worshiped before they met us.

    In chapter two we have the outline of a love story, the setup for a romance novel. Ruth goes out and works hard to support Naomi and herself. On her first day, she catches the eye of the wealthy and handsome Boaz (well the passage never says he is handsome, but we will assume that he is). Boaz inquires about who this attractive woman is and discovers that she has no protector. He could take advantage of her and no one would come to her defense, but he does not. Instead, he extends his protection to her, by ordering his workers to look out for her as long as she works the borders of his fields. Boaz invites Ruth to join him for lunch and encourages her to follow behind his workers for the entire harvest. The passage does not come out and say it, but reading between the lines suggests that Boaz continued to use the opportunity of Ruth following his harvesters to interact with her.

    Chapter three has Naomi explain to Ruth how to bring Boaz to a decision. Naomi gives Ruth advice on how to seduce Boaz in a way which would lead him to marry her rather than just satisfy his desires. However, once again, Boaz does not take advantage of the situation, revealing that he is aware of another who has a prior claim to the land of Naomi’s dead husband. Boaz convinces this man to renounce his claim and marries Ruth. Through this whole story we see the hand of God. Ruth, by chance, chose one of Boaz’ fields on that first day. Boaz was both a gentleman and one of those who, under the Law of Moses, had a right to purchase the land which Naomi owned through her husband.