Tag Archives: Ruth 2

March 28, 2024 Bible Study — Ruth and Boaz, a Love Story

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

There are many different lessons we can learn from the Book of Ruth: Ruth’s faith, Naomi as a role model, Boaz as a man of integrity.  Today I want to look at the love story: Boaz and Ruth.  First, the hand of God in bringing them together.  Ruth did not pick Boaz’ field to glean in because he was a potential husband.  She chose it more or less at random.  At most there were reflections of his personality in the way his workers treated her, but the way the story tells it she was not thinking about that.  However, Boaz was smitten by Ruth from the moment he saw her.  OK, “smitten” is too strong of a word, but he clearly found her attractive.  If he didn’t, he would not have asked after her when he saw her in his field.  He had also been impressed by what he had heard about the way she treated Naomi.  However, Boaz also didn’t think that Ruth would be interested in him.  So, he waited for her to seek him out.  Well, again, OK he didn’t exactly wait; he made clear his interest for those with eyes to see (which Ruth was not one of, but Naomi was).  And let us not forget the hand of God in all of this.  There were men who would have taken advantage of the fact that Ruth was a foreigner, an attractive foreigner.  But, because she had chosen one of Boaz’ fields when she started gleaning, Boaz made known that he would protect her.  Then when sufficient time had passed for Naomi to be sure that she was not reading into Boaz’ actions what she wanted to see, she counseled Ruth on how to make her interest known to Boaz.  So, a love story where both parties acted according to God’s leading.

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

March 28, 2023 Bible Study — Inspire Others The Way That Naomi Inspired Ruth

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

I want to comment on two things about this passage.  I want to express the first thought because, in my opinion, so many people get it wrong.  I have often heard people, even pastors, say that Orpah did wrong by doing as Naomi told her and returning to her people.  I disagree.  On the contrary, what Orpah did was the correct decision for her.  While Ruth made the better choice, things might not have worked out so well of Orpah had made the same decision. There was no wrong in Orpah’s choice.

Which brings us to Ruth’s decision and what she told Naomi.  We often encourage women to take Ruth as a role model, and that is not a bad thing, but we rarely think about what a great role model Naomi is.  After all, it was Naomi who lived a life which inspired Ruth to say, “Your people will be my people and your God my God.”  We should seek to live lives which inspire others to do the same.  I want to dig into that a little further.  First, Naomi lived a life which caused Ruth to believe that she would be welcome among Naomi’s people.  Naomi treated Ruth in such a way that Ruth believed that the people Naomi belonged to would accept her and welcome her among them.  We know the Israelites were not all welcoming of Moabites, that many of them had hostility to them (much like how most groups of people view outsiders), but Naomi demonstrated acceptance as if that was how everybody acted.  More importantly (although the first part is why) Naomi inspired Ruth to want to serve God.  Ruth wanted to be like Naomi.  Let us strive to live our lives so that others want to become part of our people.

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

March 28, 2022 Bible Study

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

The Book of Ruth is packed full of things worth expounding upon.  Today I want to focus on what could easily be seen as an afterthought, but is really why the Book of Ruth was written.  Boaz is King David’s great grandfather, which means that Ruth is is great grandmother.  This would seem to be problematic, since Deuteronomy commanded that Moabites not be allowed to enter the Assembly of the Lord until the eleventh generation.  I have seen arguments that this does not apply because Ruth was the Moabite, and that only applies if the father is a Moabite.  However, that overlooks something stated in the passage.  The passage seems to suggest that legally, Obed was Naomi’s son, not Ruth’s.  So, while it was Ruth who gave birth to Obed and was his biological mother, from the perspective of Jewish law the passage seems to say that Naomi was his legal mother.

I was going to stop there, but as I reviewed the passage to make sure I had said everything about that subject that I wished to say, I came across a comment about the Book of Ruth which struck home for what is going on in my life now.  The Book of Ruth illustrates God’s providence.  When Ruth and Naomi returned to the land of Israel, they were in a precarious position.  Ruth went out to do what little she could to help them survive.  By pure chance she chose to glean in the fields of Boaz, she had no knowledge that he was related to her dead husband and thus legally obligated to provide for her (an obligation which no one would have forced him to fulfill, or even thought badly of him for neglecting).  And it is worth noting that she chose Boaz, not the other possible kinsman-redeemer who would not have fulfilled his obligations.  Except we know that it was no chance that led her there, it was the Hand of God.  Ruth was faithful and God provided.  When we face hard times, let us remain faithful and trust God to provide.

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

March 28, 2021 Bible Study Boaz, A Model For How Men Should Treat Women

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

I want to examine the story of Ruth and Boaz as just a love story.  As I read the story, Boaz found Ruth attractive from the moment he first laid eyes on her.  Boaz could have taken advantage of her, but he did not.  Not only did he not take advantage of his position as a wealthy land owner in whose fields she was gathering, he also did not take advantage of his position as “guardian-redeemer” to pressure her to marry him.  In fact, he went to great effort to leave her options open if she desired otherwise.  It was only when Ruth made her interest clear that Boaz took action to marry her.  Usually people put their focus on Ruth, which is as it should be.  But, it is good for us to look at Boaz, because he is a great example of how a man should treat women.  There are more examples in the passage for how Boaz treated Ruth which can serve as a model for men today.

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

March 28, 2020 Bible Study — Studying Boaz

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.

It is easy to forget how short the Book of Ruth is because each chapter is like a scene from a play.  Each chapter can be expounded upon with a lesson about how we should live.  Most of the time we focus on Ruth’s actions, and rightfully so.  In a previous year, I pointed out what a wonderful woman of faith Naomi must have been in order to inspire Ruth to make the commitment which she made.  Today, I want to focus on Boaz.  The first thing we learn about Boaz is that he was a wealthy landowner.  As we read the entire passage the details suggest that he was a highly eligible bachelor.  We see that he treated his workers well and held God in high esteem.  He knew the women working for him well enough to immediately recognize that Ruth was someone new.  I always wonder, did Boaz treat Ruth so well because he treated everyone that way, or because he was attracted to her?  We have a few clues about the answer.  We learn from Naomi’s reaction to learning that Ruth was working his fields that Boaz had a reputation for keeping the young men working for him from mistreating the women who followed behind the harvesters.  And yet for all of that, Ruth needed to take the initiative before Boaz made a move towards marrying her.  Ultimately, it was Ruth who chose Boaz, not Boaz who chose Ruth.

March 28, 2019 Bible Study — Perhaps Orpah Was Called To Return To Her Father’s House

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 often wish that the Book of Ruth was not only one day for the whole book because there are too many things to write in just one entry.   We tend to skip over the introduction as unimportant, but it tells us that Ruth and Orpah were married for ten years before their husbands died.  This lets us know that they were part of Naomi’s family for ten years before disaster struck.  If they married their husbands at a typical age for the time they would have been in their early 20s when they were widowed.  By the same logic, Naomi would have been in her late 30s to early 50s.  From this we learn that Ruth and Orpah spent almost as much of their lives up to this point as part of Naomi’s family as they did in the family they grew up in. 

Which brings us to the first big point in the story, Orpah returning to her father’s house and Ruth going with Naomi to Israel.    Often times when we look at this we make the mistake of thinking that since Ruth made the right decision, Orpah made the wrong one.  But that is not necessarily the case.  Ruth’s decision made her a role model, but if Orpah had made the same decision things might not have worked out so well.  Then there would have been two young widows needing husbands, not just one.  Perhaps Ruth and Orpah even knew this and discussed between them which one should accompany Naomi.  However it came to be, some of us are called, as Orpah was, to be the supporting cast in someone else’s story.

March 28, 2018 Bible Study — A Model For Romance

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.