Ruth 1:1-22; 3:1-6, 16-18
My middle name is Ruth. I am the third Ruth in the family. My mother’s name was Nancy Ruth, and her mother was Lilian Ruth. I have always been proud to have Ruth for a name, and I always knew that if I had a daughter she would also have Ruth as part of her name. Unfortunately, I never had children of my own. But my brother’s daughter, Andrea, when she was adopted and her last name became Smith, also chose a new middle name, and the name she chose was Ruth. So the Ruth’s will go on!
Ruth is a beautiful name, not so common as it used to be. In the 1890s, it was the 3rd most popular name in the US and was in the top 10 through the 1920s. Now it sounds kind of old fashioned, but I like it. It comes from the Hebrew meaning “companion” or “friend.” And it is easy to see why our Ruth from the Bible was named Ruth, because her story is about being a friend and companion.
The story begins with a famine in the land of Israel. This famine led a family from Bethlehem to move to Moab in order to survive. The family included Elimelek, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. Some time after arriving in Moab, Elimelek died and Naomi was left with her two sons, who had married Moabite women, one who was named Orpah and the other who was named Ruth. But after about ten years, both of the men had died and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. It is interesting to note that the focus of the story to this point was Naomi; she was the one who was left, not her daughters-in-law. In a world where women were dependent on men for support and income, this was a terrible tragedy for all three of these women.
Some time later, Naomi got word that the famine was over back home, and she and her daughters-in-law began to get ready to move there. It would make sense for Naomi to go; she must have had relatives there, or at least friends, who could take her in and provide for her. But what about the two younger women? Naomi had nothing to offer them, and so she told them several times to return to their own families of origin. According to Jewish law, if Naomi had other sons the women might have married them, in order to carry on the family name, but Naomi had no other sons and was too old to start a new family. And so she encouraged them to go where they might have a better future for themselves. Orpah reluctantly went back, after they cried together. But Ruth was adamant that she was not going to leave Naomi.
Ruth then made a statement that often gets repeated at weddings, taken completely out of context. These words were spoken between a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, not a couple. Ruth was declaring her faithfulness and loyalty Naomi. She said, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die I will die, and I will be buried there. May God deal with me if even death separates us.” That is a powerful declaration! And Naomi finally gave in and stopped trying to convince Ruth to leave her. And they journeyed together to Bethlehem.
As it turned out, one of Naomi’s relatives back in Bethlehem was a man named Boaz. And Naomi began to scheme to bring Ruth and Boaz together. First, she sent Ruth out to glean in his fields. Boaz took note of her and encouraged her to only come to his fields to glean. He had heard the story of her faithfulness to Naomi and he wanted to help take care of them. Boaz even instructed his men to leave some stalks of grain in the field for Ruth to pick up. Then Naomi instructed Ruth to get Boaz’s attention in another way. She told Ruth to go the threshing floor at night and lie down at the feet of Boaz. When Boaz noticed Ruth, she asked him to spread the corner of his blanket over her, since he was the guardian-redeemer of her family. What Ruth was doing, in actuality, was requesting marriage. A guardian-redeemer was a near relative who was responsible for protecting the needy members of his extended family. One of those obligations was to provide an heir for a brother who had died. And Boaz told Ruth he would have to speak to another man first, who was a closer relative than he was. So Ruth reported back to Naomi what had taken place. As it turned out, Boaz worked out with the other man so that he could marry Ruth, and that is what he did. And as things turned out, Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David.
Ruth was a faithful companion and friend to Naomi. She was willing to leave her own country and her own family to go with Naomi to Bethlehem. She listened to Naomi’s instructions when they got to Bethlehem about how to provide food for them through gleaning. And she obeyed Naomi when she told Ruth to approach Boaz at the threshing floor. I cannot imagine that any of that was easy for Ruth. Faithfulness demands a lot sometimes. Loyalty can be costly. And yet, Ruth was willing to pay the price. And God blessed her by giving her another husband, Boaz, and by making her, a foreigner, the great-grandmother of the greatest king in Israel’s history.
I see in Ruth a model of how we should be faithful to our commitments to one another. Whether it is with a friend, a relative, a spouse, or a partner, when we are committed to that person we are faithful, we are willing to sacrifice in order to see to their needs and we are willing to do whatever is asked of us. In the same way, when we are in a relationship with God, we are called to the same kind of faithfulness. Following Jesus demands that kind of loyalty, that kind of self-sacrifice, that kind of obedience that is seen in Ruth.
I also see in Ruth an example of how God is faithful to us. God goes with us wherever we go, even if it is to a foreign land. God will not let us travel alone through life. He will be there, ready to help, a companion and a friend to us.
Ruth was a faithful friend, a loyal companion, who was faithful to the end. We would all do well to remember her life, her love, and her example.
