The book of Ruth is looked to as a model of pure loving devotion and service. Ruth leaves all that she knows behind in order to care for her windowed mother-in-law, risking to endure great poverty and loneliness. To me, this is also a lesson on doing what is right, come what may, and things will work out for our good. Life may not turn out as we planned, but if we do what is right, God will be with us and will always watch over us. The story of Ruth is also a bridging story. It links David back to Lot, telling the story of how a Moabite woman came to be the great grandmother of one of Israel’s greatest kings.

The book begins with the story of Ruth’s future in-laws . They were living in Bethlehem around 1200 B.C. during the time of the judges – a transition time between the leadership of Moses and Joshua, and the advent of kings under Solomon and David. Elimelech and Naomi had to migrate away from their homeland due to a famine that had struck their region . They moved to the Land of Moab to start a new life. Although not a great distance by modern standards, perhaps a 30 minute drive; but during a time of drought, already impoverished, it would have been a long and difficult journey.

In the land of Moab, they raise their sons Mahlon and Chilion who naturally end up marrying Moabite women. Mahlon married a woman named Orpah, and Chilion married our heroin Ruth. The Moabites have a rather strange history from our modern perspective. Moab was the child of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter. As you may recall, Lot lived in Sodom and Gomorrah which was a very wicked city. Two angels came to help them escape. As they fled, Lots wife looked longingly back and was turned to a pillar of salt as Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. It may have been that Lot’s daughters felt that the world had come to an end and their only chance of having offspring was to get impregnated by their own father. Whatever the events that led to his birth, this is how he came to be and this story is bookended with the Story of Ruth.

At some point, Naomi’s husband died. Then, after 10 years of married, both Mahlon and Chilion died leaving Naomi without husband or sons, and leaving Orpah and Ruth as widows. You can just imagine the dire strait in which this leaves each of the women. Naomi releases her daughter-in-laws of their duty to her, acknowledging that she is too old to have children and even if she did have sons, why would the adult women wait for them to reach adulthood. Reluctantly, Orpah returns to her own Moabite family but Ruth remains loyal to Naomi and returns with her to Bethlehem in hopes of surviving off the charity of Naomi’s family. So Ruth leaves her own family in Moab and with it any promise of security in order to continue to protect and care for Naomi.

Back in Bethlehem, Ruth seeks to glean in the fields for food to support herself and her mother-in-law. The Law of Moses required that a farmer leave some food in the fields after harvest so that the poor could enter and obtain sustenance:

Leviticus 19: 9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

It so happens that Ruth gleaned in a part of the field belonging to a man named Boaz who was related to Naomi’s husband Elimelech and was ‘a mighty man of wealth’. Ruth worked all day and caught the attention of Boaz who was impressed by her dedication to Ruth as well as her hard work, spending the entire day gathering food. I suspect that he was also attracted to her very early on as well so this is as much a love story of dedication as it is a love story of romance. Boaz went to Ruth while she was gleaning and told her that she could come to this same field every day and his workers would watch over her and protect her and provide water for her. There was no doubt great risk to the personal safety of a gleaner, particularly a young maiden. The gleaners were already left to their own devices and one can only imagine the physical and even sexual abuse someone such as Ruth risked enduring in order to get enough food for her family to survive. But she went anyway at great risk to herself to care for Naomi.

So, it was much more than a strong work ethic that impressed Boaz. When Ruth asked why her benefactor had taken pity on her, a stranger, Boaz says:
‘The Lord recompense they work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.’ (2:12). Boaz then provides the following:
1. He allows her to glean among the sheaves.
2. He directs his servants to ‘let fall’ the good crops they had gathered for her to collect rather than just the left over or waste crops
3. He allows her to eat of his food at meal time.

After a time, Naomi then gave some interesting instructions to Ruth which, by today’s standards, would seem rather strange. She directed her to lie at the feet of Boaz and to uncover his feet. This may seem like an attempt to seduce him, but rather this is a method for a woman to state her claim under the law to have a kinsman of her husband to take her to wife. By laying at his feet, she is putting herself in the position of a servant, covering herself with the end of the master’s blanket.
In Deuteronomny 25:5, we learn that it is the widows right to assert a legal claim on a family member of their deceased husband. There was no evil intent.

Naomi wisely saw that Boaz was attracted to Ruth so she encourages Ruth to pick up on the cues. She is, in a sense, giving Ruth courting tips. I can just imagine Ruth blushing, just as any girl would when their mother makes note of the gentlemanly advances of a honorable suitor.

There are two references that are significant about the newly forming relationship. In chapter 2:20 Naomi says “blessed be he of the lord, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead’ and later in chapter 3:10 when Boaz says ‘for thou has shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning in as much as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.” Ruth could have chosen a younger companion, even one with money. Instead, she elected to join with Boaz. By so doing, she was ensuring that Boaz, a family member, could restore land back to Naomi, the rightful heir.

The way I see it, Ruth was faithful and devoted to her mother in law, doing what was right and honorable without concern for her own welfare. In the end she was able to marry a man who would be devoted to her and who loved her, bringing her much needed security for herself, and for her mother in-law. And from among this woman’s decedents is perhaps one of the greatest kings Israel ever had. Be honorable come what may and things will work out.