BOOK OF RUTH: RIGHTEOUS SPEECH AND ACTION

The Book of Ruth has much to say about the people of God.  (You may wish to read it before reading the following reflections.)  Here are some of the key motifs to notice in the book.

The first named character is Elimelech, whose name means, “My God is King.”  That name sets the tone of the book.  One of the narrative ironies of the book is that there is very little overt activity of God mentioned, but the audience still has a sense of God’s hand at work behind the scenes.  For example, the narrator tells us in 2:1 that Naomi (mother-in-law) of Ruth has a relative from her deceased husband’s side named Boaz in the area.  We watch as Ruth goes out to glean in a field and discovers “her happenstance happened” [trying to catch the word play of the Hebrew] that she was working in the field of Boaz.  The audience sees God’s hand at work on behalf of the key characters Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz.

But why is God at work for them?  The first defining personal quality of the main Israelite characters of Naomi and Boaz is that when they speak, they speak blessing.  For Naomi, see 1:8-9; 2:19.  For Boaz, see 2:4, 12; 3:10.  Ruth, a foreigner, manifests her character by making an oath in the name of Yahweh in which she gives up all of her family rights and attaches herself to Naomi to care for her (1:16-17).

The second defining feature of these characters is their righteous behavior.  Naomi is concerned about the well-being of her widowed daughters-in-law (1:8-13).  Ruth is concerned about the well-being of her mother-in-law (1:16-18), laboring for her (Ch 2), and proposing marriage to Boaz not for her own sake, but to carry on the lineage of her deceased husband (3:1-10).  Their circumstances set them apart as the epitome of the needy.  They are both widows, “orphaned” from their families, and are poor and homeless.  Ruth, moreover, is a foreign immigrant.  That is: together, they almost fully represent the class of people whom God cares most about.  One of many such commands that are found in the Law, the Prophets, and the Wisdom literature about caring for the needy is Deut 10:17-18):

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, ¹⁸ who does justice toward the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. (Deut. 10:17-18) 

Boaz demonstrates his righteousness by caring for Ruth and Naomi (2:8-16) and serving as the kinsman-redeemer (4:9-10) so that Elimelech’s family lineage could carry on.  [The kinsman redeemer married the widow, with the result that the first-born son would carry on the deceased husband’s line and not his own.]

The closing surprise to the Book of Ruth is that the son who is born to Ruth and Boaz is the grandfather of David (4:16-22).  Without the righteousness of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, there would not have been a King David.

Applications:
First, what are the words that come out of my mouth?  Out of the same mouth comes cursing and blessing (paraphrase of James 3:10).  Decades ago, an impact the Book of Ruth had on me was to encourage me to bless people.  I try to do it both openly with people and silently when I see people in need.

Second, am I practicing righteousness?  There is popular notion among some Christians in our culture that righteousness is a judicial matter.  That is, they rest on a teaching that Christ’s righteousness is legally imputed to them so that God sees them as righteous.  That notion fails to understand what the Bible explicitly teaches about righteousness.  When someone entrusts themselves to God through faith in Jesus, that person is now “right” with God.  Moreover, someone who is right with God will then act rightly in God’s sight (e.g. Matt 25:31-46, James).  They will practice righteousness.  And, throughout the Bible, the people who deserve righteous treatment are the needy: the widow, the orphan, the poor, the foreigner, the prisoner, the naked, the oppressed, etc.  My eyes are to be looking for them; my feet are to walking toward them; my hands are to be acting for them.  Righteous behavior comes from those who are right with God.

The message of the Book of Ruth can be summarized thus: speak blessing and act righteously!  Such are the people of God.

May it be so in my life.  Amen.