The Story November 2, 2014 Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Faith of a Foreign Woman

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Key Question

How does God show loving kindness directly and through the hands of his followers?

Naomi Emptied Pages 121–123

The book of Ruth begins with Naomi’s family traveling from Bethlehem to Moab,of a foreign land unfriendly to Israelites. Eventually, Naomi would return and say that she left Bethlehem full, but returned empty.

1. (a) Bethlehem means “house of food.” Ironically, what was Bethlehem empty of that caused Naomi’s family to travel to Moab (Ruth 1:1)? (b) Of what else was Naomi emptied (1:3)? (c) How did they attempt to fill their family (1:4)? (d) Naomi’s daughters-in-law bore no children, leaving Naomi empty of what? (e) Of what was Naomi then emptied (1:5)?


Naomi heard that the Lord has provided food in Bethlehem so she and her two daughters-in-law set off for Bethlehem. She changed her mind, though, and told the girls to return to their mothers in the hope of the Lord giving them new husbands. In those days, widows usually faced poverty unless they remarried, and she probably thought the girls’ prospects of finding a husband in Bethlehem bleak because of the mistrust between the Israelites and Moabites.

  

2. What reason did Naomi give the girls for why they shouldn’t go with her (Ruth 1:11)? 

God in his loving kindness gave the Israelites a law to help widows who had no sons. If a brother of the widow’s husband was to marry her, care for her financially, and provide a son who could inherit her husband’s property and carry on his name. This kept her from destitution. But Naomi couldn’t provide sons for them, so she wanted them to stay in Moab where she thought they’d have the best chance of finding a husband.

Orpah tearfully kissed Naomi good-by. But not Ruth. Ruth wrapped her arms around her weeping mother-in-law and refused to let go.

3. (a) How did Ruth show loving kindness to Naomi and put Naomi’s needs above her own (Ruth 1:16–17)? (b) To whom besides Naomi did Ruth commit herself, and what did that say about where her faith resided? (c) If possible, describe a time someone showed loving kindness to you as Ruth did to Naomi. 

When Naomi arrived in Bethlehem with Ruth, she told the women there to no longer call her Naomi, which means “pleasant,” but rather Mara, which means “bitter.” 

4. (a) How did Naomi describe the way she left Bethlehem (Ruth 1:21)? (b) How did she describe the way she returned? (c) How might Ruth have felt over this? (d) Is it important to have a bit of a tough skin when talking to the grieving? Why or why not?

In Boaz’s Field Pages 123–124 

God showed loving kindness to his people by providing laws to help the poor. When workers harvested fields, they weren’t to go back and pick up missed grain, but were to leave it for the poor to gather, a process called gleaning. Ruth asked Naomi to allow her to glean so they’d have food.

5. (a) In Ruth 2, in what ways did Boaz show loving kindness to Ruth by going above and beyond God’s requirements? (b) Briefly describe a time someone blessed you by giving you more than required of something. How did that make you feel?

When Naomi saw the huge amount of grain Ruth brought home, she knew someone had extended extra kindness.

6. (a) What did Naomi say the Lord had not stopped doing (Ruth 2:20)? (b) What evidence had there been so far that God was showing kindness to Ruth and Naomi? (c) What evidence do you have of God showing loving kindness to you?  

Naomi told Ruth that Boaz was one of their kinsman-redeemers. God provided laws that called on close relatives to care for each other in time of need. One of them stated if an Israelite became poor and had to sell land, the closest male relative with financial means was to redeem, or buy back, the land.Naomi saw a way this law might help them.

On Boaz’s Threshing Floor Pages 124–126 

Boaz’s kindness stirred hope in Naomi’s heart, and she saw a possible way to provide Ruth a home and financial security. It was time to winnow the barley—they arrived in April at the beginning of harvest and it was now early June. Naomi told Ruth to wash, perfume herself, and put on her best clothes.She sent her off to the threshing floor where Boaz and his workers would spend the night. 

When all were asleep, Ruth quietly laid down at Boaz’s feet. In the middle of the night, he awoke and discovered her.  

7. (a) What did Ruth ask Boaz to do (Ruth 3:9)? The word translated corner is literally wings. She was asking Boaz to marry her and give her the wings of protection that a husband can give a wife. (b) What reason did Ruth give for her request? 

Back when Ruth first met Boaz in the field, Boaz had talked about protective wings.

8. (a) Under whose protective wings did Boaz tell Ruth she had taken refuge (Ruth 2:12)? (b) In what ways had the God under whose wings Ruth sought refuge protected her? (c) Briefly describe a way God protected you when you turned to Him for refuge in a difficult circumstance. 

Boaz commended Ruth for her kindness to Naomi through this request: not only did she not go to Moab to seek a husband as Naomi had first urged her, but even in Bethlehem she didn’t seek marriage to a young man, but was loyal to Naomi’s family, who would be most likely to provide for Naomi (3:10).  

9. (a) The law required only brothers-in-law of widows to marry widows, but what did Boaz assure Ruth he’d do, once again going farther than the strict requirement of the law? (b) Ruth had thought others saw her as just a destitute widow, a despised foreigner, disgracefully barren, and lower than a servant. How did Boaz assure her the townspeople viewed her? (c) Describe someone you consider to be a woman of noble character. What makes her that in your eyes? 

But there was a hitch: there was a relative closer to them than Boaz.

At the Town Gate Pages 126–127  

Boaz went to the town gate where business transactions often took place. 

10. (a) What did Boaz tell Naomi’s closest relative (Ruth 4:3)? (b) We’re not told why this relative wasn’t already reaching out to help Naomi since the whole town seemed to know her situation. Why is it important not to turn a blind eye to family member’s true needs?

Naomi was destitute and called upon her closest relative to help if he could, as the law required. The man planned to do it until he discovered attached strings. 

11. What changed the man’s mind (Ruth 4:5–6)? 

The money he spent redeeming Naomi’s property had to be taken out of his own estate, and her property would pass on to a son he’d be responsible to give Ruth. Perhaps he had other children whose inheritance he didn’t want to lessen; we don’t know. But he decided not to redeem, and Boaz followed through on his word to Ruth. 

Naomi Filled Pages 127 

Although Ruth had been barren, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a boy, Obed. The townswomen told Naomi this child was her kinsman-redeemer. Not only did he bring her the joy of being a grandmother, but he would carry on the family name and inherit the property Boaz had redeemed, enabling him to care for Naomi in her old age.

12. (a) Consider the ways Naomi had been emptied. Now how has she been filled (Ruth 4:14–17)? (b) Describe some of the ways God has filled you. 

God gave Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi a blessing bigger than they could imagine, for little Obed would be the grandfather of the mighty King David, who would bless all of Israel. And many years later, another descendant of Obed would come, this time to redeem the world. 

Notice the Hand of God in the genealogy below:

In Ruth 2:3 it says, "So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek." 

“As it turned out…” What a great phrase! Now, if we heard that at work we would realize that a project just came together. If we heard this at home we would know a situation had resolved itself. Just day-to-day circumstances; ordinary situations that rarely deserve special attention. But these words are found in the Bible. And in the Bible, “as it turned out” is anything but ordinary. Enter once again the sovereignty of God. May I remind you that our journey through the Bible is telling one story – The Story! And The Story is about God’s plan to reconnect His people to Himself. 


Ruth gives us a great picture into the nature of commitment.  It is this type of commitment that should make it's way into our relationships; our marriages, our families, and our relationship with God.  In Boaz we see what it means to selflessly carry out our responsibility.  And through it all, we continue to see the strong, sovereign hand of God across the pages of The Story.

Chapter 9: The Faith of a Foreign Woman

The book of Ruth provides us with a great view of total commitment, family responsibility and a reminder of God’s ultimate plan.

Think about some hardship in life that you have gone through or experienced. What did you learn from it?

To understand the meaning and messages of the book of Ruth, you need to know four things:

1.  Naomi’s hardship. In the beginning of the story, Naomi moves with her husband and two sons to the land of Moab in search of food. All three of the males in the family pass away in catastrophic succession.

2.  Naomi’s daughter-in-law’s are Moabite women. Their names are Ruth and Orpah. They are not Jews.

3.  The meaning of a kinsman-redeemer. The story hinges on the biblical custom of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). What is levirate marriage? A brother-in-law was obligated to marry his brother’s widow. This afforded her protection and companionship. And this kept the family line going because the children would be deemed as the children of the deceased brother.

4.  God’s upper story. He has an ultimate plan and is in control of all things.

Throughout the story of Ruth, we can see God working behind the scenes for the good of His faithful followers. The story of Ruth reminds us that, more often than not, the gracious provision of God is to be found in the ordinary. God used the ordinary Boaz to express His extraordinary love for the “least among us,” the poor and the widow. Can you find God’s provision for you in His story?

Naomi – Ruth – Boaz

Two Greatest Commandments: Love God & Love Others (Chesed)

In Ruth, all the major characters engage in chesed, extraordinary human kindness, a kindness that goes above and beyond. For example, after the deaths of her husband and sons, Naomi urges her daughters-in-law to leave her, to find new husbands and make new lives for themselves. Naomi wants what’s best for her daughters-in-law, even though that would leave Naomi completely and utterly alone in the world. That’s chesed.

Orpah does leave Naomi. But Ruth insists upon staying with Naomi and looking out for her. Even though Ruth knows it means she must leave her homeland and live as a stranger in a strange land, she wants to stay with Naomi even though it means she might never find a husband and have children of her own. That’s chesed. (Ruth 1:16-17)

Another example of chesed is shown by Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi. Boaz marries Ruth, fulfilling the practice of levirate marriage that we talked about before. Boaz marries Ruth, even though their children would be treated as Machlon’s, and not his own. That’s chesed.

Ruth teaches that all of life’s hardships and obstacles can be overcome – through love of God and through love for others - chesed. 

I.        The Kinsman Redeemer — God’s provision for the poor and the widow

What was a kinsman redeemer?

A.   As God’s holy people, Israelites were to reflect the heart of God by trusting Him enough to act as His hands and heart toward the less fortunate within their community. Much of the Law was designed to provide opportunities for Israel to trust God, to be generous like God, to demonstrate the love and the justice of God. God’s means of taking care of the poor, the widow, and the orphan was through His people.

B. The levirate marriage was one such custom. The term levirate means “husband’s brother.” It was employed when a man died without a son to inherit his land and carry on a family line. When those circumstances arose, the husband’s brother was responsible to take the widow as his wife and produce a first-born son who would bear the dead brother’s name. This son would be the rightful heir to his dead “father’s” estate and would carry on the deceased’s family name. The following children born to the union of the widow and her new husband would belong to the new husband and bear his name (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). This custom was very important for the preservation of the land within the family, and for the protection and provision of the widow. Widows had very little means of providing for themselves, except through the benevolence written into the Law by God. A first-born son had the privilege of a double-portion of inheritance but also the responsibility of caring for his parents. The son born of the widow and the deceased husband’s brother was then the heir and could take care of his mother. He also kept the land in the family as he passed it on to his sons.

C. Redemption of property was another responsibility of the kinsman redeemer. If someone became poor and was therefore compelled to sell off his or her land to survive, then a kinsman redeemer was obligated to buy it back, or redeem it, for the poor person. This was prescribed by God in Leviticus 25:25-27.

D. What were the qualifications of a kinsman redeemer? For someone to qualify as a kinsman redeemer, J. Vernon McGee suggests at least 5 criteria had to be met:

1.     The redeemer had to be a near kinsman (relative) to the one redeemed.

2.    The redeemer had to be willing to perform the work of redemption.

3.    The redeemer had to possess the ability to redeem.

4.    The redeemer had to be free himself.

5.    The redeemer had to pay the value or price of redemption.

E.    Results of the redemption

1.  Redemption cost the redeemer and benefited the redeemed. The kinsman redeemer was called upon to give of his own resources to benefit others. This point cannot be stressed enough. He used his money to redeem property for someone else because he understood that all belonged to God anyway. He took on the responsibility of providing for a wife and gave of himself and his resources to raise a son to carry his dead relative’s name.

2. Therefore, the redeemer was acting in gracious, loyal loving kindness toward the redeemed. The redeemer was acting like God!

3.  The widow who was redeemed benefited from the protection and provision of her kinsman redeemer. She had very little hope or means to survive before her redemption.

4. The land that was redeemed remained within the clan as the promised inheritance from God.

II.      Boaz the Kinsman Redeemer — God’s provision for the poor and the widow

What made Boaz qualified to be the kinsman redeemer?

A.  Boaz epitomized the kinsman redeemer. He was clearly a faithful Israelite living in covenant obedience to God. His heart for the Lord was evidenced by his words, his deeds, and the response of other characters in this story.

B. Boaz was a near kinsman to Naomi and Ruth. However, there was another relative who was closer. Boaz did not hesitate to accept Ruth’s request for marriage, but he also did not circumvent the appropriate way to do so.

C. Boaz was willing to perform the work of redemption, but the unnamed closer relative was not. He approached the relative at the city gate before the city elders, as was the custom. This unnamed relative had the right of first refusal. Although the nearer relative had the means to redeem Naomi’s land, he apparently did not want Ruth as part of the deal. His rejection of Ruth and the land cleared the way for Boaz. That Boaz still wanted to serve as the kinsman redeemer without being obligated by law demonstrates even further his godliness.

D. Boaz had the ability—the financial means—to be a kinsman redeemer. He was clearly a very successful businessman and farmer. He had servants who respected him.

E. Boaz was free and therefore able to redeem. In other words, his land and his person were not under obligation to another. Israel had been through a very long drought period (at least the 10 years Naomi was in Moab). It was not uncommon to sell oneself as a slave due to poverty (Leviticus 25:39), but such was not the case for Boaz.

F.  Boaz did pay the full price of redemption; he redeemed Naomi’s land, and he redeemed Ruth as a wife.

How does Boaz show family responsibility and commitment to the covenant of the Law?  

A. His harvesters left grain to be gleaned by the poor, as prescribed in the Law. But Boaz went above the legal requirement and had them leave extra for Ruth, revealing his generous heart for the Lord.

B.  He remained sexually pure and honored Ruth when she uncovered his feet in the night. He preserved her reputation by sending her home before light.

C.  Boaz was a man of prayer, who spoke blessings over his workers and Ruth.

D.  He was also an answer to his own prayer! He said, “May you be richly rewarded by the Lord under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (p. 123). Later, Ruth asked of Boaz, “Spread the corner of your garment over me” (p. 125). There “corner” is the same word as “wing.” She used the same poetic image as Boaz had used in his blessing over her.

III.    God’s Upper Story - Jesus Our Kinsman Redeemer  

A.  How was God’s upper story at work here? Boaz and Ruth became the great-grandparents of King David, the servant of the Lord. They are noted by gospel writer Matthew, then, as being in the line of the Messiah (1:5).

B.  How does Jesus fulfill the qualifications of the Kinsman Redeemer?

Jesus is our ultimate Kinsman Redeemer and meets all the criteria listed above. All human beings are helplessly enslaved to sin, under the dominion of the evil one, unless and until we are redeemed by the one and only Redeemer. Christ alone is God’s provision!

1.  Jesus is a near kinsman to mankind because He is fully human. He is described as our brother who redeems us from the power of sin (Hebrews 2:14-17).

2.  Jesus was willing to perform the work of redemption. Jesus willingly laid down His life (John 10:18). He redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13) so that we might receive the adoption as sons of God (Galatians 4:5). He redeemed us from sin and unrighteousness (Romans 5; Titus 2:12).

3.  Jesus alone possessed the ability to redeem because He was sinless, being fully God and fully man. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:17-18).

4.  Jesus was free because He fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17-18).

5.  Jesus offered Himself as the price of redemption. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

C. The ultimate redemption of man cost God dearly. He gave up His Son for the world (John 3:16). Jesus paid the price for the benefit for the redeemed who had nothing whatsoever to offer.

D. As Boaz took Ruth, Jesus took the Church as His bride. (Ephesians 5:25, Revelation 19:7.) The Church is betrothed to Christ and is to be a pure virgin (2 Corinthians 11:2).

E.  The redeemed receive eternal life!

 

 

 

IV.      Applications and Implications

A.  If Jesus is my Redeemer, then I can know that I am provided for and protected. I should live differently in light of this truth—as a pure virgin bride.

B. “Poor” outsiders can go boldly yet humbly to the Kinsman Redeemer asking for redemption from spiritual poverty.

C. Genuine faith, like that of Boaz, is expressed in devotion, grace, and kindness toward others. Do I express my faith in tangible and practical ways? Does my faith have “shoes on?”

D. Genuine faith, like that of Ruth, trusts God to always be working even when one does not see His hand.

E. God’s grace knows no limitations. He is available as the Kinsman Redeemer of all. Even a despised outsider is enveloped into God’s community of faith. I should never dismiss someone as beyond the reach of God’s grace.

F.  God is at work in the lives of the faithful even in the darkest of times. I should trust Him even in life’s darkest times when I do not “see” or “feel” God.

G. God still seeks people of faith and kindness through whom He will work His plans. My life should be marked by these traits toward others.

H. God cares for the poor and the widow—the least in our society. I should align my heart to care about the less fortunate.

I.    I should look for God’s provision as He works in the ordinary details of my life.

J.   God still provides a Kinsman Redeemer to all who will come under His wings.

 

The Kinsman Redeemer is just one example of God’s provision to care for His people. People’s lives are peppered with experiences of God’s provision in the ordinary “coincidences” of daily life. 

Coincidences or God-incidences

God’s hand is present in the natural event (famine) that led Naomi and Elimelek to Moab.

God’s hand is present over life and death, and the womb of Ruth (and Orpah).

God’s hand is present in chance events such as Ruth happening upon Boaz’ field.

God’s hand is present in preparing Boaz’ heart to care for Ruth and Naomi.

God’s hand is present in the legal process when the nearer relative first accepted and then declined the role of redeemer.

 

PRAYER OF COMMITMENT

God, When I can’t always see how You are at work in the details of my struggles, give me patience, endurance and strength to trust You are always at work behind the scenes guiding my path. Give me faith to follow my convictions, to seek out the help of those who are gracious, and to extend that help to others. Amen.


See you on Sunday!


In His Love,

David & Susan