2017/10/08 Based on Ruth and Naomi

October 8, 2017

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Ruth 1:16

A big‑game hunter went on safari with his wife and mother‑in‑law. One evening, while they were still deep in the jungle, the wife awoke to find her mother missing. Rushing to her husband, she insisted they go look for her.

The hunter picked up his rifle, took a swig of whiskey, and started searching. In a clearing not far from camp, they came upon a chilling sight: the mother‑in‑law was backed up against a thick, impenetrable bush, and a large male lion stood facing her.

The wife cried, “What are we going to do?”

“Nothing,” said the hunter. “The lion got himself into this mess, let him get himself out of it.”

Another story: George went on vacation to the Middle East with his family, including his mother‑in‑law. While in Jerusalem, she passed away. With the death certificate in hand, George went to the American Consulate to arrange to send the body back to the United States for burial.

The Consul explained that sending the body home would be very expensive, up to $5,000. “Most people choose to bury their loved ones here in Jerusalem,” he said. “It only costs $150.”

George thought for a moment and said, “I don’t care what it costs. I want her sent back.”

“You must have loved your mother‑in‑law very much,” the Consul replied.

“No, it’s not that,” George said. “I know of a case many years ago of a man who was buried here in Jerusalem. On the third day He arose from the dead. I just can’t take that chance!”

The story of Ruth and her mother‑in‑law has always fascinated me. Most of us know it well. A Hebrew couple, Naomi and Elimelek, lease out their land and move with their two sons from Bethlehem to Moab because of a famine. Their sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Then tragedy strikes: Elimelek dies. The sons’ wives remain barren. Ten years later, both sons die as well.

Naomi is devastated. Bitter. Empty. With nothing left, she decides to return to Bethlehem. Her daughters‑in‑law begin the journey with her, but Naomi urges them to turn back and seek new husbands in their own land. Orpah reluctantly agrees and returns home, but Ruth refuses. She makes her famous, impassioned vow:

Wow. Naomi must have been the greatest mother‑in‑law of all time. Maybe Ruth’s own mother died when she was young and Naomi filled that void. Or perhaps Naomi was such a godly woman that Ruth came to love not only her, but Naomi’s God. That’s certainly possible.

But the story of Ruth and Naomi is also a tale of mistakes, poor choices, unexpected twists, and a strange mix of bad and good fortune.

It reminds us that life is not a straight or easy road. It’s not an open, flat interstate. It’s a winding mountain road filled with rockslides, snowstorms, steep climbs, hairpin turns, darkness and light, and sudden breathtaking views. God works that way too, not always obviously or directly, but often in surprising and unexpected ways. He weaves our wrong turns and poor choices into a path that still leads to the right destination. Along the way, He places signs reminding us that the best is still ahead.

Let’s look more closely at the twists and turns in this story.

Naomi and Elimelek moved to Moab seeking a better life for themselves and their sons. But Moab was enemy territory, an idol‑worshiping nation whose god was Chemosh, the destroyer. It was not a place good Israelites were supposed to be. That was mistake number one. Still, there was food there.

Then came mistake number two: they married their sons to Moabite women, something Hebrews were not supposed to do.

Then came the tragedies: Elimelek died, and later both sons died. It must have been a dark, crushing time for Naomi. Yet she made a wise decision to return to Bethlehem.

Once there, she and Ruth experienced both hardship and grace. Naomi had no money to buy back the family land they had leased before leaving for Moab. They were poor. But then came a stroke of providence: when Ruth went out to glean leftover grain, the field she chose “just happened” to belong to a good man. It could have been dangerous for a lone, unmarried foreign woman to follow behind the harvesters. But the field belonged to Boaz, who, by coincidence, was a relative of Naomi’s late husband.

Not only was Boaz kind, but when he learned who Ruth was, the daughter‑in‑law who had returned with Naomi, he became even more generous.

Here it seems that the two women’s luck has finally begun to turn for the better.

Boaz is clearly taken with Ruth. He orders his men to drop extra grain for her and allows her to eat and drink with the workers. A bit of sunshine enters the story.

This gives Naomi another idea, a risky one. She convinces Ruth to make a bold and potentially dangerous move. Naomi tells her to put on her best clothes, add a little perfume, and go at night to the threshing floor where Boaz is sleeping with his workers, guarding the harvest. There she is to lie down at his feet and uncover them. While that sounds strange to us, it was essentially a proposal of marriage. Ruth was asking Boaz to marry her and reminding him that, as a close relative, he had the duty to redeem the family land Naomi and Elimelek had leased, and to give Ruth a child so that Naomi’s son would not be forgotten and his family line would continue.

This could have gone very badly if Boaz had been anything other than the godly man he was. It could have damaged Ruth’s reputation if the workers had found her there. But Boaz had come to know Ruth as she gleaned in his fields. He admired her character and her devotion to Naomi. He seemed surprised that she wished to marry an older man, but he agreed to her proposal.

Then comes another twist in the road. Boaz is not the closest relative. There is another man with the first right to redeem Naomi’s land and marry Ruth. Boaz is honest. He wants to marry Ruth, but he cannot move forward knowing someone else has a prior claim.

We hold our breath. This could all fall apart. We know nothing about this other relative. They meet in front of witnesses, and at first the man seems eager to redeem the land. But when Boaz adds, “You know this means you must also marry the widow Ruth so her husband’s name will not die out,” the man quickly backs away.

No, no, he says, he cannot do that, it might endanger his own children’s inheritance.

I know that’s what he said, but I’ve always thought the real reason was that his wife would never stand for another woman entering the household, especially a young and beautiful one.

Whatever the reason, Boaz is now free to marry Ruth. He purchases the land, marries her, and the formerly barren young woman bears a son. Naomi’s bitterness melts away, and the child, Obed, becomes the grandfather of Israel’s greatest king, David.

What a long road it was to reach the baby boy who brought Naomi such joy. Poor decisions, bad luck, foreign lands, tragedy, heartbreak, poverty, and trials. Yet also unexpected joy: a loving daughter‑in‑law, the “chance” choice of a field, the integrity and kindness of Boaz.

None of us travel easy, straight roads in life. We all experience lovely rest stops and unexpected storms. Yet as Christians, we also have signs along the way reminding us not to fear, that the best is still ahead.

All of us have made questionable decisions. We may need to live with the consequences, but God can still use them to bring about His purposes. We can be forgiven for our errors in judgment.

Of course, life would be easier if we always made wise choices and kept our focus on Christ. Many heartaches could be avoided, but not all. Life is messy. We live in a world filled with sin, disease, and corruption, and these things affect us.

This story is so interesting because it shows us the grace of God woven through ordinary lives. It helps us trust even when the road seems snowed over and we can’t see the signs. Naomi’s life seemed to collapse under trouble, but God brought her Ruth. She couldn’t see God’s grace during her suffering, but it was there.

God had also prepared a godly man, Boaz, showing that He had not forsaken Naomi or Ruth.

Ruth had been married for ten years without bearing a child, yet almost as soon as she and Boaz wed, Scripture says God opened her womb and she conceived. Again and again, God was at work. Naomi lost her husband and sons, but God gave her Ruth, and a kinsman‑redeemer.

We need to look beyond our immediate surroundings. Look toward the horizon instead of staring only at the backyard. None of God’s stories are small in scope.

Ruth could have been a simple tale of a grandmother rejoicing over her grandson. But it doesn’t end there. It ends with Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.

All along, God had bigger plans. He wasn’t only blessing two women in Bethlehem. He was preparing the way for Israel’s greatest king, and through him, the hope of the Messiah. God’s plans always unfold, and they unfold in His time.

This little story becomes a river of hope. The life of the godly may not be straight, but the destination is assured. A story of two women leads to David, then to the Messiah, then forward to resurrection and eternal life.

For Naomi and Ruth, as they traveled the twists and turns of life, the best came at the end. And so it will be for each of us. It is still, and always, true: the best is yet to come.