The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ … and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth … and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born… Matthew 1:1a, 5b & 16 ESV1
Read Ruth 1:1-18, 2:1-23, 3:1-18, 4:1-13
Ruth, Jesus’ 28th Great Grandmother, was a foreigner, a Moabite maiden, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, an Israelite woman. The book of Ruth tells us that Naomi moved with her husband, Elimelech, and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion to Moab to flee famine in Israel. During their time in Moab, Elimelech died. Then both of the young men married Moabite women. Shortly afterward becoming husbands, Mahlon and Chilion also died. This left Naomi alone in a foreign land, with her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, and with no man to provide for and protect them. Imagine the mourning in that household!
Naomi heard “that the LORD had visited His people and had given them food” (Ruth 1:6), so she decided to return home. Naomi urged her daughters-in-law to return to their families instead of joining her on the trip. After all, she had nothing to offer them. Following much pleading and weeping, Orpah finally returned to her home. But nothing could persuade Ruth to do the same. “Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God shall be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried’ (Ruth 1:16-17a).
We know nothing about Ruth’s family of origin, but it is clear from her insistence about staying with Naomi she didn’t want to go back to where she had been. She would rather live in a strange land, in poverty, caring for an old woman. Whatever it was about Naomi and her God, it was way more appealing than anything in Ruth’s past.
When Naomi and Ruth got to Israel, they found a place to live, and Ruth went to work as a gleaner. Israelite farmers were commanded to not reap the very edges of their fields but to leave them for the poor to gather and feed themselves (see Leviticus 19:9-10). Ruth got right to work. Gleaning was a potentially dangerous job for a lone, foreign woman. She wouldn’t have been respected, and she wouldn’t have been able to defend herself from someone who wanted to do her harm. But regardless of the danger, Ruth did what she had to do.
Ruth was a hard worker who didn’t take any short cuts. Soon she was noticed by the owner of the fields in which she worked, Boaz. He made sure she was safe, let her take breaks, and even commanded his workers to help her. With this help, Ruth was able to glean more than she and Naomi had imagined possible. Both women praised the LORD for the fortunate provision of Ruth working in Boaz’s fields.
Boaz wasn’t just a good guy. Boaz was one of the close relatives of Elimelech, Naomi’s late husband. He could help Naomi and Ruth get out of poverty by marrying Ruth and buying the land Elimelech had owned. He could be their redeemer. But even though Boaz was able and available, he didn’t jump at the chance, so Naomi came up with a sneaky plan to help get Boaz’s attention. One night during harvest season, when Boaz and his workers were camping out in the fields, Naomi advised Ruth to get all prettied up, to sneak up on Boaz as he slept, and jump in “bed” with him. She advised Ruth to use the opportunity to tell Boaz exactly what she wanted from him. Naomi trusted that Boaz would do the right thing when he realized who lay next to him.
“So [Ruth] went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. [Ruth] came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight [Boaz] was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman was at his feet! He said ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are my redeemer.’ … And he said … ‘As the LORD lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.’ So, she lay at his feet until morning but arose before one could recognize another. And [Boaz] said, ‘Let it not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor’” (Ruth 3:6-9,13-14).
Boaz took the bait. When the day arrived, he jumped through all the legal hoops he needed to make Ruth his wife. The whole town of Bethlehem blessed the marriage between this well know, Godly man and this hardworking, foreign woman. Boaz knew a little bit about good women coming out of bad places. After all, his mother was Rahab.
According to today’s standards, Ruth was born on “the wrong side of the tracks.” She used not only her work ethic to pull up herself by her bootstraps but her sexuality to climb her culture’s equivalent of the corporate ladder. She could have been disdained, but, instead, she was revered. Are we able to look past from where a person may have come, and what she may have done to make it in life, to see who she truly is and celebrate her accomplishments?
To be continued…
Check out the next article in this series: The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Bathsheba
Check out previous articles in this series: The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Tamar and The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Rahab.
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.