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28. Ruth.
In the days of the
judges there was a plague in the land. At that time a man went from
Bethlehem in the land of Judah with his wife Naomi and his two sons to
the land of Moab. The man died. Naomi was still alone with her sons.
They married two Moabite daughters, Arpa and Ruth. The sons also died.
Naomi was still alone with her daughters-in-law. After ten years, when
she learnt that the plague had ceased in the land of Israel, she
returned to her homeland, and her daughters-in-law accompanied her.
On the way, when she thought how poor she would be when she returned
home and how little she would be able to provide for her
daughters-in-law, she said to them: ‘Return, my daughters, each to her
mother's house! God have mercy on you, as you have done on the dead and
on me. I cannot take you with me, for I am very sorry for you.’ The
daughters-in-law wept, and Arpa was finally moved and returned. Naomi
said to Ruth, ‘Behold, your sister-in-law has turned back to her people
and to her God!’ Ruth replied: ‘Don't tell me that I should leave you.
Where you go, I will go; your people are my people, and your God is my
God. Where you die, there I die also. Death must separate me from you.’
So Ruth spoke and did. O God, will you not repay such filial love; will
you not comfort this poor heart!
When Naemi arrived back in Bethlehem, it soon became a rumour throughout
the town. All the people came together and wondered: ‘Is this Naemi?’ -
She said, the sorrowful woman: ‘Don't call me Naemi any more, for I have
become another. I went out rich, but God brought me home poor.’ When
Naomi had settled down again in Bethlehem - it was also during the
barley harvest - Ruth went into the field to pick ears of grain. Such
was her poverty.
She did not know whose field she was going into - what does a strange
woman know! But God led her to the reapers of a rich man named Boaz, who
was a relative of her deceased husband. Voas came into the field and
greeted his reapers: ‘The Lord be with you!’ The reapers thanked him:
‘The Lord bless you!’ It is a good sign that a rich householder greets
his servants when he comes into the field. ‘What kind of woman is this?’
he asked the overseer of the servants. The overseer said, ‘It is the
Moabitess who came with Naomi.’ Boaz spoke to Ruth and told her kindly
that she should not go to a strange field, but should stay with his
maidservants, and if she was thirsty, or if it was mealtime, she should
drink and eat with his people. ‘I know all,’ he said, ’what you did to
your mother-in-law after your husband's death, and that you did not
abandon her. The God of Israel will repay you for what you have done,
that you have not left her. The God of Israel will reward you for your
deed, to whom you have come, so that you may have confidence under his
wings.’ He also commanded his people to be kind to the Moabitess and to
leave her many ears of grain behind the sheaves. Oh, if only all happy
people knew and considered what a blessing and balm a kind word and kind
treatment is to a poor, sore heart.
Ruth brought home a large quantity of ears of corn to her mother-in-law
and told her everything, and when her mother heard that the man's name
was Boaz, she said: ‘He is our relative. God bless him for his mercy to
the living and the dead!’ What will become of the matter? When Boaz saw
the righteous behaviour of the Moabitess with his own eyes, he fell in
love with her, poor as she was. For virtue, not money, is wealth. And
his pious mind recognised a duty to do so. For such a law still applied
in Israel at that time. If a married man died without children, his
closest relative was obliged to marry his widow, and she was therefore
allowed to address him without propriety.
So the rich, God-fearing Boaz married poor Rath, even though he was not
the closest of relatives, and through him she became a happy wife. Thus
God repaid her filial fidelity and comforted her poor heart. How the
promise came true: ‘Honour thy parents, and it shall be well with thee.
God blessed this pious marriage with a son, whom they named Obed. All
the inhabitants of Bethlehem rejoiced and wished Naomi happiness that
God had given her a son. ‘He will give you rest,’ they said, ’and
provide for your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loved you, has
given birth to him.’ Naomi took the child on her lap and became his
carer.
That was the story of the pious Ruth, and one of their offspring will
become something.
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