Discover The Word

Thursday, July 22, 2010

“So Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab.  Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.  And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech; his name was Boaz.  So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.’  And she said to her, ‘Go my daughter’ ” (Ruth 1:22-2:2).

IDEA: We reveal a great deal about ourselves when we are placed in dangerous or hostile situations.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that what matters is not our situation but what we ARE in the situation.

Do you watch many movies?

Do you think about what you’re watching?

If you know how to watch a movie, that can help you as you read the stories of Scripture.

I. The author of the book of Ruth tells us many things beyond what he tells us.

Take a single short exchange in Ruth 2:2—” So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.’  And she said to her, ‘Go my daughter.’ “

The author has said a great deal about Ruth in that brief exchange.  What do we notice?

II. We learn a great deal about a person by the way an author describes how she acts and speaks.  What do you notice?

Ruth abruptly declares, “I am going to the fields to glean ears of grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”

Why do you think that Naomi didn’t suggest it or go with Ruth to participate in the gleaning?

What does this tell you about Ruth’s character?

She takes initiative.

She demonstrates that her commitment to Naomi in 1:14-16 was deep and real.

What do you make of the author’s description of Ruth as “the Moabitess”?

The storyteller used the title in noticeable ways.

He introduced it unexpectedly just after Ruth’s arrival in Bethlehem (1:22).

He uses it again in 2:2 before he says anything else about Ruth’s declaration.

Why do you think he uses the title as he does?

In Bethlehem, Ruth’s race now becomes a factor in the story.  She is not a member of the community.  She is an ethnic outsider.

Ruth seems to be aware of her vulnerability due to her foreignness. In Ruth 2:13 we read: “Then she said, ‘Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.’ “

The author might want to make us very aware that racial tension existed in the community and suggests something about the protectiveness of Boaz later in the chapter.

Have you ever experienced a situation in which you felt threatened?  How did you act?

She says that she will work only in a field of someone in whose eyes she finds favor.  What do you make of that?  You wonder . . .

Would the Israelites she was to encounter regard her merely as a shrewd Moabitess (and a pagan as well) – or as a needy human being?

Summary:

Ruth was a vulnerable foreigner who demonstrated remarkable courage, yet respectful restraint.  She would glean not with presumption but with humility.

She models a quality of devotion which, while taking advantage of an opportunity, does not presume on her rights and privileges.

Ruth acted with modesty, courtesy and grace, but also with determination and endurance.  This is a very difficult combination to work out in our lives.