Today’s reading: Ruth 1; 2 Corinthians 5
I really love the book of Ruth. There are other stories that are definitely up there for me as well, like the story of Joseph, but as far as whole books go, Ruth might be my favorite. I have always enjoyed it, but I feel like the more I have learned of the broader biblical story, the more I have come to love this book and the picture it presents of the amazing, compassionate, merciful, gracious love of God.
The first chapter of Ruth sets up an ironic contrast. The very first thing we are told in the book is that this happened in the days of the judges, during a famine in Israel. God had promised His people that they would not suffer famines or military oppression as long as they stayed faithful to Him, and the book of Judges tells us the increasingly damning cyclical story of Israel’s spiritual rebellion, resulting in invasion and/or famine, and them only turning back to God when things get too bad for them. So the fact that there is a famine in the land tells us this story took place during one of those spiritually rebellious times in Israel. But then, on top of the people being rebellious as a whole, the family we are following is clearly no standout example of faithfulness. Far from trusting God to provide despite the famine, they pack up and journey to Moab, a land of their spiritual enemies, and then the sons of the family even marry Moabite women, which was expressly forbidden by God!
So we start the story with a faithless family fleeing the promised land because of a famine brought about by Israel’s faithlessness, but then we end the first chapter with something entirely different. When Naomi decides to return to Israel, it’s not because she had a crisis of conscious and wants to try to be faithful to Yahweh, it’s because every man in her family is dead and she has no other option. But then, when Ruth refuses to stay behind, what does she say to Naomi? “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” Then she even invokes the name of Naomi’s God declaring, “May Yahweh do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” So while Naomi’s family, Israelites, a family from God’s chosen people, have turned from His presence and from faithfulness to Him, this Moabite, a woman from a cursed people who are expressly disallowed from being part of God’s covenant people (Deuteronomy 23), is ready to leave her people and her gods to follow Naomi to the promised land and declare Yahweh to be her God.
What an amazing and ironic contrast!
And this sets the tone for the entire story, as Ruth shows herself, time and time again, to be the faithful one, even as Naomi tries to scheme and connive her way to what she thinks, in her own wisdom, is best.
It’s short, but man this book is incredible!
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