The Theology of Ruth
2000-11-17
Names, Attributes, and Actions of God in Ruth
The primary reference to God in Ruth is the Tetragrammaton. One time where God is referred to as “God” is when Ruth says to Naomi, “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16). The term אֱלֹהִימ paired with the Tetragrammaton is also used in Boaz’s prayer for Ruth in Ruth 2:12. Though God does not directly speak in this book and is not frequently mentioned, He is mostly referred to by His personal name, which strengthens the account of His intimate, center-stage involvement in the entire account. The characters that use His name show their personal knowledge of Him in the context of the book.
God is sovereign and also very personal; He knows the aching hearts of Naomi and Ruth. Though they lose their husbands, God restores both women when they return to the Bethlehem. Though they have trials, He works in their lives to comfort them, and He also establishes their family to be ancestors of the kings of Israel as well as the Messiah that is to come (Matthew 1:5).
God provides for the needs of His people. He led the Elimelech’s family to the country of Moab when there was a famine in Bethlehem of Judah (Ruth 1:1). Though the men of the family passed away in Moab, He brought Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law back to Bethlehem when He lifted the famine. Naomi, left by her husband and sons, finds comfort in the blessing of her new family, and Elimelech’s name is not forgotten because of the kinsman-redeemer Boaz (4:9). It was a duty for a near relative to act as kinsman-redeemer: that is, to marry a widow of a close relative and have children. This would allow the deceased to have an heir so that his name would live on (Deuteronomy 25:5, cf. Ruth 4:10).
God provides not only to the Israelite, but also for anyone who calls upon His name. As God has made gleaning a part of the letter of His law (Leviticus 19:9), He allows Ruth to meet with Boaz (Ruth 2:5), and Boaz allows her to glean (2:8) and even eat with him (2:14). Moabites were not welcome in the congregation of Israel, so she was open to possible contempt (Deuteronomy 23:3-4). Nevertheless, she finds herself an intimate part of God’s plan (Ruth 4:13).
God also takes devastating situations and transforms them into blessings. When Naomi returns “empty” (Ruth 1:21) to Bethlehem, she is made full again with God’s blessing (4:14-15). The levirate marriage of Ruth and Boaz brought forth an heir for Elimelech and his son Mahlon (4:10, 13). Their union begot Obed, who was to comfort Naomi in her older years (4:15). This is also to say that Ruth’s steadfastness to follow and stay with Naomi all of her days (1:16) is a greater blessing than seven sons (4:15). God’s blessings, therefore permeates the lives of all of the named characters of the book.
God’s name is also very powerful when used throughout the book. His name is used to bless the parting of Orpah and Ruth (Ruth 1:18). Another example is Boaz when he blesses Ruth for leaving her land to be devoted to Naomi (2:11-12). God’s name is also often proclaimed when making an oath. Ruth makes an oath in the name of the Lord when she promised to be with Naomi for the rest of her life (1:17). Boaz also makes an oath before the Lord that he or a close relative will perform the duty of kinsman-redeemer for Ruth (3:13).
Names, Descriptions, and Activities of the Creation in Ruth
Ruth is often referred to as “Ruth the Moabitess” (Ruth 2:2, 21), which affirms her as a foreigner. Though she came from Moab, she remains devoted to her mother-in-law to follow her to a land that had been an enemy to her people. Though Mahlon had died, she remained a part of the family into which she had married.
Ruth is also called a virtuous woman (Ruth 3:11). Though she is devoted to Naomi, she is also one who is hardworking, gleaning until the late evening (2:17) and until the end of the harvest (2:23). Ruth is also a great blessing for her family. God uses her not only to reestablish the house of Elimelech through the kinsman-redeemer Boaz, but also establishes through her son an eternal dynasty of kings that will rule Israel (4:22, cf. 2 Samuel 7).
Naomi gave herself another name, “Mara,” when she returned to Bethlehem of Judah. She says God “dealt very bitterly” with her because of the death of her husband and two sons. The name Mara is only used this once (1:20), and the author continues to call her Naomi because the “bitterness” Naomi feels from God is only temporary.
Naomi says she went out “full” from Bethlehem only to return “empty” (Ruth 1:21). Ruth is the only family she has left, and she turns out to be a great blessing in Naomi’s life.
Bitterness is also revealed in her third plea for Ruth to return to her family. As Naomi gives Orpah and Ruth her blessing in God’s name to return homeward (Ruth 1:8-9), she changes her persuasion after Orpah had left. Naomi said that since Orpah went home to her people and her gods, that Ruth should do the same (1:15). This is unusual for a godly woman to persuade one to return to abominable false gods (Exodus 20:3-6).
Naomi then realized that God had begun to work very positively in her life by hearing of Boaz and Ruth’s meeting. She eventually tells Ruth to act accordingly to be redeemed. Naomi realizes that God has great plans for them through Ruth.
Naomi nonetheless wanted to see her daughters-in-law to have new lives with new husbands (Ruth 1:9). This feeling she had for Ruth does not subside, as she tells Ruth to propose to Boaz (3:1-4).
With Naomi, the author sets a sort of matriarchal trend within the book to establish an important theme. The book opens with a “certain man” with his wife and sons who goes to Moab. When Elimelech dies, the family is now Naomi’s family. When Naomi pleads with her sons’ wives to return home, she tells them to return to their mothers. In addition, there is a peculiar usage of certain verbs in this passage when Naomi is speaking with the two Moabite women that are conjugated in the second person masculine plural.
Boaz is a wealthy man from Elimelech’s family who is a very generous man. He extended beyond any gleaning requirement of the law by allowing Ruth to glean among the sheaves (Ruth 2:15). He also ate with Ruth (2:14). He had given large amounts of grain to Ruth to give to Naomi (3:15).
He recognizes Ruth as a virtuous woman (Ruth 3:11), in which he is very well pleased. He wishes, therefore, to redeem Ruth; that he would marry her if the closer relative denies his own right to redeem Ruth and the property of Elimelech’s family (3:13).
The Relationship of God and His Creation
In this book, the characters seem to be more faithful to God as opposed to their contemporaries (Ruth 1:1, cf. Judges 17:6, 21:25). Naomi felt that God was against her, but this feeling is short-lived. From the book there is a picture of idolatry existing outside Israel in Moab, where Orpah returned to her own gods. By God’s grace, the characters are blessed by Him during their lifetimes but also by being chosen to be ancestors of the kings of Israel. Ruth’s exceptional trust in the God of Israel as a foreigner during a time of apostasy brings her great blessing and impact on all of human history.
God’s relationship with the characters in the book is sincerely intimate. The author shows that God is interested in giving them all what is best for them. Naomi, though increasingly pessimistic since the death of her husband and sons, lives on to see the fulfillment of God’s plan for her. He fills her emptiness; that is, establishing the redeemed family of Elimelech that his name might live on. Her doubt of the Lord’s faithfulness becomes foolishness as God’s plan to bless Naomi begins with Ruth.
The picture of comforting the family of Elimelech extends beyond the individuals involved. God, in the unstable times of the judges’ rule, and times of famines and oppression, has prepared a new hope for Israel. God opens a road to set order to His Theocracy by the use of a king, which are the descendants of Obed. The anarchic state will come to order under the Davidic Covenant, where his dynasty will rule forever.
The structure of the book of Ruth is the transition from desolate times to a time that is renewed by God. In a foreign land, Elimelech and his sons die, but by God’s hand, Bethlehem begins to produce bread again. Though Naomi is upset because her family has passed away, Naomi clings to the family that she does have. Together they do find God’s blessing and are restored from their sorrows. Also, the road is now open for the Davidic line of kings to begin reigning.
God completes His will in a subtle way. He does not directly speak to any of the characters in the book, nor does He reveal any extraordinary miracles to communicate to His people what He is doing. The characters do not know they are involved with something bigger than just their own lives, but they are chosen to be ancestors to the kings of Israel. This shows God using ordinary people to complete His will.
One of the main themes to the book is that God takes Ruth, both a woman and a foreigner, and establishes her as a virtuous model. The book of Ruth in the Hebrew canon follows the Proverbs, and in Proverbs 31, King Lemuel had just depicted a character sketch of a virtuous woman was. Ruth fulfills this description. The first thing God communicates by doing this is that women have their role in not only accomplishing God’s will, but have a key role in the manifestation of His plan. The second thing God states in this book is that Gentiles also have a role in God’s plan of salvation. Though Moabites were enemies to the Israelites, God communicates that Gentiles also have a share in the inheritance of God if they fear Him.
The overall Theology of the book of Ruth would be God’s subtle movement within a redeemed Israelite family through the virtuous Gentile woman Ruth to establish the eternal throne of the Israelite kings.