Hang On

Previously in the Written on Our Hearts Series: Intro; Rahab: Got Labels? and That Prostitute is My Grandma

She was a widow, childless, poor, a foreigner, and she had a depressed mother-in-law. Any one of these things by itself would be all some of us can handle. What was it like to be Ruth? She was from Moab—the land that Lot chose over Canaan when Abraham gave him the option. She married one of the sons of Elimelech and Naomi who had traveled to Moab because their homeland, Judah, was in a drought. After many years there, Elimelech and the two sons died—leaving three widows behind. The conditions of Moab had also changed. Famine was forcing Naomi to return to Judah—Bethlehem to be exact. She pleads with her childless daughters-in-law to go back to their own mothers. Orpah kissed Naomi and did as she was asked, but Ruth clung to Naomi. Early in this story the eternity written on Ruth’s heart shines through her devastating temporary circumstances. Ruth the Moabite replies to Naomi from Bethlehem,

Don’t press me to leave you and stop following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people
and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die; and there I will be buried. May Adonai bring terrible curses on me, and worse ones as well,
if anything but death separates you and me (Ruth 1:16-17).

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the contrast between Orpah’s kiss and Ruth’s clinging. There is a difference between kissing and clinging. Judas kissed Jesus, but John laid his head on Jesus’ chest. Judas was called betrayer, John was called beloved. Ruth clung to Naomi and made a covenant with her and with the Lord. Reminiscent of Rahab, we don’t know how Ruth heard of the Lord, but it is easy to believe that it was Naomi’s testimony of the Lord that left a lasting impression.

We will look further into the eternal threads of Ruth’s life next week. For now, though, let’s consider the temporary circumstances of her life.

Caretaker

Naomi was old and widowed. Her two sons had died and she was in a foreign land that had gone from flourishing to famine. She had lost all hope. So much so, when she returned to her home the women of the town asked, “Is this Naomi?” She responded to them, “Do not call me Naomi, but Mara because the Lord has dealt unkindly with me” (Ruth 1: 19 -20). In the Hebrew language the phrase “dealt unkindly with me” literally means “God is my enemy”. The name Naomi chose to be called, Mara, means bitterness. It is not hard to feel the state of hopelessness where Naomi found herself. She even laments, I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty (vs 21). She had not only lost her husband and sons, but she was too old to remarry and have more children. In the context of their culture, this meant there was no redemption for her and therefore she could not offer any hope to her daughters-in-law.

Maybe you can relate to Naomi’s pain and the layer upon layer of disappointment, and the worthless feeling of no longer being able to help someone else. Maybe you can relate to Ruth as she cared for a depressed loved one. Maybe life is bitter for you and your family. This is only temporary. Hang on. There is hope.

Childless Widow

It was the custom for widows to be cared for by their families, specifically a brother of the deceased husband. There was very little a widow could do to make a living for herself. Ruth had no brother-in-law to redeem her, and she had left her own family to stay with the depressed Naomi.

Ruth was also childless. Children were prized and seen as a blessing from the Lord. Barrenness was a point of discontentment, distress, jealousy, bitterness, and much more. To be true to the story, we do not know if Ruth was barren. What we do know is that Naomi’s two sons married and lived in Moab for ten years after Elimelech died (1:4). It could be that Ruth was not married long enough to have children. Either way, though, to have been married and not have a child would have been another weighing factor in Ruth’s life.

Maybe you can relate to the pain of losing a spouse or a loved one. Maybe you have first-hand experience with the distress of barrenness. Maybe the burdens of life are weighing too heavy on you. This is only temporary. Hang on. There is hope.

Poor Foreigner

As mentioned above, there was very little a widow could do to make a living. There were provisions for the poor within the laws of Moses. One of the provisions was gleaning during the harvest. The law states that a man must not reap his land all the way to the border, nor should he pick up what was left after the reapers went through. The poor could go through the fields after the reapers and glean what they could. Ruth and Naomi were this poor. They picked up scraps in the field. Thankfully, they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the harvest season.

Bethlehem was Naomi’s homeland, but it was foreign to Ruth. Can you imagine having your world turned upside down by death, famine, and traveling to a place you do not know? For me, I can see similar scenarios with the coverage of the Syrian borders and the refugees there. I see the refugees fighting for their lives and their children’s lives, having to set up temporary homes in desolate places. I can’t help but think that there must have been a good amount of fear and desperation that Ruth experienced as she traveled with Naomi.

Maybe you can relate to the demeaning posture of the poor—waiting for everyone else to be done so you can pick up their scraps. Maybe you know the desperation it takes to fight for your family—to experience the intimidating newness of a foreign land, language, and culture. This is only temporary. Hang on. There is hope.

The temporary factors of Ruth’s life were devastating. Hang on, though. The story doesn’t end there. It gets really good—really, really good. All these temporary definitions became threads, woven and spun, in the hands of our faithful, eternal God.

…and this hope does not let us down, because God’s love for us has already been poured out in our hearts…Romans 5:5.