Welcome to the 7th week of Faithlogue’s 2024 Winter Series: “The Women of the Promise.” Please subscribe to receive each week’s post in your email inbox and to receive Faithlogue’s monthly subscriber newsletter. You can catch up on any missed posts here.

Passage: Ruth 1-4

“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.

Ruth 3:10-11

Ruth does hesed for Naomi—the extraordinary, the unexpected, and the exceptional. Her choice is radical and costly, but she acts in complete freedom.

-Carolyn Custis James[1]

As we learned last week, Rahab’s rescue of the spies helped launch Israel’s conquest of the land God promised them. God’s people settled in the land and began the tumultuous task of becoming a gathered nation under the rule of judges. During this transition, the Israelites struggled to remain faithful to God and failed to steward the land.

Ruth’s story begins amid that chaos. A famine looms in the region of Judah, and God’s people grow hungry. To escape starvation, Elimelech and Naomi leave their home in Bethlehem and flee to the country of Moab with their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. Both sons marry Moabite women; Ruth marries Mahlon.

Sadly, within ten years of their arrival, Elimelech and his sons all die. Naomi bitterly grieves her losses and feels abandoned by the Lord. She assumes God’s protection and loving-kindness have left her alone in Moab. Therefore, when she hears the famine has ended in Judah, she decides to return home.

As she begins the journey, Naomi releases her daughters-in-law to return to their families in Moab. Despite her bitterness, Naomi blesses them, “May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown to your dead and to me” (Ruth 1:8).

Both women initially resist, but Kilion’s wife, Orpah, returns home with Naomi’s blessing. However, Ruth pledges her future to Naomi, vowing, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there, I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17).

Ruth’s declaration is extraordinary. Rather than devote herself to the security of a new spouse among her own people, Ruth pledges herself to the fate of her mother-in-law among God’s people. As a Moabite, Ruth has no assurance of welcome or safety in Judah. In fact, according to Deuteronomy 23:3, Moabites were barred from community with Israel because they did not provide food and water for the Israelites when they fled Egypt.

Despite the risks, Ruth goes to Bethlehem with Naomi. After they arrive, Ruth endeavors to provide Naomi with food by working the fields to glean barley behind the harvesters. While working, she encounters Boaz, the owner of the land. Boaz is aware of the kindness Ruth has shown to Naomi, so he encourages Ruth’s work and blesses her, saying, “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:12).

When Ruth returns to Naomi with the harvest and the news of Boaz, Naomi praises the Lord, saying, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” (Ruth 2:20). The word used here to describe the Lord’s kindness is hesed, meaning loving-kindness or mercy.[2]

After her praise, Naomi explains to Ruth that Boaz is a kinsmen-redeemer of Naomi’s family. A kinsmen-redeemer was a male relative responsible for protecting the livelihood of vulnerable family members, such as widows (this role is different than the levirate marriage of Tamar’s generation from Week 5).

Because of this relationship, Naomi suggests a plan for Ruth to approach Boaz as her own kinsmen-redeemer. Ruth agrees and makes her request to Boaz using the language of his earlier blessing. She says, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (Ruth 3:9 ESV).

Essentially, Ruth asks Boaz to become the physical wings of God’s protection. Boaz responds positively, stating, “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier” (Ruth 3:10). He then properly settles the estate and marries Ruth.

After their marriage, Ruth gives birth to a son. Naomi celebrates with her kinswomen who proclaim, “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth” (Ruth 4:14-15). The women name Ruth’s son Obed, and Ruth takes her place in the lineage of Jesus.

With this good news, Naomi must realize that God never left her after all. God’s hesed was at work, even in Moab. This fact becomes clear when we look back through the verses quoted above. Every mention of “kindness” is a translation of the word hesed.

God’s hesed satisfied Naomi’s hunger in Moab. Ruth became the instrument of God’s hesed that healed Naomi’s wounds of bitter abandon. In turn, God protected both Ruth and Naomi through Boaz’s hesed as their kinsmen-redeemer.

Ruth’s story exemplifies God’s hesed: His protective loving-kindness. The following verse from Hosea sums up this point and hints at God’s future provision of a Savior through this family:

Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you (Hosey 10:12).

Naomi’s experience reminds us that God’s protective hesed never leaves us. When we believe in God’s protective love for us, we become free to sow seeds of righteousness. Like Ruth and Boaz, may we become God’s instruments of loving-kindness and protection for a hungry and bitter world in need. Go and do hesed.

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[1] Carolyn Custis James, The Gospel of Ruth (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 117.

[2]   James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1996), s.v. “2617.” Logos.

© 2024 Lori Myers Berry

Thought Questions

1. Like Naomi, have you experienced a season when you felt God abandoned you but later realized His protective love was with you all along? Describe what happened.
2. In this week’s post, we learned that the Moabites once denied food and water to the wandering Israelites. Do you think this history influenced Ruth’s gathering of food for Naomi? Why or why not?
3. Just as God loves us, He calls us to “do hesed” for others. How might you “do hesed” for someone today?

Prayer

God, your hesed never leaves us or forsakes us. We confess that we often forget to remember the extent of your love and protection for us. Thank you for sating our hunger and allaying our bitterness, not because we can meet the standards for a relationship with you, but because you are righteous. With thanksgiving, may we become your instruments of hesed for a world in need. Amen.