After finally slogging through Judges, we get to one of the bright spots of the Old Testament: Ruth. A lovely story with a happy ending. If you’re not familiar with it, take 5 – 10 minutes to read it (Ruth). I want to spend the next few days meditating on the major characters: Naomi, Boaz, and Ruth. 

Today, Naomi. Life for her has been hard. Her husband moves her and their two sons to Moab, a neighboring country, sort of related to Israel in that Moab was one of the sons of Lot, nephew of Abraham. Moab’s mother was Lot’s daughter. (It’s a sordid story – read Genesis 19.) Anyway, there is Naomi in Moab, and her husband dies. Her sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth, and then the sons die. 

So Naomi takes right action #1: she decides to move back to Israel. Why? Because widows are taken care of in Israel.

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. (Exodus 22.22, ESV)

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. (Deuteronomy 24.19 – 21, ESV)

Naomi returns even though she is not in the best of spirits.

So [Naomi and Ruth] went on until they came to Bethlehem…and the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1.19 – 21, ESV)

She has Ruth with her, one of her daughters-in-law, a foreigner. But look at the verses above, all the commands to take care of widows also apply to foreigners in the land (sojourners). 

Then Naomi, even though bitter, takes right action #2: she coaches Ruth. Naomi knows how the culture works – she’s a native. She doesn’t leave Ruth to figure it out on her own.

Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” (Ruth 3.1 – 4, ESV)

We’re skipping around in the story in order to focus on each character. Tomorrow: Boaz. But today: Naomi. Even when life hasn’t been going well, we can still take actions that matter. We’ll find out that we can still leave a legacy. 

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women…  (Titus 2.3, 4, ESV)