Asking the Right Questions

BymarkcJuly 31, 2020

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This paper was written for my final exam at Arizona Christian University. The course was BIB 399, Biblical Theology.

Asking the Right Questions: Ruth 1:6-18

Who

  • Naomi

  • Daughters in law Ruth and Oprah

  • The deceased sons of Naomi

What

  • There was a famine in their current land, but there was food in the land they had left

  • Naomi decided to return to her homeland Judah, where there was food

  • Naomi seemed to have second thoughts about her daughters in law and told them to stay with their own families (in Judah?), not with her

  • Oprah agreed to leave her, but Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi

Where

  • First, in Judah

  • Travel to Moab

  • Return to Judah

  • The fields of Boaz in Jerualem

  • The threshing floor

When

  • The times of the Judges The story is written to tell a beautiful story, not history. So dates are difficult to assign

Why

The story of Ruth is designed primarily to tell a story of love, devotion, and redemption in a time of history that was one of the worst for Israel. It clearly portrays a picture of God’s love and his “loving kindness” towards those of his family.

My Application: The Love Story

On a larger scale, the book of Ruth caught my interest in other ways: the “love story” between Ruth and Boaz, and the concept of “cheset” love. I have an interest in what it takes to make a strong, biblical marriage and family, and both of these ideas are wrapped into that.

In today’s culture, the love required in a marriage is largely represented by the memes you can post on  social media, about how wonderful you spouse is, or how your boyfriend/girlfriend is the kindest person in the world and how you “will go far in life with them by your side”…yadda yadda yadda ad infinitum. While times and expressions change, the foundations of love and marriage do not.

In the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz we see a wonderful and romantic picture of how a love story should (and still can) go.  A key event In that story is when Ruth lays down during the night at the feet ofBoaz. He awakens and asks who is there, to which she answers “I am your servant Ruth…” Ray Vander Laan of Focus on the Family described it this way:

Ruth’s request to “spread the corner of your garment over me” (Ruth 3:9, NIV) had several meanings, each of which highlighted her desire to be a faithful part of the community of God’s people. The word for “corner” in Hebrew also means “wings,” so Ruth was asking Boaz: “Protect me like a bird protects her young; be my redeemer as God commanded in the Torah so that in your actions, your provision and your family, I will find God’s protection. And take me as your wife, for in your protection I will find God’s provision and protection.”

 The story is reminds me of the marriage instructions found in Ephesians 5:22-33 where the husband is told  “… love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”

The other events in this story are equally applicable to today’s world – how Boaz sees Ruth, and asks his buddy “Who is she?”. The conversations he has with her combine a bit of flirtation along with a genuine interest, then turning to genuine care for her. The way Boaz schemed / fought for her with another kinsman redeemer. All of these combine to show a courtship as it should be.

Even in today’s crazy, pandemic, social media world, the elements are still in place for new “love stories” to grow and flourish as they should. It is up to us, the old, to teach and guide and mentor the young so they see and take advantage of the grace and opportunities in front of them.

And that’s why at the age of 70 and in the 48th year of my marriage, I am here at Arizona Christian University.

Mark Crigler