Wednesday, June 2, 2010

God Is At Work - The Story of Ruth Part I - The Worst of Times, Part 3 of 32

IDEA: We can understand the story of Ruth by reading it.

PURPOSE: To help listeners hear again for the first time the story of Ruth.

Today, instead of talking about the Scripture, let's read it as it is – a lovely short story.

NARRATOR: In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. He took his wife and two sons and went to live in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah.
During their stay in Moab, Elimelech died and Naomi was left with two sons. The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah; the other married a woman named Ruth. About ten years later both Mahlon and Kilion die. This left Naomi alone, without her husband and sons. Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law . . .

NAOMI: Go back to your mother's homes instead of coming with me. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.

NARRATOR: Then she kissed them both goodbye, and they all broke down and wept.

ORPAH and RUTH: No, we want to go with you to your people.

NAOMI: Why should you want to go with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? No, my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters. Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has caused me to suffer.

NARRATOR: And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi.

NAOMI: See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.

RUTH: Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!

NARRATOR: So when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her, she stopped urging her. So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was stirred by their arrival.

WOMEN OF BETHLEHEM: Is it really Naomi?

NAOMI: Don't call me Naomi. Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why should you call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy?

NARRATOR: So Naomi return from Moab accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

RUTH: Let me go out into the fields to gather leftover grain behind anyone who will let me do it.

NAOMI: All right, my daughter. Go ahead.

NARRATOR: So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law Elimelech. While she was there, Boaz arrived and greeted the harvesters.

BOAZ: The Lord be with you.

HARVESTERS: The Lord be with you.

BOAZ: Who is that girl over there?

FOREMAN: She is that young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She's been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes' rest over there in the shelter.

NARRATOR: Boaz went over and said to Ruth,

BOAZ: Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain. Don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field. See which part of the field they are harvesting and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.

NARRATOR: Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly.

RUTH: Why are you being so kind to me? I am only a foreigner.

BOAZ: Yes, I know. But I also know about the love and kindness you have shown to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully.

RUTH: I hope I continue to please you, Sir. You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not as worthy as your workers.

NARRATOR: At lunchtime Boaz called to her.

BOAZ: Come over here and help yourself to some of our food. You can dip your bread in the wine if you like.

NARRATOR: So Ruth sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her food – more than she could eat. When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men . . .

BOAZ: Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her, and pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up and don't give her a hard time!

NARRATOR: So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it came to half a bushel. She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the food that was left over from her lunch.

NAOMI: So much! Where did you gather all this grain today? Where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who helped you!

NARRATOR: So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked . . .

RUTH: The man I worked with today is named Boaz.

NAOMI: May the Lord bless him! He is showing kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.

RUTH: What's more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with the harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.

NAOMI: This is wonderful! Do as he said. Stay with his workers right through the whole harvest. You will be safe there, unlike in other fields.

NARRATOR: So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz's fields and gathered grain with them until the end of barley harvest. Then she worked with them through the wheat harvest too. But all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

NARRATOR: One day Naomi said to Ruth . . .

NAOMI: My daughter, it's time I found a permanent home for you so that you will be provided for. Boaz is a close relative of ours and he has been very kind by letting you gather grain with his workers. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Now do as I tell you. Take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don't let Boaz see you until he has finished his meal. Be sure to notice where he lies down. Then go over and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.

RUTH: I'll do as you say.

NARRATOR: So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law. After Boaz finished his meal and was in good spirits, he lay down beside the heap of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. Around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet.

BOAZ: Who . . . who are you?

RUTH: I am your servant, Ruth. Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.

BOAZ: The Lord bless you, my daughter! You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man, whether rich or poor. Now, don't worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows that you are an honorable woman. But . . . there is one problem. While it's true that I am one of your family redeemers, there's another man who is more closely related to you than I am. Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, then let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will marry you! Now lie here until morning.

NARRATOR: So Ruth lay at Boaz's feet until the morning. But she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other, for Boaz had said . . .

BOAZ: No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.

NARRATOR: Later Boaz said to Ruth,

BOAZ: Bring your cloak and spread it out.

NARRATOR: He measured out six scoops of barley into her cloak and helped her put it on her back. Then Boaz returned to the town. When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked,

NAOMI: What happened, my daughter?

RUTH: He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, 'Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'

NAOMI: Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won't rest until he has followed through on this. He will settle it today.

NARRATOR: So Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. When the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, Boaz called out to him:

BOAZ: Come over here, friend. I want to talk with you.

NARRATOR: So they sat down together. Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. And Boaz said to the family redeemer:

BOAZ: You know Naomi who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I felt I should speak to you about it so you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don't want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.

MAN: All right. I'll redeem it.

BOAZ: Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband's name and keep the land in the family.

MAN: Then I can't redeem it because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land. I can't do it.

NARRATOR: In those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal and he said to Boaz,

MAN: You buy the land.

NARRATOR: Then Boaz said to the leaders and the crowd standing around,

BOAZ: You are witnesses today. I have bought from Naomi all of the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. With the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property in his hometown. You all are witnesses today.

VOICES: We are witnesses!

VOICE: May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you be great in Ephratah and famous in Bethlehem. And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.

NARRATOR: So Boaz married Ruth and took her home to live with him. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant and she gave birth to a son. And the women of the town said to Naomi:

WOMEN: Praise the Lord who has given you a family redeemer today. May he be famous in Israel. May this child restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you so much and has been better to you than seven sons!

NARRATOR: So Naomi took care of the baby and cared for him as if he were her own. The neighbor women said,

WOMEN: Now at last, Naomi has a son again!

NARRATOR: And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. This is their family line beginning with their ancestor Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Abinadab.
Abinadab was the father of Nahson.
Nahson was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David.