The Old Testament is a source of lots of bible stories for children: Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Jonah and the Whale, and the list goes on. So, yes, you can read books of the Old Testament in search of a great children’s tale, suitable for bedtime stories. If this is all you‘re looking for, it’s all you will find. But there is so much more below the surface.
The first reading today comes from the Book of Ruth – and it is one of the great stories of the Old Testament. Edward Campbell says it best in the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary: “The Book of Ruth is an intricately woven, magnificently crafted story. It is the work of a person standing in the mid-stream of Israelite life and thought, a person wishing to communicate to his audience things very close to the heart of the Old Testament.”
The reading this week is well placed with all the other first readings from the Book of Judges. The story of Ruth begins: “Once back in the time of the judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab.” A key theme of the Judges is Israel’s desire for a king – instead of keeping the Lord God as their true sovereign. The opening verse of Ruth highlights the misery and emptiness a singular family might experience during these dark times (Ruth 1:1–6). All the males of this Israelite family leave Bethlehem for a foreign land. But that is where they die, leaving the Israelite woman Naomi without a male relative to care for her. One of her sons had married a Moabite woman, Ruth. The story has two widows: Naomi and Ruth.
Spoiler alert: Naomi decides to return to Israel as there is nothing for her in Moab – at least she would be among her own people. Ruth is committed to Naomi and returns with her. It takes a while but it all works out. Ruth marries Boaz of Bethlehem, who takes Ruth and Naomi into his household. Ruth becomes the great-grandmother of King David. Ruth the Moabite is an ancestor in the messianic line that leads to Jesus (cf. Matthew 1:5, the genealogy). Want to know more about the Book of Ruth? Take five minutes and watch this overview video from the good folks at BibleProject.com – The Book of Ruth.
The Book of Ruth is not just a love story. It’s a story about God and how he restores those who look to him with hope. It’s about God’s covenant faithfulness and it contributes to the overall covenantal storyline that unifies the entire Bible. The author has gone to great care to honor Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz through the development of their characters in the story. They are character studies of how God works in mundane, everyday events in the lives of his people (and what human covenant faithfulness looks like in return).
The book portrays the love and loyalty of human beings in working their way through tragic circumstances to participation in the community of the faithful people of God. The key is responsible and loving decision-making: Ruth’s loyalty (Ruth 2:11), her generosity (1:15–17; 2:2, 7) and her willingness to take risks for the sake of righteousness set in motion a chain of beneficial events, while behind the scenes God blesses each step in the developing drama. Ruth is so frequently designated “the Moabite” in the book that the audience of the story is constantly reminded of the universality of the embrace of salvation.
The Book of Ruth is a living example of Jesus’ answer about the greatest of the commandments: “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:39)
Image credit: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld- Ruth in the Field of Boaz, London Museum | Public Domain