Day 14: Let Me be Like Some Women of Old! (Ruth 2:3-17)
Today’s Passage: Ruth 2:3-17
Whether I like it or not, I am conditioned by much of my upbringing, including the pervasive narrative of day. I bring this situation up because of the language of the text today.
You might be thinking, “Isn’t the text mostly the same as what we read one reflection earlier?”
Yes, it is. In that reflection, I was looking at Boaz and his behavior.
Today, I want to look at Ruth.
In looking at Ruth, I specifically am looking at what she said. Consider:
In v. 2 she respectfully asks permission from her mother-in-law to go and glean.
In v.7 she again asks permission, this time from the foreman.
In v.10, in the face of kindness—she falls on her face, humbled as she notes that she is a foreigner.
Then in v.13 she responds to the kindness, again in a humble manner.
When I isolate those verses, and observe Ruth’s language and tone, I hear my 20th century upbringing whispering in my ear that somehow Ruth is being made, through the social customs of her day, to assume an inferior position. “Hearing the text” this way makes me perceive Ruth as a victim whose circumstances are unjust.
Yet, is that really the situation?
If we are people of God, of a God who is sovereign, then when (not if) some of the worst circumstances of life befall us, do we see ourselves as victims of an unjust God? Do we see both our situation, and our very selves, held in His hand? Do we see that when our situation is at its worst, God is still there as our parent and not as one who has made us a victim?
I am not trying to ruin this scene in the Book of Ruth. It seems wonderful. Underneath it however is some key challenges I am wrestling with.
Central to Ruth and Naomi’s situation is their attitude towards God. A famine, and then the unexpected death of three husbands, could certainly lead someone to blame God. And if they did, then underneath all the humble words cited in verses 2, 7, 10 & 13, would be a seething mind and heart—the circumstances would be holding them captive.
What do you think their attitudes really were? What is the condition of their heart?
You might say, “How could we know?” That is a good question. Certainly, the Lord knows their hearts. Yet my experience in life reveals that if people really do hold these seething attitudes, sooner or later, they come to the surface.
I think Naomi and Ruth’s hearts are truly grateful. You might ask why I think this way.
My answer is twofold. First, we are reading a story that is covering decades. The famine happened many years earlier, before Naomi’s sons were married. Certainly, that is enough time for bitterness to seep into every corner of a heart, and emerge. But I have one more reason.
I think the way Naomi “walks out her situation with God” plays a huge role for the condition of her heart (and I expect Ruth has learned how to do this from Naomi).
I have noted in other reflections how Naomi, without railing at God, notes that God “has dealt bitterly” with her. She has this unique way to simultaneously acknowledge that God is sovereign, without impugning Him and without rancor.
Remarkable. A trait I am praying that I might more fully develop. Oh, that I would be more like some of the women of old.