Ordinary People (Part 2)

So, Naomi is lost in grief and hopelessness and Ruth does something ... unexpected.

Maybe it is rooted in her own best interest, maybe her family is no family she wants to go home to. Maybe it's pride, who wants to go home a widow with no children to show for a 10 year marriage? Maybe over the years she has formed such a strong love for Naomi that she is willing to risk her own future, rather than suffer the loss of the relationship. Maybe it was truly selfless. This young girl, who is not even a Hebrew and doesn't know the God of Israel, recognizes Naomi's need, and sacrifices her own security to walk alongside her.

So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite... Ruth 1:22

Things get rather interesting after that. Naomi sets about instructing Ruth on - what COULD be interpreted as - seducing a husband. But, as I am drawn in and caught up by this story; my heart beats with the kind of longing and hope that only the greatest of love stories inspire. Twilight, Titanic, or more to my taste, Wuthering Heights, and Gone With The Wind. The kind of love stories that whisper to the deepest part of us - that we are not alone. That...

God sets the lonely in families... Psalms 68:6

Something else that is very interesting, that may not jump out at you right away, is that unlike most of the Old Testament, YAHWEH never shows up at all. No burning bushes or parting waters. No lions dens, talking donkeys or whale rides. No floods, fires, pillars of salt, grand victories, or smiting of the wicked. The Book of Ruth is all about humans... being very...

Human.

A young woman, struggling with her own loss and insecurity, finds a way to stand by an old woman, who is in desperate need. A lonely and broken widow, finds a way through her own sorrow and grief, to impart wisdom, and help secure a future for a young girl, who is a stranger in a strange land. A powerful man who, instead of taking and abusing, chooses to walk in righteousness. A man who stands tall to defend, protect, and take up the battle of the widow and the orphan.

..."Wait my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today." Ruth 3:18

Then suddenly, this brief, seemingly insignificant, 3000 year old snap shot of a few obscure characters, draws to a close. As swiftly as the sand of the ancient middle eastern desert, slipping through our fingers:

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left this day without next-of-kin; and may His name be renowned in Israel! Ruth 4:13-14

And I am struck with the utter plainness, of a few ordinary people, who found themselves swept into the very center - of God's Extraordinary story.

Maybe Naomi was right after all.

Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron of Ram, Ram o fAmminadab, Amminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, Salmon of Boaz, Boaz of Obed, Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David.
Ruth 4:18-21