The pastor at my Aunt Martha’s funeral told the congregation how Martha loved the book of Ruth.   The pastor had visited my Aunt Martha the day before she died.  He told her that he had brought his Bible, and he asked her if there was anything that she would like him to read from the Bible.  “Yes,” she said, “Ruth.”  “What part of Ruth?”  He asked.  She didn’t want a favorite verse.  She wanted the whole book of Ruth.  Well, the book of Ruth isn’t very long, and the pastor sat down and read to her the whole book of Ruth.  It was her favorite book in the Bible. 

 He read that wonderful story of a woman named Naomi who was living in a foreign land with her husband and her two sons who had married foreign wives.  Her husband died, and her sons also died, and Naomi told her daughters-in-law to leave her and go back to their original families.  One daughter-in-law went away, but Ruth, said,

            “Do not press me to leave you

    or turn back from following you!

            Where you go, I will go;

   where you lodge, I will lodge;

            your people shall be my people,

               and your God my God.

            Where you die, I will die—

                there will I be buried.

            May the Lord do thus and so to me,

               and more as well,

            if even death parts me from you!”  (Ruth 1:16,17)

This beautiful passage, alone, would have been enough to read to my Aunt Martha.  But the pastor continued reading the story about how Ruth and Naomi returned to Naomi’s homeland with no means of support.  Naomi sent Ruth out to glean the fields.  It was the custom in that land that the poor could follow behind the workers at the harvest and gather whatever grain was leftover.  Ruth came to the field of Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi’s, and Ruth found favor with Boaz.  He instructed his servants to leave plenty of grain for Ruth and to treat her well.  Naomi told Ruth to lie at the feet of Boaz that night.  The next day, Boaz went to the town gate and essentially bartered for the land of his kinsman which happened to include Ruth in the bargain.  At the town gate, the deal was sealed in the usual way.  Boaz took off his shoe.  Boaz took Ruth as his wife, and it was in this way that Ruth and Naomi received care.  Furthermore, Ruth bore a son named Obed who became the father of Jesse, the father of King David.

 The pastor said that after he read the book of Ruth to my aunt she lay calm and had a peaceful look on her face.  Later that day she slipped into unconsciousness and died the next day.  I was deeply moved by the pastor’s words, and so was my cousin whose name is Ruth. 

 I have no idea why the book of Ruth was my aunt’s favorite book of the Bible.  It is certainly a beautiful story.  It reads like a folk-tale and includes that beautiful expression of loyalty between Ruth and Naomi. 

The book of Ruth accomplishes two main functions in the Bible.  It illustrates the way that God’s covenant law is lived out among God’s people, and it provides a family history of Israel’s most beloved king David.  Furthermore, the book of Ruth provides one of several examples in the Bible of a foreigner becoming instrumental to the history of God’s people, and ultimately, to God’s way of salvation. 

 The covenant law was part of what we would call the “social safety net” for the ancient people of Israel.  It is stated in Deuteronomy 24:19-21 among other rules about fair treatment of laborers, resident aliens and orphans.   

 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings.  When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. 

            “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.”

 Here the concern is for the alien, the orphan and the widow, anyone who is destitute and powerless.  These laws ensure the survival of those who are poor and essentially homeless, that is, removed from the land and from any means of making a living.  These laws allow people access to food while still upholding the dignity of work.  It is not a hand out.  The widows and orphans are able to go into the fields and glean for themselves that which is left for them. 

 The way these laws function are illustrated in the book of Ruth and also demonstrate what the “Lutheran Women Today” magazine describes in the title of one of its Bible studies, “the hidden hand of God” (Lutheran women today volume 21 number 8 October 2008).  God does not take an active role in the book of Ruth.  God does not come down and fix things for Ruth and Naomi.  But through the Mosaic Law, the social safety net, through Naomi and Ruth’s deliberate plans and actions, and through the family structure as well as human kindness of Boaz, God is seen to act to provide for Ruth and Naomi. 

 The “Laws of Moses” include the more universal Ten Commandments as well as many cultic and cultural laws.  Some of these laws are archaic and culture specific, some based on prejudice and superstition.  Even these laws regarding care for the poor and powerless that function as a kind of social safety net can appear rather clumsy.  But it is clear that these laws attempt to protect the poor and the powerless and create a just and equitable society. 

 Besides the beautiful expression of loyalty between Ruth and Naomi, and the illustration of the Covenant gleaning law and admittedly awkward next-of-kin marriage laws that helped Ruth and Naomi through their difficulties, one small detail also strikes me about this story of Ruth. 

When Naomi returned with Ruth from Moab and came to her home town of Bethlehem, Naomi told the townspeople, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara.”  Names play an important part of a person’s identity even now days, but even more so in Biblical times when a person’s name described a person’s essence or character.  Names meant something and a person’s name could change or be changed depending upon one’s life experiences.  Jacob whose name meant “trickster” was changed to Israel which means “to strive with God.”  

Naomi returned from a foreign land a destitute widow and changed her name to Mara.  The name, Naomi, means “Pleasantness”.  Mara means “Bitter.”  Life experiences can turn us from pleasant to bitter.  Naomi explained her name change to “Mara.”  “...for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.”  (Ruth 1:20, 21).  In changing her name to Mara, Naomi was honest about her despair.  The Ancient Hebrew people described in the Hebrew Scriptures were expressive and public about their feelings, and Mara’s very name publically proclaimed her grief over the loss of her husband and livelihood, and her bitterness toward God. 

But Naomi did not stay stuck in her bitterness!  After her bitter outburst, Naomi planned and strategized with Ruth.  Supported by the social structure inherent in the covenant Law, Naomi and Ruth took an active roll in their survival.  There is no account of a name change back to Naomi, but after Naomi’s one reference to her new identity as Mara, the story continued referring to her as Naomi.  Naomi took charge of her destiny and once more made her life pleasant.