Bible Study Notes - Ruth 1:1-16

Bible Study Notes  

Family as Community  - Ruth 1:1-16

The Power of Commitment

As a Pastor officiating at the exchange of vows as a man and a woman enter into the covenant of holy matrimony, I always encourage couples to include the “Vow of Commitment” found in today’s  background scripture.  Contrary to the direct benefits that she stood to gain by returning to her family in the midst of a famine, Ruth makes an everlasting commitment with her mother-in-law, Naomi, a widow who recently lost both of her sons.  In biblical times, the death of a woman’s husband and sons meant destitution for the rest of her life; such a woman would be dependent upon relatives, friends and the extended community for subsistence.  Receiving the news in Moab that the famine in Israel has decreased in its intensity and the Lord graciously and continuously provides food for His people, Naomi decides to return home.  Initially, her daughter-in-laws, Oprah and Ruth, depart with her enroute to Judah.  Naomi thanks them for their kindness to her deceased sons and to her.  But, she greatly desires they stay in Moab and find new husbands; in this way they will enjoy fulfilling lives that their husbands’ untimely deaths temporarily stole from them.  After much prodding, Oprah accepts Naomi’s directive to remain in Moab.  In opposite reaction, Ruth absolutely refuses to heed Naomi’s pleas.  From a different nationality, religion, culture, creed, language, and ethnicity, Ruth pledges never to leave Naomi.  Ruth adopts Naomi’s people as family, worship their God and abide with her until death separates them.

On what basis does Ruth make this astonishing “Vow of Commitment” to a mother-in-law with whom she no longer shares any legal, moral, ethical, or spiritual obligation?  It is often said, “Blood is thicker than  water.”  That saying elevates familial relationships over all others whether business, school, friends, or church.  However, the compelling story of today’s text counteracts this age-old wisdom about the values and hierarchy of relationships.  Ruth and Naomi’s shared principles teach us there are relationships in which people do not share genealogy, legacy or genetics but possess love for each other that supersedes traditional notions of family bonds.  A person’s understanding God’s unconditional love enables him or her to make a lifelong commitment to another person notwithstanding communal expectations and traditional family structures.  More specifically, in the Church, the shared brotherhood and sisterhood of the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, often exceeds any significance of biology and lineage.  Actually, you can become closer to your Christian family than your natural one; this fact  demonstrates the power of commitment to Christ and its ability to extend to other relationships.

Biblical Background

Easily, we dwell primarily upon the favorable ending of this story.  Our haste overshadows the tremendous loss and dire circumstances in which Ruth and Naomi live.  Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, originally traveled and temporarily settled in Moab to escape the brutal famine in Judah.  The Old Testament records approximately twelve different occurrences of famine.  Because the land, in any given year produced just enough food to feed the population of the Ancient Near East, a famine inevitably meant the threat of starvation for weak, widowed, and otherwise powerless people.  Suffice it to state any mention of a famine was not an illustrative  literary technique; countless lives of children and women hung in the balance.  Again, Naomi, in a greater set of dire circumstances, becomes husbandless and sonless in a foreign land.  Her daughter-in-laws and their natural families were under no obligations to care for Naomi.  Practically speaking, she had to fend for herself.  Hearing the famine in Judah is lessening, Naomi prepares to return to her native land.  Remarkably, Oprah and Ruth leave with her.  In a most gracious act, Naomi looks beyond her personal situation and encourages her daughters-in-laws to pursue a life in Moab that will yield marriage, love, family, and fulfillment.  She selflessly releases them from any obligation they felt toward her and the memory of her dead sons, their former husbands.  Essentially, three widows are left to journey forward in life with meager resources in the midst of a famine.  Notwithstanding those desperate conditions, they forge a bond that surpasses law, religion and social custom.

It is significant to consider the reasons for which Oprah actually accepts Naomi’s blessing and returns to her family and home.  As a young widow at the time, marriage to a gainfully employed husband would be her most obvious means of provision and survival.  Plus, there was the factor of children and continuing a lineage.  Women without children were considered barren and thus cursed by God.  A young man wanting a family would not knowingly choose such a woman for a wife.  Most undoubtedly, his parents and extended family would discourage him from such a choice.  Moreover, in a setting of arranged marriages, the groom’s mother would have disagreed forcefully.  However, a maiden who was a widow had a chance to marry again and start a family.  In going with Naomi, Oprah conceivably would have surrendered her opportunity and desire to be married and have a family.  As a consequence, Naomi understands Oprah’s decision and does not judge her because of it.