Day 19: A Tale of 2 Women

Ruth 1:6-9

New Living Translation (NLT)

© V.Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Naomi and Ruth Return

⁶ Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

⁸ But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. ⁹ May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.

I've read the book of Ruth countless times. I thought I knew the story, and I really couldn't think of anything "new" to add. So I decided to do a little research, thinking maybe I could learn more about the custom of lying at the feet of a man to get a marriage proposal. I did, but I also learned a whole lot more... I discovered that there is a lot of historical information available about the three women in the book of Ruth that isn't included in scripture. So while at first glance, you might be thinking this is the story of Ruth and Naomi, it's not.

It's the story of Ruth and Orpah. And It's much richer and more interesting knowing the things I learned today.

My sources for this account include the Bible, but also include information from Jewish Women's Archive: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia and Torah.org

First off, let me lay out the entire cast of characters for you... if you're like me, you never connected the dots before. 

Boaz: the son of Rahab, the harlot who helped the Israelite spies. I wrote about her a few days ago. I linked her name to the entry.

Naomi: a woman doubly related to Boaz; he was both her cousin, and her late husband's brother (or uncle, depending on the source.) Both Naomi and Boaz were of the tribe of Judah.

Ruth and Orpah: These were sisters, and prior to their marriages to Naomi's sons, they were Moabite princesses, daughters of Elgon, granddaughters of Balak. You might remember Balak as the king who tried to get Balaam to curse the Israelites. I wrote about them in 2010.

So now that we have the characters introduced, I'll go on with the retelling of the story. Ten years or so back, Naomi and Elimelech, and their two sons, had moved to the country of Moab because there was a famine in Israel. Elimelech died, and their sons married the two princesses. I'm not sure if they married before or after his death, and since my interest was in the two women, I didn't dig further on that aspect. Nor did I try to dig up why the two sons both died at more or less the same time a decade later. I'm going to go with the guess that all were killed in a battle of some sort.

So the three widowed women were packing up to leave. They were going to return to Israel. Naomi was very fond of her daughters-in-law, but there was no way she was able to provide them with husbands, to provide heirs, as was the custom. So she kissed the two women and asked them to return to their own people, to their royal lives, to the gods that the Moabites served. 

One might think that the kiss was an expression of emotion, but it went beyond that. In accordance with custom, the kiss that Naomi gave symbolized that something of herself (likely her faith in God) would accompany the girls back with them as they lived in the land of the Moabite gods. Now here is where the story of the two girls goes in different directions. 

Orpah realized the traditional wisdom in staying with her own people. After all, she was the daughter of a king, she would be taken care of. If she returned to Israel with her mother-in-law, she would be penniless, and might never find a husband or family again. So she kissed Naomi back. Again, the kiss, according to Jewish history, was significant, because she was not only saying goodbye, she was rejecting Naomi's God, symbolically giving that gesture of faith back so she could go embrace the gods of her people.

Ruth realized a more spiritual wisdom. She believed that the God of the Israelites would protect her and provide for her, and she wasn't about to let her mother-in-law journey unaccompanied from one country to another. She was going with her, and gave the famous speech about "where you go, I go, your people will be my people, your God will be my God"... and she stayed by Naomi's side as they set out on their journey. Her choice is all the more remarkable when you consider the way Moabites were viewed by the Israelites. They were pretty much the scourge of the earth, all descended from Moab, who was the son of Lot and his oldest daughter.

When they arrived in Bethlehem of Judah, where Naomi came from, Ruth took to gleaning the fields to support them both. She caught the attention of Boaz on that very first day, and even though he was old enough to be her father, scripture sure makes it sound like he had quite an eye for the young woman, finding her not only physically beautiful, but a woman of integrity for having stayed with Naomi. To abbreviate this just a little, Naomi instructed her daughter-in-law in the custom that would let Boaz know she was interested in marriage, and Boaz was all too happy to redeem her and take her as his wife. Together they raised a son, Obed, who was the grandfather of King David. It's a beautiful, and classic, story of redemption, mirroring Christ (the redeemer) and His bride (you know, us)!

But what happened to Orpah (also known as Harafah) after she left and returned to her own people? She didn't just fade into the background never to be heard from again. The Bible doesn't tell it in the book of Ruth, although she is mentioned (as Harafah) in II Samuel, and Jewish history fills in the rest of the blanks. She returned to her people and was quite promiscuous. According to history, she slept with 100 men that night. Ultimately she was rejected by her own people, and went to live in the land of the Philistines. She bore several sons out of wedlock, one of which appears to have been Goliath, (although the text is kind of confusing, and Goliath may have been her grandson) all of whom were slain by the hand of David.

I hope those of you who stayed with me enjoyed the history lesson as much as I did. My blog entries seem to keep getting longer and longer. My carpal tunnel is going to be screaming my name for the rest of the night!

Day 16: Fearless For God

Rahab helping the spies. VisualBibleAlie.com

Joshua 1:7

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

This is one of those instances when I have to choose the NKJV over the NLT. It may be that the NLT renders it a little more accurately, but I really like the way the NKJV paints an image in my mind that we should be strong and courageous for God rather than because of Him. (For a different perspective, check out my entry for Day 16 from 2010!)

Face it, it does take a lot of courage, and personal strength, to stand up for God! At the very least, Christians today are subject to ridicule. All too often, our faith and beliefs make us the target of discrimination and persecution. It's no wonder that so many Christians cave into fear and stand silent. They're terrified that speaking the truth will put them in Dan Cathy's shoes. 

(Years from now, people will be asking "who is Dan Cathy?" so, just for the record, he is the CEO of Chik-Fil-A, a fast food chain, who has come under fire for stating  his personal belief in what God says about homosexual behavior. To date, the restaurant has never discriminated against gays, whether as customers or as employees. That's irrelevant to those who see God's law as oppressive to personal freedoms.)

It's nothing new, this rage against God's people. Even back before Christ died, before the term "Christian" was invented, back when God's people were pretty much exclusive to the Israelites, there were people who would kill anyone who followed the God of Abraham. And, there were people who would risk their lives to protect His children. 

Rahab is the perfect example, and it just so happens, her story is told in the very next chapter of Joshua! Yea for me, I get a double hitter with this one. Most everyone knows who Rahab was. She was a harlot. I'm not sure if  that was an esteemed position in her culture or not, but in our culture, the term "whore" would probably be used, and it carries some very negative connotations. It carried the same negativity among the Israelites, too, because God couldn't stand harlotry, physical or spiritual.

Anyway, so the story goes, a couple of Israelites were sent to spy out the land of Jericho. They came to Rahab, who told them how her people were very afraid of the Hebrew's God. The king of Jericho got wind that she was harboring the spies, and sent soldiers from his army to her home, demanding that she turn them over. 

But Rahab lied to the soldiers. She had hidden the men on the roof among the flax stalks, and she told the soldiers that she'd been unaware of their identity, and that they had already left, as the gates of the city had closed. She sent the army on a wild goose chase in order to protect God's people, knowing full well that it would mean certain death to her and her family should her own people discover her duplicity. 

After the spies had gotten far enough in the wrong direction, she sent the two spies off to the mountains to hide for three days, lowering them from her window (her home, like many others, was built into the wall of Jericho) with a rope. In exchange for her assistance, they instructed her to hang a red cord in her window, and gather her entire family to her home, so that when the children of Israel attacked the city of Jericho, she and her family would be spared.

What bravery! Her courage wasn't because of God, it was for Him! What a beautiful thing! And God rewarded her for her courage. He not only allowed her to live, He gave her a husband from among the tribe of Judah, and included her in the ancestral lineage of King David... She was his great, great grandmother. She was also one of only five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Ok, i know this is somewhat out of the blue, but I can't help but bring attention to another current example of someone being courageous for God. At a time when Dan Cathy is the topic of discussion and the target of such hate everywhere, it takes even more courage to speak up. This other fearless for Christ example  is the little 16 year old gymnast who has taken the world by storm in the 2012 summer olympics, and I'm going to end this post by quoting what she said, while the whole world watched, right after making history as the first black woman to ever win the Women's Gymnastic All-Around gold medal:

"It is everything I thought it would be; being the Olympic champion, it definitely is an amazing feeling. And I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me."

May we all be so fearless for God.

Read my previous thoughts from Day 16

Day 16: Joshua 1-14

Rahab hides the spies;  Frederick Richard Pickersgill 1897 

S:
Joshua 1:9 (New King James Version)

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

O:
moses was dead, and God had just commissioned joshua to step up to the plate. it must have been a daunting task to face... trying to fill the shoes that moses had walked in for the last 40 years.

A:
God always goes before us, just as He went before moses, and before joshua. just because we can't see what's around the corner isn't an excuse for us to get worried and anxious about things. God promises us that He is with us, and that we aren't to be afraid.

P:
God, i know that there is more to it than just this one verse. i know that the way to NOT be worried about what lies ahead is to stay grounded in your word. that's why you told joshua that he was to meditate on the book of law day and night. i'm still not quite there yet... the meditating day and night. but i'm being pretty consistent with reading your word every day, usually in the morning, and then do my notes at night, so i'm at least giving thought to you upon waking and before sleeping! and i'm learning through that... i'm becoming less worried about stuff. oh, well maybe that's not entirely true. i was plenty worried until yesterday. but you came thru for me in a really big way... in a way that was unmistakably YOU. and i don't know if you did that because i've been spending time with you, or if you would have done it anyway, but regardless, i feel much better receiving your blessing when i'm giving you my attention. thank you for this opportunity to know you better... and i hope you will continue to reveal yourself to me, because i get the feeling that there's a lot more to know.