I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ruth 1-4.

    The Book of Ruth has so much in it that I cannot really cover it all in one blog entry. Usually I just pick one of the themes and focus on that. Today, I am going to do more than that (I doubt I will cover everything, but there is more than one theme I want to touch on). The story begins with Elimelek moving to Moab with his wife, Naomi, and sons because of a famine in his home country. His sons marry Moabite women, followed by Elimelek and his sons dying. Then Naomi hears that the famine has ended in her home country so she decides to move back home (where she has relatives who may care for her, since she no longer has a husband or sons to do so). Then comes the first thing of real interest, her daughters-in-law choose to go with her. What kind of person was Naomi that she inspired such loyalty in her daughters-in-law?
    As an aside, I want to note that we should not think poorly of Orpah for not going with Naomi. If both Orpah and Ruth had accompanied Naomi on her return it would have complicated things (there was only one Boaz). Additionally, one woman (Ruth) accompanying her mother-in-law would be seen as loyal and caring, two (Ruth and Orpah) would be seen as leeches.

    Boaz’ character is often overlooked in studies of the Book of Ruth (which is understandable, since Naomi and Ruth are the focus of the book). However, I want to look at Boaz today. Our first introduction to Boaz is with him blessing those who worked for him in the name of the Lord. Then he immediately notices that there was an addition to the young women working behind the harvesters, Ruth. This suggests that he was observant and familiar with who should be there among the women working for him. Now, perhaps part of the reason he noticed Ruth was because he found her attractive, there are certainly other parts of the passage which suggest that such was the case. Boaz goes to the trouble of making sure that the young men who work for him know that he will come to Ruth’s defense if they seek to take advantage of her. Further, Boaz himself does not take advantage of Ruth. He did however make his interest in her clear. Men seeking a wife would do well to study and emulate Boaz’ character.