Love Is A Many-Splendoured Thing

Love Story

The book of Ruth is a love story, not in the Mills and Boon or Hollywood sense, but because it shows us God’s love, His loving-kindness at work. This is the motivation and driving force of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. What this story shows us, above all else, is the wonder and the splendour of the richness and diversity of God’s love. To borrow an old song and film title, God’s love is a many-splendoured thing. We see that diversity brought out in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. That is the love, or more accurately, the loving-kindness of God.

And that is why the story now takes a different course, as each person in turn acts in the power of God’s loving-kindness. Yet, each also acts in accordance with his or her own character, as they demonstrate the multi-faceted love of God in concern, in obedience, in generous response.

Solicitude - the love of concern

What a change we find in Naomi; she takes the initiative! But her initiative is completely in line with her own character, which she had already showed under severe emotional and mental strain in chapter 1. Remember when she said out of loving concern for Ruth and Orpah in verse 9, “May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Her reawakened faith in God restores her true character. She shows God’s loving-kindness in her concern.

Now that the immediate threat of starvation has passed, and more importantly, now that she realises that God still loves her, Naomi’s concern for Ruth’s future is reawakened. So she takes the initiative. She wants to provide for Ruth, and she realises that according to the law of family succession, there is a real possibility that a husband will be provided for Ruth.

Now, to our modern eyes Naomi’s instructions and Ruth’s behaviour appear at least bizarre and perhaps even sexually provocative. Living in a society which accepts overt sexuality, and looks for it in even the most innocent of situations or statements, Naomi’s instructions are hardly what we would give to a young widow of good character. In a sense we need to understand what is not going on before we can even begin to understand what is going on. We need to strip away our cultural and social presuppositions.

Under Israelite law, Ruth had an obligation to preserve the line of Elimelech from dying out, if possible, by marrying someone from within his clan. And Boaz was a close relative. But there was also another factor in Naomi’s plan. This was the law of redemption, which imposed a duty on clan members for each other. We see this in Leviticus 25:24-25, Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. ‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold.’ So Naomi was asserting two rights simultaneously: the right to redemption of her husband’s property and the right to marriage within the clan.

But it was not a binding rule, so, Naomi told Ruth to go to Boaz to remind him both of his obligation as a kinsman-redeemer and of his responsibility to keep alive the line of Elimelech. And she told Ruth to wash and perfume herself and to put on her best clothing. You see, Ruth was to present herself to Boaz as a relative seeking her rights, not as a destitute refugee. Then Ruth was to go down to the threshing floor and, after everyone was asleep, to approach Boaz silently and lie down at his feet under the tip of his blanket. This act had a symbolic meaning. By it Ruth was claiming the position of Boaz’s wife; but before that could happen, Boaz himself had to acknowledge her right. So the whole situation was highly formal and symbolic. And it required absolute privacy, because it would be quite wrong to put Boaz in a corner, where he had no choice but to agree to Ruth’s request.

Yet, at the same time, Naomi was sensitive to the need to protect Ruth’s reputation, so she instructed Ruth to approach Boaz at night, but away from his home where prying eyes might see her. And surely again we see God’s providence at work, because only at this time of year – at threshing time – would Boaz be sleeping outdoors in a place, where he could readily be approached – yet without compromising either his freedom of action or Ruth’s reputation.

In all this Naomi’s is the love of concern – concern for Boaz’s freedom of choice; concern for Ruth’s future and reputation. That love of concern is the love expressed in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. It is the love of the Father for us. It is the love which we are called upon to show in our relationships with one another. As John expresses it in 1 John 3:18, Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. It is the concern which our Lord’s half-brother James expressed in James 2:15-16, Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? Do we show that caring, concerned love for one another?

Self-sacrifice - the love of obedience

But Naomi’s loving concern needed to be matched and complemented by Ruth’s obedience. Again and again in the story, and especially since those decisive words in 1:16, when Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God, she has subordinated her interests and comfort to Naomi’s. In Naomi’s instruction she sees the possibility that Naomi will be provided for in her old age by a kinsman-redeemer, who might not only redeem but provide an heir for her dead husband. She has given up her own wishes and desires in order to provide for Naomi through the harvest season, now she is prepared to marry a man of Naomi’s clan. Again she is obedient; and obedience is the love of self-sacrifice - the love that is not self-seeking. It is the love of Christ which took Him to the Cross. It is the love of obedience that Christ is looking for from every one of His followers. As He says in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Do we show that obedient love to our Lord?

Generosity - the love of response

But both Naomi’s concern and Ruth’s obedience required Boaz’s generosity. Here was a man who was prepared to go beyond the strict requirements of the law and to marry, not his brother’s widow, as the law required, but to interpret that law generously and be prepared to marry his kinsman’s widow, even though she was a destitute Moabitess and he a wealthy, respected Israelite. In this Boaz confirmed what we have already seen about him - that his was a generous spirit, ready to act in accordance with God’s law, and to go the second mile. His was the love of response - that generous nature which mirrors God’s own. It is the love that gives, and goes on giving immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. It is the love of the Holy Spirit, who, when we deserve death, gives life. It is the love which was illustrated graphically by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a love which gives out of the fullness which God has given us. Are we generous to others in need? Do we see Christ in the thirsty, the hungry, the destitute?

Conclusion

But above all, the three facets of God’s love which we see displayed by the three characters in our story, together point us to our greatest need and God’s greatest act of loving-kindness. We need to be redeemed, and God in Christ has acted to provide our redemption in Him. His act of redemption is the clearest and most comprehensive demonstration of His love for us. As the apostle John put it in 1 John 4:10, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Do you know that love in your own life, in all its glorious fullness? Can you testify to God’s caring love in your life? Can you bear witness to Christ’s self-giving love in your life? Have you received His redeeming love in your life? Can you say with the apostle John in John 1:16, And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace?