Tag-Archive for » Ruth 1:8 «

The Grave Comes First

Friday, June 22nd, 2012 | Author:

But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house.  May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”   Ruth 1:8  JPS

The dead – Why should God express hesed toward Ruth and Orpah?  Naomi’s answer demonstrates that she isn’t an evangelical.  She does not suggest that God showers His benevolence on foreigners simply because He loves them.  She doesn’t even suggest that God’s benevolence is unconditional.  She says that God will show hesed toward these two Moabite women because they have shown hesed toward the dead and the living.  In other words, their actions create reciprocal obligation.  They did something first.  God’s grace follows.

But what exactly did they do?  Answering this question places us squarely in the Semitic culture of the Middle East.  They showed proper care and respect for the dead.  This action demonstrated kindness as no other action could – because the dead cannot repay.  There can be no ulterior motive for caring for the dead, and that is precisely why such actions are the epitome of hesed – benevolence shown without any prior moral or social obligation; benevolence that comes purely from the heart.

Now you know why Naomi puts this act first, before the subsequent act of hesed toward her.  Even if Naomi receives pure-hearted kindness, there is always the possibility of expected reciprocity.  This is obviously never the case with the dead.  If Ruth and Orpah are willing to show such kindness toward those who can never repay, then their true character is revealed.  We can expect them to continue since we have seen that this is truly who they are.

This raises a very interesting question for our contemporary “stay young forever” culture.  What do we discover about our own hearts when it comes to the dead?  Oh, I don’t mean, “Do we place flowers on the grave sites of those we loved?”  Yes, maybe that is also revealing.  Perhaps it is more revealing to ask if we even visit those graves, or are we caught up in the “let go of the past” frenzy to deny our own mortality?  But let me ask another question, perhaps a bit more personal.  What are your behaviors around those who are dying?  How do you act toward those who are ready to pass from this life?  Most likely, they also cannot repay.  How do you show kindness and respect toward them?

My daughter told me once that she made friends with an elderly woman who is a distant relative.  This woman suffers from several diseases of the aged.  She is difficult to be around.  She often loses track of conversations and forgets who people are.  Most of her other family members just don’t want to be with her.  It is too difficult.  But Rachel engages this woman simply because Rachel’s heart tells her that comfort and care are important even if you don’t know who you’re talking to.  Naomi would agree.  The dead reveal the true hearts of the living.

Topical Index:  dead, hesed, Ruth 1:8

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Not Expected

Thursday, June 21st, 2012 | Author:

But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house.  May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”   Ruth 1:8  JPS

Mother’s house – There are only two other places where the mother’s house appears in Scripture.  One is in Genesis 24:28, the other in Song of Songs 3:4 and 8:2.  “Turn back to your mother’s house” isn’t the kind of advice we would expect.  If these widowed women are to find new husbands, they would be expected to return to their family homes, the homes of their fathers.  So why does Naomi make such an unusual suggestion?

As we discover from the ensuing blessing, Naomi wants what she perceives is the best for her two daughters-in-law.  In other words, she wants them to remarry.  She wants them to find security, to have children, to become integrated in community.  And, from her perspective, this means returning to the oversight of their mothers who will prepare them once again for suitable husbands.  This unusual statement is nothing more than Naomi’s heartfelt desire that these women will find comfort and fulfillment through their original families.

But maybe there’s just a bit more.  Maybe we need to look harder at the connections to the only other places where beit ‘immah (house of mother) is used.  The Genesis account is about Rebekah who runs to the beit ‘immah to report the arrival of Abraham’s servant.  It has often been noted that the father doesn’t appear in this story.  The mother and the brother of Rebekah are the other players in the drama.  Most suggest that Rebekah’s father was dead.  Some suggest that the family units of that culture were matriarchal.  Regardless of the actual history, what is certainly true is the close connection between daughter and mother, but a connection that is not so tight it prevents Rebekah from deciding to follow the direction of the Lord and accompany Eliezer.  Rebekah’s story is also a story of going out and “returning” to a foreign land.  Perhaps there are more parallels here than we initially thought.

That leaves us with the “mother’s house” references in Song of Songs.  Of course, these verses were written after the story of Ruth, so in one sense the use of the term in Song of Songs doesn’t offer proper exegetical background.  But it does tell us about the framework of the “mother’s house” in later Scriptural context.  What we find is that “mother’s house” is a place of sexual intimacy; in fact, in verse 4, it is the place of conception.  What Naomi is missing is posterity.  What she anticipates is the end of her line.  Perhaps the reference to “mother’s house” is a disguised hope for children and the continuation of the lines of her daughters-in-law, even if she is at the end of her own name.

The story of Ruth culminates in a new line, a line that includes foreigners and the healing of generational factions.  Naomi foreshadows this grand conclusion in the first words she utters.  “Turn back” so that you might live again through those to come.  Little does she know what God has in mind for her perceived barrenness.  Only in this context does the proclamation of the women of Bethlehem make sense, for they do not rejoice over the child of Ruth but over the “child” of Naomi.

Topical Index: mother’s house, beit ‘immah, Genesis 24:28, Rebekah, Song of Songs 3:4, Ruth 1:8

 

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Risk and Reconciliation

Saturday, December 10th, 2011 | Author:

But Naomi said to her two daughter-in-law, “Turn back, each of you to her mother’s house.  May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt kindly with the dead and me!”  Ruth 1:8  NJPS

Deal Kindly – Once before we noticed that hesed is the crucial term of the story of Ruth.  We discovered that hesed is relational, transitive, reciprocal and obligatory.  It is always about persons.  It is always passed on from one to another.  It always includes similar action toward the initiating party.  It is always expected.

But what you might not have noticed in the interaction between Naomi, Ruth and Boaz is that God uses hesed to overcome generational curses.  Hesed is teleological, that is, its meaning is derived from the end it produces, not simply from the acts in the chain of events.

You know Ruth’s story, or so you think.  But unless you know Ruth’s lineage, you don’t know the cosmic role of hesed.  Ruth is a descendent of Moab.  Moab is the child of Lot and his oldest daughter – a child of incest and a sworn enemy of Israel.  In fact, Deuteronomy 23:3 and Nehemiah 13:1 both proclaim that no Moabite shall ever enter the tribe of Israel.  Never!  Never!  Never!  Then what do we do with Ruth?  Ruth married an Israelite (Mahlon, cf. Ruth 4:10), the son of Naomi, when the family was outside Israel in Moab.  But when Ruth proclaims allegiance to Naomi and travels with her to Bethlehem, she is a forbidden foreigner.  She might serve Israel’s God, but Israel’s God has given a law that prevents her from ever joining the community.

Enter Boaz.  You might think Boaz is the heroic rescuer, but he also has a story from the past.  According to Matthew’s genealogical record (Matthew 1:1-16), Boaz is the son of Salmon and Rahab.  Rahab?  Wasn’t Rahab the ex-prostitute Canaanite woman from Jericho?  What is she doing in this line?  And that isn’t the only hiccup in Boaz’ lineage.  Matthew also tells us that Salmon comes from the line of Judah and Tamar.  Yes, Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah who posed as a prostitute in order to be impregnated by her father-in-law when he refused to allow his youngest son to fulfill the role of the levir (Genesis 38).  The son of Judah and Tamar is Perez, a name that means “breach.”  So Boaz stands on one side of the breach between Abraham and Lot, and Ruth stands on the other side.  One side is a Jew with a tainted past.  The other side is a Moabite with a checkered beginning.

The story of Ruth is about how hesed heals it all.  The story of Ruth is about how God shows favor on those who act as He would act regardless of their past, and how God brings about Israel’s greatest king because of hesed shown by outsiders!  Ruth and Rahab demonstrate kindness and mercy when there is no obligation to do so.  Their acts change the trajectory of Israel’s history and heal wounds that have been festering for generations.  Hesed overcomes ethnic animosity and prejudice, restores relationships fractured by past sins and promotes God’s purposes in the world.  The hesed of Rahab and Ruth is the foundation of the incarnation, the line of the Messiah.

Ruth’s story is not simply a love story between a man and a woman.  In fact, a careful reading of the text doesn’t suggest that either Boaz or Ruth is motivated by our idea of love.  This story is an account of the power of hesed, a power that restores not only what is present but also what was long ago deemed unforgivable.  This story demonstrates that what is past is not finished.  Restoration can still occur for those things that we never thought could change.  Hesed is trans-generational in both directions.

Perhaps there is someone in your past who needs restoration, someone who isn’t even alive today.  Perhaps your demonstration of hesed can heal wounds from long ago.  Perhaps it is never too late.

Topical Index:  hesed, Ruth, Boaz, Rahab, Moab, Judah, Tamar, Ruth 1:8

 

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The Heart of the Covenant

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 | Author:

And Naomi said to her two daughter-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house.  May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”  Ruth 1:8 NASB

Deal kindly – What is the heart of the gospel?  What lies right at the core of the good news?  Most Christians are likely to answer, “Forgiveness,” or “Salvation.”  We have been taught to think of the good news on an individual and personal level.  It’s about us – you and me – and what God has done for us individually.  My sins are forgiven.  I received salvation.  What’s important is what God did for me!

But you won’t find that emphasis in Scripture.

The heart of God’s interaction with men is hesed.  This is not a word describing personal, individual salvation or forgiveness.  This is a word that describes acts of benevolence without obligation.  In our vernacular, we would call these random acts of kindness.  Psalm 62 makes it clear that hesed belongs first and foremost to God Himself.  The Exodus is the paradigm case of hesed.  Hesed is the major lesson taught in the book of Ruth.

Hesed has no exact English translation equivalent, and for good reason.  Hesed entails four related concepts.  First, hesed is unmerited benevolence toward another.  That means there is no prior obligation for demonstrating this act of kindness.  Hesed begins with pure compassion.  It is not about what I owe someone else.  It is about what is right to do even when I have no duty or obligation toward another.  Hesed operates on the assumption that justice is built into the structure of the universe and therefore some things are just the right things to do.

Secondly, once I experience hesed, it creates reciprocity.  When someone shows hesed toward me, I am then obligated to show it to him.  The story of Rahab is built on this reciprocity.  In case you thought all of this is just Old Testament, I remind you that 1st John emphasizes the reciprocity entailed in God’s love.  We love Him because He first loved us – reciprocity.

Third, hesed requires extension.  If I experience hesed, I am expected to pass it on to someone else.  I am expected to extend this experience toward another, not just toward the person who started the chain.  This is God’s “pay it forward” plan.  It’s not enough to simply respond to the one who showed me benevolence.  I need to turn that experience into action and do the same for another.

Finally, it is obvious that hesed cannot be individual.  Everything about hesed is relational.  Hesed does not exist without community.  It’s not about me.  It’s about the dynamic between the one who shows kindness, the one who receives kindness and the one who has yet to be included in the circle of kindness.  This is the heart of the good news!  God started the chain.  You and I have received His hesed.  But until we pass it back and pass it on, nothing has happened.  Forgiveness, mercy, grace, salvation and justice all depend on hesed.  If the dynamic of hesed isn’t present in your life, if you aren’t reciprocating and extending, then you missed the boat.  You live in a “What’s in it for me?” world that isn’t recognizable in Scripture.

Oh yes, one more thing.  Hesed is something you do, not something you say.  The literal translation of Naomi’s statement is “May God do hesed with you.”

What are you going to do about this?

Topical Index:  hesed, deal kindly, lovingkindness, Ruth 1:8, community, forgiveness

 

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