More Than A Pretty Face: Seeing Character In My Future Mate Series

Many of you know of Benjamin Franklin, one of the fathers of our country, was also the ambassador to France. And while he was in France, he was a member of a literary society. So Ben Franklin, without letting this agnostic literary society know where he had gotten the story, shared with them the love story of Ruth. Not knowing it came from the pages of the Bible, the French infidels were astounded. They said to him, “Dr. Franklin, that is beyond a doubt the most beautiful romance — love story — we’ve ever heard. Would you give us leave, please, that we might have it published and give it broad distribution?” He said, “It is already published, and it already has broad distribution. It is found in the Bible, that book that you profess to despise” — this wonderful story of Ruth that is found here, in the Bible.

If that story isn’t true, it should be!

I want to tell you a love story today that spurred the very pages of history. The little book of Ruth is a beautiful love story set 3,000 years ago in ancient Israel. Ruth is 1 of only 2 books in your Bible named for women.

Week One Reminder

Just a reminder of week one in Ruth’s story. Naomi and her husband went to Moab, modern day Jordan, because of a famine in Bethlehem. They live in the same Bethlehem where Jesus was born. While the family was in Moab for ten years, she experienced the death of her husband, the marriage of her 2 sons to foreign wives, and the death of her sons. It was one blow after another for Naomi. All this caused Naomi to say, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20b). Naomi knew there was a God but she felt God was against her at every turn.

She came back home to Bethlehem with only a daughter-in-law, Ruth. Widows were the most socially and economically vulnerable people of ancient society. In our day, if you want economic and social power, then you get an education and some marketable skills. In those days, it was your family that gave you the “leg up.” What you needed was your spouse and children. Naomi is left all by herself, a poor, old widow. Her life was tragic in nearly every way.

But this widow’s life wasn’t empty; in fact, she was far from empty. She had Ruth with her, a genuine friend and a young lady who was remarkably brave and sacrificial. In one of the height points in all of Scripture, Ruth says to her mother-in-law, Naomi: “Don’t try to change my mind. Where you go, I’ll lodge; your people are now my people; your God is my God. And where ever you die, I’ll be buried next to you” (Ruth 1:16-17). Yet, Naomi didn’t feel any hope from this incredibly sacrificial love Ruth shown her. She’s so despondent that she cannot see the invisible hand of God working on her behalf.

But the invisible hand is moving and hope is just around the corner for Naomi. You can see the subtle touch of God’s hand even at the end of chapter 1: “So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her … And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest (Ruth 1:22). They just happen to arrive back home in Bethlehem at the barley harvest. She just happens to come to Boaz’s field even though it wasn’t marked. And Boaz just happens to come by when Naomi’s there. The invisible hand of God is guiding these two ladies in incredible ways.

Do you think bitter Naomi thought for a minute that her little, ordinary life would be studied 3,000 years later?

Three Quick Facts to Better Understand Ruth

If you’re going to really understand the beautiful story of Ruth, then you need to know three facts about ancient Israel. There some ancient laws operate in the background but you they need to come to the surface for you to see them clearly. All three of these operate like a submarine – they are below the surface but they influence what you see.

1) Each Family Clan had a Fixed Amount of Land in Ancient Israel.

Ancient Israel was around 9,500 square miles, about the size of Vermont. Your family’s tribe, or clan, was given a fixed amount of land at the beginning of Israel’s history. Remember, land is really important because the only way you could make a living was through farming. It’s hard to farm without land, right?

1.1 Far and Away Movie

Did you ever see that movie Far and Away with Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise? Kidman and Cruise play a young Irish couple who have a dream of owning their own land one day. They board a ship to America and learn there is land being given away for free in Oklahoma It’s a rags to riches tell where this destitute immigrant couple dreams of owning land of their own. The end of movie shows them planting their flag into the ground in the Land Run of 1893, finally realizing their dream of owning land.