No Christmas Without Her: Ruth’s Story

Post Author: Katie Z. Dawson

The stories from Jesus’ complicated family tree are a legacy of courage and faith, justice and peace, that shape how we understand our Savior in the manger of Bethlehem. Today, we remember that there would be no Christmas, no Jesus, no salvation without Ruth.

Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.

Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.

Obed was the father of Jesse.

Jesse was the father of David the king. (Matthew 1: 5-6)

God moves through unexpected people and in unexpected ways to bring to us a redeemer. Our story begins in Bethlehem itself. Bethlehem means “House of Bread,” but here it is a place of abundance, overrun by famine. Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, had two sons and lived in the city in the time of the judges. It was a time without a centralized government, with great instability and turmoil. When they could no longer make a future for themselves within their hometown, they fled and became refugees.

We might see their faces in the images of refugees from Syria and Iraq and northern Africa today- camping in muddy fields, clothes wet from the journey, their only possessions what they could carry, completely unsure if they will be welcomed wherever they arrive. The place they come to call home is the land of Moab.

The Moabites were actually distant cousins of the Israelites, tracing their lineage all the way back to Abraham’s nephew, Lot and his daughters. As the story of the people of Israel continues, these distant cousins became enemies. They refused hospitality to the Israelites as they fled from Egypt and watched with great unease as Joshua and his people conquered the land. Our story today is just one generation removed from this conflict, yet Naomi and Elimelech seek refuge there. But just as they establish themselves, Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi and her two boys, Mahlon and Kilion. Years pass. They grow up and they each marry Moabite women named Ruth and Orpah. But then one son after the other dies.

Naomi plans to return to Bethlehem to live as a widow and is resigned to beg for the rest of her sad and bitter life. She sends the Moabite daughters-in-law away, releasing them from any obligations with the opportunity to start anew. Naomi prays that God would show them the same kind of loving-kindness, chesed, that they and their people had shown to them as strangers. They weep. They grieve. They lament all they have lost. And then, one of these daughters, Ruth, refuses to leave Naomi’s side. It is an act of loving-kindness, of unmerited love and grace and mercy shown to Naomi. Ruth casts her lot with the God of Naomi. Ruth commits herself to a life where she will be the stranger and the foreigner, a grieving widow with no tangible possibilities.

As they make the journey back to Bethlehem, this despair so overtakes Naomi that she begs people to call her Mara – The Bitter One. What she fails to recognize in this moment is that she is, in fact, not alone. Ruth is by her side.

And friends, you have not been abandoned in this season either.

Ruth takes the initiative to provide for them by going out to glean in the fields. She is essentially going to pick up the small grains that are left on the ground after the harvesters have done their work. It was back-breaking work, demeaning work, dangerous work. She was a Moabite stranger, with no one to look out for her, utterly at the mercy of the field hands. Remember how Naomi prayed that God would show her daughters-in-law kindness? While she is out there working, a man named Boaz sees her. Boaz, the son of Salmon, whose mother was Rahab.

Rahab the prostitute.

Rahab who herself was a foreign woman.

Rahab who herself risked everything to secure a future for her family.

Rahab who had faith in the God of Israel.

Rahab who welcomed the spies in hospitality and in peace.

You can’t ignore that her story has impacted the character of her son.

Boaz is moved not only by Ruth’s work-ethic, but also by the way in which she sacrificed and acted to stand beside Naomi. He decides to show her favor and protection. This act of favor and kindness is like a spark of life for Naomi. She realizes that Boaz was a distant relative, someone who could redeem her husband’s property and provide for their future. The law of levirate marriage that we heard about in the story of Tamar couldn’t apply here because Naomi had no other children. But a kinsman redeemer could intervene by caring for a widow in the family. Boaz could act to protect Naomi, but Ruth would remain vulnerable. And so Naomi hatches up a plan for them to both get what they needed. A plan that ends with a marriage and the birth of a child, Obed. 

Ruth and Naomi’s story begins with tears, but God acted in their lives and they came home with joyful shouts. And as we continue this journey to the manger, we see their legacy in the story of Jesus.

You see, when Joseph discovered his fiancée was pregnant, he probably cried out: Lord, change our circumstances! But he stuck by Mary, like Ruth stuck by Naomi. When the holy family had to flee to a strange land because of the wrath of Herod, they probably cried out: Lord, change our circumstances! But God journeyed with them, as God did these weary refugees. All along the way, acts of hospitality and gifts of kindness sustained their parched spirits. 

We see how Christ takes up this legacy as he acts to bring life and joy and abundance in the midst of moments of despair and hunger and longing. He brings the dead to life. He feeds the multitudes. He shows compassion and kindness upon strangers and foreigners.

There would have been no Christmas without Ruth. When we find ourselves, as Naomi did, swallowed up by despair and grief, joy is discovered when we realize that others are journeying with us and that we are not, in fact, alone.