On faith: An outsider eventually becomes an insider

Brent Emery

guest columnist

By the time this column reaches you, the Biblical festival of Shavuot (Weeks) will be upon us. Within Judaism, this festival celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai 50 days after Passover.

At Passover, G-d redeems us and then brings us to Sinai as He desires to not only be our Saviour but our Lord.

In the Apostolic Scripture, this festival is known as Pentecost where, according to Acts 2, the Holy Spirit is out poured to allow the Good News of Yeshua to spread to the nations.

Within traditional Judaism and Christianity, greater emphasis is placed on Passover/Easter than either community places on Shavuot, and yet the purpose of redemption is to bring everyone to Sinai/Shavuot, where former slaves trade masters and begin serving the living G-d.

Within traditional Judaism, the book of Ruth is studied on Shavuot as it tells us about an outsider who becomes an insider.

When I say outsider, I mean someone who is not an Israelite/Jew.

Ruth has three strikes against her before we even begin. She is a woman, a foreigner, and worst yet, a dreaded Moabite.

The Moabites were an off-limits people who, according to the Torah, were idolaters. The Moabites descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot, whose incestuous relation with his daughter produced the Moabites.

Moab in Hebrew means “from his father.”

Turning to the opening of the book of Ruth, we find a man named Elimelek, his wife Naomi and two sons moving to Moab, because there was a famine in Beth-Lehem (house of Bread).

Within a few verses, Elimelek dies. The two sons marry Moabite women, and eventually, the two sons die.

With narrative terseness, the men of the family are dispatched, leaving three widows in Moab. With all of the men in her family dead, Naomi decides to move back to Israel, leaving her daughters-in-law to re-marry in their native land.

Orpah, the first daughter, leaves Naomi, but Ruth “clings” to Naomi and makes a faith statement that is unparalleled in Hebrew Scripture.

Ruth is determined to move to Israel with Naomi, as the G-d of Israel is now her G-d. To put it another way, an outsider has become an insider, and one doesn’t get more outside than Ruth.

How does an outsider become an insider? The answer has always been the same: faith.

This faith will demonstrate itself in words and actions as the story progresses.

After arriving in Beth-Lehem, Ruth begins to glean in the fields of a man named Boaz. This gleaning in another’s field is a Torah means of providing food for the poor, widows and foreigners.

The industrious Ruth is called a “woman of valor,” which is the same phrase used to describe the woman of Proverbs 31:10.

Boaz, a G-dly man himself, also happens to be a near relative of Naomi’s deceased husband, which means that he — if he desires — can redeem the land on behalf of Naomi’s husband.

Naomi realizes that Boaz is a near relative and encourages Ruth to propose a marriage between Ruth and Boaz.

We must digress here to explain that the Torah encouraged the brother of a deceased brother to take the widow and marry her with the intent that the first male child born would carry on the name of the deceased and inherit his land (See Genesis 38).

Everything would have worked just fine, with Boaz being able to redeem Naomi’s land and marry Ruth, but, alas, there was a glitch. Someone is a closer relative than Boaz and has the first right of acceptance or refusal.

Once Mr. So-and-So refuses to marry Ruth, the way is paved for Boaz to both redeem the land of Elimelek and marry Ruth.

Let’s make sure we understand what’s happening here: The Torah only required a brother to marry and carry on the family line, and Boaz is not a brother of Elimelek.

Secondly, since the land belonged to Elimelek, then Naomi should be the one marrying Boaz but alas Naomi is no longer able to have children. In what can only be described as “pushing the envelope,” Boaz, who is not a brother, will raise up a descendant for Elimelek, and the surrogate mother for Naomi will be Ruth the Moabite.

While this plan does not fit the letter of the Torah, it sure entails the spirit of the Torah. The first son born to Ruth and Boaz will inherit the land of Elimelek and raise up descendants in his name.

The first son born is Obed, and Obed is the father of Jesse, and Jesse is the father of David. Thus, Ruth the Moabite is the great, great granddaugher of David the King!

Everyone is encouraged to read this small book of Ruth that has a big message for all believers. I also recommend reading the book “The Gospel of Ruth: Loving G-d Enough to Break the Rules” by Carolyn Custis James.

The reference of ‘G-d’

Some readers have contacted The Peninsula Gateway curious about Brent Emery’s reference to God in his On Faith column.

The following is an explaination from www.jewfaq.org:

“Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better ... Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing ‘G-d’ instead of ‘God.’ ”

On Faith columnist Pastor Brent Emery can be reached at Congregation Beit Tefillah by e-mail at torah4today@comcast.net.