Ruth and the fifth man of Hindustan

The fifth wise man of Hindustan, looking a bit silly as he stands on his head to make a point, announces that the book of Ruth is clearly about great reversals. The Lord has always been pleased to reverse the fortunes of men for the fame of his Name.

Examples in Scripture are too numerous to mention, so we will confine ourselves to the text at hand. Naomi herself notes the deep principle of reversals in God's doings---except that she only sees it working against her: "I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty" (1:21).

Naomi is mistaken, of course. All she sees is the position of a ball in the air as taken by a snapshot; she does not see its whole trajectory. She sees middles, not ends. The present looks bleak, so her eye is darkened toward the Lord, because she does not know his plan. This is the way of the flesh---to see by appearances; this is the way of God---to see by faith.

Naomi will have to eat her words in the end. Instead of three dead men bereft of an inheritance in Israel, there will be three men with their inheritance restored. Instead of a woman too old to have sons, there will be a woman bouncing a baby boy on her knee. Instead of a Moabite with no marriage prospects, Ruth will be married to a rich and kind man who loves her. Instead of a Moabite with no part in Israel, she will be the great-grandmother of David and the ancestor of Jesus.

Though the choice of Orpah to return home to her Moabite relatives and to better marriage prospects seemed wiser at the time, Ruth's choice to forgo all that proved to be more blessed. Though the choice of Naomi's closest male relative to not fulfill his levirate duty to Naomi seemed better for his long-term inheritance, Boaz's choice to do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may with respect to his inheritance won him an unequaled inheritance in Jesus' parentage.

Besides, everyone knows Boaz's name. But no one knows the other guy's. And I have known a few Ruths in my lifetime. But I have yet to meet an Orpah.

To read Andrée Seu's series on the book of Ruth, click here.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.