Ruth 1:15-18

C. Ruth’s profession of faith in Yahweh 1:15-18

Ruth concluded that her prospects for loyal love and rest (Ruth 1:8-9) were better if she identified with Israel than if she continued to identify with Moab. She had come to admire Israel’s God, in spite of Naomi’s present lack of faith. Elimelech and his family had evidently earlier fulfilled God’s purpose for His people while living in Moab. They had so represented Yahweh that Ruth felt drawn to Him and now, faced with a decision of loyalty, she chose to trust and obey Him rather than the gods of Moab. Ruth the Moabitess exercised faith, but Naomi the Israelitess lived by sight. Ruth trusted God and obeyed the Mosaic Covenant, but Naomi did not. [Note: See Charles P. Baylis, "Naomi in the Book of Ruth in Light of the Mosaic Covenant," Bibliotheca Sacra 161:644 (October-December 2004):413-31.] Ruth was a descendant of Lot, who chose to leave the Promised Land because he thought he could do better for himself elsewhere (Genesis 13:11-12). The "cities of the valley" (Genesis 13:12), including Sodom and Gomorrah, lay outside (to the east of) the territory that God originally promised Abram (Genesis 12:7). Later God revealed that He would give Abram’s descendants even more land including the Jordan Valley (Genesis 13:14-15; Genesis 15:18; et al.). Ruth now reversed the decision of her ancestor and chose to identify with the promises of Yahweh that centered in the Promised Land. [Note: See Harold Fisch, "Ruth and the Structure of Covenant History," Vetus Testamentum 32:4 (1982):427.] The ancients believed that a deity had power only in the locale occupied by its worshippers. Therefore to leave one’s land (Ruth 1:15) meant to separate from one’s god. [Note: Huey, p. 523.]

The place of a person’s grave in ancient Near Eastern life was very significant (cf. Genesis 23; Genesis 25:9-10; Genesis 50:1-14; Genesis 50:24-25; Joshua 24:32). It identified the area he or she considered his or her true home. So when Ruth said she wanted to die and be buried where Naomi was (Ruth 1:17), she was voicing her strong commitment to the people, land, and God of Naomi (cf. Luke 14:33). Naomi’s life may have influenced Ruth to trust in Naomi’s God. The name for God in Ruth 1:20, "the Almighty" (Heb. sadday, transliterated "Shaddai"), was the one God had used to reveal Himself to the patriarchs in Genesis (Genesis 17:1; Genesis 28:3; Genesis 35:11; Genesis 43:14; Genesis 48:3; Genesis 49:25; cf. Exodus 6:3).

"Significantly, though the oath formula normally has Elohim, Ruth invoked the personal, covenantal name Yahweh-the only time in the book in which she does so. Since one appeals to one’s own deity to enforce an oath, she clearly implies that Yahweh, not Chemosh, is now her God, the guardian of her future. Hence, while the OT has no fully developed idea of conversion, Ruth 1:16-17 suggest a commitment tantamount to such a change. As a result, one expects the story subsequently to reveal some reward from Yahweh for this remarkable devotion. . . .

". . . Ruth’s leap of faith even outdid Abraham’s. She acted with no promise in hand, with no divine blessing pronounced, without spouse, possessions, or supporting retinue. She gave up marriage to a man to devote herself to an old woman-and in a world dominated by men at that! Thematically, this allusion to Abraham sets this story in continuity with that one. Thus, a sense of similar destiny hangs over Ruth’s story. The audience wonders, May some larger plan emerge from it, too?" [Note: Hubbard, pp. 120-21.]

"There is no more radical decision in all the memories of Israel." [Note: P. Trible, "Two Women in a Man’s World: A Reading of the Book of Ruth," Soundings 59 (1976):258.]

God had always welcomed non-Israelites into the covenant community of Abraham’s believing seed. Even in Abraham’s day his servants who believed underwent circumcision as a sign of their participation in the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17). At Sinai, God explained again that the Israelites, as priests, were to bring other people to God (Exodus 19:5-6). Ruth now confessed her commitment to Yahweh, Israel, and Naomi, a commitment based on her faith in Yahweh. [Note: See Thomas L. Constable, "A Theology of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth," in A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, p. 110.]

Ruth 1:15-18 are a key to the book because they give the reason God blessed Ruth as He did.