We
ended the last blog with Naomi insisting that her
daughter-in-laws return to their families; Orpah protested slightly but
ultimately returned to her family but Ruth refused to leave Naomi and literally
begged her to stay through passionate tears of sincerity. Naomi conceited; the duet team continued
their journey to Bethlehem; they arrived safely; friends celebrate Naomi’s
return but she stops them advising there is nothing to celebrate as she has
lost everything. Though Naomi’s name
means my delight (as we learned in
New Beginnings Pt. 3 -- http://dailyflicker.blogspot.com/2014/08/new-beginnings-pt-3-naomi-whats-in-name.html) she of her own
free will changes her name to Mara which means bitter.
We
also learned that the relationship between Naomi, Orpah and Ruth dispels the
notion that ALL mother-in-laws are released from the pit of hell to make life a
living hell for daughter-in-laws. For that statement to be true you would have
to interview every married couple in the world to arrive at that
conclusion. Since you haven’t (don’t
even play because you have not) that’s an unfair biased statement against
mother-in-laws. I can testify of at
least two great mother-in-laws: Naomi
from Bethlehem-Moab and Lillian Davis (my mother-in-law) from West Oakland by
the way of the State of Georgia. When we
recall the emotional interaction that took place when Naomi came to the
realization that “she” had nothing to offer her “Daughters” I realized their bond
wasn’t superficial but when we see the reaction of the young women, Orpah and
Ruth, its abundantly clear that they had a healthy vibrant mother-daughter
relationship, closer than some actual biological mother and daughter
relationships. Clearly this is an
example of a bond which God created, they cultivated and maintained. It almost makes me think that the sons were
around long enough for Naomi to have “daughters” she could pour into (and
possibly vice versa). I can imagine her
talking about the God of the Hebrews; teaching them the Hebrew tongue first
with words, phrases and over their 10 year stay in Moab I imagine that they
became fluent in the Hebrew language; teaching them about their customs;
holidays; Hebrew meal preparation, etc. It
goes without saying that when you spend enough time with someone (voluntarily
or involuntarily) you will eventually take on some of their characteristics and
belief system – good or bad. What type
of “in-law” are you? Are you a pleasant daughter-in-law, can your in-laws get along with you? Would someone fight
to stay with you? Would they advocate on
your behalf? If not, there’s time to
change who you are. Don’t be misled: No
one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who
plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop
of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants
in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a
crop of real life, eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8 (The Message).
Let’s
pick the story up from Ruth the second chapter.
Though neither Ruth nor Naomi want to be viewed as charity cases they
accept the invitation of friends to reside with them until they get
settled. Ruth has been strategizing in
her mind about the most effective way to generate cash flow in the least amount
of time. She is a resourceful young
woman, a fast learner, she can cook Hebrew food, spin wool, sew, make pottery,
plant/harvest crop, etc. but her advantage is that she learned from a Hebrew
woman, Naomi. She considers the skills
she has and though she may like to do what she is most passionate about, the
timing isn’t right, however, it is right for harvesting and that’s what she
decides to do. She discusses it with
Naomi and with her blessing, sets off for work.
Tania
Not Tanya Moment: Ruth is cut from a
different cloth, she doesn’t use the death of her husband, relocating to a
different country, fully embracing a new culture and language as an excuse for
laziness. She was exposed to the
language and culture over the past ten years or so by living with Naomi and her
family, but there was still an adjustment period nonetheless. Bethlehem could have been the perfect place to
“use her femininity” as a way to manipulate men out of money but that’s not in
her make up. She wanted to do something
that was decent and honorable because she didn’t want to bring shame on
herself, but above all she didn’t want to embarrass Naomi. Her
wise decision to focus on harvesting was the most logical because that work was
plentiful due to the harvesting season.
It doesn’t mean she threw her dreams away and decided she would work in agriculture
for the rest of her life she decided to use it as a means to a beginning, the
beginning of her New Life. Everybody has
to start somewhere.
Ruth
dressed for work and set out early in the morning. The wise business woman that she is she finds
a field that seems perfect for her needs, she asks the foreman’s permission to
glean after the harvesters (hired help) by picking up the grain that they left
behind. No harm in that because either
birds would eat it or it would dry up in the hot sun and turn to waste. The foreman agrees and she ensures that she
stays a safe distance from the harvesters so as not to be seen as taking
advantage of the foreman’s kindness by gathering the best of the grain. The owner of the field arrives around
mid-day, notices Ruth and asks the foreman who she is. The foreman is surprised that his boss
doesn’t know that she is the Moabite that recently arrived with Naomi. He went on to say that Ruth arrived early in
the morning and hasn’t even taken a break from the time she started. The town was already a buzz about this
foreigner that arrived with Naomi, but he had the privilege of seeing her in
the flesh. Not only was she a pretty
young thing, she had an incredible work ethic, which really impressed the
owner.
The
owner then decided to introduce himself to Ruth as Boaz and they began to
engage in very respectful small talk after which he instructed her as
follows: don’t worry about a thing; glean
only at this field; stay close to the other young women, follow them and
harvest where they harvest; when you get thirsty feel free to drink from the
servant’s buckets. In other words, make
yourself right at home. She was so
humbled by his kindness that she fell to her knees and worshipped him and asked
why he was extending such favor to her?
Boaz replied: “I heard that you were the foreigner that left your family
and homeland to accompany Naomi to Bethlehem, a country you know nothing about. Your selflessness impressed me and though I
can’t really explain it I felt it only appropriate to show kindness to one that
has shown as much kindness as you have to Naomi.” Ruth was so overwhelmed that her first
instinct was to do what many of us do she started talking about how unworthy
she was. They ended their conversation
and Ruth returned to work though her stomach was growling and her throat was
parched from the lack of water.
Tania Not Tanya nugget: If you're like me, born and raised in the city, you have no idea what harvesting and gleaning is but thank God for technology. Check out the 1.5 minute clip.
When
the alarm sounded Boaz invited her to lunch.
She sat among the other harvesters and ate until she was full and still
had food on her plate. When they all
finished their meals the harvesters returned to the fields and Boaz took the opportunity to instruct his servants
to give Ruth special treatment, to treat her with kindness and respect and to
leave extra grain for her to glean so she would have more than enough. Ruth worked well over into the evening and by
the time she finished she had nearly a full sack of barley. She gathered everything up, returned to the
temporary home where she was staying and was greeted by Naomi. She was shocked at Ruth’s progress and the
extra food she had left from lunch which naturally prompted Naomi to ask Ruth
where she worked that day. Ruth responded
that she worked in the field owned by a man named Boaz. Naomi could hardly believe her eyes, nor ears
for that matter but she was thankful.
Ruth went on to say that Boaz insisted that she return and glean in his
field only for her protection. Naomi was
floored and gave praise to God saying: God hasn’t
quite walked out on us after all! He still loves us, in bad times as well as
good! Ruth 2:20 (The Message)
Naomi
then explained that Boaz was a distant relative of her late husband Elimelech,
almost as though it was an afterthought.
She advised Ruth to continue to work on Boaz’ property for as long as
the invitation was open and that’s exactly what she did for both the barley and
wheat harvesting season.
Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. Titus 2:3-5 (NLT)
In other words, the older, seasoned women need to be in a position to give these younger women some solid "game" "advice", whatever you wanna call it, but that's some real talk right there. For clarity, you want to seek, look for wise women who know how to hold your business to themselves. Run away from the fools, cause it ain't nothing worse than an "old fool". IJS :)
I’ve
gotta go, but we’ll pick it up tomorrow.
In
His New Excellence,
Tania
Not Tanya
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