Immigration – Ruth Example
Note: Immigration is generally caused by economic opportunities.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the
country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD
had visited His people by giving them bread. Therefore, she went out
from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her;
and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Ruth 1:6-7
Note: Ruth gave up her pagan culture and gods to immigrate to Israel.
And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and
to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said: “Entreat
me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For
wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your
people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will
die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also,
if anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:15-17
Note: Naomi sponsored Ruth to be in Bethlehem.
Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened,
when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because
of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” But she said to them, “Do
not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very
bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD brought me home again
empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against
me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” So, Naomi returned, and Ruth
the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the
country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley
harvest. Ruth 1:19-22
Note: Ruth worked hard and was not a dependent.
So, Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field,
and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.”
And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” Then she left and went and
gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the
part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of
Elimelech. Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the
reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered him, “The LORD bless
you!” Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers,
“Whose young woman is this?” So, the servant who was in charge of the
reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back
with Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said, ‘Please let me glean
and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So, she came and has
continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the
house.” Ruth 2:2-7
Note: Ruth was honored for her hard work and taking care of Naomi.
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do
not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by
my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap and go
after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And
when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young
men have drawn.” So, she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground,
and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should
take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” And Boaz answered and said
to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for
your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have
left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have
come to a people whom you did not know before. The LORD repay your
work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under
whose wings you have come for refuge.” Ruth 2:8-12
Note: Ruth was rewarded for her hard work.
Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and
dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So, she sat beside the
reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was
satisfied and kept some back. And when she rose up to glean, Boaz
commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves,
and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely
for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.” So, she
gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned,
and it was about an ephah of barley. Then she took it up and went into
the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So, she
brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been
satisfied. Ruth 2:14-18
Note: Ruth was dedicated to her employer.
So, she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The
man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” Then Naomi said to her
daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His
kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man
is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” Ruth the Moabitess
said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until
they have finished all my harvest.’” And Naomi said to Ruth her
daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his
young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” So,
she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of
barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.
Ruth 2:19-23
Note: Ruth obeyed Naomi letting Boaz know of their being related.
Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not
seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now Boaz, whose
young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is
winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore, wash
yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to
the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he
has finished eating and drinking. 4 Then it shall be, when he lies
down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go
in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you
should do.” And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.”
So, she went down to the threshing floor and did according to all that
her mother-in-law instructed her. And after Boaz had eaten and drunk,
and his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap
of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. Now it
happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and
there, a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, “Who are you?” So,
she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under
your wing, for you are a close relative.” Ruth 3:1-9
Note: Ruth was known as a law-abiding virtuous woman.
Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have
shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did
not go after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter do
not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of
my town know that you are a virtuous woman. Now it is true that I am a
close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Stay
tonight, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the
duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does
not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for
you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.” So, she lay at his
feet until morning, and she arose before one could recognize another.
Then he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the
threshing floor.” Also, he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and
hold it.” And when she held it, he measured six ephahs of barley and
laid it on her. Then she went into the city. When she came to her
mother-in-law, she said, “Is that you, my daughter?” Then she told her
all that the man had done for her. And she said, “These six ephahs of
barley he gave me; for he said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your
mother-in-law.’” Then she said, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know
how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has
concluded the matter this day.” Ruth 3:10-18
Note: The people rejoiced over Boaz redeeming Ruth.
Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close
relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So, Boaz said, “Come aside,
friend, sit down here.” So, he came aside and sat down. And he took ten
men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So, they sat
down. Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back
from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our
brother Elimelech. And I thought of informing you, saying, Buy it back
in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you
will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me,
that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am
next after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “On
the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it
from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name
of the dead through his inheritance.” And the close relative said, “I
cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem
my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Now this
was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and
exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave
it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel. Therefore, the
close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So, he took off his
sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are
witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all
that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth
the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to
perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name
of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his
position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.” And all the people
who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD
make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the
two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and
be famous in Bethlehem. May your house be like the house of Perez, whom
Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give
you from this young woman.” Ruth 4:1-12
Note: Ruth was blessed and became the great-grandmother of David.
So, Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and when he went in to
her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women
said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day
without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may
he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for
your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven
sons, has borne him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her
bosom and became a nurse to him. Also, the neighbor women gave him a
name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name
Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now this is the
genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot
Amminadab; Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon; Salmon
begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot
David. Ruth 4:13-22