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Fr. Daoud Lamei

Introduction to the Old Testament

  • We study the history of the Old Testament by examining Biblical Characters...
    • Adam
    • Noah
    • Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel)
    • Joseph (brings them into Egypt)
    • Moses (ca. 1500 BC - takes them out to the edge of Sinai)
    • Joshua (takes them into the Promised Land)
    • Judges (no kings yet, so the judges are in charge)
    • Samuel (last judge - people want a king)
    • Saul, David (ca. 1000 BC), Solomon
    • Split of the Kingdoms - North and South
    • Period of the Prophets (ca. 1000 BC until 400 BC)
    • Captivity under the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans
    • Until the Incarnation of Christ
  • "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." (John 5:39)
    • Christ says "Scriptures" He is talking about the Old Testament
    • How do they testify of Him?
      • Prophecy
      • Allegory (e.g. Typology)
    • Christ witnesses to this in the Disciples of Emmaus story when He expounded to them all of the Old Testament
    • "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  • When we study the Old Testament, we do it in three levels:
    • Literal
    • Tropological (Moral)
    • Allegorical
  • For example, the book of Ruth:
    • Literal: There's a woman Naomi and her daughter in law Ruth decides to stay with her even though she's a Moabitess, etc.
    • Tropological: What can I learn from Naomi? What can I learn from Ruth? What can I learn from Boaz?
    • Allegorical: What does Boaz symbolize? Who is Ruth a type of?
  • Distribution of Books in the Old Testament
    • Torah: The Books of Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy)
    • Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, etc.
    • Poetic/Wisdom Books
    • Prophetic Books (Minor and Major)

Introduction to the Book of Ruth

  • It is odd that a book of Scripture would be called after Ruth's name:
    • Ruth is a woman
    • Ruth is not an Israelite, but a Moabite (Moabites were usually in conflict with Israelites)
  • But we will learn that Ruth becomes a very important figure... the great grandmother of King David (and thus, the ancestor of Christ, Himself - mentioned in Matthew 1's Genealogy)
  • Ruth takes place at the time of the Judges
    • Probably in the time of Gideon
    • Period of the Judges is a cycle of:
      • Congregation strays from God
      • Someone comes up and tells them to repent
      • They repent
    • "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25)
  • Characters:
    • Naomi
    • Ruth
    • Boaz

Chapter 1

  • 1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 

    • Elimelech & Naomi
      • Elimelech means "God is King"
      • Naomi means "Grace"
    • Famine in the Land
      • In the time of the judges, there was a famine - yes, a physical famine, but also a spiritual famine
      • This famine caused Elimelech to take his family and turn his back on Bethlehem and on the land God had given them, and go to Moab - a place of idolatry, and a nation does not know God. This is the beginning of the downfall.
      • We are reminded of Lot who left Abraham and went and lived in Sodom and Gomorrah - and he lost his wife, and later on his daughters were lost. We'll see that Elimelech will lose himself and his sons, and only his wife will remain.
      • Like the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30 "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho" - what happens when you leave Jerusalem to go to Jericho (represents sin)? "fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead."
    • Ephrathites
      • They are from Bethlehem and Bethlehem has another name which is "Ephratha"
      • We find this name in Micah 5:2 which is a prophecy about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." (Micah 5:2)
      • Being from Bethlehem is an honor... that's where Christ is come, right?! In those days no... it was just a small town (even how Micah describes it "though you are little among the thousands of Judah")
      • Bethlehem means "House of Bread"
      • Nowadays, every church has a "Bethlehem" - the place where the Oblations are baked and prepared for the Liturgy. It is called "Bethlehem" because Christ, the True Sacrifice, was born in Bethlehem. So leaving "Bethlehem" represents leaving (or ignoring) the Eucharist.
      • Why Bethlehem, Judah?
        • The inheritance of each tribe is kept intact, so every city belongs to its tribe.

  • 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. 5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

    • He who leaves Bethlehem to go to Moab will die.
    • Her sons take wives of the women of Moab.
      • This is a grave sin. Even from before the Law of Moses, in the time of Abraham - when Abraham wanted a wife for his son, Isaac, he sent Eleazar back to his family in Ur of the Chaldeans and told him to bring back a wife from their family.
      • The women from the Moabites would cause the Israelite men to worship idols too.
      • Sin brings sin... this wouldn't have happened if they turned around and went back to Bethlehem when Elimelech died!
    • Naomi lost everything because of Moab - her husband and both of her sons. But she took the lesson - I will not also die in Moab. I will go back to Judah.

  • 6 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. 7 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.

    • Wouldn't it have been better to stay a little hungry in Judah than to go to Moab?
      • She was eating and drinking in Moab... but at the cost of her husband and children. At the cost of peace. 
      • When you pick Moab, you lose everything.
    • "The Lord had visited His people by giving them bread"
      • Allegorical
      • The Lord visited His people in the Incarnation and gave them the Bread of Life which is the Eucharist
    • First step of Repentance: Give your back to Moab and look towards Judah

  • 8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each to her mother’s house. The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.”

    So she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.”

    • "As you have dealt with the dead and with me"
      • She counts herself as having died
    • Naomi is a good woman
      • We can see that since her daughters in law stick with her - even after their husbands died. They follow her.
      • Even when she tells them to return, they say they want to stay with her.
      • She loves them. "Lord grant you to find rest" and wishes for them to find new husbands
      • She kissed them
    • They both said to her "We will return with you" - what is this love between Naomi and her daughters in law?

  • 10 And they said to her, “Surely we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, 13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

    • 39:They both said to her "We will return with you" - what is this love between Naomi and her daughters in law?
    • Don't always think of yourself, but think of others
      • When Naomi goes back to Judah, she's not going to be treated well... she doesn't have a husband, they don't have any land, she's too old to get married again... what is she going to do? She'll go back and be a beggar. And yet, both daughters in law don't think about themselves or what will happen to them. They only think of what is good for her.
      • And Naomi also is not thinking about herself, but she thinks of the daughters... how will she give them husbands? And even if she, herself, had a husband tonight... would they wait 20 years for her sons to re-marry?
    • Naomi grieves for them - to grieve for her husband and sons makes sense... but she grieves for their sakes.
    • Continue on the Way
      • Both daughters started in the right way - give Moab your back and look to Bethlehem
      • But one daughter, in thinking about marriage and children, turned back and went to Moab
        • Christ said: "In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:31-33)
        • Don't look back! Forsake the things of this world and you will gain eternal life.
        • Does anyone know anything about Orpah? Has anyone heard of her? No... but the whole world has heard of Ruth. Orpah's story ends here... with returning to Moab. But Ruth's story goes on until this very day.
    • Ruth clung to her
      • Ruth is an idol-worshipper! She's a Moabite... she has no inheritance! But because of this word, she is a saint and a grandmother of Christ
      • What am I clinging to?
        • Do I cling to the Church?
        • Do I cling to the sacraments?
        • Do I cling to the Scriptures?
        • Do I cling to the daily prayers?
        • Do I cling to St Mary and the saints of the Church?

  • 15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 

    • Naomi says "go back to your people and your gods!"
      • Come on Naomi! This is a chance to evangelize! To tell Ruth "come and meet my God" - but Naomi is influenced by Orpah leaving.
      • This happens to us
        • I am at a birthday party or a wedding on Saturday... and the time for Vespers comes. And even though I was planning to go to Vespers, when the time comes I see that I'm having fun, or people tell me "don't be the only one that leaves" - and I forsake what I know and I stay with them
        • My friends want to go out somewhere but I know I have liturgy in the morning. And maybe I want to go to liturgy. But they tell me "come on man just come with us just this once" - so I forsake what I know and I go with them

  • 16 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. 17 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.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.

    • See how Ruth walks behind Naomi, no matter where she goes or what she does
      • When we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we should keep this attitude "Lord whatever you want me to do, I will do it. Wherever you want me to go, I will go. Whenever you want me to do it, I will do it."
    • Ruth completely rejects Moab - "there I will be buried" - most people want to be buried in their home land.
    • The Lord do so to me - "this God that I don't know yet, but who I have learned from you - may he curse me if I ever leave you."

  • 19 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?”  20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22 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.

    • Bethlehem is a small town... so when they entered, everyone noticed. And it's been decades since she lived there. And they said "Is this Naomi?"
      • She is coming back in sadness without her husband or sons, she is much older, she is tired. She is unrecognizable.
      • When someone turns his back on the Lord for a long time, he becomes unrecognizable. "Is that really him? That's him who was with God?"
    • In humility she says "Do not call me Naomi" (Naomi means grace) "call me Mara" (Mara means bitter)
    • I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty
      • Full of grace (Naomi)
      • We all leave the liturgy full of grace... so where are we gonna go with this grace?
        • Go home, watch TV and play video games and waste a few hours? Just emptying ourselves!
        • Go talk on the phone for hours, talking about other people, gossipping, emptying ourselves?
        • Go and count the money?
        • Go and yell at my wife and kids?
        • Go and fight with my siblings? 
      • When we go home, do we go home again empty? Preserve the grace you received in the Liturgy! Let it last for you the whole week!
    • The Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me
      • Why did the Lord do this to her? To bring her to repentance!
      • By the end of the story, we will find Naomi is rejoicing and is very happy... but what did it take to get there?
    • Beginning of the barley harvest
      • This is the best time of the year... they spent months and months tiring over the barley plants, and the day has come to harvest it! So everyone is rejoicing, and there is food enough for everyone.
      • The Feast of Weeks is the Jewish feast of the harvest. This is also what the Jews called Pentecost, and this was the same day that the Church received the Holy Spirit like tongues of fire.

58:04

Chapter 2

  • 1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 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.”

    3 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.

    4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!”

    And they answered him, “The Lord bless you!”

    5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?”

    6 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. 7 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.”

    8 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. 9 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.”

    10 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?”

    11 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. 12 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.”

    13 Then she said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken [a]kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.”

    14 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. 15 And when she rose up to [b]glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not [c]reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”

    17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 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.

    19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.”

    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.”

    20 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 [d]our close relatives.”

    21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”

    22 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 [e]meet you in any other field.” 23 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.

 

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