Probably the most famous Bible
passage used to talk about Biblical womanhood is Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31 is about
an upper class Jewish women[1]
who is up at the crack of dawn to get to work. She owns land owns her own
vineyard and cooks dinner every evening. She tends to every single need and
want of her husband. She could be considered a total over achiever. When
Proverbs 31 is used as the rule and guide for being a “Biblical Women” it would
seem to set a very high if not a totally unattainable level for women to
achieve.
If the Bible were a blueprint and nothing more than a list
of dos and don’ts then think of all of the controversies and tensions we could
avoid. Consider all of the decisions that we would not have to make. It would
be so much easier because we would all look and act the same. Seems to me that
often when some suggest that they have discovered some Biblical blueprint on
how to be a women or a man some Biblical character comes along and breaks that
blueprint. For example Deborah in the book of Judges was the leader of Israel’s
army. She command men, was a warrior as well as a prophet. Queen Esther was
not known for giving birth to sons. Instead she is known for breaking the social
rule that a queen only visits the king when summoned. Yet her rule breaking saved lives and stopped an injustice from happening. Tamar, Mary, Mary
Magellan, Jael (who in Judges 4:21 drove a tent stake through Sisera’s head) these Biblical women do not seem to fit into the gentle and quiet-spirit Biblical
blueprint. That is because God did not communicate to us in bulletin points. Often
we use the Bible to end a conversation when it seems that the Bible was meant
to be a conversation starter. If the Bible was a blueprint than it would
require no conversation between the architect and the builder. If the Bible
were blueprint then we would not need to have a conversation with the architect
(God) or any other builders (fellow Christians).
Which brings us to the story of Ruth.
Ruth breaks all the rules of what it typically means to be a Biblical women.
First of all Ruth as a foreigner. She was a Moabite from the hated country of
Moab. You really can’t overstate just how big a deal it is that Ruth is a
Moabite women. When you look at all of the commands given about women in the
Bible the number one command is don’t marry a foreign women. Marrying a foreign
women is just bad news.
·
Deut.
7:3-4 Do not intermarry with them. Do
not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4
for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,
and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.
·
1 Kings
11:1-3 King Solomon, however, loved
many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told
the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely
turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in
love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,
and his wives led him astray.
Keep in mind then that Ruth is not only a foreign women she
is specifically a Moabite women. The number one rule of being a biblical women is
to not be a foreigner and that is exactly who Ruth is. She is just about the
best daughter-in-law in all of history and one of the most celebrated women in
Christianity. Yet she breaks the number one rule – don’t be a foreign women . .
. especially from Moab. Here are some other ways that Ruth breaks the rules.
·
Ruth is
widow. In Ruth’s world this puts her in the position of a charity case. She
is on welfare and food stamps. She is indigent. This is why Boaz allows her to
gather food from his field. Ruth’s story tells us that God works even through
powerless people.
·
Ruth is
childless. In Ruth’s culture this a major deal. The main responsibility of
a women in Ruth’s time was to produce sons. That was her sole job and if she
could not do it then husbands typically found other wives who could. If a women
could not have children then women also took all the blame for that. We are
told that Ruth was married for 10 years and did not produce any sons. This made
Ruth a very unlikely candidate as a wife for Boaz. It would have been known
that she was a failure at her duty as a women.
·
Ruth was
bold. She was very bold. When Ruth makes the choice to return with Naomi to
Bethlehem she is doing more than changing her address. She is also forsaking
her Moabite gods. She tells Naomi that now Naomi’s God will be her God. She is
going to break with her family tradition and the gods she grew up knowing about
for something else. This is very bold. A widow women, without the assistance of
any men, taking her future into her own hands is beyond bold in Ruth’s time. Later on in the story of Ruth she will
actually propose to Boaz. Ruth kind of puts it out there and tells Boaz how she
would like things to go and Boaz says I will do as you say. Those who suggest
that only women are to submit in a relationship are not too familiar with Ruth
and Boaz. And anyone who suggests that women should not take the initiative in
a relationship are not familiar with Ruth and Boaz.
·
Ruth is
dirt poor. Ruth is gleaning and gathering the leftovers from the field of
Boaz. This is a very low position in her culture.
One could argue that Ruth was the opposite of a Proverbs 31
women. She was not bringing home food to her family because she didn’t have any
children. Her husband was not praised at the city gate because she didn’t have
a husband. She was not exchanging fine linin with merchants instead she was
gleaning leftovers in a field. Yet, in Ruth 3:11 we get Boaz speaking to Ruth
and says “All the people of my town know
that you are a woman of noble character.”
The Hebrew word for noble character is Eshet Chayil which means a women of valor. Ruth is call a women of
valor before she gets remarried. Before she has children. Before she breaks the
poverty that she is in. She breaks the mold of Proverbs 31 and is still called
an Eshet Chayil a women of valor. Not
because she played by some set of rules but because she was brave and faithful.
That is what it means to be a Biblical women or a Biblical man is not how well
we fill the roles but our bravery in faithfully following Jesus. So ladies your
highest calling is not to become a mother. It is not how well you take care of
your home or tend to every need and want of your husband in quiet submission. Guys
your highest calling is not just being a provider or fathering children. Your
highest calling is what will you do with Jesus? Perhaps we might pay a little
more attention to being people of valor who go about our everyday tasks seeking
to do the Jesus kind of thing for others.
[1] Proverbs
31 can also be taken as the personification of wisdom especially since wisdom
is often referred to as a women in Proverbs. See Proverbs 1:20-33
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