Ruth Quotes

“People need to know that they are not alone, that they have not been abandoned. Basic human contact—the meeting of eyes, the exchanging of words—is to the psyche what oxygen is to the brain. If you’re feeling abandoned by the world, interact with healthy people, if they can be found.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 43”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“What a strange creation we are. We are no more than a thin-skinned volition, propelled by intent, through a sea of other people’s coercions.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 145”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“How sad that religious communities don’t put more effort into matchmaking, since the practice has divine origins. Sometimes outsiders know, for some rhyme or reason, that some individuals just rhyme, when they are together.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 71”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Until we are alone in the world, we may not realize the extent of how our community is designed for couples. Ruth was no longer part of that couple-community. Even if invited to gatherings, Ruth would still feel awkward in a setting of mostly couples—and the couples would feel awkward for her . . . and nothing feels worse than that.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 71”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Consider Ruth’s evening walk from the barley fields to town. That difficult walk home must have reminded her how alone she was; not because she was new in Bethlehem, but because she was tired, carrying a heavy bag of grain, with no husband to help her.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 71”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“There are many professions, but for a woman of the soil, she may need the services of an attorney once in a lifetime. But Ruth will need a farmer 3 times a day for the rest of her life. How fortuitous: Boaz is a farmer. A woman needs a farmer (or a farmer-type) through her entire life cycle.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 71”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“One enduring aspect of godly conditioning, is shared intelligence that helps avoid future failures. Shared intelligence teaches us that things break—people break.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 52”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Like all of us, Boaz must have suffered a crisis of meaning that comes with the financial setbacks of a famine. His community watched him face, and sometimes get defeated by weather and ever decreasing opportunities. But, Boaz stayed. Real men stay.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 51”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Some women, who know their legal rights as a gleaner, might rush the field, running, grabbing, and galloping home without expressing gratitude to the landlord. Not Ruth. Despite her impoverished state, she still behaves with the decorum of a princess.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 49”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“This casual exchange destroys the superstition that God’s holy name should never be spoken aloud or written. The facts are, faithful servants have used God’s holy name—in common parlance—from ancient times to the present. (Joh 17:26) For example: long before Moses was born, his mother had a given name that contained God’s holy name: Jochebed = “Yah-is-glory” (#H3115).
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 46”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Like the other faithful men who stayed in Israel, Boaz endured the famine. Long before our birth, millions faced tragedies—without a word—because they busied themselves with solutions.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 46”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“In addition to his other descriptions, Boaz is also a farmer. Agriculture was the 1st step toward civilizing a man. No wonder Yahweh made Adam a farmer before He made Adam a husband. (compare Ge 2:15 to Ge 2:18)
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 45”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Ruth’s adoption wasn’t too far from what today’s natural Jews must do, when they want to join the Messiah’s heavenly family: “but when the completion of the time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons.” –Gal 4:4-5
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 43”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Fresh activity is the best way to conquer depression. Ruth, not the type to linger in grief, took the initiative to contribute to her very-small household. Ruth was anxious to know and be known by her new community.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 41”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Why does Yahweh strengthen us instead of removing our problem? He prefers that we grow in valor, rather than coddle us into weakness.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 39”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Ruth, as a teenage convert, is less than zero. As a Moabite, she is 10 generations away from citizenship. Less than zero. This setback, however, is a small setback for someone with huge faith. (Mt 17:20) As tragic as Ruth’s situation seems, humans can adapt to, and overcome, anything. You can too.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 36”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Maybe her silence was another way to express scorn. There is a saying: empty vessels make the loudest sounds. Maybe that was the principal behind Naomi’s silence. Maybe she was emptied, spent, angry.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 31”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Converts leave something of themselves behind when they leave their homeland. Yahweh is not the King of Moab. He’s the King of Israel. Some things still live inside converts that can come back to life, should they re-embrace their former culture.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 30”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“There comes a time when we must rebel against the stop signs, detours, and bad counsel to stick with Yahweh. All those no’s create character, with a deeper shade of empathy. Carry on Ruth. To hell with all those human roadblocks.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 29”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Rejection can make a legend out of the common woman—if she can fight past the rejection.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 29”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Ruth must have loved Yahweh, because she would live at the bottom of the social ladder for a long time. Despite her conversion, for the rest of her life, she would wear the stench of an outsider. As this chapter’s subhead states, Ruth was at the bottom of God’s community.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 27”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Every storm ends. The skies are usually clearer; the soil is usually richer; that combination will help you to be more receptive to community love.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 27”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“If grief is a spiral, we must ask ourselves: are we spiraling up or down? On some days we may not be able to answer that question. You can only follow the best you can, but grief hits like a storm that clouds our North Star while pushing us off course.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 27”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Unlike everyone else in Israel, she and her descendants cannot become citizens of Israel for 10 generations. (De 23:3-7) What could be worse than a Moabite convert? A widowed Moabite convert!
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 27”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Can this be true? Their own sister-in-faith is sending them back to Moab? We should expect rejection, both inside and outside of God’s organization. Just remember this: no other human has your commission. No other human has your vision. No other human knows where you come from or where you’re going. Don’t expect applause. All such accolades come after success. Every great hero had to, 1st, learn to live with rejection.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 24”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Naomi seems to think “rest” and “husbands” can be found in Moab. “Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as at the time of Massah in the desert, when your ancestors challenged me, put me to the test, and saw what I could do! For forty years that generation sickened me, and I said, ‘Always fickle hearts; they cannot grasp my ways.’ Then in my anger I swore they would never enter my place of rest.” –Ps 95:8-11
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 23”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“To be fair, the pleasure of home and memories had been ripped from Naomi. Not all at once. There is a problem with widowhood: the survivor has no one to remember with. Their co-rememberer can no longer remind them of what they shared. Our dead take our memories with them.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 21”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“Regarding the Bible codes: Ge 38 tells the story of Judah and Tamar. Tamar gave birth to Perez and Zerach. As the book of Ruth points out, Perez started a lineage that led to Boaz. Does Ge 38 connect to the book of Ruth, in other ways? As expected, the names Boaz, Ruth (beginning at Ge 38:11), Obed (beginning at 38:20), Jesse, and David (beginning at Ge 38:28), are spelled out with identical numeric skips (minus 49) . . . and, they appear in chronological order!
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 19”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“The emotions of grief are ageless. Widows often feel they have lost their purpose in life. The worst part of a widow’s day is when her comforters leave. Every part of her daily routine has a kink in it, especially when it’s time to go to sleep. Going to bed without hearing someone say, goodnight, feels like leaving the period off the end of a sentence.
Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 18”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material

“We can never know what Naomi was feeling. Bereavement is an impenetrable darkness, as unique as snowflakes. Loss of a loved one is the sharpest challenge to our trust in God. If we survive that, life’s most challenging mountain is behind us. Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: a woman’s guide to husband material, pg 11”
― Michael Ben Zehabe, Ruth: A Woman's Guide to Husband Material