Thursday
Evening Bible Study
January
12, 2012
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Though the book of Ruth does not tell us who the author was, Jewish
tradition has it that Ruth was written by the prophet Samuel.
Ruth 1 – Disaster and Commitment
: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.
:1 when the judges
ruled
The hero of the story, Boaz, will be the great grandfather to King David.
This could be a hundred years or so before the time of David, maybe even around the
time of Samson.
:1 Bethlehem
– “house of bread”
Bethlehem lies along a geographical line that separates the southern desert
regions from areas where crops can be grown.
Play “House of Bread”
video clip
This all plays
into our story as we see the circumstances change for the people living in
Bethlehem.
:1 Moab
The Moabites
were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot and his incestuous relationship with
his daughters (Gen. 19:30-38)
They were the folks that gave Israel a difficult time when they came
through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.
Balak was their
king who had hired Balaam to curse the Israelites.
Play map video
– Bethlehem to Moab.
Moab is located east of the Jordan River from Bethlehem. Depending on where they stayed in Moab, the
journey could have been anywhere from 25 to 50 miles.
:1 there was a
famine
Lesson
Even in dark times, God is at work
The period of the judges were some of the most bleakest in Israel’s
history. We’ve already seen in the last two stories in Judges how great
depravity was going on, and often with a connection with the area of Bethlehem.
Yet while the nation was slipping downhill, God would be at work. Even
while the nation was involved in horrible things, a family was growing, a family that would
give birth to a king, David.
That same family
would be bring the world another blessings as well:
(Mic 5:2
NKJV) “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.”
: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.
In Bible times, a person’s name had significance. Often, there was a
prophetic aspect about a name.
:2 Elimelech
– “my God is king”
I think there’s an interesting turn in events. In the two previous stories
involving Bethlehem and the troubled nation of Israel, the catch phrase was,
“there was no king in Israel”.
Now there will be an eventual change for the better for Israel, and it will
start with a man whose name is “my God is king”.
:2 Naomi
– “my delight”
:2 Mahlon
– “sick”
:2 Chilion
– “pining”
I wonder who names their kids “sick” and “pining”? Yet that’s what will happen to them…
:2 Ephrathites – “fruitfulness”
The word is
used to describe descendants of Ephraim (whose name means “fruitful”). It is not used that way here.
It is also used
to describe those who live in Ephrath or Ephrathah, another name for Bethlehem.
It’s an extension
of the idea of “house of bread”. It was
a fruitful place.
: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.
:4 wives of the
women of Moab
This is not necessarily a good thing. The Moabites were not godly people.
There was some bad history between Israel and Moab. The Moabites were worshipers of the god
Chemosh, a deity whose worship was similar to that of Baal.
When Israel was about to cross into the Promised Land, it was the Moabites
that caused such great trouble to Israel by hiring Balaam. As a result, God
said,
(Dt 23:3 NKJV) “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none
of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever,
Though it was not expressly forbidden for a Jewish boy to marry a Moabite,
it might have been considered an unwise thing.
:4 Orpah
– “neck”, or “back”
The Jewish sages say she was named this because she would turn her “back”
on Naomi.
:4 Ruth
– “friendship”
Lesson
God uses outcasts
What we’re going to see is how God is able to take someone who is
“unacceptable”, and use her to bring great blessings.
This is grace.
Where the “Law” would exclude Ruth, God in His grace would include her. She is
included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ:
(Mt 1:1–6
NKJV) —1 The book
of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham
begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah
begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot
Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon
begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth,
Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her
who had been the wife of Uriah.
:4 ten years
They lived in Moab for quite a time.
:5 Then both
Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her
husband.
:5 Mahlon and
Chilion also died
Was it a mistake for Elimelech to take his family to Moab?
I can see why some would say “yes”.
Elimelech abandoned his heritage in the Promised Land. He left Israel.
Sojourning was something you did for a couple of months, but they ended up
staying ten years.
He stayed so long that his boys married Moabite gals instead of Israeli
gals.
People move during times of famine because they don’t want to die. Yet in
the end, his move ended with his own death and the death of his two sons.
Lesson
Life is messy
Though you could make a case that Elimelech made bad decisions, his wife
did survive the ordeal.
And I don’t see a whit of condemnation for the decisions they made.
Sometimes we too make what seem to be bad decisions. Sometimes we look back at our decisions and
wonder why we chose those things.
I’m not trying to make an excuse for poor decision making, but sometimes
it’s better to make a decision than to sit there and do nothing.
Be careful of getting “analysis paralysis”.
Sometimes even the decisions you think are good can come with
difficulties.
Even though you could make a case for the trip to Moab being a disaster, if
Elimelech hadn’t taken his family to Moab, there would be no Ruth.
And Ruth is GOOD.
(Ro 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
: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.
Naomi heard that there was now “bread” in Bethlehem, the “house of 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.
: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.
Naomi is releasing her daughter-in-laws from any obligation to follow her.
She’s hoping that they will be able to remarry and find rest with their new
husbands.
: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,
:12 too old to have
a husband
Naomi is past the age of childbearing.
You’ll see why this is important in a minute…
: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!”
:11 sons in my womb
Levirite Law
– There was a tradition and eventually a Law of Moses concerning the death of a
spouse. If a couple were married and had
no children and the husband died, then the brother of the husband was to marry
the widow in order to have children with her.
The children would be considered offspring of the dead husband.
You see this
with the three sons of Judah (Gen.
38). The oldest son died,
then the next son married Tamar, but he also died. The third son was too young to marry, so
Judah had Tamar wait until he was grown up, but he apparently was a bit
reluctant to have the third son marry this gal as well – perhaps it was her
cooking that was deadly.
The custom became law with Moses:
(Dt
25:5–10 NKJV) —5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son,
the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the
family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and
perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn son
which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may
not be blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to take his
brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate to the elders,
and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in
Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ 8 Then the elders of
his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and
says, ‘I do not want to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him
in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his
face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not build up
his brother’s house.’ 10 And his name shall be called in Israel,
‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’
You’re going to see some of this law (removing the shoe)
come in to the story at the end.
:14 Then they
lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but
Ruth clung to her.
:14 Orpah kissed her mother-in-law
She kissed Naomi goodbye.
:14 Ruth clung to
her – dabaq – to cling,
stay close, cleave, keep close, stick with, follow closely, join to
This is the same word used about Adam and Eve
(Ge 2:24
NKJV) Therefore
a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
We often think of this word (“cleave” or “join”) as being synonymous with
sex, and that’s probably because of the “one flesh” phrase. But to be honest, I don’t see a hint of sex
in this specific word, nor in any of the 52 times that the word is used in the
Old Testament.
I think the “one flesh” does speak of sex, but it comes AFTER the “leave”
and the “cleave” take place.
It’s about commitment and connection.
There are going to be some lessons about marriage found in the relationship
of Ruth and Naomi.
: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.”
:15 return after your sister-in-law
Naomi gives Ruth a chance to change her mind.
Ruth’s commitment is going to be made out of her own free will, not
something that’s forced on her or because she is manipulated into it through
guilt.
: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.”
:16 wherever you go
Lesson
The nature of commitment
We don’t know a lot about commitment these days. I want to talk about Ruth’s commitment to
Naomi and how it reflects in two areas of our commitments.
Commitment in
marriage
Commitment to Jesus
There are five aspects of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi
1. Go
Sometimes in relationship things change.
People move from one place to the next.
Commitment in marriage means that when you move, I will move with you.
It means that even if I’m comfortable staying where I am,
I will move because I want to be with you.
Not just location. Maybe career.
Our relationship with God ought to be the same.
There may be times when God says “go”, and we need to go.
2. Stay
Life is not all about moving every six months.
Sometimes the thing to do is to “stay”.
Sometimes things in life get hard, and we want to “move” away.
Some aspects of growing up and maturing never occur in some lives because
they are always moving and never learning the lessons that come from learning
to “stay”.
3. People
I’ve heard people say to their spouse, “I married you, not your mother”, or
“I married you, not your family”.
And there is some
truth to that. It’s important that the
in-laws have some sort of distance from a marriage.
But you can’t separate a person entirely from their family.
I’ve seen cases where one spouse works to completely
separate the other spouse from any contact with their family.
I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
Whether you like it or not, your spouse’s family is a part
of who they are. I’m not sure it’s a
healthy thing to completely separate from family.
When we cling to God, we also learn to cling to His people.
The longer you spend time in church, you will find that
there are people that are easy to spend time with, and there are people that
are a little more difficult.
But all of them are God’s people. All of them are “our” people.
We need to learn how to get along with each other, to be
gracious with each other, to help each other.
4. God
There’s a reason why we don’t do marriages between a believer and a
non-believer. There shouldn’t be a
conflict between “my god” and “your god”.
The Bible says,
(2 Co 6:14 NKJV) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light
with darkness?
God ought to be the center of your marriage.
5. Death
The marriage vow has the line, “’til death do us part”
Our commitment to God ought to be like this – that we will serve Him until
we die.
:18 When she
saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
:18 she was
determined
John Wesley wrote:
“See the power of resolution! Those who are half-resolved, are like a door
a-jar, which invites a thief. But resolution shuts and bolts he door, and then
the devil flees from us.”
: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?”
:19 Is this Naomi?
This gal has changed in the last ten years.
:20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the
Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
:20 Naomi
– “my delight”
:20 Mara
– “bitterness”
: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.
:22 the beginning
of barley harvest
Around the end of March.
:21 the Almighty
has afflicted me
Lesson
Dealing with bitterness
We mentioned on Sunday the danger of allowing bitterness to stay in our
hearts.
(Heb
12:15 NKJV) looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest
any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
Bitterness causes trouble and defiles others
Illustration
The elderly couple
had been married for 50 years -- 50 full years of misery. They had fought every
day of their marriage. It was the typical standoff: she said she would change
when he did, and he said he would change when she did.
The couple’s children threw a 50th wedding anniversary party for
them. After the celebration had ended and the guests were gone, the wife turned
to her husband and said, “We’ve lived together for 50 years, but its been
miserable. We’ve fought every day.”
She paused. “Now I think it’s time to change. In fact, I’ve been praying
that things would change. I’ve been praying that the Lord would take one of us
home. And when he answers my prayer...I’m going to go live with my sister in
Grand Rapids!”
Illustration
An old missionary
couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to
retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated,
discouraged, and afraid. They
discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy
Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.
No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that
accompanied the President’s entourage, with passengers trying to catch a
glimpse of the great man.
As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife,
“Something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for
God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here
this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but
nobody gives two hoots about us.”
“Dear, you shouldn’t feel that way,” his wife said.
“I can’t help it; it doesn’t seem right.”
When the ship
docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and
other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President’s arrival,
but no one noticed this missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found
a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to
make a living in the city.
That night the man’s spirit broke. He said to his wife, “I can’t take this;
God is not treating us fairly.”
His wife replied, “Why don’t you go in the bedroom and tell that to the
Lord?”
A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was
completely different. His wife asked, “Dear, what happened?”
“The Lord settled it with me,” he said. “I told him how bitter I was that
the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as
we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on
my shoulder and simply said, ‘But you’re not home yet!’”
-- Ray Stedman, Talking to My Father
Lesson
Don’t quit.
Naomi doesn’t see it right now. All she sees is the devastation that has
occurred to her family.
She doesn’t realize that she has a treasure right under her nose.
Illustration
Danny Sampson
used a hand-me-down Colt .45 to rob a bank in Canada, getting away with $6,000.
When the Mounties caught up with him, they confiscated the gun and sent it to
their laboratory, where
it was recognized as a collector’s item. Danny discovered that he didn’t have
to rob a bank; his gun
was worth $100,000.
Hang in there. Wait until the end of the story.
Naomi – you may seem bitter now, but girl you’re only in chapter one. Wait until you see how things work out in
chapter four!!
Ruth 2 – Ruth Meets Boaz
:1 There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the
family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz.
:1 a relative of
Naomi’s husband
We’re going to see that there are laws about helping out your relatives,
and Boaz was such a man.
The writer informs us that Naomi has a kinsman, but keep in mind, Ruth as
of yet doesn’t know anything about this.
:1 great wealth
That’s helpful.
:1 Boaz
– “fleetness”
I have this notion that there was a fairly significant age difference
between Boaz and Ruth. Ruth
could be in her mid twenties (marrying age + ten years). Perhaps Boaz was in
his forties or beyond. Later Boaz will be surprised that Ruth is paying any
attention to him at all rather than pursuing the “young men” (3:10).
: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.”
:2 glean
The Law required that when you harvested your field that you left some of
the produce in the field to be picked up by the poor.
(Dt 24:19
NKJV) “When you
reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not
go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,
that the Lord your God may bless
you in all the work of your hands.
Instead of just giving a free handout, the poor were allowed to go into the
fields and pick up what was left after the harvesters went through.
Ruth is going to go out into the fields to support herself and her
mother-in-law.
: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.
:3 she happened to
come to
Coincidence:
When God does a miracle and remains
anonymous.
: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.”
:9 the young men
He won’t allow anyone to take advantage of Ruth. She is under his protection.
: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.”
:11 fully reported
to me
Boaz knows all about Ruth. He knows
that she is a part of Naomi’s family. He
knows what a good woman she is.
Lesson
A good reputation
(Pr 22:1
NLT) Choose a
good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than
silver or gold.
(Pr 24:8 NLT) —8 A person who plans
evil will get a reputation as a troublemaker.
Illustration
Not much more can happen to you after you lose your reputation and your
wife.
-- John Mitchell, Former Member of the Nixon
Administration. As Quoted by Jim Zabloski in, 25 Most Common Problems in
Business, (Broadman-Holman, 1996), p. 91
:13 Then she
said, “Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and
have spoken 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.
:14 dip your piece
of bread in the vinegar
This was the same practice at meals in Jesus’ day. It was like eating at a Mexican restaurant and
dipping your chips in the bowl of salsa on the table. It was something that you only did with
friends. It was connected to friendship.
(Jn
13:25–27 NKJV) —25 Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is
it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I
have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas
Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan
entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
What we often miss when Jesus dips the bread in the sauce and gives it to
Judas, was that it was a sign of close friendship to share your bread like
that. It also shows us that Judas was
probably sitting right next to Jesus at the Last Supper.
:14 kept some back
She’s eating at the meal given to the workers in the field. She is going to set aside a portion of the meal for Naomi who
is not at the meal, like asking for a doggy bag. She is providing for her mother-in-law.
:15 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.
:16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it
that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”
:16 bundles fall
purposely
Boaz is making it easy for Ruth to gather a good portion of grain.
KJV: “handfuls of purpose”
Over the years there have been various books written by various authors with
this phrase used as the title. The idea
has been that God
has dropped “handfuls” of spiritual food which is picked up by those eager to
“glean” from His Word.
Cool idea.
:17 So she gleaned
in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about
an ephah of barley.
:17 ephah
– estimated to be about 30
pounds of grain. That’s a lot of
grain. She’s been working hard.
Lesson
Hard work
Ruth didn’t take it easy once she found out about Boaz’s offer to help. She
works hard all day.
Ruth is a “virtuous woman” like Solomon describes:
(Pr 31:27 NKJV) She
watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
I think part of the “formula” of God working in Ruth’s life was that she
was willing to work hard.
: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.
:18 what she had
kept back
Those were the “leftovers”
that Ruth had put in a “doggy bag” to bring home.
: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.”
:19 Where have you gleaned today?
Naomi can tell that someone has been VERY generous to Ruth in her
gleaning. She doesn’t just come back
with a handful of grain, but buckets of it.
: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 our close relatives.”
:20 one of our
close relatives
Naomi knows that Boaz qualifies as a kinsman redeemer.
We’ll look at that more next week.
: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 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.
:23 the end of
barley harvest and wheat harvest
The barley
harvest would be over by April, the wheat harvest would be over by July.
She’s got herself a nice little job for the next couple of months.
:23 she dwelt with her mother-in-law
She not only stays with Naomi when things are bad, but she stays with Naomi
when things are good.