The Mother-In-Law Trivia Quiz

Answer: Moab - due to a famine at home

Yes, we came to the land of Moab (although you may call it 'Jordan' today), because a famine had ravaged our homeland of Israel, as told at the beginning of Ruth 1.

I don't know if it was because we as a family did not put our trust in God or exactly what, but my husband and two adult sons all perished. This left me alone except for my two grieving daughters-in-law.

I tried my best to discourage each of them from traveling with me back to my homeland, and one of them sorrowfully took off, but one of them would have none of it. She insisted that my people would be her people and that my God would be her God. So off we went, back to where I had originally started out from a while back.

Answer: Mara

Yes. I asked them to call me Mara, which meant, "BITTER". I felt rather bitter about things turning out the way they had, and they were right... things HAD been rough. So, I thought that I'd just give 'em what they were asking for, and let them call me names. I thought, well, if you can't beat 'em; join 'em!

In Ruth 1:20 I had this to say to my friends...

"And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?"

Answer: Bethlehem

We settled down in Bethlehem, just as the barley harvest was coming in. Talk about fortuitous! (Or maybe it was one of God's hidden blessings). Ruth, my daughter-in-law, was not a lazy woman. She went right to work, gleaning in the fields. Gleaning is kind of like cleaning up the remains after the harvesters go through and get all the good stuff. Whatever they drop or miss, others can have. So she worked hard, and since I was an old woman, I wasn't really able to help her take care of us.

She was our only source of food, but she didn't complain. (Did I mention that I just loved her?!)

Answer: he told her to continue gleaning in his fields

Boaz gave Ruth strict instructions to not go anywhere else to work, but to continue following his servants around the field. He told her to stay near his servant girls for her protection and warned his field hands to leave her alone.
(Ruth 2:8-9)

Answer: I was pleased and spoke God's blessings on him

I was simply overjoyed that Boaz, a close relative of my deceased husband had taken her into his watchful care. I knew of his reputation, and felt confident that he would ensure her safety and both of our well-being.

As Ruth 2:19-23 says,

"... The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest. And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law."

Answer: meet him tonight as he works threshing the barley

My primary concern was for Ruth to find a nice young man who would treat her right. (How much more like a mother can THAT sound!) I wanted her to have safety and security, but Boaz, like most men, had to be coaxed into things. So, I simply told her to be sure and be clean and sort of lay low. Knowing men as I do, I knew that any future relationship between them would have to seem to be his own idea; otherwise it just wouldn't work out.

Ruth 2:1-4 says,

"Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor. Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do."

Answer: six measures of barley

You must understand; we lived in an agricultural society, and nearly everything that was traded was in forms of garden produce, animal husbandry, grape vines, olives, etc. In other words, people dealt and bartered in the fruit of the land on which they dwelt. It was a concern of Boaz that I, a respected elderly relative, should be dealt with consideration. I appreciated that! He was such a nice young man!

Ruth 3:15-17 says,

"... Also he said, Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her: and she went into the city. And when she came to her mother in law, she said, Who art thou, my daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six measures of barley gave he me; for he said to me, Go not empty unto thy mother in law."

Answer: to be patient and wait for Boaz to make up his mind

Sometimes a woman just has to be patient. No matter how we try to manipulate men, (for their own good, usually), we cannot predict just how they'll respond to it. Maybe he would; maybe he wouldn't. I tried my best to play match-maker. Now the ball was in his court.

Ruth 3:18 reports, "Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day."

Answer: some land

Ruth and I were barely getting by, and I thought that perhaps we could get along a little better if we had some type of income. Ruth was doing all that she could to keep us in bread and butter, but I felt that I should do something too, even if I was too old to work.

Ruth 4:3 says,

"And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's."

Answer: Obed

What a grand ending to our story! It couldn't be better if it ended with "...and they all lived happily ever after." My former daughter-in-law's child would later become the father and grandfather of KINGS! David, and later his son, Solomon would become the king of our nation. Of course, I don't know that yet, but you do!

Ruth 4:16-17 says,

"And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. And the women her neighbours gave it 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."

(Salmon was the father of Boaz.)