God Loves Little Red Ferrari(s)

by Frank Tyler

[Editor’s Note: This article was written in 2015 in honor of my wife Babbette; she remains my “Ruth,” God’s gift to me, and my vision of beauty.]

Introduction

Maybe it’s the sound of a powerful race motor or the sleek aerodynamic lines that communicate speed or just the brilliance of the Ferrari’s red paint, but even those professing a general dislike for cars turn their heads when a Ferrari drives past. Ironically, the image that the word Ferrari conjures up in our minds dwarfs the reality of the car’s size; the name towers over this small, low-slung racecar. The Bible never mentions automobiles much less Ferrari(s): How then can God love a Ferrari unless we speak in metaphorical terms designed to communicate the excitement, speed, boldness and brilliance of the racetrack? Surprisingly, in this brief overview, we identify one of God’s little red Ferrari(s) in of all places the quiet bucolic countryside surrounding Bethlehem. The all-important question remains: Does this kind of challenging metaphor describe God’s purpose appropriately and in a manner that glorifies Him? And if so, how should Ruth and the story of her race motivate us as husbands and brothers in Christ?

The Story of Ruth

The Start Line

Few Old Testament stories communicate the raw elements needed to overcome personal disaster better than the book of Ruth. Imagine for a moment a Moabite woman married to a transplanted foreigner from Israel only to endure the cruelty of her husband’s death after 10 years of childless marriage. Naomi’s plea and blessing for Ruth and Orpah to return to their people, marry, and have children reveals the utterly desperate circumstances and special relationship they enjoyed with one another : Go, return each to her mother’s house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me (Ruth 1:8).[59] The word translated kindly is the Hebrew word chesed meaning to show “loyal covenantal love.”

So desperate are the circumstances of her loss, Naomi attempts to call the race before it even begins (Ruth 1:11-14). Indeed Orpah returns to her people, but Ruth responds by covenanting herself to Naomi and the One True God of Israel.

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.

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.

(Ruth 1:16-17)

Ruth loves her Mother-in-law Naomi with chesed, loyal covenantal love. Not knowing what lies before her, Ruth, by faith, boldly plunges head long onto a difficult and dangerous racetrack trusting the One True God of Israel to deliver not only her, but her mother in law Naomi also.

From the moment a Ferrari leaves the start line, squealing tires and the sound of a powerful race motor strike a tenuous balance with the beautiful richness of Ferrari red paint. From among a colorful field of cars bristling with magnificent blues, whites, and greens, Ferrari red alone rivets the attention of the spectators. In similar fashion, Ruth’s deep rich love for the Lord and Naomi, chesed, will rivet the attention of all Bethlehem. For those with eyes to see her sculpted red body flying inches from the track and ears to hear the howl of her engine, excitement and anticipation will rule the day. Let the race begin!

Turn One

The difficult turns and twists of the track that lie before Ruth rise up immediately; upon arriving in Bethlehem, Naomi requests the women of the city to call her Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me (Ruth 1:20). Without hesitation God’s little red Ferrari down shifts and flies into turn one: Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor (Ruth 2:2). Naomi’s nominal consent, Go, my daughter, leaves you and I to wonder how Ruth knows to make this first turn unless the Lord Himself quickens her.

Perhaps, the contrast between the earthy colors and relative quiet of the field being reaped and the bright red paint of the little Ferrari with the whine of its motor caught Boaz’s eye (Ruth 2:6-7) when his servant answers his question: Whose young woman is this (Ruth 2:5)? Boaz knows the beauty of a Godly woman and the wonderful opportunity and responsibility to provide for her; therefore, he commands Ruth to glean from his field only. And, under his watchful eye, he warns his men not to touch her (Ruth 2:8-9). Ruth asks the obvious question: Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner (Ruth 2:10)? Boaz’s answer reveals the depth and exquisite beauty of her Ferrari red paint:

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. 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.

(Ruth 2:11-12)

The contrast that day, in the midst of harvesting and gleaning his field, reveal to Boaz two essential things: 1) this Moabite woman, Ruth, belongs to the One True God of Israel and 2) her presence in his field foreshadows an event of God’s own doing.

Boaz’s manner of greeting his workers reveals a servant longing to serve his Lord (Ruth 2:4). After dining with Ruth over bread, he instructs his men to let Ruth glean from among the sheaths (Ruth 2:14-16). To his obvious financial detriment, Boaz willingly blesses Ruth in order to communicate God’s love to her and her mother in law. [60] In turn Naomi pronounces blessing on the one who noticed Ruth: Blessed be he of the Lord, who has not forsaken his kindness (literally the Hebrew word, transliterated chesed, meaning God’s loyal covenantal love) to the living and dead (Ruth 2:20)! As if rising from a premature grave, Naomi responds to God’s love or chesed and actively coaches her daughter-in-law down the long straight away (Ruth 2:19-22): 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 (Ruth 2:23).

The Long Straight Away

God’s blessing on a Moabite woman, through Boaz’s example of chesed, garners the attention of all those with eyes to see; indeed, the deep, rich red of this little Ferrari racing along at top speed contrasts boldly with the dull brown of a field during harvest. Gleaning at the rate of almost an ephah a day, Ruth’s industry and diligence yield spectacular results that the other women of Boaz’s field undoubtedly notice and share with their families and the community at large. Should we permit ourselves a reasonable extrapolation, Ruth and Naomi surely used their newly found abundance to bless the less fortunate of Bethlehem. And if so, in the face of God’s providential blessing, the gossip mounts as the curiosity of the spectators grows each day. Ruth must continue in watchful diligence as she flies down the long straight away in top gear. Afterall, what kind of man blesses a Moabite woman half his age with wages[61] far in excess of what he pays his own men? How will this race end? Will God be glorified in victory or flames?

An Historic and Deadly Hairpin

Turn two, a deadly hairpin with a storied history from a time before Israel was even a nation, now looms like a foreboding graveyard. Regardless of the racetrack, sooner or later all women face this hairpin, but for a Moabite woman like Ruth this particular turn carries an unmistakably special meaning fraught with danger.

Following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot lost his wife; and, his two daughters, their husbands. While living in a cave outside of Zoar, the three faced a dilemma not at all unlike what Ruth now faces: Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth (Genesis 19:31). In the eyes of Lot’s daughters, their empty wombs reveal the sorrow filled futility of their womanhood. Naomi articulates this same dilemma in her admonishment to her daughters in law, Ruth and Orpah:

Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 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, 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! (Ruth 1:11-13)

Whether morally or immorally men and women engage one another sexually, but only God opens the womb of a woman and brings forth life; for this reason, children often times (but, not always) reveal the blessing of God upon a woman’s person as a fulfillment of her design and purpose in creation. [62]

The daughters of Lot take upon themselves a solution to their dilemma: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the linage of our father (Genesis 19:32). From this immoral sexual union between Lot and his daughters, God permits the birth of Moab and Ammon (Genesis 19:37-38). Throughout their histories both nations curse God’s people, Israel.

Many years later, to resolve this moral dilemma, God gave Israel the law of levirate marriage; however, to the ears of this Moabite woman, Naomi’s instructions must seem eerily familiar.

Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.” (Ruth 3:3-4)

After Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was cheerful (Ruth 3:7), how will He respond to having his feet uncovered only to find a Moabite woman lying close to him? Is she merely his for the momentary taking? Ruth faces a timeless dilemma: Will God open her womb? And, if so, how will He open her womb? Will Ruth bring forth a curse like Moab and Ben-ammi (Genesis 19:36-38), or a blessing?

Negotiating this historic hairpin turn, filled with moral significance and personal danger, demands of Ruth a calm spirit and attention to detail; will the little red Ferrari’s tires hold? Before entering the turn Ruth must first grasp the subtle social customs of God’s people and trust in God’s covenantal love for her and her mother in law, namely levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5). Today, the concept of levirate marriage violates our moral standards: How can God honor a dead man by the dead man’s wife marrying a close relation of the man who has died? In like fashion, the very thought of such an arrangement must have burdened Ruth’s mind too. How can she, as a Moabite woman, enter into this unusual covenantal blessing, normally reserved for the children of Israel, without raising the moral outrage of Bethlehem? Will the One True God of Israel bless her faithfulness? Or, will she and Naomi end up under a rock pile at the city gates? If the tires fail, the consequences will devastate both her and Naomi. Thankfully, Ruth trusts in her God.

The Lord keeps Ruth’s tires glued to the rough asphalt of the track; and, by faith the little red Ferrari brilliantly holds the hairpin.

Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, “Who are you?” So she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. (Ruth 3:8-11)

Upon hearing these words, how tempting for Ruth to quickly red line her motor in anticipation of the checkered flag, but Boaz wisely cautions her about the series of quick S turns that lie just before the finish line.

Will God ultimately entrust the keys to the little red Ferrari to Boaz? To find out, Ruth needs to ease off the throttle of her powerful race motor and exercise patience.

Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.” (Ruth 3:11-13)

Likewise, the Godly man must wait upon His Lord to providentially answer, while at the same time, doing all he can to pursue that answer.

The S-Turns

Boaz sends Ruth home to Naomi with six ephahs of grain or roughly 3 months wages for a male field worker (Ruth 3:17). [63] As Naomi comforts her daughter in law (Ruth 3:18), Boaz pursues God for an answer, as if to say through his actions, “Will you entrust the keys to the Ferrari to me? Lord, will you bless me with the opportunity to glorify You by redeeming Ruth?” Boaz’s generous blessing of Naomi and Ruth, prior to any providential answer received from God, reveals the heart of a Godly man steeped in chesed, God’s loyal covenantal love; but, the question remains, how will God respond?

At the gates of Bethlehem, in the presence of the city elders, Boaz inquires of the nearest of kin to Ruth’s deceased husband. You and I never learn the name of this man, but we always remember his catastrophic failure : I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it (Ruth 4:6). With God’s providential answer in hand, [64] Boaz quickly redeems all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s from the hand of Naomi (Ruth 4:9) and acquires Mahlon’s widow Ruth as his wife (Ruth 4:10). This particular day at the gates of Bethlehem cost a great man of God far more than six ephahs of grain, but in turn bestowed upon him and his new bride something far more precious than any material blessing (Ruth 4:11-12). All that remains for Ruth is to take the checkered flag… and that she will do in a manner far more spectacular than her wildest imagination.

The Finish Line

In the eyes of most, Ruth was a tired middle-aged Moabite woman, a bucket of bolts with dents, a rusted body from ten years of childless marriage to a foreigner, and lastly a widow suffering the burden of an embittered Mother-in-law. But, in the hands of God, she runs one of the most beautiful and difficult races ever recorded in His Word. The turns and straightaways of the racetrack always seem different and unique for every Godly woman, but negotiating them to victory requires the same thing each time… faith in the One True God of Israel. For Ruth, this meant the checkered flag: “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jessie, the father of David . Forever to this day Naomi, Boaz and Ruth are remembered as a vital part of the linage of God’s Messiah. Oh, how God loves His little red Ferrari(s)!

Now you and I must ask: Does our overview of the book of Ruth accurately portray the excitement and intensity of God working in the life of Ruth? Or, is our metaphor too racy?

Conclusion

All too often we see this book in light of the Cross and quietly down play Ruth’s role in God’s story, as if to restore a misplaced sense of decency to Ruth by vicariously renaming the book, “Boaz, the Redeemer.” The truth ought to shock us; the book of Ruth is an exciting story about a Moabite woman, who boldly exhibits God’s loyal covenantal love for His people in her relationship with her mother in law Naomi. This is a story about the faithfulness of a foreigner, who loves the One True God of Israel and willing trusts Him with all that she has in life to run a desperate race against time to save her mother in law and herself from destitution.

Hopefully, this brief overview and the metaphor of the little red Ferrari awakens us, as husbands and brothers in Christ, from the slumber of Bethlehem’s bucolic countryside and challenges us to better understand and glorify our Lord for the brilliance of His design and purpose not only in Ruth, but also in all those women of faith (married or not) we call sisters in Christ. Can you and I see the deep rich red of the Ferrari’s love for God, chesed, streaking across His racetrack? Can we sense the intensity of the race at hand and then celebrate as the checkered flag comes down? Can we show loyal covenantal love under impossible circumstances? If we can, then perhaps we too, like Boaz, can be entrusted as husbands and brothers in Christ to glorify our Lord and Savior.

Copyright © 2021 by Frank Tyler; you may copy, print and give away freely, but you may not sell.