Ruth’s Story, Our Story: Exploring Faith, Migration, and Belonging as Asian Americans

Oct 30, 2024

grayscale photo of 2 person walking on wooden pathway — Photo by Ben Allan on Unsplash

By Dr. Julia Zhao, Associate Pastor in Residence of First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso

The book of Ruth comes as a surprise. In the time of the judges, in which “everyone did what was right in their own eyes,”1 comes this tender story of a family. It is a family which, through various tragedies, came to consist of two women, one Israelite and one Moabite, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It is a relationship set up for antagonism. However, these two women loved each other so much that they clung to each other even when the obvious connection between them, Ruth’s husband and Naomi’s son, was no longer in the picture. Ruth stayed with Naomi even when she must leave her people and become a migrant. Through this love and faithfulness to her mother-in-law, she gained a new family, a new community and was taken under the wings of the Almighty One of Israel.

I have always been moved by the quiet strength shown by Ruth and the gentle hand of God under whose wings she came for refuge. However, it is only recently that I began to appreciate what this story might have to say to and about the experiences of Asian Americans.

Ruth has been identified as the story of the model convert. Jewish tradition honors her as one who chooses God for herself, not under compulsion or because she was raised in the faith.2 However, it is also a story about migration, so much so that it has been called a “pro-immigration” story at a time of anti-immigration bias.3 In the opening verses of chapter 1, we are told that there was a famine in Bethlehem, and Elimelech and his family went to live in Moab. Note that this is not a spiritual journey. Unlike Abram4, they were not being called; rather, like many immigrants and refugees today, they moved in order to survive.

There is no indication that they were particularly pious. In fact, going to Moab could indicate a lack of faith in God’s providence. Moabites were especially despised by the Israelites. Neighbors and friends may have warned Elimelech and Naomi that going to Moab would expose their sons to idolatrous influences.

When they arrived in Moab, Elimelech, the head of the household, died, leaving his wife a widow and his sons without a father. His sons married Moabite women.5 In Genesis, the ancestor of the Moabites is said to be the result of the incestuous union between Lot and his older daughter.6 Deuteronomy names Moabites among those excluded from the assembly of Israel.7 The marriages between Naomi’s sons and Orpah and Ruth might have been seen as tragedies and the expected result of raising one’s family in a foreign land.

And then, both of Naomi’s sons died, leaving all three women without an adult male in their household. Since there is no mention of children, one can assume that there was another layer of tragedy, a lack of descendants at a time when sons were considered a necessity for survival. Naomi, now alone with her daughters-in-law, made the decision to return to her homeland. This, too, had more to do with desperation than faith.

With two Moabite daughters-in-law, theirs was a multi-ethnic, multi-generational household. These two women must have come into their household with their own customs, language, and perhaps their own gods. It was also a household that was in exile from their homeland. All this could easily have led to tension. And yet, when these three women are left with only each other, they clung to one another.

Orpah turns back only with extensive persuasion. Ruth stays with Naomi despite Naomi’s attempts to convince her to turn back.8 Her promise to Naomi has been made famous to this day: “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”9

This is the second instance of migration in this story and this time, it was Ruth who migrates. Like many migrants today, she was in an exceedingly vulnerable situation. She was a Moabite woman and a part of a household without a man. It is almost certain that she faced discrimination and hardship, exacerbated by cultural barriers, like many first-generation Asian migrants to western countries.

According to the text, Ruth acted like a “model minority.” Gale A. Yee likens her to Chinese Americans, “whose efforts went unacknowledged.”10 She took up the physically taxing job of gleaning to provide for Naomi. She was submissive to her mother-in-law and respectful and modest with Boaz.

The “model minority” was created as a “positive” stereotype to set up Asian immigrants against other people of color. Not only does this ignore the diversity of experiences among Asian Americans but also downplays racism against Asian Americans and reinforces the stereotype of Asians as “perpetual foreigners” who must always work twice as hard to have a place in a country not their own.11

Nonetheless, the advice given to many Asian Americans, from parents and elders, is to work hard, assimilate and “find favor” in the land to which we or our ancestors have migrated. In my own life, the desire to be Canadian became simultaneous with being drawn towards Christ and the church. As an immigrant child seeking belonging and stability, I too, found refuge under the wings of the Lord.

The book of Ruth has been criticized by feminist commentators because of the emphasis on Ruth’s deference to the patriarchal norms of Israelite society.12 It may indeed be true that the author intended to communicate norms expected of Israelite women and the advantages of the kinsman-redeemer system. Nonetheless, her story still provides hope that even seeming compliance with the system to which one migrates, by necessity or genuine conviction, does not preclude individuality or vocation.

Ruth decided for herself to migrate and to claim Naomi’s God as her own. As the younger of the pair, she literally became the breadwinner by gleaning the grain that the Law of Moses commanded to be left for the poor.13 She learned the norms of Israelite society and took the initiative in how she carried herself and with whom she associated.

Rabbinical commentators state that the main theme of the book of Ruth is chesed (Hebrew, “loving kindness”) between Ruth, Naomi and Boaz and ultimately the chesed of God towards all of them.14 This is true, and yet, even in receiving chesed from Boaz, Ruth did not lose her identity. When Boaz asked to whom she belonged, his servant responded that she came back with Naomi from Moab and asked to glean in the fields.15 Not only does she take the initiative to ask to glean, but this exchange makes clear that Ruth did not belong to anyone; rather, she came with Naomi of her own accord.16

The plan which Naomi and Ruth invent to secure their future was not unlike many immigrant families who work together to find ways to secure prospects for their children and themselves. They work inside the system, but also show creativity and take risks. Having been extraordinarily modest up to this point, Ruth adorned herself and went to lay down alone at Boaz’s feet. Much of her willingness to do this no doubt stemmed from her trust in Boaz’s chesed. Nonetheless, her desire to secure a place for herself in Israelite society, her trust in the God of Israel and her sense of vocation in this new land must also have propelled her forward.

Going out at night, arrayed in finery and anointed with oil and laying down at Boaz’s feet was a significant risk. There was always the possibility that she would be seen by someone else and possibly marked as a prostitute. There was no guarantee that Boaz would have received her kindly. Yet, Ruth acted with boldness. She addressed Boaz directly and confidently, as one worthy of his respect.17

Although Ruth’s is not considered a call story, her initiative in accompanying Naomi to Bethlehem, claiming Israel’s God as her own and proposing marriage to Boaz contains the features of a vocation. For Naomi and her family, the first migration to Moab was due to necessity. The return to Bethlehem was, for Naomi, an act of desperation. For Ruth however, it was to take on a new identity within a new community.

In Bethlehem, her first actions were due to the necessity of providing for herself and Naomi. As often happens with vocations, we are taken to unexpected places and surprised by the challenges we face and the grace of God. For Ruth, the difficulties of integrating into another culture, the risks she took in approaching Boaz at night resulted in a new family and an honored place in her new community where those who had called her foreigner now blessed her in the name of the matriarchs of Israel.18

What does Ruth’s story have to say to Asian Americans? I think that the key lies in the promise: “Where you go, I will go.” It is Ruth’s promise to Naomi, which set off her journey toward a new vocation and a new identity. However, it is also God’s promise to all of them. When Elimelech and Naomi took their sons to Moab, God went with them. When they were left destitute and bereft, God was still with them. Although Naomi was convinced that God had dealt harshly with her, God went everywhere with her and Ruth, and they became a part of God’s plan for the redemption of the world.

The migration journeys of Asian Americans are often due to necessity rather than a sense of calling. Through these journeys they become foreigners and must retain a sense of themselves and their heritage while surviving in the new land. The cultural clashes experienced by Naomi’s family can seem familiar to Asian American families which include intercultural marriages, and the displacement and grief of encountering tragedy while away from one’s original community and support system.

Through the faithfulness of God, unexpected incidents of chesed can take place as well as hardship, discrimination and exploitation. This does not make the latter acceptable but provides hope amid seeming despair. Being loved by God and claimed by Jesus Christ provide an identity that is everlasting and withstands any hardship. It is not a means of escape so much as hope that God’s claim on us is stronger than any claim that anyone else can make. It is the impetus to claim this identity and work towards the justice and dignity which is due each of us. For Ruth and Naomi, the knowledge that they were loved and claimed by the Lord God of the universe gave them the confidence to claim what was due to them.

The story of Ruth is a story about God’s faithfulness, a faithfulness so great that it cannot be overcome by geography or circumstances but also so tender that it is mediated by the simple kindness of imperfect human beings. The conversion, for Ruth and Naomi, lies in turning towards seeing and trusting in the faithfulness of this God. The same faithfulness of the same God can give us hope and confidence that in our own journeys of migration, claiming our identity and healing or pursuing justice and vocation, the voice of the same God whispers the same promise: “Where you go, I will go.”

Ruth’s Story, Our Story: Exploring Faith, Migration, and Belonging as Asian Americans

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