The most likely and perfectly legitimate interpretation of Naomi’s statement,“May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead” is that she is recognizing that Boaz is acting on behalf of family members that have passed away, in this case Naomi’s husband Elimelech and their son Mahlon. But there is no small irony in the parallel that from many perspectives Naomi herself was dead and essentially “remembered” among the living by Boaz’s kind actions.

In that culture, Naomi was an old woman whose husband and sons died and left her without anyone to provide support in her old age. This was a form of “death” in the immediate life. But even more culturally important was the fact that these deaths left her without an heir or descendants to carry on the family name within the collective tribe, which was considered a kind of “eternal” death in that their name and place would be eliminated forever going forward. Due to this situation, it’s no exaggeration for her to be seen as already among the dead, as opposed to those designated as being among the “living” since they had the physical and familial legacy that ensured a presence in future generations.

We may come across individuals who, for one reason or set of circumstances or another, consider themselves already spiritually dead. Things haven’t worked out as they expected, they no longer have hope, they are convinced that time and God is against them. They’re not “struggling” or “rebellious” as much as they’re just plain “defeated”. The path to spiritual restoration rests with us in our ability to show them the practical love and support that makes them realize God has not forgotten nor declared them dead just yet.

To those who embrace wrong and false doctrine, we need to preach the truth; but to those who have been crushed by the weight of life’s hardships, we need to extend love._††_†

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