Ruth
Ruth 1:1–3 “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 sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.”
Ruth 2:12 “The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.”
Beloved,
It is the fullness of your spirit that we call out for today. We are known for the presence of God, and where our footsteps go, so does the Kingdom of God. Within the Book of Ruth there is a story of such love, that when released, brought forth the generations that led us to the Son of God, Jesus. It is in this Shekinah Glory that we find ourselves this day, covered by His tent, grafted in to the heart of God. We are called sons and daughters of the Most High/ It is in the anguish experienced by Naomi, having first lost her home to go to a foreign land because home had experienced incredible drought and famine. Her husband brought her to the land of Moab, where they prospered for a time.
All of these things were watched over by God. He knew their steps and created pathways for them. Upon entering the land of Moab, their family began. Naomi had two sons. As they were about to come of age, Namoi’s husband died. We don’t know how or why, but he was gone. For a short time, Naomi survived through her two sons, by them taking for themselves wives from Moab. If we were to look culturally at these events, we would be puzzled. Every step that they took from leaving Judah to taking Moab wives went against Israel’s law and traditions. But the seed planted so many years before through a woman of Judah (Tamar) continued the line that would lead us to Jesus.
We see Naomi’s two sons dying as well, leaving not just one widow but two more. In the aftermath of these losses, Naomi decided to return to Judah, where things were better and the famine was over. But she told her two daughter-in-laws to return to their Moab families. Both objected to this request, and so Naomi began the trek home. But one daughter-in-law decided to go back to her Moab family, but Ruth did not. Out of her love, came an incredible heart oath, “Where you go (Naomi) I will go. Your people will be my people.. Your God will be my God.” Out of this devotion, these two made the dangerous journey (two women traveling alone) across the path that originally brought them out of famine.
When they arrived in Judah, Naomi understood the law of inheritance, and followed it closely, teaching Ruth what to do, so that just maybe, Naomi’s husband’s name would not fade away but stand for future generations. Ruth gave herself to Naomi’s instruction and soon gained favor with a kinsman, that may redeem them. It took some time, but through the traditions, even the kinsman knew what to do. He would ensure he would be the kinsman, because he understood redemption. Boaz became a model for all to follow, in what it would take to be a redeemer. Through the days that followed, Boaz convinced the nearest kinsman to give it to him, and Boaz became the benefactor of both Ruth and Naomi and produced a son, whose name was Obed, father of Jesse.
God shows us His powerful love and redemption through this short story in the Old Testament. In a few pages, we are reminded of Tamar’s dilemma in the life of Judah generations before. And out of Tamar, generations later came Boaz. This is what I like to call, a knight in shining armor riding on a white horse. I do not know if his horse was white, but that day he entered his field where his workers harvested for him, he took notice of Ruth and fell in love. But he was wearing armor, it is clear that his helmet was salvation; his breastplate was righteousness; his belt was one of truth; his feet were covered in good news; his shield was faith to believe; and his sword was the Word of God, which he wielded at the city gate redeeming Ruth and Naomi, by understanding the wisdom of God’s law. And multiple generations later, long after David and Solomon had sat on their earthly thrones, a child was born, whose name was Jesus. Though his blood was of Holy Spirit, his generations that came before Him endeavored to keep the family line flowing toward destiny and the world’s redeemer was born
