The Book of Ruth

The book of Ruth poignantly describes a story of redemption and love. Ruth, a Moabite woman and one of the book's main characters, was saved by the sovereign care of God. Through her relationship with her late husband and mother-in-law, Naomi, Ruth learned about the God of Israel, became his devoted follower, and faithfully followed his lead. Undoubtedly, this decision did not come without cost for Ruth. However, through obedience to Yahweh, she found greater blessing — both the provision she needed to survive and a central role in the family line of Jesus Christ (Ru 4:18 - 22; Mt 1:5).

Ruth's story takes place during a time when a series of judges led the people of God. This period is known to have been a time of extreme moral decline and spiritual poverty. The story of Ruth and Boaz provides a glimpse of the hope of redemption that can come even amid overwhelming cultural chaos and immorality.

Ruth's loyalty toward Naomi throughout the book symbolizes the type of covenant love God shows to his people. Even though Ruth was originally unfamiliar with the Law of God, she received God's gracious blessings.

God's sovereign work is seen throughout the story of Ruth and Boaz. The odds seemed stacked against their relationship from the outset — Ruth was an outsider who, after suffering significant loss, followed her mother-in-law to Bethlehem. She had every reason to feel discouraged and defeated. Without a husband or a family, Ruth's prospects were dim. She was a poverty-stricken widow scraping out a meager existence by gleaning what the harvesters left in the wheat fields. What she could not see is transparent to the modern reader - God was orchestrating all the seemingly isolated events of her life to bring her to the knowledge of the one true and living God and into the blessing that he had promised to his children.

A central concept of the book and the role played by Boaz, Ruth's eventual husband, is that of a guardian-redeemer. In ancient Israel, a man's nearest relative was expected to marry a widow and provide for her needs to fulfill her husband's obligations, including providing an heir. Boaz claimed that responsibility for Naomi's deceased husband and sons dramatically changing the lives and the futures of both Ruth and Naomi. Like Boaz, Jesus was a guardian-redeemer. He paid the ultimate price for humanity's redemption — his blood — and claimed his people by the power of his love, changing their eternal futures. Boaz's love for Ruth is a picture of the way that God loves his church. He takes notice of her, redeems her, lavishes grace upon her, and places her within the community of faith as her guardian-redeemer.

God blessed the marriage of Ruth and Boaz with a child who would become an ancestor to King David and later a part of the earthly line of the promised Messiah.

"May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” - Ruth 2:12

This excerpt was from The Jesus Bible. If you would like to purchase a copy of The Jesus Bible,

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