"What's the Scoop on..........Ruth?"

Tuesday in bible study Jan taught on Ruth.  Her lesson  was set against the backdrop of a picture of an onion to give us a powerful visualization.  She compared the story of the Book of Ruth to the layers of an onion, drawing us deeper into a greater understanding of our God.

Layer 1: God’s hated land of Moab. The Book of Ruth opens with the story of a Jewish man, Elimelech, and his family. They Had left their home in Bethlehem during a time of famine to live in Moab. Throughout the history of Israel, Moab had been a source of conflict and affliction for the Jewish people.  In Deu. 23:3 the Lord commands “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation”.  Not only did Elimelech move his family to this land, but both of his sons married Moabite women.

Layer 2: God sees a light in the darkness. After a time in Moab, Elimelech and his two sons die.  Left behind are his wife Naomi and his two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpha.  Jan pointed out that when tragedy strikes, very often we want to go home. That is exactly what Naomi wanted to do.  She was filled with bitterness over the circumstances of her life.  

As Naomi was leaving Moab she told Orpha and Ruth to stay in Moab; she had nothing to offer them in the way of a future.  Despite Naomi’s insistence, Ruth chose to accompany Naomi to Bethlehem.  In the darkness there was a glimmer of light. “But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17).

Layer 3: God looks at the heart.  Ruth, the glimmer of light, was a Moabitess. In the last few weeks of Bible study we have seen how God differentiates between the judgment on a nation and the judgment of an individual.  The land of Moab was evil but Ruth chose to make the Lord her God. As it says in 1 Sam. 16:7c  “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”.

Layer 4: God sets up situations. In you read through the book of Ruth from beginning to end you will clearly see the hand of God at work.  Upon returning to Bethlehem Ruth must go out to the fields to gather grain so that she and Naomi will not starve.  She happens upon the field of Boaz.  Boaz knows of Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi and grants her favor, providing both protection and abundant provisions. Boaz also happens to be a family relative of Elimelech.  "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers” (Ruth 2:20b).  This is significant, as Jan pointed out, to the 5^th layer of the story.

 

Layer 5: The Kinsmen Redeemer. The kinsman redeemer played an important role in ancient Israelite society.  This man would avenge the deaths of family members, claim inheritances for poor family members, and marry the widow of a dead male relative. In the story of Ruth the closest male relative had forfeited this position which put Boaz in the position of the kinsman redeemer of Naomi’s family.   Boaz acted in integrity and honored his position and responsibility.  

While the kinsman redeemer is important in the Book of Ruth, it points to something even more amazing in our own lives.  Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer! He has rescued us, paid the debt for our sin, and redeemed us. Because of what he has done we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4b).

God is the Core: At the very center of the story of Ruth is the Lord.  God’s hand is on the events from the beginning to the end.  This is a story about a single family but it is a far greater story about the redemption of mankind.  The fruit of Boaz’s and Ruth’s union is a son.  This son goes on to become the grandfather of King David, the human ancestor of Jesus Christ!

Jan reminded us in Proverbs 3: 5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”.  In our own lives God is always at work even when we don’t realize it.  Our circumstances may be far from ideal but God uses these things even when we don’t understand.  It is His desire that our faith and compassion grow.  The core of the Book of Ruth is God.  Our relationship with God needs to be at the very core of our own lives!

“This is what the LORD says--your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17).