We have now covered all four chapters of The Book of Ruth. Let's stop for a moment and let it all sink in.
What have we learned from this beautiful love story that brought us to the subject of perfect redemption?
REDEMPTION OF MANKIND
Of course I think the most wonderful take-away is that the love of Ruth and Boaz brought Obed into the world. Obed continued the royal bloodline that lead to King David and eventually carried us to the birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The most important message we could ever receive from this book is that of the plan for the redemption of mankind by God.
GOD ALWAYS HAS A PLAN
God used Ruth and Boaz to carry out this amazing plan. Little did they understand the complete value and worth of their most unique relationship.
If you are a Christian today you can thank Ruth and Boaz for being servants of God and living into His divine purpose for their lives. This should remind all of us to be careful of knowing our destiny and living into the purposes that God has determined for each of us from the moment of our conception.
EVERY MOMENT MATTERS
Also, this story should remind us that each moment of our time is amazingly important. Time matters, even when we think it doesn't matter. Somewhere down the long line-of-time, everything matters.
We must never forget that this is how God put life into motion. It is also how He will eventually bring all of us back to Him.
As a further reminder, we must live into each of these minutes we are blessed with just as Ruth chose to do when she selflessly followed Naomi into the unknown.
We must keep looking for the purposes of our existence, just as Boaz held on with faith in God as each of his grown children died before him, until the child that God had purposed to live came to be.
FORGETTING THE TRADITIONS OF MEN
Boaz could have followed his own culture's coldness and looked at Ruth as a worthless woman from Moab, instead he saw her as a noble, brave, ambitious, smart woman who was worthy of great love. He loved her enough to leave his whole estate to Obed, the child that God blessed and allowed to thrive.
A GREAT GOD REQUIRES TOTAL LOYALTY
Another thing we must notice with great care is the total loyalty of both Ruth and Boaz.
Ruth was loyal to Naomi and followed her every instruction.
Boaz was loyal to keep his duty as a kinsman redeemer and to look after all who came into his fields to gather. He saw only the best in others. You could say he saw the God in each of them.
Both Ruth and Boaz were totally loyal to trust God in all circumstances and to wait on Him to bring His will about in their lives.
This loyalty led to love, and this love-above-all-love brought blessings upon all of the characters in this story.
THE STORY AND PENTECOST
Many will also remember how this story of Ruth and Boaz plays out in the story of Pentecost each year as we reach the late-spring season.
Moses was commanded to stand at the foot of Mt. Sinai on Pentecost in order to receive the law of God. Ruth was instructed to sleep at the feet of Boaz on the night of the celebration of the harvest in order to be redeemed by this kinsman who discovered her at his feet.
The Hebrew word "be-tachtit" is the preposition which literally means "at the foot of."
The People in the wilderness stood trembling at the foot of the mountain. They knew God in fear. Ruth did not tremble, but came boldly onto the threshing floor to lay at the feet of Boaz. She did not come in fear, but in love.
SEEING THE OLD AND NEW COVENANTS
Sinai symbolizes the old covenant law and Ruth symbolizes the New Covenant.
One covenant is obeyed out of duty and fear. The other is voluntary out of total love and adoration. Jesus showed us the better way. Ruth chose the better way of love over duty.
TODAY'S PENTECOST CELEBRATIONS
Many of the people celebrating Pentecost today stay up all night studying Torah, specifically reading the book of Ruth and laying their hearts out to God. You can't help but see all of the parallels. Ruth also stayed up all night so that she could go lay down at the feet of Boaz.
There at Sinai on the Day of Pentecost Israel had proclaimed their loyalty to God. They had said "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do and obey." Ruth had proclaimed loyalty to Naomi; "Whereever you go, I will go, whereever you lodge, I will lodge, your people shall be my people and your God, my God." Israel made a covenant with God. Ruth made a covenant with Naomi. These two pledges were alike in committment; but different in nature.
UNDERSTANDING THE COUNTING OF THE OMER
If you have ever journeyed through the counting of the Omer and counted the days from Passover until Pentecost, you know and understand how these two pledges were different in nature.
Ruth's actions came from chesed love or lovingkindness and loyalty. It is a love that surpasses all other loves. It never ends, it is a pledge that lasts until death. Ruth told Naomi, "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried." Her love for Naomi and Naomi's Great God was unconditional. There was never a thought of turning back to her past life. She was completely devoted to this new covenant out of the chesed love that comes straight from the heart.
This was a much higher love than the fearful love that the Israelites pledged at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The Israelites allowed sin to creep back into their camp. They stooped down again and worshiped the golden calf. Their lack of loyalty and committment broke the heart of God.
Ruth's love for Boaz and her care for Naomi was completely opposite in nature. She loved from a higher, chesed love which was totally loyal and totally committed for life.
This is why the scroll of Ruth is read and honored at Pentecost.
TAKING THE STORY TO A PERSONAL LEVEL
As Christ followers continue to celebrate Pentecost today, let us remember the love of Ruth by keeping our own covenant with God in all of our actions in life.
As dark days come upon the earth and many of us cannot see the way, we must face the future head-on with the same kind of steadfast love as Ruth. We must continue to obey God even when we do not understand or know what will happen next. We must walk through the dark and the unknown places and not fear.
TRUSTING GOD FOR TOMORROW
It took God only one day to give the law to the people of the earth. It has taken all of the generations of humanity to realize and comprehend what it means to actually live out this law from the heart, loyally, never turning back and always trusting God for tomorrow.
We are still working on achieving this transition through faith.
Pentecost should be the time when God takes us from the places of comfort and security and moves us into the higher place of joy and abundance forever.
PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HARVEST
The story of Ruth links the giving of Torah to the way that God's people are now blessed through His chesed love. It shows how the concept of the giving of the law led to the concept of harvest, both in the physical first, then the spiritual later.
Because of what we know of the story of Ruth, the church can be reassured that God will meet us at the harvest of souls.
He will be waiting, just as Boaz was on that night long ago. The good grain will be taken into the barns on that night. The chaft will be separated and burned. God's people (as the good grain of the harvest) will live in total abundance ever after. Like Boaz redeemed Ruth at the gates of the city; Christ will return through The East Gate. All who belong to Him will be redeemed.
A STORY OF PROPHECY
We must not forget the prophetic significance of the first part of the story though.
Let's also remember that Naomi's life is a picture of Israel going through an exile, then a return. The exile came about because the wrong decisions of men. The return came about when the hearts of the people returned to God.
All that was temporarily lost was eventually redeemed. (Think of the parable of the lost coin.) The closest kinsman redeemer had rejected Naomi's sale out of selfish concerns. Boaz then accepted the sell out of love.
A GOD OF GREAT REVERSALS
Through all generations of time, God has patiently led everyone who loves Him and follows Him to the place of their best blessings.
In this story, as well as so many others, God has created another complete reversal. Just like in the story of Joseph and Esther, what men meant for harm and evil; God turned for good. The story of Ruth proclaims the truth that God's chesed love comes to all who chose to follow His laws out of love from their heart.
COMING IN A FEW WEEKS
Now we will be leaving The Book of Ruth.
We will continue to move on in our studies into the Book of Samuel.
Just to let all of these facts sink in and savor for awhile, we will take two weeks off from our study as a break. Then we will dive into this new study on Samuel on Thursday, August 22. It is going to be amazing! We look forward to seeing all of you there.
Keep watching the Thursday posts from our COME AS A CHILD TOPICS to follow along with us as we study Samuel. Also, in this break you (and this author) will have a chance to catch up on all of the other topics of the blog.
God bless you all as we continue to cherish God's stories together.
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