Ruth was a moabite woman had come to israel as the widow of an israelite man. Famine has hit bethlehem, which forces elimelech and his wife, naomi, to move east to moab with their two sons to get some grub. It is viewed as a holy covenant between a man and a woman, a necessity for the divine plan to propagate the human race gen. The book of ruth demonstrates the providence of god at work in the life of an individual, and it exalts family loyalty. The narrative tells the tale of two people in judah, ruth the moabitess, an exceptionally talented singer and composer with a very special harp, and boaz, the descendent of a jericho prostitute who has lost everyone he loves.
For example, the theme of marriage occupies much of the story, but when viewed as an idealized romance between faithful ruth and godly boaz, the rich theology of this book passes right under the noses of many of its admirers. The post above claims that ruth waits for boaz, and so young girls should also wait for the perfect man. Moreover, it is inconceivable that a hebrew writer would have deliberately invented a foreign maternal ancestry for david, the first king in the royal. The book of ruth, which is read on the festival of shavuot, is one of the. That night, ruth demurely waited at boaz s feet, signaling her intentions. The book of ruth relates that ruth and orpah, two women of moab, had married two sons of elimelech and naomi, judeans who had settled in. No matter your age or season of life, there is wisdom to learn from the lessons that unfold as we walk along with naomi, ruth, and boaz. This book is the story of a young widow named ruth, whose heart had been broken by her husbands death yet healed by faith in the god of israel. The book of ruth abbreviated rth is included in the. The book of ruth showed the israelites the blessings that obedience could bring.
God could have just thrown a couple together in an arranged marriage and the family line of. Boaz makes his first appearance in chapter 2 and theres some heavy foreshadowing going on. The book of ruth, is a triumphant love story in the face of adversity. Pdf the authors show how the book of ruth can be used to illustrate the ideal way to run a big organization. The book of ruth is a romance novella which plays an important part in redemptive history. Ruths sacrifice and hard work to provide for naomi reflected gods love. Our story opens on a nice jewish family with a problem. Ruths love for her motherinlawwhere you go, i will goled her to an unexpected. There was almost nothing worse than being a widow in the ancient. Looking at a character profile of boaz in the bible, we can learn many things about caring for the needs of others and how god makes provision for his children. It is one of the shortest books in both the jewish and christian holy books, consisting of only four chapters. She ate until she was full and saved her leftovers for naomi.
Jesus christ paid for us with his own bloodhis own death. The intersection of their lives becomes not only the. Ruth married mahlon shortly after mahlons father died. Boaz is a biblical figure appearing in the book of ruth in the hebrew bible and in the genealogies of jesus in the new testament and also the name of a pillar in. The book of ruth has always been one of my favorite books of the bible. Jul 10, 2012 what you can learn from ruth and boaz ive been hanging out in the book of ruth for the last five years andjust gotta say itive fallen in love with boaz. Furthermore, ruth had the reputation of being a woman of excellence ruth 3. They lived together in a humble situation, and ruth would go to the fields each day to glean food in the. It reads more like a short story and the insight in it runs deep. Vivian hyatt shows how the old testament marriage of boaz and ruth should inform christian marriage and biblical manhood and. Boaz, a relative of naomi on her husbands side, acted upon his duty as outlined in the mosaic law to redeem an impoverished relative from his or her circumstances lev.
They lived together in a humble situation, and ruth would go to the fields each day to glean food in the fields during the harvest. Jun 23, 2011 in the comments of a paper on boaz that i posted here over a year ago, robert holmstedt, who has a great book on the subject, ruth. Book of ruth overview insight for living ministries. Choosing to leave her homeland of moab, she follows her motherinlaw naomi to israel after the death of her husband. It is viewed as a holy covenant between a man and a woman, a necessity for the divine plan to propagate. The book of ruth was, of course, included in that list. How selflessness won boazs heart in the book of ruth. Jesus christ is the one true righteous king, who came to earth as a physical man to prepare for that rule. Ruth then became the wife of boaz, a wealthy kinsman of her former husband. The book of ruth gives the solution to this lawless period. As we reflect on the compassion of boaz for ruth, certainly it was stirred by many. Widowed naomi and her daughterinlaw ruth return to bethlehem. In bethlehem, ruth submitted to naomis guidance to become the wife of boaz. Ruth 2 new international version niv ruth meets boaz in the grain field.
That the book of ruth is historical is confirmed by matthews genealogy of jesus christ, which lists boaz, ruth, and obed in the line of descent. The book of ruth ends by showing that ruth became the greatgrandmother of king david, from whom christ came. This selfless journey of love and devotion is seen through the eyes of a young widow. Ruth most likely comes from a moabite andor hebrew word meaning friendship. Boaz shows her great kindness because she has left her own people to be with her motherinlaw and her people. The book of ruth largely focuses on the relationship between ruth and boaz. Ruth 1 niv naomi loses her husband and sons in bible.
The book of ruth meaning pity or compassion is the eighth book of the old testament, and the tanakh. Ruth is an outsider, she is not one of gods people an israelite. Whats remarkable about this plan was that boaz was qualified as a kinsman redeemer to take her as his wife. The book of ruth summary ruth was a moabite princess of very fine character, who became the greatgrandmother of king david. Naomis plan for ruths future reflected selfless love. Ruth works in the field of boaz 1 naomi had a relative named boaz, a rich and influential man who belonged to the family of her husband elimelech. Before this revelation, ruth and naomi were destined to live in poverty for the remainder of their days. The book of ruth is an important historical work in hebrew scripture, our old testament of the bible, as it traces the lineage of king david and ultimately that of the messiah, jesus christ. Can shmoop get in line for tickets to that right now. Book of ruth, old testament book belonging to the third section of the biblical.
Jan 28, 2017 in keeping with old testament tradition, boaz purchased ruth to be his wife ruth 4. Boaz was a landowner where ruth came to find grain. A major theme of the book of ruth is that of the kinsmanredeemer. What you can learn from ruth and boaz faithlife women. She was dissatisfied with the idolworship of her own people, and when the opportunity arose, she gladly gave up the privileges of royalty in her land and accepted a life of poverty among people she admired. The book of ruth has undoubtedly received its fair share of undervaluation at this point. She had physical drives like any other normal woman, but she learned to claim gods grace and strength to hold those drives in check until marriage. She instructs ruth to uncover boazs feet after he has gone to sleep and lie down. The events occurred during the period of the judges, about a century before david became king of israel. How ruth selflessness won boazs heart national geographic. Apr 19, 2014 ruth waits for boaz, boaz redeems ruth, boaz and ruth get to be together. With a cast of over 70 characters and a plot that tugs at the heart.
The jewish community has always looked upon marriage as a sacred and divine institution. Boaz, the leading man in the hebrew book of ruth, enters this short love story in chapter 2. When the closest relative learned that there was a levirate obligation attached to the redemption of naomis land, he rejected it ruth. Ruth was a moabite woman, whose sense of piety and devotion to her motherinlaw naomi led to her marriage to the prominent boaz of bethlehem in judah. So a man from bethlehem in judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of moab. Having touched gods heart, she also touched the heart of one of gods champion followers boaz. The book of ruth lesson 3 boaz becomes ruths blood redeemer. Boaz, who was much older, an established landowner and a leader in the community, had not thought of himself as a possible suitor until that night. He was giving a stamp of approval on the entire old testament by citing the first and last books.
She had returned with her motherinlaw, naomi, who had also lost her husband. Not because hes handsome, wealthy, strong, or influential, but because he sounds so much like jesus. When jesus said what he did in luke, he was speaking of the first book genesis, blood of abel, and the last book chronicles, blood of zechariah. He gets named dropped a few more times throughout the hebrew bible and even finds his way into the genealogy of jesusboth matthews and lukes. There is history, biography, poetry, prose, apocalyptic, and even romance. A peculiar charm attaches to the story of ruth making this short book of the bible especially attractive to the most casual reader.
Along with ruth, boaz is remembered as the greatgrandfather of king david. The stranger ruth 1 the gleaner ruth 2 the bride ruth 3 4. So much more than a love story,paula hendricks marsteller study from the bible and be encouraged to grow your faith. On its face, the book of ruth is a short selfcontained story.
Boaz becomes ruths husband and also reclaims the rightful home for naomi. Boazs loyalty to his kinsman, naomis husband, reflected gods faithfulness. Some think that it was written by samuel, but there is no evidence for that. There, they set up shop, eat some food, and live for about ten years.
The story of the kinsmanredeemer the jewish community has always looked upon marriage as a sacred and divine institution. If this were a movie, hed be played by matthew mcconaughey and thered be a whole lot of shots of boaz shirtless in a field of barley. Ruth 2 ruth meets boaz in the grain field bible gateway. Ruth is one of only five women mentioned in the genealogy of jesus christ along with tamar, rahab, bathsheba, and mary in matthew 1. The third chapter of ruth opens with naomi revealing to ruth that boaz, the rich and wealthy landowner, whose field in which she was gleaning, is a near and known relative. Ruth 1 new international version niv naomi loses her husband and sons.
Boaz and ruth both knew that gods greatest blessing in marriage would require purity before marriage. Does the book of ruth belong in the christian canon. In the book of ruth, god provides boaz, the nearest kinsmen to ultimately meet ruth. Boaz is a type of our lord jesus our kinsman redeemer.
One such example is found in the book of ruth, where a widow who is in dire straits has her needs met by a man named boaz. Mar 01, 2005 ruth and boaz is much more than just a simple love story. The book of ruth begins with an israelite family elimelech, naomi his wife and their two sons, mahlon and chilion living in moab. He gave himself for his future bride but also for the entire world that would one day become sons of god on a lower level john 3. The book of ruth derives its name from its principal character. The sons marry two local girls, ruth and orpah, during this time. Book of ruth simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Their son, obed, was the father of jesse, and jesse fathered david, israels greatest king.
Ruth meets boaz in the grain field 2 now naomi had a relative on her husbands side, a man of standing from the clan of elimelek, whose name was boaz. Christ as the kinsmanredeemer in the book of ruth the. May 02, 2020 obedience brings ruth into the privileged lineage of christ. Boaz in the book of ruth boaz if this were a movie, hed be played by matthew mcconaughey and thered be a whole lot of shots of boaz shirtless in a field of barley. A handbook on the hebrew text, pointed to some of his own work in which he noted that the antiquated language in the book is often in the mouths of naomi and boaz. The story of naomi, ruth and boaz is one of the most moving accounts in the bible. While in judah, god worked out an amazing plan for a man named boaz to take ruth as his wife, give her a child, and provide for her and naomi. Naomi stands on the road to judah as her two moabite daughtersinlaw, ruth. Boaz and ruth married and their son, oved, was the grandfather of king david.
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