Ruth

I have been teaching Ruth and have become more hooked than ever before. Next to Jesus, the story of Ruth is the most powerful account of redemption in the Bible. It makes very clear how redemption is to be applied in daily life.

This will be introductory. Boaz, as redeemer, embodied a Biblical worldview, and grace, and put everything on the line to fulfill his duty as next of kin, or kinsman-redeemer and to trust God with the results. He bought his deceased relative's property and took Ruth to be his wife in order to raise up an heir for the deceased man, not for himself. Isn't this how we, as Christians, should live?

The unnamed next-of-kin in chapter four, by contrast, declined to take Ruth as his wife for fear of ruining his own inheritance. What he meant was that he knew that if he married Ruth, a resulting male heir would inherit the deceased man's property. The children he already had would not gain anything from it.

This man revealed a purely secular outlook. He was interested only in economic gain. He had no thought that God might bless him for his obedience. He didn't seem to think, "Do God's laws really lead to economic ruin?" He thought only of what he might lose. Does this attitude sound contemporary to you? (A man was required by Biblcal Law to take his deceased brother's wife and raise up an heir for the deceased man). Stay tuned.