There are only four women listed in the Bible as part of the lineage of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1). Ruth is one of them! There are only two books in the Bible that are named and dedicated to the life of a woman. Ruth is one of them! That would indicate to me that this woman, and this book of the Bible, is pretty important. With that in mind, let’s take a brief look at the life and times of Ruth.

 

Elimelech, his wife and two sons left Bethlehem Judah because there was a famine in the land.  They ended up in the very place God told them not to go.

(Deuteronomy 23:6)  Elimelech and his sons all died.  Naomi decides that the best thing to do is to return to her homeland of Bethlehem Judah. She tried to convince both daughters-in-law (Orpah and Ruth) to stay in their own country of Moab. Orpah finally agreed to stay but Ruth (whose name means friend) was steadfast about going with Naomi and made this faith declaration to Naomi which changed her life forever:  And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: (Ruth 1:16)

 

After returning to Bethlehem Judah with Naomi, Ruth started working in a corn field that belonged to a man named Boaz who was a kinsman to Naomi’s late husband. Ruth found great favor with Boaz because she had been so faithful to leave her country of Moab and take such good care of Naomi:

Boaz became the kinsman redeemer (a perfect picture of Jesus) for Ruth and they were married. They had a son from that marriage who was named Obed (which is where we get our word obedient from). Obed became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David. Quite a heritage!

 

Regardless of what your background has been, or what you were born into, you can decide like Ruth to walk away and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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