Week of May 22, 2016: Ruth and Boaz



Bible Passage: Ruth 1–4

Main Point: God gave Ruth a family.

Key Passage: Isaiah 33:22

Big Picture Question: Whom does God use in His plan? God uses people in His plan.

 

Christ Connection: Boaz helped his close relatives. Boaz was a family redeemer. He bought back what his relatives lost. Jesus is our Redeemer. He bought our salvation from sin by dying on the cross.

 

Only two books in the Old Testament bear the name of a woman: Ruth and Esther. Ruth’s story occurs at the time when judges ruled over Israel. God’s people were characterized by rebellion and immorality. At a time when the Israelites desperately needed a king to lead them back to God, Ruth’s story of faithfulness points us to Jesus Christ, a coming Redeemer who will make all wrong things right again.

 

Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi, a woman from Bethlehem who settled in Moab with her husband and two sons to escape a famine. Naomi’s husband died, and her two sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. They lived in Moab for 10 years; then Naomi’s sons died.

 

Naomi heard that the Lord had provided food for His people during the famine, so she decided to go back to Judah. Naomi encouraged Orpah and Ruth to return to their families. Orpah returned home, but Ruth clung to Naomi. Ruth said, “Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). So Naomi and Ruth traveled back to Bethlehem together.

 

Naomi permitted Ruth to gather fallen grain in a field. The owner of the field was Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s late husband and a family redeemer. Boaz noticed Ruth and told her she could safely gather grain in his field. At Naomi’s urging, Ruth sought to be redeemed by Boaz. Boaz bought back the land Naomi and Ruth had lost when their husbands died, and he married Ruth. They had a son named Obed, whose grandson would be King David.

 

God gave Ruth—a foreigner—a special place in the lineage of Jesus Christ.  He bought for us salvation, paying the price with His very own blood.