Today’s reading: Ruth 1:1-5; 4:13-22; Matthew 1:1-5
After hanging out for the past several weeks in the New Testament reading through Acts, we’re now going to spend a week or so taking in and considering the Old Testament Book of Ruth. Ruth is a beautiful, real life account of the love story between Ruth, a widowed Moabite woman, and Boaz, a Hebrew man. It’s a short Book (4 chapters) full of lessons and illustrations of God’s love and grace. The Book of Ruth takes place during the time of the Book of Judges, and gives us the account of a particular family (the family of Elimelech) who is distressed because they’ve experienced death and are now facing famine.
Before we jump into the actual story of Ruth, I thought it would be good to look at the family history of the two main characters in this account, Ruth and Boaz, and their family tree going forward. Boaz is a decendent of Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho who helped the Israelite spies (see Joshua 2 and 6), Ruth is a Moabite (a Gentile), and the son of Boaz and Ruth (see Ruth 4) is Obed who was the great grandfather of king David. So the Book of Ruth puts before us the family roots or the ancestry of Jesus.
What’s your background and family tree? What does this account reveal about God’s salvation being for all people? How do you see God working in and through your unique family tree and life situation? Tami
Source: Tami’s Blog
