Ruth: How We Should Approach Jesus
"Then it shall be, when he [Boaz] lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do." -Ruth 3:4
The story of Ruth is a fascinating one; there's so much going on in this story, culturally in particular, that one can't overlook.
First of all, the fact that such a book exists in a collection of middle eastern writings (Old Testament) is astonishing because it would have been culturally shocking in that day and time - its a book dealing with a woman, even bearing her name. Eastern culture, especially in biblical times, was largely dominated by men.
Second of all, Ruth was a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4, 22) which indicates a few things:
1) Ruth's heritage/family background is one which began in sin (Lot committed incest with his own daughter - the Moabites were born in naming that son Moab - Gen. 19:37).
2) Ruth being a Moabitess means she wasn't an Israelite so having a book in the Old Testament canon about a Gentile woman would have been culturally unheard of.
3) Ruth's people, the Moabites, were perennial enemies of God's people, Israel.
4) Ruth's people were cursed by God (Isaiah 15-16; Jer. 48)
Needless to say, Ruth had a lot going against her at the get go.
How Ruth's story goes would be a more than suitable plot for any daytime TV series: She gets married to an Israelite man who happened to move to her land, Moab, with his father and other family during a time of difficulty and famine in Judah. Somewhere along the line, Ruth's husbands' father, Elimelech, dies leaving Naomi, Elimelech's wife, now a widow. Naomi's two sons also die, leaving Naomi, Ruth, and another woman named Orpah all widows (Ruth 1:1-5).
In that time and culture, this was a terrible situation to be in as a woman. As an eastern woman, one's status was directly connected to being married and having children, primarily having a son or sons to carry on the father's name. If a woman found herself to be a widow with no sons, she was seen as cursed, and at the least, worthless or shamed. Dr. John MacArthur notes that sadly, women who found themselves in this situation, often had to turn to prostitution to survive.
What does all of this have to do with 'how we should approach Jesus?' That is the title of this blog after all....
In OT Law, there was a provision made for widows in that if the husband were to die, his brother or next of kin would take the responsibility of acquiring anything the widow had along with marrying her to give her a son to carry on the name. This brother or 'next of kin' was referred to as a 'Kinsman Redeemer.' In essence, the kinsman would 'redeem' the widowed woman from having no status and no hope to being restored once again.
Naomi and Ruth travel back to Bethlehem and Naomi runs into a wealthy relative of Elimelech's named Boaz. Boaz, who owned a field, would allow the poor to 'glean' from the field when the harvest work was finished for the day, per OT Law. In other words, they were allowed to pick up the leftovers so they could eat. Long story short, Ruth gleans, Boaz takes notice of her and finds out she is connected to Naomi. Boaz makes sure she is taken care of, even allowing her to have extra (Ruth 2). Naomi then instructs Ruth, who has found favor in Boaz's eyes, to perform an eastern custom of uncovering the feet of a man and resting at his feet while he rests, indicating that she was proposing marriage to Boaz.
Boaz, wanting to honor the Law, finds out that there is a closer 'next of kin' before him in line to take responsibility for Ruth, but that man turns it down. Boaz is willing to fulfill the duty of the kinsman redeemer law, and he works it out with the city council to make it happen.
Boaz marries Ruth, they are blessed and have children, the bloodline of which brings about King David and ultimately Jesus, and Ruth is redeemed.
How does this connect to Jesus, us, and how we approach Him? Like Ruth, we come to Jesus with nothing - no status, nothing to offer, lost, broken, desperate, estranged, born in sin, Gentile....
All we can do is humbly cast ourselves at Jesus' feet, like Ruth did with Boaz, and ask for redemption. And like Boaz, Jesus is more than willing to bring us in and redeem us from our lost, sinful state. All we must do is come to the feet of Jesus in repentance and faith. In doing that, Jesus, the greatest Kinsman Redeemer, will save you.
The story of Ruth is a fascinating one; there's so much going on in this story, culturally in particular, that one can't overlook.
First of all, the fact that such a book exists in a collection of middle eastern writings (Old Testament) is astonishing because it would have been culturally shocking in that day and time - its a book dealing with a woman, even bearing her name. Eastern culture, especially in biblical times, was largely dominated by men.
Second of all, Ruth was a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4, 22) which indicates a few things:
1) Ruth's heritage/family background is one which began in sin (Lot committed incest with his own daughter - the Moabites were born in naming that son Moab - Gen. 19:37).
2) Ruth being a Moabitess means she wasn't an Israelite so having a book in the Old Testament canon about a Gentile woman would have been culturally unheard of.
3) Ruth's people, the Moabites, were perennial enemies of God's people, Israel.
4) Ruth's people were cursed by God (Isaiah 15-16; Jer. 48)
Needless to say, Ruth had a lot going against her at the get go.
How Ruth's story goes would be a more than suitable plot for any daytime TV series: She gets married to an Israelite man who happened to move to her land, Moab, with his father and other family during a time of difficulty and famine in Judah. Somewhere along the line, Ruth's husbands' father, Elimelech, dies leaving Naomi, Elimelech's wife, now a widow. Naomi's two sons also die, leaving Naomi, Ruth, and another woman named Orpah all widows (Ruth 1:1-5).
In that time and culture, this was a terrible situation to be in as a woman. As an eastern woman, one's status was directly connected to being married and having children, primarily having a son or sons to carry on the father's name. If a woman found herself to be a widow with no sons, she was seen as cursed, and at the least, worthless or shamed. Dr. John MacArthur notes that sadly, women who found themselves in this situation, often had to turn to prostitution to survive.
What does all of this have to do with 'how we should approach Jesus?' That is the title of this blog after all....
In OT Law, there was a provision made for widows in that if the husband were to die, his brother or next of kin would take the responsibility of acquiring anything the widow had along with marrying her to give her a son to carry on the name. This brother or 'next of kin' was referred to as a 'Kinsman Redeemer.' In essence, the kinsman would 'redeem' the widowed woman from having no status and no hope to being restored once again.
Naomi and Ruth travel back to Bethlehem and Naomi runs into a wealthy relative of Elimelech's named Boaz. Boaz, who owned a field, would allow the poor to 'glean' from the field when the harvest work was finished for the day, per OT Law. In other words, they were allowed to pick up the leftovers so they could eat. Long story short, Ruth gleans, Boaz takes notice of her and finds out she is connected to Naomi. Boaz makes sure she is taken care of, even allowing her to have extra (Ruth 2). Naomi then instructs Ruth, who has found favor in Boaz's eyes, to perform an eastern custom of uncovering the feet of a man and resting at his feet while he rests, indicating that she was proposing marriage to Boaz.
Boaz, wanting to honor the Law, finds out that there is a closer 'next of kin' before him in line to take responsibility for Ruth, but that man turns it down. Boaz is willing to fulfill the duty of the kinsman redeemer law, and he works it out with the city council to make it happen.
Boaz marries Ruth, they are blessed and have children, the bloodline of which brings about King David and ultimately Jesus, and Ruth is redeemed.
How does this connect to Jesus, us, and how we approach Him? Like Ruth, we come to Jesus with nothing - no status, nothing to offer, lost, broken, desperate, estranged, born in sin, Gentile....
All we can do is humbly cast ourselves at Jesus' feet, like Ruth did with Boaz, and ask for redemption. And like Boaz, Jesus is more than willing to bring us in and redeem us from our lost, sinful state. All we must do is come to the feet of Jesus in repentance and faith. In doing that, Jesus, the greatest Kinsman Redeemer, will save you.
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