March 22

I love the story of Ruth. I was not sure what I could possibly add to it, as most people who have been in church very long have heard the story many times.

But I always manage to have a few stray thoughts floating around, so here goes. First, the setting. Bethlahem, is not a very big place. But an awful lot happened in this little town on the outskirts of Jersualem! The story of Ruth and Boaz, the story of their great-grandson David the shepherd/king and then of course the birth of their most famous offspring 30 generations later- Jesus the ultimate Shepherd/King and Kinsman Redeemer.

In doing a little research,  a "Character" in the story came to life that I had never considered. The 'unnamed servant' who introduces Ruth and Boaz. This is suggestive of the role that the Holy Spirit plays in introducing us to our Redeemer. This is not the only time that the Holy Spirit can be seen in this role. In Genesis 24 the 'chief servant' goes to Abraham's family to find a bride for Issiac. In John 16 we are told that the Spirit does not speak on His own, but that He will make Jesus known to us.

And if you think it is odd that an obviously well to do Israelite would take a Gentile woman from a pagan country as his wife- consider who Boaz' mother was. Rahab the Harlot of Jericho. And consider that both these women were in Jesus geneology. Not hidden away some where so that you would have dig for it (wasn't he married to so and so?) ...but actually mentioned in the geneology that Matthew provides in Chapter 1. And Tamar is mentioned, the woman who tricked her father in law into sleeping with her......they are all in there. If you have a few skelatons rattling around in your family closet, relax......Jesus did too!