The Church Year in the Home: Ruth (July 16)

Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God Ruth 1:16

Biography from The Treasury of Daily Prayer and lcms.org:

Ruth of Moab, the subject of the biblical book that bears her name, is an inspiring example of God's grace. Although she was a Gentile, God made her the great grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:17), and an ancestress of Jesus himself (Mt 1:5). A famine in Israel led Elimelech and Naomi of Bethlehem to emigrate to the neighboring nation of Moab with their two sons. The sons marriend Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth, but after about ten years, Elimelech and his sons died (Ruth 1:1–5). Naomi then decided to return to Bethlehem and urged her daughters-in-law to return to their families. Orpah listened to Naomi's but Ruth refused, replying with the stirring words: “Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). After Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, Boaz, a close relative of Elimelech, agreed to be Ruth's “redeemer” (Ruth 3:7–13; 4:9–12). He took her as his wife, and Ruth gave birth to Obed, the grandfather of David (Ruth 4:13–17), thus preserving the Messianic seed. Ruth's kindness and selfless loyalty toward Naomi, and her faith in Naomi's God, have long endeared her to the faithful and redounded to God's praise for his merciful choice of one so unexpected.

The last painting above (by Michelangelo) depicts Ruth with her father-in-law, Salmon (husband of Rahab, and one of the spies under Moses and later Joshua). Some interpreters say this painting connects Moses and the salvation of the Hebrews from slavery, with David (Salmon's descendant), and ultimately with Jesus. (I love the well-fed and content baby Obed sleeping on Ruth's breast.)

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth 4

"He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age" can obviously be applied to Christ, the Bread of Life. But how wonderful that God met Naomi's need for a son, even while He was preparing his people for their Savior! Thank God that he provides your needs for this life, even as he prepares you for Eternal Life.

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