Tuesday 27 May, 2014

13 So Boaz got married to Ruth. She became his wife. Then he made love to her. The Lord blessed her so that she became pregnant. And she had a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, “We praise the Lord. Today he has provided a family protector for you. May this child become famous all over Israel! 15 He will make your life new again. He’ll take care of you when you are old. He’s the son of your very own daughter-in-law. She loves you. She is better to you than seven sons.” 16 Then Naomi put the child on her lap and took care of him. 17 The women who were living there said, “Naomi has a son.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David. 18 Here is the family line of Perez. Perez was the father of Hezron. 19 Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. 20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. 21 Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. 22 Obed was the father of Jesse. And Jesse was the father of David.

This passage gets me excited! Not because of the love making but because of where it fits in the history of humanity!

Ruth and Naomi were on death’s door, living as widows with no means for income. Ruth was within her rights to leave her mother-in-law Naomi, but she stayed and attached herself to the fate of Naomi and entrusted herself to the God of Naomi.

I may feel confused or lost, but I can attach myself to God’s people, throw my lot in with them, even when I am unsure of where I am going. In doing so their blessing becomes my blessing, their clarity my clarity. I become more aware of the goodness of God in the community of God’s people.

Ruth is grafted into God’s people and over time received blessing, provision and clarity – we see the culmination of this here.She would become the grandmother of the greatest king ever to rule in Israel, King David, and she would be an ancestor in the human blood line of Jesus Christ.

“Lord I am not an island, I throw my lot in and acknowledge that without your people I will wither and die. I am attached to the body of Christ – the Church. I suffer with the Church and rejoice with the Church. Ultimately I will live forever with the Church and our Saviour! Amen”

Written by Andrew Mellor