Happy Easter guys!
Book of Ruth quick verse summaries:
Ruth 1:16-18
But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
Ruth 2:11-12
Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."
Ruth 3:9-11
"I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."
"The LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.
Ruth 4:21-22
Salmon the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David......
Notice the shift from gods to God here in Ruth 1:15 & 16....it's my favorite part. :)
ReplyDelete"your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.' But Ruth replied, '...Your people will be my people and your God my God'."
Ruth turned down idolatry for the one, true God without even realizing it most likely. No wonder she ended up getting blessed by God.....
Also notice:
ReplyDelete1. "...the whole town was stirred because of them..." -Ruth 1:19 [SO cool]
2. They arrived just as the harvest was beginning (1:22). Coincidence? I think not. ;) I want to arrive in the new seasons of my life in the harvest time....Yes, please, God. :)
3. This is the most beautiful picture ever of what it looks like to be single as a woman. Seriously. Harvest time...and then Ruth began to 'glean in the fields'. That's right! She was a worker....picking the harvest. Reminds me of Luke 10:2 "He told them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field'." We, as single women (and men for that matter) are to be harvesters....and then maybe someday, someone will say, "Hey, who's that?" [see Ruth 2:5]. Boo-yah, Ruth.
4. God provided protection in her obedience.
5. This story is prove that favor is straight up from God.... especially when you find favor with someone that you really shouldn't or normally wouldn't find favor with.
6. Because Ruth was a "harvester" (Oh, God, that I would be a "harvester") Naomi's faith was rekindled. So sweet....because Lord knows Naomi sounds like a pill of a woman. A bitter woman is never fun to be around.
7. A woman of noble character? (Ruth 3:11) What does noble mean? Noble: possessing outstanding qualities : illustrious : famous, notable : notably or brilliantly outstanding because of dignity or achievements or actions
8. This book rocks.