One of the most amazing parts about the Bible is that, while it was written over hundreds of years by multiple authors, it has one main theme which is Jesus Christ! Every part of Scripture points to the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Savior of the world!
As the calendar approaches the time of year where Christ Followers celebrate His birth, it is appropriate to look back into the Old Testament to see the prophetic foreshadowing of the Messiah.
Throughout history, God revealed His plan of salvation to the human race over and over again. One of the most beautiful of these foreshadowings is found in the Book of Ruth, where readers are introduced to the idea of the “Kinsman Redeemer.” This redeemer is one who, through familial relationship, possesses the standing to alter the hopeless state of a destitute relative.
The incredible relationship of Ruth and Boaz serves as a remarkable picture for all humanity of God’s love for His people. Join us as we take a deeper look at the Christmas story through the biblical account of Ruth and Boaz and strive to gain a better understanding of just how much God loves us.
Welcome to drippings from the honeycomb, the official podcast of Another 12 ministries. We are so glad that you have decided to join us as we enjoy the sweetness of God's word, one verse at a time. Welcome to Season Two of drippings from the honeycomb. We had a great time in season one looking at 28 verses from the book of Matthew one from each chapter. And we decided with the holidays coming, we wanted to do something a little bit different. So in this second season of our podcast, we're going to contemplate the beauty of the Christmas story. But we're going to do it through the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth is an amazing picture of the kinsman redeemer, this idea that someone steps in to redeem another person in a helpless state. And it really sets a beautiful stage for the story of Jesus Christ for His birth, for his life, for his sacrifice for his resurrection, it kind of lays this picture of his love for the people that He came to save his love for his children. And so, entering into the holiday season, we thought this would be an amazing time to open up this little book of Ruth, this beautiful love story. That is a type and a picture of the love that Jesus has for His church and what he has done for them and how he gave himself up for them. Our goal is to look at six specific verses in the story of Ruth and also talk about the whole story in general and see what it can teach us about the heart of Jesus, and how much he loves us. The first verse we're going to look at, and Ruth is found in chapter one, it's verse 16. And it says, But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you or return from following you. For where you go, I will go and where you lodge, I will lodge your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. This incredible statement by Ruth was made to her mother in law, Naomi, and it was a statement of deep love and loyalty. The backstory to this whole setup here that we see in Ruth is that there was a famine in Israel, God was bringing some judgment, some discipline against his people, and he sent them a famine. And we know that this was discipline because when God brought his people into the promised land, he explained to them this land was watered by rain. And if they followed him and they obeyed His words, and they kept their side of the Covenant, he would send the rain and the land would grow. But if they didn't, he would remove the rain and there would be famine. And so the book of Ruth opens with Israel in a famine, which indicates that God is upset with them, he is disciplining them for sinning against him. And the story focuses in on one family that has two sons, and the father of this family makes the decision that it would be better to leave Israel and move to a pagan land than to wait and humbly repent with the rest of the nation of Israel and seek God's provision in God's blessing. And so they leave, they go to this land where God is not worshipped, they go to a place where idolatry is the prevailing religion, they go to a place where pagan sacrifice, even potentially human sacrifice is practiced. And they go there for one simple reason. Because food is more readily available. They go there because the father of this family would rather pursue his own selfish goals than wait on God who promised to provide for them if they obeyed Him. And in the course of time, they stay there long enough that their sons grew up and they marry women from this pagan society. No, of course, for an Israelite to marry someone from one of these pagan nations was absolutely contrary to God's command. It was not to be done. And in the course of time, the father and both sons die, leaving only the mother Naomi and her two daughters in law. And when Naomi finds out that there is food in Israel again, she makes up her mind to go back home, and she sends her daughter in law's back to their homes back to their people to find new husbands. And at first, both of them want to stay with her. Both of them want to accompany her, but she urged them back, which in and of itself, is a stunning thing for an Israelite to do. Someone who had knowledge of the one true God, someone who lived in a society where the one true God is worshipped somebody who understood the heart of God and His judgment towards sin, his judgment towards the pagan nations to actively send back to young women who wanted to follow her to Israel to tie themselves to her society. Need to tie themselves to her God is simply stunning and it shows the bitterness of Naomi's heart towards God for the trials that he has caused her to walk through in her life. And one of her daughters in law, orca does return, she leaves and she goes back to her people. But Ruth will not be parted from Naomi. Ruth is loyal. Ruth loves her mother in law, Ruth wants to serve her mother in law. And this heart we see clearly stems from a work of the Holy Spirit that is going on in Ruth's heart, her faith is so improbable, it could not have come from her it could not have self generated from within her heart, it must be put there by the Holy Spirit. But we see this improbable faith, building and growing. Not only that she wants to leave her home, leave everything that she's known as a widow, leave her society where she might perhaps have some social network to support her could potentially find another husband, she wants to go away to a foreign land, where she will be an outcast with a mother in law who doesn't have any other sons for her to marry. She wants to live in a country where she will have to adopt a new religion, putting off a religion that she has known since she was a child. This can only be motivated by God. And of course, it's perfectly reasonable to say that Ruth doesn't have a full understanding of what she's actually doing. Ruth doesn't have a full understanding of what life could potentially look like for her as a widowed Gentile woman in Israel. But it doesn't matter. She's motivated by love. She's motivated by a desire to serve her mother in law, by a desire to live where her mother in law lives, and a desire to know what God her mother in law knows. Now, where did this immense love for Naomi come from? Is this just something that happened? Because Ruth was her daughter in law? No, that's impossible. Such a love could not be generated outside of the work of the Holy Spirit. And we know that the first fruit that Paul lists, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit is love. And so we see this tremendous sacrificial love on the part of Ruth, for her mother in law who has gone through these incredible trials. Don't forget, in the midst of all this, Ruth has lost her husband. It's not just Naomi, who's lost, Ruth has also lost and yet, it's almost like Ruth suffering never really ever appears. Because Ruth is so focused on sacrificing herself to serve her mother in law. Now, of course, we know that Ruth is going to play an integral part in the history of the Messiah. But Ruth, of course, doesn't know this at this point. However, the love that has been built in her by the Holy Spirit, this fledgling improbable faith that is starting to burgeon in her heart drives her to desire to be with God's people. It pushes her to make a radical life change. And we can see the sovereignty of God all over this story. Ruth is going to play a part in the line of the Messiah, God wants Ruth to play that part God has for ordained that Ruth would play that part in the line of the Messiah, he's done it not just randomly, but for a purpose to show that a Gentile woman and not just one there are several in the line of the Messiah. But here a Gentile woman is going to play a major role in the line of Jesus Christ. Amazingly, the work of the Holy Spirit going on behind the scenes here and Ruth is a beautiful foreshadowing of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Mary that would put the baby Jesus inside her body. The Holy Spirit is motivating Ruth's heart, it is driving Ruth to new faith in his driving Ruth to self sacrifice. And as a result of that self sacrifice, Ruth will ultimately give birth to the grandfather of King David. The work of the Holy Spirit is the starting point of this entire story. Just like the work of the Holy Spirit is the starting point of the Christmas story. The work of the Holy Spirit is the starting point of the Messiah interrupting mankind's existence and changing everything. Ruth was a willing servant. She was willing to give up herself to serve Naomi to go when Naomi went to serve the garden and Naomi served that could not have happened apart from the Holy Spirit's work in her heart. Just like in the story of Jesus birth, how Mary responded to the angel with the line, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. So Ruth by her actions shows the same obedience in loving Naomi in accompanying Naomi and putting her own pain and suffering aside to be with her mother in law, who has just lived through a devastate waiting period of loss and suffering. Mary's name would be disgraced her reputation would be slandered because she was pregnant without a husband. She entered a time in her life of suffering, but she did so willingly. in obedience to the command of God. Ruth was entering the nation of Israel as a widowed mo abiertas, a woman who was a Gentile, she had less than no value in Israelite society, she was little better than a dog to the people of Israel. And yet she willingly entered that society, to serve her mother in law, to be there for her needs, and to be an encouragement to her and to seek a relationship with the one true God. And God would meet this woman in amazing ways, with provision with a future with a hope with a place in the light of the Messiah. And through that he would show all people that he was bringing the Gentile nations into the covenant that Jesus would eventually initiate on the cross. I hope you enjoyed this episode of drippings from the honeycomb. If you would like to learn more about another 12 ministries and the work that we are doing to train youth ministry leaders to bring the Gospel to young people, visit another twelve.org. 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