Redemption Story

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to 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.”  Ruth 1:16 ESV

I love the story of Ruth!  I love Ruth’s love and dedication to her mother-in-law.  I love her servant’s heart.  I love the way Boaz watched over Ruth and took care of her from the moment he met her, even though she was a stranger to him.  I love that Boaz ends up marrying Ruth and that in all of this Naomi, the mother-in-law, is cared for.  I LOVE a good love story!

But as I was reading the story of Ruth this week, it was not the love story that impressed me.  It was the redemption story.

The beginning of the book of Ruth tells us some important keys to understanding the depth of the story.

Elimelech and Naomi were Israelites.  They were from Bethlehem.  When famine came to their area, instead of waiting it out and trusting God, Elimelech and Naomi took their two sons and went to Moab. I realize that in times of scarcity, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do to survive, but historically speaking, Moab probably shouldn’t have been the place an Israelite couple would choose to go.  (See Numbers 22-25.)

But they went to Moab.  While there, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi with just her sons.  The boys married local girls, something the children of Israel had been specifically commanded NOT to do.  Within ten years, the boys were dead, and Naomi was left in Moab with two Moabite daughters-in-law.

As the story goes, the famine ends and Naomi decides to go back home.  The daughters-in-law try to go with her, but Naomi tells them they should stay.  One of them – Orpah – goes back to her family, but Ruth insists on staying with Naomi.  So Naomi and Ruth go to Bethlehem.

Upon their arrival, we see that Naomi seems to have become a sad, bitter woman.  In fact, I think she is simply honest, and repentant (Ruth 1:20-21).  Naomi understood that actions have consequences, and while we do not have details about the circumstances under which Elimelech and his sons died in Moab, Naomi did.  And she seems to feel convicted with regard to the path that her life has taken.

One of the things that always amazes me about the Lord is His readiness to forgive and to redeem!

Our mistakes and stupidity are no match for the redemptive nature of God!

And so, redemption comes for Naomi and Ruth.

Ruth is a foreigner.  Naomi’s son should never have married her, but he did.  Among the familial responsibilities for the Jews was that if a man died without a son, a relative was supposed to marry the dead man’s wife to provide offspring that would carry on the dead man’s name.  This seems a little weird to us, but it was a part of the Jewish tradition. 

So now, even though Ruth is from Moab, Boaz’s obligation as Naomi’s close relative sets the stage for Boaz to be able to marry Ruth.  And so he does.

It is a beautiful love story.  Ruth’s love for Naomi, that she would leave her own homeland and family to honor and care for her dead husband’s mother…  Her obedience to Naomi’s instructions that lays the groundwork for her eventual relationship with Boaz…  Boaz’s care for Ruth…  The two were married, and they lived happily ever after.  The end.

Well…  not THE end…

In Ruth 4:13 we read, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife.  And he went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.”

That son was Obed.  Obed was the grandfather of David.  Ruth, the Moabite, was the great-grandmother of the psalmist, king, and giant-slayer.

This is the redemptive nature of our wonderful God!

From a foreign woman, who never should have been married to a Jew, came the shepherd who would be king.  She had no “right” to a good outcome, but God gave her a GREAT one!

I don’t know what mistake you’ve made that haunts you today.  I have a long list of things – the “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” dissertation that plays constantly in my head and often leaves me wondering if life will always just be frustrating and if I will always feel defeated.  But the redemption stories leave me hopeful!

And that is my prayer for you today.  The same God who wrote Ruth’s redemption story is able and ready to redeem your story, too.  Walk in that confidence and rest in His love!

…Just a thought…