“Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest
take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto
her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in
law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy
mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou
knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to
trust.” Ruth 2:10-12 KJV
One of the thoughts I had is similar to one from the posting
the other Iday. Naomi left the land of promise, Israel, to go to a Gentile
country with her husband and sons during a famine. While there Naomi lost her
husband and two sons. She gained two daughter-in-law's one of which was Ruth.
When Naomi returned to Israel with Ruth she told people to call her Mara which
means bitter. She was a bitter woman. But Ruth saw through that and sawI like
faith in the God of Israel. Ruth would not be denied when Naomi was going to go
back to the land of promise. The thought I had was how many Christians are so
imperfect. I have met Christians who are many negative things but it can still
be seen that there is something a little different about them. That little
difference would be a kernel of faith.
I've known Christians that were boasters, arrogant,
ignorant, cursers, obnoxious, excessive drinkers, drug users, and etc. I have
been and still I am some of this list. God looks upon the heart and sees that
kernel of faith. It is good to remember that Christians are not perfect but are
just the children of God by the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Of course
this does not excuse sin or excess but it is good to see the faith and how it
clings to the Lord.
Ruth looked past Naomi's bitterness and saw something in her
demeanor that drew her to the Lord God of Israel. I especially love the last
half of the last verse that I copied. "The Lord God of Israel under whose
wings thou art come to trust". This is what Ruth saw in Naomi. I love the
metaphor comparing God to a bird that protects its children with its wing. I
remember seeing a print that showed a bird with her young under her wing during
an awful storm. The caption was "Peace" there is no better place to
be than under God's protecting power. As the storm rages around somehow the
soul with faith finds peace.
A commentary on Ruth would not be complete
without noting that Ruth and Boaz had a son named Obed. This man became the
father of Jesse who was the father of David the king. So Ruth the Moabite
(Gentile) will was King David's great-grandmother. The Jews of Jesus's day knew
this but never seem to grasp the significance and despised the Gentiles thinking
they were doing God's work. Of course of faith is open to all and Jesus noted
one Gentiles faith in particular saying he had not found so great of faith in
all of Israel! I
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