The Ruth Bride – Part 1

FAITH

What does the Gentile believer do when Israel is in distress?

**The path from Bethlehem to Moab. Naomi went with her husband and sons; and returned only with Ruth.**

By Rev SEIK PITOI
IN the previous two articles, we looked at the situation with Israel. We saw that at the end of the latest war with the terrorist group, Hamas, the nations of the world are polarised for and against Israel.
The tide of world opinion is growing against this tiny democracy which has gone through four elections and was battling the effects of Coronavirus on her economy when the Gaza war broke out. Added to that is the rise in global hate crimes and attacks on Jews, attempts to criminalise her at the UN forums, and the threat of nuclear attacks from Iran and her proxies.
We saw that as opinions in the world are for or against Israel, one particular group of people will have to decide too where they stand. This is the ‘other’ part of Abraham’s family – the Christians (Gal 3: 14, 29). What position should the Church (worldwide believers in the Lord Jesus Christ) take on this?
We find that just as the nations are split over Israel, so is the Church. Anti-Israelism in the Church appears largely under the banner of ‘Replacement Theology’, a doctrine that teaches that Israel has been replaced by the Church in being the people of God. Proponents believe Israel has no place any more in God’s eschatological (end time) programme, and that the covenants made with her through the patriarchs were annulled because of her disobedience and sin. But there is another group of believers who think otherwise. For answers, we must go back to the Scriptures.

“ Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried.”

While there are many places in the Bible that speak about this issue, the story of Ruth in the Old Testament illustrates it well. It is considered a beautiful love story that begins with tragedy and has a happy ending. While it primarily teaches about God’s love for those of us from the gentile nations, it also contains prophetic pictures of the end time Church, and how it is split in relation to Israel. The meanings of the names of the key persons in the story are significant, portraying the dealings of God with His ancient covenant people!
Ruth, the Gentile Bride
The story of Ruth takes place in the turbulent years “when the judges ruled” (1: 1), before the advent of kings as rulers over Israel. Bible scholars date it to be around 1300 BC. The story centres around a family from the town of Bethlehem Ephrata, in Judea. Ephrata (meaning “fruitful”) was the same town as Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19; Micah 5:2), but was also referred to as the “clan of Ephrath” (4: 11), in Bethlehem. In a spiritual analogy, one could note that the Messiah’s home was both the ‘house of bread’ and the field of the ‘fruit of the vine’, as the Messiah would become both “the bread of life” and “the true vine (John 6:48; 15:1).
The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and their sons were Mahlon and Chilion. The land was ravished by famine and so the family had to leave in search of food. They moved to the gentile nation of Moab! The country of Moab was the place of the Moabites, who were descendants of Lot, and enemies of Israel. As such, they had been banned from the “congregation of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 23:3).
Yet, in this story we will see the grace of God unfolding in His dealings with the people of the nations. In Moab, both boys got married to two local women; Mahlon to Ruth (4: 10) and Chilion to Orpah.
Soon, tragedy hit the family. Their father, Elimelech, died, and 10 years later, both boys too died! Naomi suddenly found herself all alone in a foreign land with no wantok or relative around her, except for her two daughters-in-law.

After fleeing poverty and hunger in her own land, she moved to another country only to have her husband and sons die! It seemed that fate had dealt a terrible blow to her and in all likelihood, she too may soon die and be buried in this foreign land. But suddenly, news reached her that back at home, it was beginning to rain. Crops were growing and food was now in abundance. Bread was now back in the house (beit) of bread (lehem), i.e., Bethlehem. The famine was over!
Overjoyed, Naomi and her daughters-in-law “set out and went on the way to return to the land of Judah” (1:7). Along the way, however, Naomi felt it was not right to have these young women go with her. She decided to send them both home as they would have to deal with living in a foreign land. However, both women wept and said: “No, we will return with you to your people” (1: 10).
Naomi discouraged them further, telling them she could not have any more sons for them to marry so it was better they return home and begin their lives again. To this, both women again cried, but Orpah decided to move on. She kissed her mother-in-law goodbye and left. However, Ruth clung to Naomi (1: 14).
Now, for the third time, Naomi tried again to discourage Ruth. At this, a determined Ruth made that statement that is repeated often at weddings: “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the LORD’s worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!” (1: 16-17)! Seeing her determination, Naomi relented and both women continued walking towards Bethlehem. (It seems she had ‘passed the test’ to become a part of the people of Israel)! It was the start of the barley season when they arrived.
We next find Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz, a rich relative of Elimelech. As is allowed in the Levitical law (Lev 19: 9, 10), workers are to drop the leftovers of grain so poor people and foreigners can glean (collect) for their use! Ruth did this for her and her mother-in-law in Boaz’ field – until he took notice of her! Boaz was impressed at how this foreign woman cared so much for her old Jewish mother-in-law. He made sure the workers treated her right and gave her what she wanted.
As we fast track the story, we see romance take place largely because of the kindness Boaz showed to Ruth and Naomi. Eventually, Boaz marries Ruth and he becomes her ‘kinsman redeemer’ (3: 13; 4: 10).
However, it was not that easy. There was actually another relative who was closer than Boaz to the deceased, Elimelech. This man had the first call to buy the property of Elimelech, which also involved marrying Mahlon’s widow. As a man of integrity, Boaz wanted to follow the right procedures so if he was to marry her, it was to be done openly and in an orderly way (Ruth 4: 1ff). They met at the city gate (the place where leaders discussed these issues) and talked about the situation. Finally, the relative decided he would not buy the property. He allowed Boaz to be redeem it. So Boaz paid a price to purchase Ruth to be his bride!
Through their union, Ruth gave birth to a baby boy whom they named Obed. Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jessie was the father of King David!
We see the miraculous grace of God reach out to bring in from the Gentiles – from outside the people of Israel – a woman who would be part of the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. This represents you and I as gentiles and how God receives us by grace into His family! Truly, here is a beautiful story of how no one is outside of the love of God.
We will see in the next article the prophetic pictures in this story and see how they relate to Israel and the Church in these last days. Take care!

Rev Seik Pitoi is a freelance writer.