Bible Character- Ruth

Ruth was not an Israelite; she was a Moabite lady married to an Israelite. Both her husband and her father-in-law die, and she chooses not to back to her ancestral home, instead, she helps her mother-in-law Naomi find protection. The two of them travel to Bethlehem in Judah together. 

While in Judah, God worked out an amazing plan for a man named Boaz to take Ruth as his wife, give her a child and provide for her and Naomi.

Deuteronomy 25:5-6 records a custom that directed a relative of a man who dies should marry that man’s widow to perpetuate his lineage through this woman. According to God’s remarkable sovereignty, Boaz was a relative to Ruth’s husband who had passed away; so, he was qualified to marry her and perpetuate his lineage. So, even amid Ruth and Naomi’s awful affliction, God still had a plan to take care of them. 

Ruth is one of five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

Lessons learned from Ruth

1) God is concerned about all people regardless of our status

Ruth was not a Jew. She was a Moabite. Even though many discriminated against her, God loved her, and He loves all people just the same.

2) Men and women are both equally important to God

God cares about men and women all the same. As much as Ruth was in a disadvantaged situation; being a widow, living in a foreign land away from her birth family, God saw her as important and His plan for her life culminated in her becoming a part of the lineage of Jesus (as the grandmother to King David). 

4) God uses little things to accomplish great plans

God intended for Ruth to be a part of the story of the lineage of Jesus. So, He pulled together events such as the famine, Naomi’s relocation to Moab, their return to Bethlehem, Boaz’s bloodline, and many other events just to ensure that Ruth could be a part of His plan. And God does that same thing in our lives today.

5) God has a Redeemer who can rescue us from sin

God has a Redeemer for our lives, too, and His name is Jesus. We are all desolate as a result of our sinful nature. Our sin has rendered us empty and desolate spiritually. But Jesus came to redeem us.