We all love happy endings. I have to admit though seeing the world through different lenses now. These aren't rose-colored either.
This story of Ruth doesn't work out without connecting and communicating. Boaz goes to the town square and gathers ten elders. Then he personally gets with the relative who has first redeemer rights (we'll call him George).
George learns that he's in the front of the line to buy Naomi's property, but without clear communication would not have known that Ruth comes with it AND the responsibility to have children with her.
George says, "Hold the phone. I can't do that!"
So Boaz happily marries Ruth and she has a son named Obed.
But who does Obed have? Jesse. This is where it starts to get exciting!
Who does Jesse have? About a million sons, the runt of which is David.
King David?
If you want to see the full impact of this connecting and communicating, go to Matthew 1. You'll find the names of four outsider women who simply didn't fit into this lineage of God's people: Tamar (who slept with her father-in-law), Rahab (a prostitute turned spy hider), Ruth, and Uriah's wife, Bathsheba.
God used these people to bring about Joseph, Mary's husband. I think he did it intentionally.
God had created a plan long ago to redeem us. Mary would be an outsider the moment people found out she was pregnant. Joseph would have to look back at his background and realize that God is a God who reaches out to foreigners, widows, orphans, outsiders, the oppressed, the marginalized.
The age old question for the institutionalized church is...do we? Are they a part of our community?
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Stole my thunder. This book screams discussion about community, patriarchs, matriarchs and how family must be open to the community which must be open to the world. Hello Faith!
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