Faces - 5 - Ruth

We are continuing our series called “Faces” where we are looking at different characters from the Bible and seeing what we can learn from them. We have already looked at Daniel, Samson and Job. Today we are going to look at Ruth.

Ruth is one of just two women who have their own book in the Bible, the other woman is Ester, who we will be looking at in a few weeks time. As we will see today Ruth shows us that God does not discriminate, and loves and has a plan for all of us no matter our race, wealth or gender.

Ruth’s step parents (Naomi and Elimelek) were immigrants who left their home country of Judah during a food crisis (a famine) to seek refuge in a foreign land called Moab. Ruth was born and grew up in Moab. Over time her father and brothers died, leaving just Naomi, Ruth and her sister-in-law Orpah all alone.

Naomi decides that she can’t survive as a widow all alone, so decides to return to Israel, where she has some family that can look after her. She tells Ruth and her sister to say in Moab and find husbands there, as this was the usual custom.

Unlike her sister Ruth decided to remain loyal to her mother-in-law, and go with her to Israel remaining by her side no matter what happens. So the two embarked on the long journey to Judah, in search of their relative, a man called Boaz.

We will pick up the story when they arrive in Bethlehem and Ruth goes out to find work, Ruth 2 : 1 - 15.

As we saw it turned out the man who’s field she asked to work in was her relative Boaz and he was kind to her. As we will see in the video we are now going to watch the relationship between Ruth and Boaz grew and he took care of both Ruth and Naomi

Boaz recognised the loyalty of Ruth to her mother-in-law, and the sacrifices that she had made in order to remain with her and keep her safe. Ruth was allowed to collect wheat from his farm, and had plenty of food and drink for both herself and her mother-in-law.

Later we see that Boaz and Ruth are married as was the custom for relatives where a mother had been widowed with now surviving sons. Then we see in Ruth 4 : 13 - 17 that the couple had a son.

The child that Ruth gave birth to a son called Obed, this child was then the grandfather to King David. God used Ruth a poor daughter of a widow from a foreign land, who was selfless and loyal to her family to become the great grandmother of the most important King in Israel.

Although her life was humble, and she didn’t see fame and fortune, she was an important part of God’s master plan.

She may have worked in the fields, gathering wheat. She may not have faced ferocious lions like Daniel, or pulled down buildings like Samson, but despite this God took care of her and used her to carry out her own unique role in God’s master plan.

She may not have felt that the work she was doing was important, or that her life was significant, but God knew that she was important and her life was significant.

We all might face times like Ruth where we feel that what we are doing isn’t significant and therefore isn’t important. However, we need to remember that with God no one is unimportant.

God has placed us in the situations we are in for a reason. This reason might not be in the limelight, but despite this we need to trust that God that he has a reason behind this.

Take a few moments to just think about the things in your life which you think are boring, mundane or unimportant. Then say a quick prayer thanking God that behind this is a plan for great and important things, which we ourselves may never see.

As we have seen Ruth was an outsider, she was a foreigner seeking a better life in a new country. Despite her not being an Israelite, God still chose her to be the ancestor of the most important king to govern Israel, King David.

This shows the love and purpose that God has for all of us, no matter of our circumstance or background. Have a flip though the book of Ruth and draw a cartoon strip highlighting the key points of her journey.

Through Ruth’s life one of the recurring things we see is her needs being met, and God providing for her. The kindness and generosity of the people such as Boaz that she met, mean that she and her mother were never without food and shelter.

God continues to provide for us today. Spend a few moments thinking about something that you are thankful to God for in your life and write this down on your “bundle of straw”.

As we can see from the collection of things we have here, we all have a lot of things to be thankful for, both big and small.

The key thing that Ruth teaches us is that God does not discriminate. God loves and has a plan for each one of us, no matter whether we are a girl or a guy, no matter our skills, abilities or where we come from.

No matter how insignificant we might think that we are there is no such thing as an unimportant person for God. As we have seen with Ruth, God used the life of an ordinary poor woman, who was not part of God’s chosen nation, Israel to be the ancestor for the most important king who ever lived in Israel, David and ultimately an ancestor to Jesus himself. Let’s pray.

Lord God,

We thank you for Ruth and what she has taught us through her life.

We thank you that no matter who we are, where we live or what we look like you care about us and have a purpose for our lives that is part of your great plan for your kingdom. We thank you that our lives are unique, special and important to you.

Help us to remember that you love us and value us through everything that we say and do.

Amen