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August 4, 2008
Blessing
Read Ruth 4:11-12 and Genesis 38
In antiquity and today, blessings play a significant role in Jewish culture. There are blessings for just about everything: blessings for children, work, going to sleep at night and waking in the morning, for God's faithfulness - the list is endless. Tevya, in Fiddler on the Roof, was not off base when he explained that there was a blessing for a sewing machine and even for the Czar. Blessings can be supplications for the Lord to move on someone's behalf, thanksgiving for the good he has already done; or they can be declarations - even prophetic proclamations - of what the Lord will do. The blessing pronounced over Ruth and Boaz by the people and the elders at the gate was all of these things. Because we know the end of the story, we know this is a prophetic declaration. Regarding the blessing, the people in this passage were not at all vague about their request of the Lord. There are three very specific, yet interwoven, blessings in this prayer of the people.
First: Ruth 4:11 Rachel and Leah were sisters, and they were the wives of Jacob (whose name God changed to Israel). Through these two women and their handmaidens the Lord brought forth twelve sons who would be the founding fathers of the nation - the twelve tribes of Israel. This is the nation with which Ruth so persistently sought to align herself. For the people to pray that the Lord would make Ruth like these matriarchs of Israel was the highest honor, especially because Ruth was not a native Israelite but a foreigner from a neighboring nation. Yet her reputation of faithfulness to Naomi was well known, and she clearly had kept her promise to Naomi: the people of Israel had become her people; and their God was her God. (Ruth 1:16) The people of the city and the elders counted Ruth worthy to be known as one of them, and thus worthy to carry on the building up of the nation. In the New Testament we read that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, for all are one in the Lord. (Galatians 3:28) We see this truth in the Old Testament as well. While Israel is God's chosen nation, through whom he would bring forth his Son, we learn in Ruth and elsewhere that Yahweh not only welcomed Gentiles, he included them in the working out of his plan to bring forth the Messiah.
Second: Ruth 4:11Boaz already had a reputation of being a wealthy, well-respected man in the city. (Ruth 2:1) This reputation would continue, not just because of Ruth, but because of the son they would have. In fulfillment of the second blessing, Ruth's son with Boaz would be famous. He would be one of the earthly ancestors of the Messiah, who would be born in Bethlehem. Yes, Boaz and Ruth would definitely be famous in Bethlehem!
Third: Ruth 4:12 Boaz would have been especially sensitive to the fact that Ruth was a foreigner, because there were foreigners in his family tree as well. Boaz was of the tribe of Judah; and Judah himself did not marry a daughter of Israel but a Canaanite woman. Further, we see that Judah fathered twin sons by his daughter-in-law, Tamar, also a foreigner: Perez and Zerah. (Genesis 38) In Nehemiah we read that the sons of Perez were valiant men. (Nehemiah 11:6) This is the Tamar and Perez for whom the elders bless Boaz and Ruth. Perez's descendant Salmon (Boaz's father) married a foreigner, too - Rahab! So Boaz's mother was a foreigner and now he was marrying a foreigner. (Matthew 1) Although the elders didn't know the impact these women would have, it did not escape their notice that there were foreigners in the bloodline. Why does this matter to us? Like Ruth, we are foreigners who have been grafted in to the family of Israel. (Romans 11:17-18)
On the one hand, it doesn't really matter who the earthly ancestors of Jesus were. On the other hand, it should be a great encouragement to us that God can and does welcome all people who desire to be his. Also, the fact that the Lord chose Gentile women to be part of his plan for the Messianic line is evidence in that God desires that we all be one. Jesus is the Messiah for all - for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. (Romans 1:16) The Lord includes us all in the fulfillment of his purposes, even when all it looks like to us is a sweet love story taking place.
Cheryl Gonzales
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