Dr. Lawrence Butler, The Bridge Church, Pembroke
The book of Ruth is one of the shorter books in the Bible and is found in the Old Testament.
It contains a beautiful story of love, dedication to family and the providential care of Almighty God. Perhaps a few items of information will help you appreciate the position of this book in the Bible and its role in the coming promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world.
This book has consistently through ancient and modern translations received its title from Ruth, the Moabitess heroine. It is only one of two books in the Bible named for women. She is mentioned 12 times in this book but nowhere else in the Old Testament. Her name appears only once in the New Testament and that is in the genealogy of Jesus as found in Matthew 1. The name Ruth is generally accepted to mean “friend” or “friendship.” The author is thought to be Samuel, the great prophet and judge of Israel found in the book of I Samuel. Ruth became a part of the lineage of King David by marrying a local member of the town of Bethlehem and eventually became the great-grandmother of David.
The story found in the book of Ruth begins when Israel was yet ruled by judges as revealed in the Book of Judges. Famine had come upon the land and people felt forced to leave in order to survive. One such man was Elimelech who left Bethlehem with his wife, Naomi, and their two sons. Perhaps because of a lack of faith in the Lord this man left God’s provision to seek something better. What is so sad is that he never had the chance to return. His sons grew to manhood away from the teachings of the Lord, away from the tabernacle worship that was so critical to the peoples’ lasting commitment to the Lord. Three times each year the men of Israel were commanded to travel to the place of worship and spend time together fellowshipping, learning about God’s call upon their nation and experiencing fellowship with God. Elimelech left all this, taking his family away with the result that neither he nor his sons ever returned.
My point with this presentation is simply to remind us that our life decisions often have a long-lasting impact on our lives.
Not only so, but our spouses and children are pulled in directions that sometimes do not receive adequate consideration. “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalms 55:22).
This post was originally published on here
