The events of the Book of Ruth occurred when the judges ruled (Ruth 1:1). In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). The Book of Ruth provides insight on faithfulness to God during the lawless period of the judges. The purpose of the book is to reveal how the mercy and providential care of God extends to both Jew and Gentile.
The Book of Ruth highlights our Lord's loving-kindness in selecting a Moabite woman to be included in His Covenant with Israel and to be one of only two women after whom books of the Bible are named. Ruth was one of only four women, other than Mary, mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:3,5-6,16) demonstrating the love of God for all people.
The Law provided for Boaz, as a kinsman-redeemer, to reclaim the deceased Elimelech's inheritance, to marry Ruth, and to raise a child to continue the lineage of Elimelech. An unnamed near kinsman (symbolic of the Law) had the first legal right to redeem Elimelech's lost inheritance. He refused by saying that to marry Ruth, a Moabite, would mar (endanger) mine own inheritance . . . I cannot redeem it (Ruth 4:6). The Law stated: An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation (assembly) of the Lord; even to their tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3). The Law cannot forgive or make exceptions; it can only expose our sins and condemn us. But, Ruth had forsaken her false gods by confessing her faith in the one God of Israel who also said: And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him (Deuteronomy 10:12-16; compare Jeremiah 4:4; Romans 2:29; Galatians 3:29; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 3:11).
Boaz, a type of Christ who assumed the right of kinsman-redeemer, purchased the property inheritance of Naomi and took Ruth as his wife. After making the necessary arrangements, Boaz said unto the elders . . . Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's . . . of the hand of Naomi. Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off (Ruth 4:9-10; Leviticus 25:25-34,47-48; Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
Through the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, for the third time God united both Jew and Gentile in the ancestry of David and of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah (Matthew 1:3,5; Luke 3:32-33). There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed (offspring), and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:28-29).
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