The Holy
Spirit came to Christ’s disciples on the
day of Pentecost. One of the functions
of the Holy Spirit is to baptize us into
the "body of Christ." It doesn’t matter
what race or gender everyone who
receives the Holy Spirit is baptized
(dipped or dunked) into the Church
(1Cor. 1213). But in the early Church
where the first members were mostly
Jews, there was a difficulty accepting
Gentiles into the Body of Christ.
This was evidenced by Paul’s statements
(Eph. 41-4; Eph. 211-19). It would not
be surprising that Jews would take a
skeptical look at foreigners coming to
the Messiah of Israel. After all, the
law of the old covenant forbid certain
people from worshipping in the
"assembly of the LORD." "No one
who is emasculated or has his male organ
cut off shall enter the assembly of the
LORD. No one of illegitimate birth shall
enter the assembly of the LORD; none of
his descendants, even to the tenth
generation, shall enter the assembly of
the LORD.
No Ammonite or Moabite
shall enter the assembly of the LORD;
not of their descendants, even to the
tenth generation, shall ever enter the
assembly of the LORD" (Deut. 231-3
NAS).
Following the
Persian captivity It was customary for
the Book of Ruth to be read during
Pentecost. This book was part of the
festival scroll which consisted of five
books. Ruth was connected to Pentecost
because the law of Pentecost talked
specifically about allowing the stranger
and widows to glean the fields of the
grain during the Spring harvest of which
Pentecost was the symbol (Lev. 2310-22).
The book of
Ruth is primarily the story of Naomi and
her family. She and her husband left the
land of Israel during a famine and
settled in Moab. During that time
Naomi’s husband died, her sons matured
and married Moabite women Orpah and
Ruth. Then her sons died leaving her
bereft of all of her original family.
Naomi then decided to go back to her own
people Israel. While she urged her
daughters-in-law to return to their own
people, Ruth would not be persuaded. Her
famous words were, "…for where you
go, I will go, and where you lodge, I
will lodge. Your people shall be my
people, and your God, my God"
(116 NAS). Ruth was a wonderful
daughter-in-law. But as is true in human
relationships, Naomi had to be a
wonderful mother-in-law also!
When they first
come to Bethlehem (city of Jesus birth)
the city is stirred because Naomi is
known and has been missed during the
years she was away. Naomi recognized
that she has suffered the great loss.
She doesn’t want to be called Naomi
which means "pleasant" but Mara (bitter,
120). She knew God allowed it and
therefore attributed it to God. God does
not always protect His people from
natural disasters, death, disease,
troubles.
What follows is
one act of kindness after another. Ruth,
by chance, happens to glean in the
fields of Boaz. He sees her and learns
about her. His servants tell him that
she has been there from early morning to
late and working hard. He invites Ruth
to glean only in his fields (28) and to
help herself to his rations (v.9). She
is overwhelmed by his kindness and
wonders why he is doing this since she
is a foreigner (v.10).
But Boaz was
aware that Ruth was being extremely kind
to her mother-in-law since the death of
her husband(v.11). He wishes her well
and wishes her the reward from God for
all her work "under whose wings
(covering) you have come to seek refuge"
(212).
When Ruth tells
Naomi she was in the field of Boaz,
Naomi tells her that he is a "redeemer"
or next of kin. Naomi hearing how kind
Boaz was to Ruth instructs Ruth on a
very bold move to sleep next to him at
his feet (34). When Boaz discovers her
in the middle of the night he asks, "Who
are you?" She answered, "I am Ruth your
maid. So spread you covering over your
maid for you are a close relative
(redeemer)" (39). Here Ruth asks him to
do his duty and become the next of kin
to her as the law required.
When a closer
relative refused to take Ruth as his
wife and redeem the land, Boaz was free
to take Ruth as his wife.
Boaz was kind
to Ruth and she to him. Ruth was kind to
Naomi who in turn was kind to Ruth. This
book is about kindness which transcends
racial boundaries. We have a word for
unkind people. They are called
ruthless.
Ruth became the
great grandmother of King David
(419-22). She and is listed in the
genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Matt. 15). Since the Christian era, God
accepts people who fear Him and do what
is right regardless of race or national
origin (Acts 1034-35. The NT Church
recognizes no difference in the
treatment of people based on race,
gender or social status (Gal. 326-29).
What about you?
Can you accept people based on their
character rather than on their race?
-- David L. Antion
