I Am She...the Woman with the Alabaster Box pt.4
Ruth. The third woman in Jesus’ lineage. Ruth is one of the most easily recognizable characters in the bible. Her story is known and her marriage to Boaz is often heard in church circles.Especially in the advice to single women to wait until their “Boaz” appears. I wonder how many times single women would be told to wait on Boaz if they connected the fact that his mother was a former prostitute. I digress.
Ruth’s life prior to where we find her story in the bible seemed to be ‘goals’ worthy. She was married to a man that was obviously a man of integrity and valor. She had a great family relationship that evidenced by her love for Naomi, her mother in love. We pick Ruth’s story up in Ruth 1. This is where we find Ruth. The story picks up after her husband of a decade passes away. There wasn’t much left in the physical location of where Ruth, her sister in love, and Naomi were located. Naomi wanted her daughters in love to move on with their lives. She wanted them to get remarried and bare children.
But Ruth didn’t want to leave Naomi. So she went back as a foreigner in a strange land. She took on Naomi’s customs and traditions. This woman integrated herself into Naomi’s society and that same society embraced and made provisions for her. Ruth worked to take care of herself and Naomi in the fields. Boaz saw her and made provisions for her.
According to Levitical law, leaving provisions for the poor and foreigners was mandatory. You can read about it here Leviticus 23:22. So Boaz was following the law yet also flirting you could say. Boaz developed a sense of possessiveness or responsibility when he saw Ruth almost immediately. He wanted to make sure that she had what she needed. Boaz made sure that she was taken care of so that she in turn could take care of Naomi.
Naomi helps Ruth catch Boaz’s eye even more. Boaz and Ruth do get married and they have a child together. This story is much more than Boaz marrying Ruth. Its about Boaz marrying a foreigner. Marrying a woman that knows nothing about his customs and traditions. Boaz married a woman that she shouldn’t have. This is very telling about his character. I understand that hoopla about Ruth marrying Boaz. He seemed to be a man of integrity. A man of character.
That brings us to the end of Ruth’s story. So far in Jesus’ lineage we’ve got a woman who had to catfish her father in law to have a baby that was rightfully hers. A famed prostitute. Now we have a foreign woman with legitimate ties to the promise laid out for the Children of Israel.
*Join me next time as well look at the fourth and final woman that is in Jesus’ lineage*
I look up, He looks down.
Evelyn Denise
