BIAY - Faithful God, Faithful People
Ruth 1-4, Proverbs 23:1-18
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Ruth is a gem of a book that connects Joshua/Judges to 1 Samuel and the move toward kings and a move from a tribal to a united Israel. It’s also a story where I find the principles of the gospel embedded throughout. Incidentally, for anyone interested in studying Ruth for all it’s worth, I highly recommend Sandra Richter’s group Bible study from Seedbed. Alright, let’s take a look.
Gracious loyalty (1:16-18) - Ruth didn’t have to stick with Naomi. In many ways, it was the “wrong” choice. Her sister-in-law Orpah made the “correct” decision to move back to her family of origin. Ruth’s steadfast loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi was a gift of pure grace.
Generous provision (2:8-16) - I love that Boaz appreciates Ruth so much. He doesn’t judge her as lesser because of her ethnicity—that she is from Moab. Rather, he judges her by her character of self-sacrificial love for Naomi. In response to recognizing what she is doing and admiring her for it, he instructs his men to leave additional stalks of grain for her to glean. In this way, he shows that he not only knows and abides by the law (Leviticus 19:9-10 teaches not to reap to the very edges of their field, but to leave that for the poor and the foreigner), but he understands and obeys the spirit of the law—to make sure that those with less economic stability and connection are able to work to provide for themselves.
Kinsman-redeemer (3:9-11) - Boaz is a close relative and therefore a candidate to redeem Ruth and Naomi. He again emphasizes her good reputation in the community.
God’s faithfulness through people’s faithful character (4:13-15) - Boaz cleverly navigates the family relationships and kinsman (guardian-redeemer) obligations in order to position himself to marry Ruth and in so doing redeem she and Naomi. They have a son, which means that Naomi’s place in the society is secured. The women in town recognize the Lord’s provision and we can see through the story that God has been at work through the faithfulness and upright character of Ruth and Boaz.
Questions:
Where is God using the letter of the law or command to teach me the spirit of the law and the heart of the Law-Giver?
Who do I know that needs to be shown grace?
How have I seen God work through people to redeem a situation?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, so form me by your Word and Spirit, that I may be your faithful servant and bless others in your name. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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