skip to main |
skip to sidebar
There are 5 named women in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Two of them were gentiles… Rahab and Ruth. And two of them were women of Levirate marriage… Tamar and Ruth.
One of the gentile women, Rahab, had a son who married the other gentile woman… Boaz. Boaz married Ruth and Ruth became the daughter-in-law of Rahab.
So the intersecting point between being a gentile and a levirate wife in the lineage of Jesus Christ was Ruth.
Boaz’ mother was a gentile and Boaz’ wife was a gentile.
Consider the similarities and differences between Tamar and Ruth.
- Tamar’s father-in-law, Judah, had two sons killed by God because they were evil.
- Ruth’s father-in-law, Elimilech, also had two sons who died. The text doesn’t state that God killed them but that idea has to be considered because of the obvious parallel with Judah’s sons.
- Judah considered Tamar to be cursed and the cause of his son’s deaths.
- Judah started with three sons, lost two of them then gained two more. He finished with three sons.
- Tamar’s un-named mother-in-law died but Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi lived and reared Obed. Naomi was named because of her obvious righteousness.
- Tamar’s father-in-law, Judah, lived but Ruth’s father-in-law, Elimiech, died.
- Tamar seduced her father-in-law to have sex with her. There is no record that they ever married. Tamar’s twin sons were sired unrighteously but in spite of that her son Perez and his household became famous.
- Ruth carefully and righteously followed Naomi’s instructions to “court” Boaz and the text says they were married and had a son conceived out of righteousness named Obed.
- The people of Bethlehem blessed Ruth and recognized the parallels between her and Tamar.
- The people told Naomi that she was blessed to have Ruth and that Ruth had been better to her than seven sons. Poor Tamar never received such acclaim.
- Tamar and Ruth were both famous but one was better than the other.
In Deuteronomy 7, God made a “Covenant of Love” with his chosen people of Israel. He promised them that if they obeyed his laws that he would bless their families, their livestock, their crops and would protect them from disease. Great promises but great promises come a great cost.
God’s laws, given through the hand of Moses, regulated almost every aspect of their lives… what they could eat, who they could marry, what was clean and could be touched and what was unclean and could not be touched. Additionally, God required days and events that were to be commemorated on a weekly and yearly basis. They also were required to give back to God 10% of everything they owned.
And yes… this people who had been servants in the Land of Egypt were to become soldiers and killers. Killers of men, women and children to cleanse the promised land.
Of course the children of Israel could not or would not keep all those laws so they were cursed with famine and infertility and death and slavery at the hands of surrounding nations.
In Matthew 6 Jesus made another type of covenant people who chose faith. If his people would put God first in their lives and love him with all their hearts he would make sure they had all the necessities of life… food, shelter and clothing.
One system was a system with a focus on the strict obedience of laws and the love of laws.
The other system’s focus was on the loving of God and letting the obedience of laws take care of themselves
If you were offered either of those deals today which would you choose?
When God let Solomon choose anything he wanted… you know what happened… Solomon chose wisdom and in addition to wisdom God granted him great wealth.
Choose God and put him first and maybe like Solomon God will bless you with not just the necessities of life but also some of the niceties as well. It is a better and achievable system.
Someone on Facebook used the Parable of the Good Samaritan to justify all the illegal immigrants coming over the border and the necessity of our government to care for them. I responded with this...
"The primary point of the parable was to expose the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Of course we are instructed to do good to all but even Jesus said we would always have the poor and it certainly was not his mission to make everyone materially rich. If the good Samaritan acted like the USA he would be inviting all the poor over to his home and would soon be overwhelmed. Similarly the USA cannot be responsible for all the poor of the world."
“If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel” Deuteronomy 25:5-6
The preceding verses describe something called Levirate Marriage. “Levir” meaning the husbands brother.
Levirate marriage was not an exclusive practice for Jews. In fact, it was commonly practiced historically among many peoples.
You might conclude from the text that this only applies to a deceased husband who had brothers.
However, the Bible gives examples of others it applies to. For example, Tamar was married to Judah’s first born Er. But God killed Er because he was wicked. Judah then instructs his second son, Onan, to impregnate his brothers widow. He too was evil and God killed him.
Ultimately, Judah himself impregnated Tamar and gave him twins… Perez and Zerah. Who became his sons and grandsons.
Ruth (widow of Mahlon) married a near-relative of her father-in-law Elimilech. A man named Boaz. Boaz might have been a cousin or an uncle or nephew of Elimilech, but not a brother to the deceased Mahlon.
In fact, if God indeed wanted an heir sired by Boaz, then Elimilech, Mahlon and Chilion had to die. If anyone of them survived they would have been obligated to take Ruth as a wife.
And Boaz and the house of Perez would have been excluded from the lineage of David and Jesus Christ.
Ever since Elimilech and Naomi had left Judah because of a famine things had not gone well with Naomi. Yes they had plenty to eat but then Elimilech dies and Naomi becomes a widow.
But then her two boys Mahlon and Chilion married, and sure Naomi would rather that they had married from their own people (and not moabite girls) but at least now she would at least have the prospect of grandchildren.
Ten years go by and no grandchildren and then both Mahlon and Chilion die and she buries them also. Moab had not been a pleasant place for Naomi. She had buried the three dearest people on earth to her. What to do with her daughter-in-laws?
So Naomi hears there is food in Judah and predictably decides to go back, and then something unusual happens… even though Ruth and Orpah want to go back with her to Judah, Naomi tells them not to and argues with them why they shouldn’t go with her.
Naomi was testing Ruth and Orpah.
What older widow woman wants to take a 75 mile trek by herself where she has to depend on the hospitality of strangers and perhaps even have to sleep on the road? There were thieves and wild animals along that road. I don’t know of anyone.
Orpah of course takes Naomi’s logical advice and returns to Moab and the house of her mother.
And then Naomi directs her attention to Ruth and said this… “Behold your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods…
Ruth with great faith and an unknown future said this… “your people will be my people and your God, my God” Ruth was not about to go back to her previous Moabite life and Moabite gods, even at Naomi’s urging. Naomi had found her true daughter.
Naomi knew she had ancestral land in Judah and she knew she had near relatives that could marry both her daughter-in-laws but she wanted it to be their choice and their decision and not a decision based on pity for her.
Orpah wasn’t a true proselyte, she hadn’t bought into judaism and quickly turned her back on Jehovah God and went back to the “gods” of Moab.
Ruth, of course, hammered the test because she like Naomi lived by faith in God. Poor choice Orpah, you have been lost to history but your sister-in-law Ruth and her example of faith lives on and on.
Lesson for us… faith trumps human logic. Choose faith. Don't be like Orpah... be like Ruth.
Ruth (and probably Orpah) was undoubtably a convert to Judaism. Ruth was familiar with Mosaic Law… she knew about Levirate marriage and she knew about gleaning the fields.
And then there is this…
But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Ruth 1:16
Ruth was from Moab and Moabites followed the false Gods Chemosh and Baal. Their destructive practices included sacrificing their own children.
So, presumably when Ruth met young Mahlon and his God fearing parents (Elimilech and Naomi) and started going to the Synagogue with them she saw the superiority of Jehovah God and the character of his people. She converted from the false gods of Moab to the one and true God and became a person of faith.
By faith, Ruth refused to abandon her mother-in-law even after Naomi told her to.
By faith, Ruth left her own parents and her own country and followed Naomi to a people and a land which were not her own.
By faith, Ruth provided for her widowed mother-in-law by “gleaning” in the fields.
By faith, Ruth followed Naomi’s instruction and the instruction of the Mosaic Law and married Boaz the family's close relative.
By faith, Ruth became the great grandmother of David, King of Israel and progenitor of Jesus Christ King of the World.
Ruth, follower of the gods of Moab, became a follower of faith in Jehovah God and was richly rewarded for her faith.
I stated in a previous post that nothing in the Book Of Ruth happened by accident. The events recorded there were not random nor haphazard but rather were carefully planned and orchestrated by God.
Those aren’t just my thoughts. The best evidence for them comes from Naomi herself.
At the loss of her husband and sons Ruth said this…
“For the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me” Ruth 1:13
and this…
“The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” Ruth 1:20
and this…
“The Almighty has afflicted me” Ruth 1:21
Naomi, even in the face of losing her family, attributed that loss to God and yet she was still faithful and didn’t question him. Perhaps she knew something better awaits the faithful.
Once we understand that this whole sequence of events came from God then it allows us to look into the mind of God almighty and ask some questions.
- what was it about Ruth that made her so special that God would choose her to be in the lineage of his son?
- how did Ruth become so faithful? Was it through the influence of Naomi?
- how was Ruth spiritually superior to Orpah?
- why did God not allow Mahlon to sire the heir?
- what was so special about Boaz?
I look forward to exploring this with you.
