Advent Reflection for December 23, 2012

Jillian MONDAY Ruth 4:1-22
• Deuteronomy 23:3 said no Moabite could ever enter “the assembly of the Lord.” But Deuteronomy 25:5-10 said if a man died childless (as Ruth’s husband did), his nearest relative
should marry the widow and have an heir for the family. How do you think Boaz chose which command to follow? How did his love toward Ruth, even though she was a Moabite, show
Jesus’ principle that “people are more important than rules”?
• Ruth and Naomi’s society gave unmarried women no legal rights and few ways to support themselves. A “redeemer” changed their lives. In what ways did their story foreshadow the
redeeming work of Jesus, Ruth’s descendant, for all humanity?
Response by Jillian Teawick:
Boaz saw the compassion of Ruth, her willingness to leave her home and family for a foreign land (quite Abrahamic) to take care of her mother-in-law. Even though he could write her off as a non-Israelite, (read “non-chosen person”) Boaz chooses to do the right thing by marrying her. Ruth had proven that she was not your average Moabite! But he does go through all the right channels to make sure their union would be legitimate. Without this action on the part of Boaz, these two widows, Ruth and Namoi, would have struggled to survive, but instead, they benefited from God’s surprising grace through Boaz. These ancestors of Jesus continue to weave the thread of redemption through history laying the framework for the One who would come to redeem us all