Illustration from
CHRIST MY COVENANT
CHRIST MY COVENANT
Discovering the Gospel in Ruth.
By: Tim Keller.
Available on YouTube
HERE
Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.
unless otherwise stated.
Ruth was a Moabitess, who married into the Hebrew family of Elimelech and Naomi, whom she met when they left Bethlehem and relocated to Moab, due to a famine. Elimelech and his two sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law as widows.
When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, Ruth decided to go with her, despite the fact that Orpah, Naomi's other daughter-in-law, went back home.
Ruth famously vowed to follow Naomi in the following passage:
“Entreat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee:
for whither thou goest, I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:
thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God:
Where thou diest, will I die,
and there will I be buried:
the LORD do so to me, and more also,
if ought but death part thee and me”.
(Ruth 1:16-17, King James Version)
"Ruth in the Fields"
by Merle Hugues, 1876.
Illustration: BIBLE-PEOPLE
Boaz indicated his desire to marry her, and called Ruth a "woman of noble character". After overcoming the obstacle of having a relative with a stronger claim (per the Mosaic requirements in Deuteronomy 25:7-9), Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son, named Obed.
The genealogy, in the final Chapter of the Book, explains how Ruth became the Great-Grandmother of David: Boaz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse and Jesse begot David (Ruth 4:17). She is also, thus, the ancestor of Joseph (husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus), and is one of the five women mentioned in The Genealogy of Matthew (along with Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Mary).