Ruth was a righteous woman who was not Jewish. Rahab was a prostitute, who also was not Jewish; she was a Canaanite. Ruth was a Moabite whose god was Chemosh (the fish god whose name means “destroyer”). The Canaanite gods were Baal and Ashteroth – the sun and moon god and goddess, respectively.
What did Rahab and Ruth have in common? They were both “ancestors” of Jesus. Rahab was Joseph’s ancestor through King David as was Ruth! Joseph was Jesus’s legal father. Since the genealogy of Jesus in Books of Matthew and Luke are slightly different, without going through the provenance, theologians believe that the Matthew account is Joseph’s line and Luke, Mary’s. I believe that to be correct because to be the “son of David” would require a blood line back to David. Since Joseph did not sire Jesus, Mary must have been of the line of David as well.
It took both Rahab the harlot and Ruth the righteous for Jesus to be who he Is. I have often wondered, What if one of my ancestors, maternal or paternal, had died before giving birth to my ancestor? I would not exist, and even if someone else had sired my ancestor along the way, I would not be who I am. For Jesus to be Jesus, both Rahab and Ruth were necessary, although one was a harlot and the other a faithful wife, even unto death. However, this commentary is not about Rahab but about Ruth.
Chilion, the son of Elimelech and Naomi, was likely the son who was married to Ruth, but he and his brother Malon died before producing an heir for Elimelech who had also died. Levirate marriage required the closest relative to marry the widow of the deceased. Since both her sons had died, Ruth had no betrothed since usually the brother married the widow. That is important: God promised a Messiah to the Israelites in the Abrahamic Covenant. The name Elimenech means “God is my King.” He was an Ephrathite living in Bethlehem. Ephrathites were descended from Ephrah whose name means “fruitful.” It seems that God meant for the Messiah to be born to Ephrah. But how could that be with Elimilech dead and with Naomi too old to produce a male heir on time? The answer was Boaz. The name Boaz means “in him who is strong” (All from the Online Etymology Dictionary). It seems that for him, one of the pillars of the Temple was named “Boaz.”
Boaz provided the missing heir who would grandfather Jesus. He was substitutionary for Elimelech since his line died out. Legally, the child Obed was Elimelech’s as implied by Naomi mothering the child by breast-feeding him, and not Ruth. That feeding was an Old Testament miracle because Naomi was old and had not naturally produced milk in scores of years! It was Ephrah who was to be fruitful, but God knew all along it would be Perez through Boaz who great-grandfathered King David.
However, Mary wasn’t important enough to even know for sure who were her parents or lineage. There is much ambiguity about the Luke account being her genealogy. In fact, scripture presents genealogies as vanity (1 Tim 1:4). Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, and Mary likely not the biological mother. There was no coitus involved with Mary, hence no sperm. Without sperm, there would be no need for ova. In other words, God created Jesus as he did Adam, and Jesus was without an earthly father or mother (It is believed that Melchizedek’s description fits Jesus’s.) Mary may have been only a surrogate and her womb an incubator. If that’s not the case, there is no disrespect intended, but Jesus existed before the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:20). Jesus’s birth was his “manifestation” wherein God made His own flesh. The root word for manifestation in the Greek is “rendered.” God rendered, or “produced a copy of Himself” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) just as he made Adam in His own image.
I like Christian symbolism. Ruth and Boaz are important. They are types of Mary and Joseph, and Obed a type of Christ, as far as genealogy is concerned. Only two things are known of Obed: (1) His name means “worshipper,” so it can be implied that he worshipped Israelite God, and (2) he was David’s grandfather. As such, Obed was the intended ancestor for Jesus when the Abrahamic Covenant was divulged. Other than that, genealogies do not matter because both Joseph and Mary served God’s purpose as did Boaz and Ruth.
We think of the virgin Mary as righteous, and she was. Ruth may have not been a virgin, but she was righteous. Rahab was unrighteous but because of her act of faith, that made her righteous. Ruth had faith as well. Maybe she was aware of her role for Jesus; maybe not, but God used her and she followed God’s will whether He spoke and explained it to her or not. Likewise, Boaz did the decent and righteous thing. God produced them (their natures and vessels), and they in turn produced Jesus, not necessarily biologically, but spiritually.
Ruth and Boaz are exceptional examples from the Bible in what Holy Matrimony should be. They willingly obeyed the law of Levirate marriage, and although she slept at his feet before the betrothal, she did actually sleep specifically at Boaz’s feet. Boaz was honorable in that he could have selfishly taken Ruth as a wife, but he did so legally. He gave the closest relative first chance to buy Naomi’s land and birthright, before he did so himself. His marriage was honorable and holy, and the reason that particular genealogy matters is because it is a prime example of what a marriage should be based upon.
The Church is the Bride of Jesus and Jesus the Bridegroom. Ruth represents the purity and fidelity of the Church, and Boaz is symbolic of Joseph to whom her purity and fidelity were reserved. She could have any of the younger men in the field, but she chose the older one, Boaz. She could have chosen her own family who did not worship God, but she chose a God-worshipper!
Who we marry is important! Perhaps she was unaware that at that moment she was part of the Plan of God to render Jesus unto the world. Righteousness is always the best way because regrets are not built on righteousness. I bet that right now, Ruth has no regrets as to how she and Boaz consummated Holy Matrimony. Just think of the honor of being the one of the “vessels” which rendered Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment