Ruth 1:1-3
“1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
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The Book of Ruth, though only four chapters long, is a beautiful love story that depicts a our relationship with our Lord Jesus. 💖 Though a, actual account of real things that happened to real people in a real place at an actual time in history, there are many wonderful lessons for us to learn even today.
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Shavuot.
Our story takes place during the period of Pentecost, or “Shavuot,” the Festival of weeks. During this time, Jewish people all over the world read through this entire book in their synagogues. On the Gregorian calendar, which the western world uses, this feast falls in either May or June.
It is the time of the barley harvest in Israel, occurring 50 days–7 weeks plus one day–after the Feast of Passover, hence the name, “Festival of Weeks.” It is called, “Pentecost,” because it is 50 days after Passover. During this feast, Jewish people celebrate the giving of The Law from Mt. Sinai. The Church, on the other hand, celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit. That event ushered in the New Covenant of Grace which the Old. These are the laws God writes on our hearts!
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Anyone interested in more on the New Covenant and covenants in general may follow the link below:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2016/07/06/the-laws-of-the-new-covenant/
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The Letter Kills.
At the foot of Mt. Sinai, when God gave the Law, 3,000 people were killed 40 days later. But when the Holy Spirit was given at the top of Mt. Zion, 3,000 people were saved! This graphically demonstrates that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life! It’s a perfect illustration of Romans 10:2 which says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”
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Ways To Study Ruth.
There are many different ways to study this book. You can learn valuable moral lessons to apply to your own life, which is one of the richest ways to study it. We’ll be covering that in another part of this series. You can study it dispensationally. For instance, Naomi and Ruth are depictions of Israel and the Church. It can be studied it purely in terms of history. And finally, you can also study it in terms of eschatology. In fact, it may surprise you to learn that the entire book is a timeline of end-time events. In other words, of our time. 😮
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History.
Historically speaking, the nation of Moab, as well as the Ammonites, sprang from the incestuous relationship between Lot and his two daughters. (See Genesis 19:31-18.) They got him drunk one night and had sex with him when he didn’t know what he was doing. Both got pregnant and gave birth to sons. The eldest daughter named her son, “Moab,” the younger daughter named her son, “Ammon.” They did this because they foolishly thought there were no more men in the land after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Both of these nations were enemies of Israel in ancient times and remain so to this today. Present-day Moab is modern-day Jordan. Ammon is comprised of present-day Palestinians and Northern Jordanians.
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A Nation Under God’s Curse.
At the time of our story, these two nations were cursed by God, as Deuteronomy 23:3 expressly states: “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever.”
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According to this law, no Moabite (like Ruth) could ever enter into the blessings of God. So, how did she come to be included in the genealogy of Jesus? During the course of this series, we will be studying that very topic. 💖
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You may follow the link below to continue this series:
Emmaus Road Ministries 