A Love Story For All Time

To study Ruth is to first and foremost study a love story. And while there is a thread to this story that feels very “Hollywood” in the romantic intrigue of Ruth and Boaz’s relationship, upon deeper reflection, that is just one aspect of this love story. Love in the book of Ruth is far more than simply being attracted to a person and acting on that attraction. Love is the self-less activity taken to ensure that others are cared for- hesed (which you can read more about here if you’d like). In fact, this is the love that takes center stage in the book. It is this love and not romance which bookends the story. It is this love that motives Ruth’s famous loyalty oath (1:16-18) and Boaz’s redemption of Elimelek’s property and marriage to Ruth (4:8-10). It is also this kind of love and loving that underpins God’s activity in the story. For Ruth is a love story within a far grander love story. All the people in the love story of Ruth are part of the far greater love that God- the Ultimate Redeemer is writing. That is why the book ends with a genealogy. It begs its reader to say more than, “What a beautiful story!” It forces its reader to consider that the most mundane moments and activities might be the very canvas on which God choose to paint a story that stretches far beyond its original context. Here we have a personal outworking of the God of redemption. Here Boaz and Ruth both play the “Jesus role” giving of themselves for the good of others. Here the reader is called to the same self-giving action. We will not be Ruth or Boaz but, their faithfulness to God and selfless giving are the exact activities that we are invited to in the stuff of our everyday lives. We ought to be living consistent with the love God has shown us in Christ.

One way that the author emphasizes God’s faithfulness to those who act in lovingkindness towards others is in the contrast between the ‘would be redeemer’ of Elimelek’s land and Boaz. In an ironic and important twist, this “Mr. So and So” was too concerned for the possible loss of his own estate to risk the price and personal pain of redemption. Boaz is willing to pay the price and forgo the personal upheaval required to redeem both the land and marry Ruth. In God’s redemptive history, “Mr. So and So” has no name. However, Boaz’s name, character and deeds are not only recorded but celebrated. You can build this same contrast with Orpah and Ruth or Elimelek and Boaz. What is celebrated in God’s redemptive work is not human acts of self-giving though. What is celebrated is people who understand God’s way of loving them and because of that love act in that way toward others. Dean Ulrich writes, “As a member of the covenant community, Boaz had experienced redeeming grace. He knew that God had rescued him from sin and given him a share of the Promised Land. Because God had made promises to Boaz , Boaz could minister to others . The same is true for us.”

So, as we leave our study of Ruth, let’s see how this story is in fact a ‘nesting doll’ way inside the grander story of redemption. This is a story of God at work. A story of loss, death and emptiness giving way to life in new birth, fullness, and joy. A story of romance. A story of self-giving love. A story of redemption. A story that should encourage us to be faithful in the ‘little’ part of God’s redemptive story that we are living out. A story that pushes us to consider the far grander scope of God’s redemptive story. God is writing a love story for all time and eternity. At the heart of that story is the love of the Creator for His creation, which reaches its highest form in the person and work of Jesus. Here is the Redeemer and King who loves us and gave Himself for us. Here is an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. Here is a family where the self-giving of One has welcomed us all into a love story we could never imagine.