Ruth 1:1-18
“Where You Go, I Will Go”
For the last few Sundays, I’ve been focusing my preaching on the Gospel readings from Mark. But today and next week, I would like to pay more attention to the texts from the Book of Ruth. Ruth is a short book of only four chapters that tells the story of an Israelite woman named Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth.
It’s significant that the book is named in honour of Ruth, the foreigner. And it’s also significant that she is named again in the Book of Matthew when the author of the Gospel lists the genealogy of Jesus. Biblical genealogies usually include the names of the fathers and their sons, with the one in Matthew starting with Abraham, going down to King David, and continuing along as far as Joseph and Jesus.
Only a few times is there a mother listed. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is of course included. And so is Ruth. It says: “…Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David…” and on from there. So, Ruth was a significant figure in the history of God’s People Israel, in spite of … Read more »