The Little Town of Bethlehem Part 2
We are looking at the book of Ruth which I said is like Christmas in July. It is a great way to get ready for Christmas. There are a lot of amazing parallels between what is happening in the book of Ruth and the Christmas story. Last week we saw that it was no coincidence that the events of Ruth and the events of Christmas both take place in Bethlehem. We also looked at the connection between Ruth and Mary, both of whom made a life changing commitment of faith and journeyed to Bethlehem and gave birth to children who would change the world.
This week we are going to introduce Boaz and connect him with someone in our Christmas Story. When we last left Ruth and Naomi in chapter one, they had just returned to Bethlehem with nothing. But all was not lost. Chapter 1 finishes with the arrival of the barley harvest. Bread was on the way! Chapter 2 opens with Ruth going gleaning.
Ruth 2:3 (NIV)
3 So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Gleaning may not be something you are familiar with. People in need were allowed to follow along after the workers and pick up anything they had left. Godly farmers were supposed to leave something for the needy.
Deuteronomy 24:19 (NIV)
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Ruth goes out into this field and she’s gleaning. And as it turns out the field that Ruth somehow ends up in belongs to Boaz. (Boaz is a distant relative to Naomi which will have a big impact on this story and we will dig into that next week). Boaz is a righteous man and he makes sure that Ruth is taken care of in her time of great need.
Ruth 2:23 (NIV)
23 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ruth gleans in the fields for the rest of the barley harvest and for the wheat harvest that followed. Ruth is kept safe and provided for by the righteous actions of Boaz. Part of this story is that God uses righteous people to bless others. So what does it look like to be a righteous person?
There are a lot of ideas about what righteousness is. I believe that it is best understood in the idea of living rightly. Living in a way that pleases God. Or, to put it in a way that we talk about all the time, it is about living by trying to do the next right thing, It is not about following a bunch of rules, it is all about learning to yield our lives to Holy Spirit and walking in step with Him.
How does this connect to the Christmas story? Let me introduce you to another righteous man, his name is Joseph. Joseph makes sure that Mary is taken care of in her time of need. If you read the genealogy in the beginning of Matthew 1 you will see that Joseph was a descendant of Boaz but lets pick it up in verse 18:
Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Joseph was a righteous man. He demonstrates the idea of living by doing the next right thing. He listens to and obeys the Lord in the way he cares for and provides for Mary. And we are to live as righteous people as well, living by doing the next right thing, looking to bless those who are lost by introducing them to the light of the world.
Steve Lawes is a church encourager and the founder of the Online Bible Institute.
