Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Devotion - Tuesday, February 26

My cycle of readings has brought me to Ruth.  I encourage you to read this book.  It explains how a Moabite becomes one of the two women listed in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

Ruth marries an Israelite; he dies.  As does her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law.  Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, returns to Israel and Ruth travels with her.  They come to the land of Naomi's relatives.  Ruth becomes the wife of Boaz.  

In the devotion Paula shared on the retreat in Chapel Hill, she mentioned that the law forbid anyone to marry outside the bloodlines of Israel.  The Moabites are particularly singled out as forbidden (Nehemiah 13:1).  And yet, here is a Moabite woman, whose story becomes one of the books of the Bible, and who is named in the listing of Jesus' ancestors.  

The story of Ruth needs to give us caution when we start to think of who is in and who is out; when we start to attempt to determine who is acceptable and who is to be kept outside.  There are rules and then there are rules.  The rules which supersede are those which bear witness to the love of God and the acceptability of those whom God calls "my child."

No comments:

Post a Comment