Sunday, November 4, 2012

Discuss the many ways that the Book of Ruth is a foreshadowing of God’s program for the Church? BIB 502-2-21-1

The Book of Ruth is a very short book and sometimes dismissed as a pretty story of Ruth’s devotion to Naomi and the love story between Ruth and Boaz. It is so much more! The Book of Ruth is prophetic of Jesus as the Kinsman-Redeemer and the Church as the Gentile Bride. As Boaz redeemed Ruth as his bride and Naomi her land, Jesus has redeemed the Church and He will redeem Israel.

Names of all have special meaning; Naomi is beautiful, pleasing, Ruth is friend and Boaz is strength. And what a loyal friend/ daughter Ruth was to Naomi.
“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” Ruth 1:16-17
The lyrics to “Whither Thou Goest” sung by Les Paul and Mary Ford were based on this Old Testament story of Naomi and Ruth.

As an interesting aside, King David’s lineage was encrypted in the Hebrew text of Genesis 38 in 49-letter Intervals. Boaz and Ruth, their son Obed, Obed’s son Jesse and Jesse’s son King David. There had been quite a scandal concerning the birth of Pharez to Ruben by his daughter-in-law. King David was the 10th generation after Pharez. The Bible is truly amazing!
Plus there is an unnamed servant who introduced Boaz to Ruth. So very much to this little book.

Totally unrelated, however, Esther is another woman who played an important role in Jewish history by saving her people from destruction. The following is from Joel Rosenberg’s book released 2012-10-15, “Israel at War : Inside the Nuclear Showdown with Iran.”
“The New York Times then ran this intriguing story: “In a Computer Worm, a Possible Biblical Clue.” Wrote reporters John Markoff and David Sanger, “Deep inside the computer worm that some specialists suspect is aimed at slowing Iran’s race for a nuclear weapon lies what could be a fleeting reference to the book of Esther, the Old Testament tale in which the Jews pre-empt a Persian plot to destroy them. That use of the word ‘Myrtus’— which can be read as an allusion to Esther— to name a file inside the code is one of several murky clues that have emerged as computer experts try to trace the origin and purpose of the rogue Stuxnet program.”

I read Joel’s book in less than two days and I recommend reading it. We are certainly living in interesting times.

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