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The Circle of Life

A story that begins with emptiness and death has now come around to fullness and life. The homeless widows Ruth and Naomi find home and family in the house of Boaz. Children (the first mentioned in the story) are born, and Naomi finds new life. The child born to Boaz and Ruth is seen as the redemption of Naomi’s line.

But something interesting happens, and it shows the goodness and surprising ways of our God. Obed, the child born to Ruth the Moabite—the nation of which there is a long line of animosity with Israel—becomes a part of the lineage of David, the lineage that traces back to Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar (see Matthew 1:1-16).

As with many other places in this story, the author is asking us to remember at every turn of the story that God doesn’t always work in the ways we anticipate. By reminding the reader of Obed’s ancestors, the author invites us to remember those stories: the brokenness of Judah and his children, the outsider status of Tamar, and God working behind the curtains of our experience. Read Genesis 38:1-30 and see how similar these two stories are.

Way back in Genesis, through the selfishness of Israel’s men, God was still working. Here in Ruth, God is still working. Though God is always behind every birth, when Scripture notes that “God enabled a conception,” it almost always signifies an especially deliberate act of God (see the stories of Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth, etc.).

This simply reminds us that at the peak of the story, God is there. This is the only reference to God actively doing anything in this account. And when the text does refer to God moving, it is after all the human drama has played out.

Let’s not misunderstand this as God’s absence or inactivity otherwise, but as part of the story, God's moving is depicted as in response to the activities of humanity, challenging us to faithful living.

Prayer: God, it gives me hope that so often in Your story, You have done incredible things despite the terrible actions of broken people. Thank You for not giving up on me and Your world. Help me to be an active part of You redeeming Your creation. Amen.

Reflection: Where have you seen God redeem a bad situation? What situation are you still asking Him to redeem?