Bible Women: Ruth - Part 1

Ruth - Part 1

In our study of Naomi, we learned that when the Lord brought a famine to the land of Bethlehem-Judah, Naomi went with her husband Elimelech, when he chose to leave his home there  and to travel to the country of Moab,  rather than to stay and trust the Lord to provide for his family.  Elimelech went to "sojourn" which is a temporary journey.  He did not know that he would not return to Bethlehem-Judah. Proverbs 3:5-6 "trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." Moab was a  pagan land with pagan gods, and that fact alone should have kept Elimelech in his own land, with his own people, trusting the Lord to provide for them.

But, "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". (Romans 8:28) and as the story of Ruth progresses we will see how the Lord used this famine to bring a Gentile woman into the line of the Lord Jesus Christ.

V2 says that when they came to the country of Moab they "continued" there, now more than a "sojourn".  After a time Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons Mahlon and Chileon.  Instead of returning to Bethelem-Judah, they made their own decision to stay in Moab and Mahlon and Chilion married wives of the women of Moab, one named Orpah, the other named Ruth.  Ruth means "beauty". V4 "and they dwelled there about ten years."  then Mahlon and Chileon also died.  The timing of their deaths is an example of God's perfect timing, for it is now that Naomi heard that "the LORD has visited his people in giving them bread." (Ruth 1:6)  We can see from this that Naomi recognizes that it is the LORD who has ended the famine.

Bible Women: Mary: Chosen by God to Give Birth to the Saviour

Mary: Chosen by God to Give Birth to the Saviour

Luke 1, Matthew 1:18-25

We will follow Mary's story in the gospel of Luke, with references back to Matthew, Isaiah and Genesis.  Luke 1:26-27 "in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.. V19 Gabriel had told Zacharias who was to be the father of John the Baptist, that Gabriel has a special position "And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee....." 

Why was it so important that Mary was a virgin? Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  Her seed, not the seed of fallen man, but the seed of the woman. The Saviour's birth would be very special, of supernatural means. Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Mary was a virgin, and Matthew 1:18 confirms it. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."

It is impossible to imagine what that moment was like when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary.  In the simplicity with which the Bible often depicts its most awesome moments, we are told in V28 just that "the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee; blessed are thou among women." V29 when Mary saw Gabriel "she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be as Gabriel had told her three things, that she is highly favoured by the Lord, that the Lord is with her, and that she is blessed.  Think about this, if God would send an angel to us, what would he tell us that the Lord thinks of us?   Of all the women in Israel, God chose this humble maiden to be the mother of the Saviour of the World, truly, she must have been a very godly young woman.