LOVE.
Balloons, cards, candy, jewelry. These items are fun to give and get on Valentine's Day. Or for any day, for that matter.
But do they speak of real true love? Because these things are big business to to the people that produce them, and the stores that sell them. And they can be given by people who later...figure out they don't want someone anymore. They can be a symbol of our love, but they can also just become just another "thing."
But real love, the kind that means "I love you til death do we part"...that kind of love, does not come from any place that we an buy. It does not come wrapped up in pretty packages. It comes from the hearts of those that truly do love. From mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, or from friends that care about each other.
Ruth and Boaz had such a love. The next part of their story goes on to give us some insight into who Ruth was, and how the two met. Again, we can find the whole story at: The unique Love story of Ruth & Boaz - Good News of the Gospel Way should you want to read ahead, and not wait for my posts about it.
Their love story continues....
, The Love Story of Ruth
Naomi and her husband with their two sons leave Israel to escape drought and settle in the nearby country of Moab (today’s Jordan). After marrying local women the two sons die, as does Naomi’s husband, leaving her alone with her two daughters-in-law. Naomi decides to return to her native Israel and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, chooses to accompany her. After a long absence, Naomi is back in her native Bethlehem as a destitute widow accompanied by Ruth, a young and vulnerable Moabite immigrant.
Ruth & Boaz meet
Bereft of income, Ruth goes out to gather grain left behind by the local harvest crews in the fields. The Law of Moses, as a social safety net, had ordained harvesters to leave some grains behind in their fields so the impoverished could gather food. Randomly it would seem, Ruth finds herself picking grains in the fields of a wealthy landowner named Boaz. Boaz notices Ruth among the others working hard to gather up the grains left behind by his work crews. He instructs his foremen to leave extra grain behind in the field so that she could gather more.
Because she can gather plentifully in his fields, Ruth comes back to Boaz’s fields every day to gather left-over grain. Boaz, ever the protector, ensures that Ruth is not harassed or molested by any of his crews. Ruth and Boaz are interested in each other, but because of differences in age, social status, and nationality, neither makes a move. Here Naomi steps in as match-maker. She instructs Ruth to boldly lay down by Boaz’s side at night after he has celebrated the harvest gathering. Boaz understands this as a marriage proposal and decides to marry her.
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Naomi's husband had died. She decided to go back to her homeland in Bethlehem. Her daughter-in-law Ruth too, had lost her own husband, and she had decided to go with Naomi to Bethlehem even though she was a Moabite, and they did not serve the Hebrew God. However, she tells Naomi in Ruth 1:16 that she would go with her wherever she goes, and her God would be her God as well. So she meets Boaz there and he wants to marry her, but there is a problem that complicates matters a bit. What was the thing that could complicate the marriage by two people that were in love? Will they indeed marry?
Come back tomorrow for the answers to those questions, or you can read the story yourself, in the book of Ruth in the bible.
In the mean time, thanks for coming and have a blessed day!
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