Protection, Power, Preservation-Ruth
By: Khalilah Shelton
This summer has been one for the books. So many events have taken place that evoke lots of emotions, changes, and questions. Our desire to be protected is at an all-time high. Some are seeking to stay safe from illness and disease while others are seeking protection from abuse and police brutality. Still there are some who are seeking to be protected from job loss and homelessness. Through all of these facts, God’s character and Truth shone through the airways as The Urban Christian Woman walked through the book of Ruth this summer. God put on display His protection, power and preservation that kept Naomi, Ruth and the lineage of Jesus Christ alive until the promised Messiah appeared.
The book of Ruth is set in the dark days when God sent various individuals to judge Israel. They would not obey God, “and the people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…” (Judges 2:11). God places this unlikely love story in the midst of a dark and trying time for His people. (1)
The story begins with Elimelech and Ruth who sinfully moved from their native land in Judah to enemy territory, Moab. They settled there with their two sons who eventually took Moabite wives. Elimelech and his sons die, so Naomi sends her daughters-in-law back to their kinsmen. Unlike Naomi, God is never in a tailspin or loss for what is next. Orpah went back to her family in Moab, but Ruth clung to Naomi. Naomi was seeking to protect these women whom she held dear, the only family she had left. Ruth loved Naomi so much that she risked her own well being and much uncertainty to stay by her side.
“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.’ And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more”
Ruth 1:16-18
The duo went back to Bethlehem in Judah. God protected the women as they journeyed. Two women traveling with no man was a dangerous feat in this day and age. The women were vulnerable to much mishandling, but God was with them. Not only were they protected on the journey but they found a relative, Boaz, who had land, crops and the power to take them in as his own family. Ruth immediately got to work gleaning from the fields. She worked so hard that Boaz took notice of her. God’s protection and power are shown through Boaz. He not only was kind to her and gave her much opportunity but he had mercy on her.
“Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.’”
Ruth 2:8-9
God has the power to move in and through any circumstance with protection and power to preserve His plan and His purpose. Boaz provided a safe place for Ruth, affording her dignity and purpose by allowing her to glean her own barley. He protected her from men who would demean her. People could likely tell she was a Moabite by her attire, but Boaz saw who she was as a person. Spoiler Alert: Boaz marries Ruth and they have a son, Obed. Naomi finds purpose again and much joy as she cares for her grandson. Ruth, a Moabite woman, once an enemy of God is now counted in the family line of Jesus Christ! God has always had a plan to present redemption to all of humanity, Jews and Gentiles, alike. His plan is always in play!
In these dark days, let us “never permit the bad news of man’s sin to rob you of the good news of God’s love and grace.” Where are you finding grace from God? Where has he protected you? How has He shown His power today? What part of His glory is He preserving you for?
For more on the book of Ruth, visit our YouTube Channel and watch our Summer In The City (SITC) series, Abundant:The Book of Ruth!
1) Wiersbe, Warren. Nelson’s Quick Reference Chapter-by-Chapter Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1991.
