Ruth, the Moabite woman, was...
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Ruth, the Moabite woman, was a foreigner and the great-grandmother of David, and, therefore, a distant relative of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5) The liturgical greeting, "The Lord be with you. And with thy Spirit." (i.e., the Lord bless you), comes from this book. (2:4) The present site, shown to tourists/pilgrims as Shepherd's Field, outside Bethlehem could very well be the setting of much of the story of Ruth. But it's the love and loyalty of the daughter-in-law, Ruth, to her mother-in-law, Naomi, that inspires the telling and retelling of this story, and how she, as a foreigner (non-Jewish), had love like the Good Samaritan, the woman of Sidon, and the one foreigner who returned to thank Jesus after his healing. Jesus had a non-Jewish ancestor in the Moabite, Ruth.
Since, in today's daily press, "good news is no news," the book of Ruth might not make it into the Canon of Scriptures, as compared with the violence and cruelty of Judges. It was through a small town (Bethlehem) and a later member of this family that the Good News would be wrought and fulfilled. God is working out his purpose as the years progress.
Since, in today's daily press, "good news is no news," the book of Ruth might not make it into the Canon of Scriptures, as compared with the violence and cruelty of Judges. It was through a small town (Bethlehem) and a later member of this family that the Good News would be wrought and fulfilled. God is working out his purpose as the years progress.
