Romantic-hmmm-Not So Much

On the day of our  first date, Marshall had three red roses delivered to the office with the words "Can't wait to see you tonight!" inscribed on the card.  That evening when he picked me up I told him how special it was to receive the flowers.  That is when my future husband uttered the words most any girl would want to hear, "I just LOVE sending flowers."  Never have five words less true  been spoken-or at least that is how it seems when years pass and no flowers ever arrive until your 15th wedding anniversary-unless you count the Valentine's Day  that two of his friends convinced him that the perfect gift for me was a potted pink azalea. 

That evening I arrived home to find the azalea in its tiny pot with confetti sprinkled on the top.  A card that was almost as large as the pitiful azalea was inserted in a plastic holder. All I could manage to get out of my mouth was, "Awww, how nice!" Unfortunately, it  come out sounding neither grateful nor sincere.  I later discovered that the azalea, which could have been purchased at Lowe's for $2.95 had actually cost him $25. At that point we decided we should stick to more practical gifts-this year the gifts include a lamp and a telephone charger.  Now you may think that sounds very unromantic but it works for us.    `

An estimated 189 million stems of roses, $1 billion worth of chocolate and over 1 billion cards will be purchased this Valentine's day.  We often go to great lengths and great expense to show our love. This week I was reading the love story of Ruth and Boaz.  I realized that it was much more than their story--it is our story too. 

Due to a famine in the land, Naomi and her family set out from Bethlehem to Moab, a land of plenty,  in the hopes that they would find a better life for themselves. Yet in this land Naomi will find a famine of her own-not one of food, but a physical and emotional famine.  Within a ten year period, Naomi finds herself having lost not only her husband but her 2 sons as well.  This would be unbelievably devastating in our day, but in Naomi's society it was even more so.  As a widow the nearest relative-a son was to provide for you.  Now she finds that her whole family has been wiped out with the exception of her two Moabite daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah and there is no one to provide for them.

How excited Naomi must have been to learn that the famine had lifted in Bethlehem-after all, she could use a little good news.  She decided to return to her homeland and initially both of her daughter-in-laws prepared to make the trip, as well.   Naomi, realizing  it  was unfair for her to expect  them to leave their families and go with her,  began to urge them to go back-after all the Moabite people were not very well thought of by the people of Israel.  She didn't want to cause them any further heartache.   Orpah soon agreed to return, but Ruth insisted on going to Bethlehem with Naomi.

Naomi and Ruth settled into life in Bethlehem, but they had to eat-so with Naomi's blessing, Ruth set out to a field  to glean the grain that was left behind by the harvesters.  Scripture says, "As it turned out,she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz."  There was the divine hand of God responsible for how "it turned out!"  That evening Ruth told Naomi of the kindness that Boaz had shown.   Eventually she explained to Ruth that Boaz was her family's kinsman redeemer.

Let me point out a concept that God uses  in the Word.  God will often demonstrate a divine role by letting us see how it fits on people first. One example is that Christ is our high priest, but God let us see what it looked like in human form with Aaron.  Later we see that role played out in greater perfection through Jesus Christ.  The concept of kinsman redeemer is another such example. Scripture tells us over and over that we have been redeemed.

"In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace."  Eph 1:7

Let's look at a couple of Hebrew words which translate into the word 'redeem' or 'redeemed.'

1. padah   always referred to redeeming a person or animal. 
2. goel (pronounced 'go-all)  refers to the redemption of anything animate or inanimate.

Now, you are probably thinking-what in the world does this all mean.  The distinction is important because in the Old Testament when God tells us that He is our Redeemer-He is telling us that He is our 'goel.'  He is our kinsman redeemer.  Not only can He redeem us, but He can redeem anything and everything concerning us.  He can redeem a marriage that seems damaged beyond repair,  past rebellion, broken relationships, the sorrow of a lost loved one-the list could go on and on.

The account in Scripture tells us that eventually Ruth and Boaz marry.  In Matthew1 the Moabite,  Ruth is listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ along with Rehab (the former prostitute).  This Valentine's I want to focus not on the candy, flowers or gifts but on the love of our great God who took threads  of shame and brokenness and wove it into a tapestry of redemption-not just for Ruth and Rehab, but for me and you!!