Dr. Al Mohler made this
statement in his post "Where does the Story of Christmas Begin?": "A closer look at the narratives in both
Matthew and Luke reveals a richness that familiarity may hide from us. Matthew begins with the genealogy of
Christ...." Dr. Mohler makes an excellent point. We tend to put aside verses in
the biblical text that don't appear to be of particular interest--like
genealogies. However, skipping over such pasages is not wise. The Holy Spirit
included these names for a reason. His version of the Christmas story includes
more detail than we have become accustomed to thinking about. Each of the names
in the genealogy represents a story within the larger story of Christmas. In
the initial post in this two-part series we looked at the inclusion of Rahab in
Matthew's genealogy of Christ. Ruth is also part of this story. Her inclusion
in this listing of names is just as stunning as Rahab's. You see, Ruth was from
Moab.
The country of Moab was
no friend of God or Israel. Moab worshiped idols and practiced child sacrifice
to these idols. However, when there was famine in Israel, Elimelech, along with
his wife, Naomi, and his two sons, left Israel and went to live in Moab.
Elimelech's sons married Moabite women, one of whom was Ruth. Elimelech had not
acted in faith. In addition to moving to a pagan land, he allowed his two sons
to marry foreign women. Yet God used Elimelech's faithless actions to bring
Ruth to himself. When Elimelech and his sons died in Moab, Naomi decided to
return to Israel, as the famine had ended. Ruth had seen something of the power
of God in Naomi's life, and she clung to her mother-in-law and would not let
her return to Israel alone. When Naomi urged Ruth to remain in her own land,
Ruth made a declaration of faith in God:
Where
you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people
and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May
the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates
you and me."
God honored Ruth's request.
Even though she lived in a thoroughly pagan country, God reached out to her,
and she responded. She honored God and Naomi. God then provided Boaz to be her
husband. And as you know, Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David. Thus,
Ruth became part of the Holy Spirit's Christmas story. The birth of Christ was
not a random event. It was carefully planned by God before the world began. The
genealogies help us to gain a glimpse of the intricacies of God's planning.
Rahab and Ruth help to show us that Christ was indeed the Savior of all of the
nations. No tribe or nation is beyond the reach of the saving grace of God.
Nothing can stop the power of God to save those whom He has called. Ruth and
Rahab were pagan foreigners--so they were unlikely participants in the Christmas
story. But God had his plans. There may be those close to you that appear to be
just as unlikely to come to love God as Rahab and Ruth did. They may appear to
be indifferent to the grace of God. They may scoff at the gospel message--but
they are not beyond the saving mercy of God, just as Ruth and Rahab were not.
The story of Christ's birth is one of hope. God does the unexpected. His grace
cannot be deterred by human will and circumstances. Jesus truly is the light of
the world. Hold this hope out for those close to you who don't know Christ. We
serve a God who is able to save those who are lost.
That is the hope of the Christmas
story.
This article has been tagged with:
Thank you for this reminder. Christmas really does remind me of a grace so scandalous that mankind will never fully understand why God acts in this way. But it is our hope...
My family and I continue to pray for our unbelieving father. The other day, my niece (age 3) drew a picture of what she imagined God to look like. I asked her why she drew God...she said, "So that Grandpa could see who God is too!" =)