RUTH: SHELTERED UNDER HIS WINGS (9 OF 10)

Ruth: Sheltered Under His Wings (9 of 10)
Through the Bible Series
Roger Thomas
Ruth 1-4; Psalm 91:1-7
4/7/02

"Tell us again how you and Grandpa met," the teenage daughters were always asking to hear the story again. "Rachel hasn't heard it yet." All the grandkids knew the story by heart. While they didn't admit it, even the boys liked hearing it.

Even before they heard it the first time, which was about a hundred times ago, they knew it had to be an interesting story. Grandma was an immigrant and much younger than Grandpa.

Grandma protests in the accent the grandkids loved to mimic, "Oh, Rachel has heard it a thousand times. You tell her." Grandma points to the oldest girl. "I'll listen to see if you get it right this time."

Do you know how your grandparents met and married? Or even your parents? Most of us don't pay much attention to such tales until it's too late. But such are the stories that make life and families interesting. It is just such a story that lay behind the book of Ruth. The book tells the love story of David's great-grandparents. It has been considered by many to be one of the greatest romantic short stories ever penned. Ruth contains less than 100 verses, yet tells a tale that touches the heart.

Ruth is only one of two books in the entire Bible named for a woman. The other is Esther. The two books are exact opposites in many ways. Esther is the story of Jewish woman who survives the treachery of a non-Jewish villain. Ruth is the story of a non-Jewish woman who is saved by the kindness of her Jewish hero. While both have little to do with religion, temples, and ceremonies, behind both is a resolute trust in the living God.

In a sense, both Esther and Ruth are case studies in Romans 8:28. "In all things, God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes." Even though we are surrounded by the worst that life can offer, God works his best out of where we are. Like a ...

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