Ruth Chapter 2: Why have I found favour?
Two hymns ring in my ears as I read the second chapter of Ruth: “Whosoever Will” and I Know Not Why God’s Wondrous Grace.
Ruth was referred to as “Moabitess” (2) and “Moabite woman” (6) before she identified herself as “foreigner” (10).
The wife of Mahlon was not just any foreigner. She was an abominable Moabite:
“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever (Deut 23:3)
Marvellously, here she was, a Moabite woman in the land of God’s chosen nation, because she insisted to Naomi: “For wherever you go, I will go… Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God” (1:16). Indeed, “Whosoever will may come”!
Nevertheless, she was surprised by the gracious treatment from Boaz, who invited her to glean at any of his fields (8-9) and gave her preferential treatment reserved for his own servants (10). Why take notice of her, why so kind to her, a foreigner?!
Paul reminded Gentile believers in Eph 2:11-12: “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh” –
- Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
- Strangers from the covenants of promise
- Having no hope and without God in the world
But God be thanked, that Christ now plays the role of Boaz, for He has brought us who were afar to be near, and has torn down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, thus making peace (2:13-14).
As the hymn goes, unworthy as we are, Christ has redeemed us for His own. It is therefore our duty as Gentile Christians to pray for the salvation of the Jews. Our relationship with the God of Abraham is to provoke them to jealousy, that they might ultimately turn to Jesus their Messiah (Rom 11:11,26,30-33).