No this is not to announce that there has been a new manuscript found in a cave somewhere called The Gospel Of Ruth. But it does make for a catchy title doesn’t it? Normally I use software versions of the Bible on my computer. As I was preparing this article, I got into one of my printed bibles for some reason, and found something unusual. It was the Zondervan Hebrew Greek Study bible, edited by Spiros Zodhiates. Now Zondervan had made a typesetting error on the first page of the book of Ruth. Instead of calling it the book of Ruth they called it The Gospel According To Ruth. So I feel that this is the title the Lord would have me use here.
I have been planning to do an article on Ruth for some time. With developments in the Middle East lately, I have been led to write about Israel and The Church. With so much anti - Israel and anti - Jewish sentiment coming out, the church needs an attitude adjustment. Hopefully these articles will set out the proper attitude that should be displayed by the church. First was the long study on replacement theology, Israel - Replacement or Restoration?. And then we wrote about Joshua and the battle of Armageddon, Joshua's Big Battle. This will be the third in this series.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
Introduction
There are two main points to bring out. First is that Naomi and Ruth are types of Israel and the Church. This is, of course, considering them as separate groups. And we are talking about the Church as she is supposed to be, a friend to Israel, in the end times.
Second is that Ruth’s actions on behalf of Naomi are a picture of the actions and accomplishments of the church in the end times. Ruth does for Naomi what Naomi could not do for herself. That is to provide an heir and enable her to receive an inheritance. Likewise, the Church will do for Israel what she is unable to do on her own. And this is to inherit the promise God made to the fathers, the promise of the Gospel. Hence: The Gospel According To Ruth.
Several writers have note this comparison between Naomi and Ruth and Israel and the Church. Christine Beadsworth is one, see: A Release Of Righteous Judgments. Also see: Shemology by Barbara Di Gilio.
The Setting
Ruth is a gentile, a widow of a Jew and Naomi is her Jewish mother-in-law. She is from Moab where Naomi and her family have stayed for some years. In the passage of time, Naomi’s husband and two sons all die and she is left with two daughters-in-law. Naomi decides to return to her home in Bethlehem but urges her daughters-in-law to stay behind in Moab. Here is Ruth’s famous confession whereby she identifies with Naomi, her homeland, Israel and her God, Jehovah. Note that in verse 17 that she makes an oath unto death.
Ruth 1:16-17
16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Ruth’s attitude is friendship, devotion and service to Naomi. The name ‘Ruth’ means friendship or friend, and that is just what she is to Naomi. Naomi means pleasant or ‘my delight’ and can easily speak of Israel, the pleasant land.
Numbers 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Naomi’s attitude is somewhat sour, however, after her time spent in Moab. She has this to say:
Ruth 1:20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara [bitter]: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Her problem is not just that she is a widow, but that she has no heir. Both her sons have died while in Moab, and there is no one to claim the inheritance of her dead husband, Elimelech. Moab by the way, means of the father, who is my father or seed of the father. Elimelech, is a combination of two words. Eli which is God and melech which means king. So Elimelech is translated, God is King or God is my King. It could easily mean the God/King or even the kingdom of God!
By the end of the story, her fortunes are reversed through Ruth’s marriage to Boaz.
Ruth 4:9-10
9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
Ruth 4:17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
You can see there are two issues that Boaz is resolving here. One is the inheritance from Elimelech, and the other is raising up the heir. These two are closely related. It’s interesting that Pharez and Judah are mentioned here. It helps form part of the allegory.
Ruth 4:12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
Judah had two sons who died without an heir. This meant that there would have been no heir to the tribe of Judah, no King of the Jews! Judah eventually laid with his daughter in law and produced the heir, Pharez. Allegorically the first two sons who died, speak of the first two kingdoms of Judah, one which was destroyed by Babylon and the second destroyed by Rome. It took the seed of the father, [Moab], the seed of the father, Judah, to come and produce the heir.
This bears a loose correspondence to the two sons of Naomi who died without heir. They also represent the two kingdoms of Judah who would have inherited from Elimelech.
To produce the heir is described as ‘to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance’. For purposes of the allegory, the name of the dead is Jesus. HE is the God/King who died. He had no heir in the flesh.
Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
His spiritual inheritance is his people, all whom the father has given him. As Ruth gives birth to a son, so the church will give birth to the man-child. This is the end time church or company of saints who will bring in the end time harvest. This is raising up the Name of Jesus upon all those who are to be saved!
The attitude of Israel and the attitude of the Church.
There is a major problem with this analogy when looking at Israel and the church today. That is the history of conflict and persecution of the Jews by the church. Also the continued resistance of the Jews to the Gospel remains their historic stumbling block. The Jews are the hardest people of all to reach with the Gospel message. The bible points this out clearly in Romans 11. Today’s Jews are enemies of the Gospel!
Romans 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
Look closely at Romans 11:28 above. Notice it says they are enemies for your sakes. And they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. We need to be in an attitude of friendship, devotion and service regardless of what their attitude toward us or toward the gospel is. They are to become our brethren in the end. The same goes for any unsaved people.
Romans 11:30-31
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
In Romans 15 there is a mention of the poor saints at Jerusalem. This is a double reference to the Christians in the time of Paul and the Jews of today. And it expresses a debt that we, the church, owe to the Jews.
Rom 15 . Romans 15:26-27
26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
Romans 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
The Heir of Elimelech
As Ruth enables Naomi to inherit all that was Elimelech’s, the church will enable Israel to inherit the Kingdom of God [salvation]. We can show that Israel is to be saved at the Second Coming of Christ. The church’s role is then, to enable the Second Coming of Christ. She does this by bringing in the end time harvest. This is the fullness of the Gentiles. The end time gentile church overcomes their adversary by dying the martyrs death which is giving place to wrath. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written!
The Second Coming
Now lets take a look at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re going to string some pearls here, or connect the dots if you will.
In 2 Thessalonians we find mention that he comes to take vengeance.
2 Thessalonians 1:6-8
6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Every eye shall see him.
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
We can see that when every eye sees him that this includes the Jews. Romans 11 tells us about a blindness upon the Jews.
Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
This must mean that, when the Lord returns, this blindness will be gone, and the
fullness of the Gentiles will be complete.
Revelation 6 tells us that the Lord’s vengeance waits for a fulfillment of all those that should still be killed. In other words, he will not return till this happens. This is the fullness of the gentiles.
Revelation 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Revelation 12 speaks of the man child coming forth, this corresponds to Ruth giving birth.
Revelation 12:1-2
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Revelation 14 describes them as fully obedient followers of Christ.
Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
These preach the gospel to the ends of the earth and bring the end time harvest in. Finally they lay down their lives after ‘finishing the course.’
Side note
I realize that other writers may not view the man child or the 144 thousand symbolically as I have done here. There are other possible correct interpretations that you can come up with since we are dealing with patterns and figurative language. Secondly this part of the typology is not essential to the main line of argument here. All you need to see is that Ruth giving birth to a son compares to the woman birthing a man child. And that this in turn relates to the kingdom of God in the end times. It’s the end time saints, whoever they are, that are given the grace to finish the task, and enable the second coming of the Lord.
The Overcomers
Revelation 12:10-11
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Revelation 12 shows how they overcome the accuser. By dying the martyrs death they give place to, or make room for, wrath.
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto [make room for] wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Romans 11:25-26
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Summary
The story of Ruth and Naomi forms an allegory of the church and Israel. Ruth is a type of the Church, the gentiles who are grafted into the Promises given to Israel. She is a friend and supporter of her mother-in-law Naomi. Naomi is the widow of Elimelech, a type of Jesus. Her sons have died and so there is no heir of Elimelech. Naomi cannot inherit from Elimelech nor raise up an heir. Israel cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. This is because they rejected their messiah at the first coming and remain enemies of the gospel, blinded still today.
Ruth encounters Boaz, another type of Jesus, who is kinsman / redeemer of both Ruth and Naomi. This encounter speaks of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Their union produces a male heir who is considered the heir of Naomi and Elimelech. This speaks of the end time church, who receives The Revelation Of Jesus Christ. This is represented by the woman in Revelation 12 giving birth to the man child. This then is instrumental in preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth; and bringing in the fullness of the Gentiles. When the full number of the gentile church are martyred, the Lord comes again to take his long awaited vengeance. He removes the blindness from his people Israel, as a whole, and they can then inherit the Kingdom of God.
So what should the church’s attitude be?
We must be willing to lay down our lives for our brethren.
And that’s The Gospel According To Ruth. Amen.