God holds the world together in love

The pathway to divine love or genuine love, according to man’s standard, can be rugged but whoever endures to the end without opting out midway will be the type of person to enjoy the positive outcome and by the will of God be able to gain eternal life world without end. Ruth, a Moabite who did not belong to any part of the twelve tribes of Israel got married to Naomi’s son. Both husband and the two sons died leaving Naomi as a widow with two daughters-in-law.

Naomi, an Ephraimite of Bethlehem, Judah would have returned all alone to her native land but for the priceless love Ruth had for her as mother-in-law to whom she swore to remain until death separated them. Ruth’s sense of dignity followed her to the land of Judah. As a young widow, she was virtuous in comportment in Boaz’s barley field where Jewish tradition allowed her to glean after the major harvest. Naomi followed the tradition scrupulously to legitimize getting Ruth married to Boaz, one of the next of kin to Elimelech, her dead husband.

God judges the heart and not physical attributes or skin color. HE has no consideration for nationality, religion or physical prowess before exercising his sovereignty. Whoever loves his neighbor as himself without counting the cost loves God and will reward the person accordingly. This was the portion of Ruth,  a heathen from Moab, who became an essential part of Jesus’s lineage from Salmon with Rehab (the harlot as wife) to Boaz to Obed to Jesse and to King David. What a divine grace on Ruth.                 The Book of Ruth Chapters 1 – 4