Ruth 2:19-20 (NKJV)

And her mother-in-law said to her, "Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you."

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz."

Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he of the Lord , who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!" And Naomi said to her, "This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives."

The little book of Ruth is a beautiful love story about a young gentile widow who moves away from her country to Israel with her mother-in-law. She cares for her mother-in-law by gleaning the leftovers in the barley fields during the harvest with the rest of the poor people. She meets Boaz, the wealthy land owner who has his eye on her. It turns out that Boaz is a relative of her dead husband and according the law, he then pays off all of her husband's debts and marries Ruth. They become the great-great grand parents of King David.

That is a touching story in itself but it is also a marvelous picture of God's salvation. Ruth represents the church; Boaz is a type of Christ. In the beginning of the story Ruth is a poor stranger to the community who does not know Boaz even exists. She is introduced to him through his kindness to her. Ruth submits herself to Boaz and invites him to be her kinsman redeemer. He gladly pays the price for her to be redeemed. After her marriage to him, she becomes a full member of the community and has every thing Boaz has!

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