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Ruth, the first book in the non-Jewish Bible named after a woman, describes in beautiful allegorical language the path each of us hikes to the foot of the cross. The course of Ruth's path begins in the land of incest and death and moves to the land of the living God. In the new land she is romanced and then redeemed by a man we can only describe as an archetype of Jesus.

In the land of Moab, the people of Lot's incest, we find Ruth marrying a man with whom the Law of Moses has forbidden. Probably because Ruth's husband disobeyed God, he dies along with his brother and father leaving Ruth, Ruth's mother-in-law, and sister-in-law widows in what can now also be called the land of death. Here Ruth begins her walk up the hill to Calvary, from darkness, incest, and death.

Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi begin a journey to the land of the living God, but on the way Naomi stops them to send her daughter-in-laws back to their own people. Both Ruth and Orpah are presented with the chance to return to the life they know or continue up towards the land of the living God. Orpah decides to return to the life she knows in the land of her family giving up, probably forever, a life before the living God. Ruth, on the other hand, decides to give up the life she knows for a life she does not.

Ruth enters Israel but she does not know the ways or laws of its people. Naomi begins her instruction by sending her out to glean from the fields as provided for in the law. Ruth, by no intent of her own, finds herself in the fields of Boaz, who upon discovering her identity, orders his field workers to treat her with extra kindness. Naomi again sends Ruth out, this time to ask Boaz to fulfill the requirements of the law of redemption. She does this by lying down at Boaz's feet in recognition of his authority to give her life.

Boaz now must act. He puts on his sandals and wanders over to the city gate to await the arrival of the only man who has first right to everything belonging to Ruth. The man, after discovering he must also take Ruth, rejects his right and gives it to Boaz. Boaz then returns home and brings Ruth into the family of Israel, making her now one of the children of the living God and no more a child of incest and death.

The path for Ruth to the foot of the cross began in the land of her fathers, the land of Lot, the land of an incestuous child, and the land of death. The very same choice all of us made at some point in our lives: to leave the life we knew and enter the land of the living God. Despite our lack of knowledge we chose to go forward and learn about the redeemer, Jesus. Jesus seeing our need for redemption and our desire to be redeemed went forth and bought it for us by the requirement of the law, in blood. The lessons of Ruth should lead us directly to the foot of the cross and our own redemption.

Learn more about this author, David K McMillin.
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