Re:Verse reading–Ruth 2:1-12, 17-23; 4:1-14 (day three)
May your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.
What happened after Ruth’s encounter with Boaz at the threshing floor? Eyebrows went up all over Bethlehem, that’s what. Yes, Ruth and Boaz took steps to keep it quiet, but it ended up in the Bible anyway. News like that tends to get out. That’s not to say a sexual indiscretion occurred; it is to say that unless Ruth were to become the mother of a rich man’s baby, the sinkhole of abject poverty in which she and her mother lived would swallow them whole. Whatever the original plans with the inebriated Boaz, Ruth ended up in the crucial moment just being straight up with him rather than trapping him in scandal: “Make me your wife.” She took the risks, and her strength won the day. The town took note. Our Savior’s lineage owes as much to scandalized or sexually exploited women—Rahab, Tamar, Ruth, Mary, each of whom spoke with courageous voices—as it does to the men who make up that same family tree. God raises up women whom this world has attempted to silence.
Bryan, When I first read your comments about sexuality exploited women I first of Mary, the mother of JESUS, I was schocked. Then I remembered Mary Magdalena. Isn’t she the Mary to which you were referring?
Charlotte, the group of “scandalized or sexually exploited women” does indeed include Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is among the scandalized subset of that group, not the sexually exploited subset. Any woman pregnant and unmarried would certainly have faced disdain and marginalization in the eyes of those who did not believe that the pregnancy occurred by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her courage in the face of these circumstance stands as a call to obedience for all of us.
Oops! What I mention to say, ” …I first THOUGHT of Mary…
Is there an edit button, like Facebook has?y
We all know scandals spread fast as the speed of a sound. People love scandals. Scandals excite them. Gossips and scandals will draw the crowds. That is the fact!
Ruth was a smart woman! She was straightforward to stop the scandal! Ruth did the right thing! Be straightforward! Be authentic! Manage reality, not run from it!