Scripture: Ruth 1 v 15 - 17: "And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
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."
This powerful commitment of a Gentile woman to her mother-in-law, Naomi, after all their husbands had died, brought Ruth to the attention of our Father. Here was a woman who had discerned the truth about God and would not be denied. All of Naomi's sons died, as well as her husband.
Ruth was a Gentile who became a Jew before she married Boaz, a forefather of David, and they are links in the ancestry of Jesus Christ. She is one of only two Gentiles to be a direct contributor to the Bloodline of Jesus. The other was Rahab who escaped the destruction of Jericho. She married Salmon and their son was Boaz who married Ruth.
The names of David's immediate forefathers are enlightening. Boaz - his name means "In him is strength" bore Obed which means "Serve" who begat Jesse meaning "Wealth" who begat David which is "Beloved". Therefore in Jesus Christ is power and strength to deliver wealth to His beloved servant, David.
Ruth 4 v 13 - 17: "So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
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."
So the seed of this Gentile convert bore a son because the LORD gave her conception. He had a direct hand in bringing about the birth of Obed, grandfather of King David.
God promised David that there would always be a man to sit upon his throne, meaning that David's legacy would never die. Indeed even the Millennium of restoration is called the Throne of David. The Throne from which Jesus shall rule.
Luke 1 v 30 - 32: "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:"
Many of us alive today are going to see the fulfilment of these prophetic words. Mary did indeed conceive a son called Jesus, the Son of the Highest. Let us be witnesses when He sits on the Throne of David in Jerusalem when He returns for the 1000 years of peace.
The Redeemed, saved, born again saints will be alive with Him. Every saved soul that "fell asleep" before this event will also be with Him. We will help Jesus restore this planet to the way He created it. No pollution of any kind. All animals tame. Everyone loves one another in truth and righteousness. It will be Heaven on Earth. No death, demons, sickness or sin to bring any form of corruption.
Unbelievably, at the end of the thousand years of peace, Satan will be loosed from the Abyss for a short time. Some of the saved people who spent a thousand years under the perfect rule of Jesus Christ, will reject Him by following Satan!
Revelation 20 v 7 - 10: "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Our Father always has to have a legal precedent when dealing with an unscrupulous liar like Satan. Just as He substituted a ram for Isaac so Abraham did not have to sacrifice his son, Abraham's obedience opened the door for Your Son, Jesus, to be sacrificed for us.
With Ruth being one of the two kinks in the pure Jewish bloodline, God could set her up as a precedent to open the door to the Gentiles in Acts 10, when He had to set up a meeting between Peter and Cornelius. The Jewish tradition ingrained in Peter meant a Gentile home was unclean and he must not go into it. Read Acts 10 to see the whole story of the lengths God had to go to to get the first Gentile saved and baptised and baptised in the Holy Spirit.
This is why the princes of this world, Satan and his dark ruling spirits must have bemoaned some time after they crucified Jesus, - The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 v 7 - 8: "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
Let us rejoice, and be glad, and give the glory unto Him. He is always well ahead of Satan because His thoughts are higher than everyone else. Satan took a huge gamble in Eden and won that first round which gave him power over the world. The death of Jesus on the Cross put the power back in His hands.
(The full lineage of Jesus Christ is listed in Matthew 1.)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we rejoice that Ruth and Rahab were kinks in the Bloodline of Jesus. They were the seeds of the Gentiles that opened the door for us to know and love You. You always have a legal precedent so that the usurper of this world cannot prevent it. We give You all the glory Father, great things You have done.
In Jesus' name. Amen.