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Sunday, August 23, 2015

Paint Party Friday: Wedding Feast

 "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.' Ruth 1:16
The Book of Ruth is so interesting and short, one can easily read it in one sitting as I did today. The first chapter is filled with hopelessness as we find Naomi and her husband Elimelech and their two sons leaving their home because of a severe famine. They settle in Moab, which showed their extreme desperation. Elimelech dies, and the two sons marry Moabite women. Alas! The two sons die as well, leaving three widows! In those days, women had no rights, widows had no defenders, no identities even. Naomi decides to go back to her homeland and she tells her daughters-in-law to return to their families for she cannot provide for them. After some persuasion and crying, one daughter-in-law obeys, but Ruth, the other, vows never to leave her. "Do not ask me to abandon you! Wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge, I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God."

We can assume that the witness of Naomi and her family to Ruth has been such that Ruth would elect to choose Naomi's way of life rather than the life she grew up with. She specifically chooses Naomi's people and Naomi's God. And because of this wonderful decision in the face of uncertainly, brokenness and hopelessness, Ruth is rewarded. In Naomi's hometown, she meets a worthy man who marries her and she becomes part of the lineage of Jesus Christ, one of the few women listed in the first chapter of Matthew. It is during challenging times that our choices reveal who we are. Trials show our true character and values. This gem of a story shows that God always has a plan, a bright future for those who choose Him!

 'How is it that you came here without a wedding garment?" Matthew 22:12
Jesus told the priests and Pharisees the story of the of a King who prepared a feast for his son. The invited guests did not come and he told his servants to go out into the streets and invite everyone they saw. Eventually the banquet hall was filled with all sorts of people, good and bad alike. Going around, the King noticed a man who was not wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. The King had this particular guest thrown out into the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. One can ask,what does the King expect? His guests were invited off the street!!! It's amazing that there were not more people unfit to attend a wedding! But you see, it was a Middle Eastern custom for the King to provide the garments for his guests. They had only to put it on.

In Genesis, after Adam and Eve sinned and they discovered that they were naked, they covered themselves with fig leaves. God rejected this covering made by their own hands in the same way that God would reject anything we did to "clothe" ourselves. Instead in Genesis 3:21, God made a covering for Adam and Eve out of the skin of an animal. Perhaps that animal was a lamb, a spotless perfect lamb. God killed the lamb and took its skin to cover the sin, shame and guilt of Adam and Eve. In Romans 13:14, Saint Paul admonishes us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to clothe ourselves with Jesus. All of our righteousness, our good deeds are as filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). Only putting on the righteousness of Christ will do if we want to have a place in the Wedding Feast of the King!

 "Praise the Lord who has given you a kinsman redeemer today!" Ruth4:14
In Leviticus 25:47-55, there is a provision for Jews who get bankrupt and are forced to sell inherited land. In the case of Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, the kinsman redeemer is Boaz, a wealthy landowner who saw Ruth's character and was willing to marry her. This act of Boaz was a sacrifice for him because marrying Ruth who was a widow, meant that the son born to them would be of the lineage of Ruth's first husband. He chose to save Ruth and Naomi from a life of poverty, a future of hopelessness. When Boaz took Ruth for his own, and they had a son named Obed (who became the great grandfather of King David), the women of the town rejoiced. They knew what all this meant to Naomi! They knew that her life had changed from one of darkness to one filled with light!

Jesus is our 'kinsman redeemer'. He chose us. He chose to sacrifice His life for us. And because of that, we can rejoice because our life is filled with the hope, joy and love that His Spirit and His Word brings into our life!

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3 comments:

  1. Unknown5:41 AM

    Patsy, I pray that we will truly understand Kinsman Redeemer on this side. Your art is heartwarming and thought provoking. It blesses me every time. Thank you so much for taking time to post your very creative art with us this week at Word Art Wednesday, in our 197th challenge.
    Blessings and Hugs, Carole

    ReplyDelete
  2. Teresa Arsenault11:20 PM

    Beautiful artwork.
    Hugs,
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lorraine6:09 PM

    what a nice way to remember important quotes lovely soft colours meditative

    ReplyDelete

I am so glad you dropped by! You are a blessing!
:^) Patsy