Ruth

The book of Ruth contains the story of an elederly woman Naomi, and her daughter-in-law who has just become a widow after the death of Naomi's son.  Naomi and Ruth had lived in the country of Moab during the time of the judges.  It is hinted in the first chapter that Naomi had left Israel as a result of a famine during the tiems of the judges.  Another charactar that plays a role in the first chapter is Naomi's other daughter-in-law Orpah who was also a widow.  Naomi wished both of her daughters-in-law good luck as she prepared to leave.  Orpah kissed Naomi goodby.  Ruth, however, told Naomi that she was going to follow her and that Naomi's people would become her people.  This is the one of the few Old Testament stories about the Jewish faith spreading across lines of ethnicity as Ruth chose to become a part of the culture.  Now the theme of Ruth is the custom of the kinsmans-redeemer.  This custom states that when a woman is left without children and her husband dies, then the male relative who is closest to her husband must marry her and produce for her offspring so that her family line may continue.  Now Ruth manages to find a kinsmans-redeemer in Boaz.  Boaz first must check with one of the relatives who is closer related than he is.  That relative passes up the opportunity to become Ruth's kinsmans-redeemer.  Thus Boaz, becomes the kinsmans-redeemer for Ruth and together they have a son named Obed, who becomes the father of Jesse, the father of David.  Now the kinsmans-redeemer serves as a type of Christ who even when the physical nation of Israel was divorced in 586 BC, came down from heaven and acted as the kinsmans-redeemer for the nation of Israel so that the line of the culture would continue.  Thus, Christ established the spiritual Israel which is the corporate body of the church.  Israel has been cut off as being the nation that it once was and the land they occupy now only covers 20% of the land they occupied until 721 BC.  Thus, the Kinsmans-redeemer does not apply to the physical entity of the naation of Israel.