Lawrence Butler, The Bridge Church Pembroke
The Book of Ruth is based upon the lives of two women, an older Israelite woman named Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, a Moabite. If you have been keeping up with our story then you are aware of their desperate circumstances. Both were widows and in need of help in what to Naomi was a foreign country. Naomi felt she had to return home in order to survive, and so Ruth determined to accompany her. Does God really care about women like He does men? See for yourself.
The revelation of God’s care for these widows dispels the notion that women have ever been viewed as second-class persons or inferior human beings in the sight of the Lord. It has also been presented to us that Christianity has held women back and not treated them as equals with men. God has always demanded that all are equal in His sight. For example, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Another scripture proclaims boldly that God will bless all humans equally. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him” (Romans 10:12). Everyone who calls upon the Lord through faith has the right and opportunity to expect God to hear that prayer.
Consider God’s acceptance of a non-Israelite woman into the genealogy of Jesus Christ since Ruth married into the family that later produced King David. Other women questionable with backgrounds, at best, were welcomed into the same family history. Remember Rahab, the woman forever remembered in scripture as Rahab the harlot, who delivered the Israelite spies at Jericho? What about Bathsheba, the outdoor bather who attracted King David’s eyes, committed adultery with him and probably helped cover the planned murder of her husband by the king? Then there is Tamar whose trickery resulted in becoming her father-in-law’s prostitute. My, oh my. There are tragic stories about both men and women in the Bible, but the writers were moved upon by the Holy Spirit to use those stories to reveal the saving grace of our Savior, for women or men.
The place of women in the Bible is one of honor. Every man is encouraged to seek a wife to fill the role of the Proverbs 31 woman. “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her” (Proverbs 31:28).
