The City of Hope

Christmas brings to mind lots of things.  Family, friends, gifts, saying thank you, rest and relaxation (unless you are like me and do lots of last minute shopping and I only really have to shop for one person).  All of our girls and our son-in-law are visiting and it has been a very enjoyable few days at our house.  It is always nice to have the girls home. 

On Thanksgivings when I was growing up, we would go to Newtown, Connecticut where my Dad's sister lived.  So the tragedy there this past week was brought closer to home.  What would cause a young man to take such innocent lives?  What would give someone so little hope and to inflict his hopelessness on others? 

I have been going through the Old Testament a chapter at a time and just finished up my first year.  This has been an incredible blessing, much more than I thought.  I have been looking for Jesus in the Old Testament and it has not been hard to find Him there.  A number of my friends avoid reading the Old Testament and think Jesus isn't in the Old Testament, but nothing can be further from the truth. 

The last book I am reading this year is the Book of Ruth.  This book starts with hopelessness.  Naomi, the central character in the early chapters comes from Bethlehem during some of the darkest period in Israel's history.  She leaves her country during a period of famine and goes to the pagan country of Moab.  There, her two sons marry two Moabite women.  It is interesting to note that the names of her sons of are "sick" and "puny" which describes their likely physical condition.  Her husband and two sons die in the land of Moab.  She decides to return to Bethlehem.  But her return is fraught with doubt and in fact, she encourages her widow children to stay in Moab because she believes the pagan Gentile country offers more hope for them than Israel does.  Her daughter Orpah stays in Moab, but Ruth accompanies Naomi back to Bethlehem.  Naomi which means "pleasant" is so embittered that she says on her return to change her name to "bitter" or "empty". 

If you know the story of Ruth, you know that there is a relative, a "kinsman-redeemer" named Boaz who lives in Bethlehem and marries the widow Ruth.  Boaz is what is called a "type" of Christ.  He is a shadow of another redeemer born in Bethlehem who will redeem us from sin by paying the penalty Himself upon the cross.  Bethlehem is not the city of hopelessness but the city of hope.  Further, this hope is extended to Ruth, the pagan Gentile to marry into an Israelite line that ultimately becomes part of the lineage of Jesus Christ.  Bethlehem is not just the story of a baby born in a manger, but a story of hope for those of lost and looking for redemption, even when hope seems at its bleakest. 

The Book of Ruth is a glimmer of hope and comes during one of the darkest times in Israel's history.  Judges closes with the horrendous story of a decapitated rape victim and civil war and Ruth provides the glimmer of grace and hope.  Even on the heels of one of the worst horror's we have ever seen, come to Bethlehem, the city of hope and find redemption, and grace.