Picture IT!
Rahab, Ruth and the God of Unexpected Grace
Travel back in time with me for a moment to the land of Israel some 3,000 years ago or more. A time when people were poor and life was hard, yet beautiful and simple. Fathers prayed daily for the blessings of the early and the late rains, hoping their crops would grow and provide enough to feed their families for the year. Young shepherd boys spent long days out in the fields, searching and striving to find enough tender grass to nourish their small flocks of sheep.
Just imagine sitting in the cool of the late evening at the end of a long day as the sun begins to gently lower to find its special hiding place of rest for the night. A place just over the fertile mountain ridge of the Judean hill country to the west, just on the outer edge of Bethlehem that overlooks the lower valley region, filled with jagged stones and caves and dangerous crevices. A still and quiet region of the countryside where the sounds of sheep and shepherds begin to make their rocky beds for the night. A short distance to the north, only six miles away or so, you can almost see the busy activity of Jerusalem come to a quiet hush as the merchants’ close shop and head home, only to rest for the night and return the next day to repeat all once again.
The gentle sweet voices and soft laughter could be heard echoing throughout Bethlehem’s rolling hill country, as lovely and fresh as the feel of the gentle breeze which seemed to carry memories with each sway of tree or with each whisper of the grass. Found gazing into the beauty of the sunset are the silhouettes of two remarkable and unforgettable women, kind and good to their very souls. Their conversations, full and rich of marvelous stories and testimonies, shared over a small humble slice of sweet bread dipped in honey, and a small cup of freshly pressed pomegranate juice, the last few drops left from the long, hard day.
They both sat comfortably near the remains of a small open fire, anticipating once more of the retelling of their own remarkable stories. Memories that to them were precious, their own personal treasures that would never grow old.
The first to share would be the beautiful Rahab, a woman of strong courage and bold faith. No longer living life as a cast-a-way, a woman of the night, a prostitute, but living a life of drastic change, remarkable redemption and complete transformation. Her amazing story of deliverance would be filled with, no less than, God’s abundant mercy and grace. The unbelievable miracles that she witnessed would be told for ages to come, and forever etched in her mind.
Ruth, the shy, quiet, lovely, beautifully reformed former Moabite woman, would patiently wait to tell of her own life-changing moment filled with God’s redeeming love. Her face gleamed and smiled with all eagerness and anticipation for the night of testimony to begin. She embraced and pondered each word in her heart.
Just as Rahab was about to begin, she gazed upward to take in the enormity of the sky, still painted with streaks and splashes of brilliant colors that were gently dispersing and fading away as if to say goodnight. She smiles and shakes her head, still unable to get over the amazement and wonder of God. She tightens her grip slightly around her small clay cup, takes a quick sip and begins with intensity as the memories once again flood her soul.
She passionately told of her personal witness of the invincible fortress walls of the once great and mighty, legionary city of Jericho. The miraculous falling upon itself, one stone upon another. The loud, deafening sounds of breaking walls crashing to the ground which completely engulfed and surrounded her on every side. And all with just a march, a shout and a loud blast of a trumpet.
She told how she and her family were the only ones gloriously rescued by the very hand of the One and Only true God of Israel, whom she had only heard stories from years long, long ago, but she had now experienced for herself the wonder and the goodness of this God. She emotionally shared her own story of personal deliverance from sin, destruction and hopelessness by the overcoming power of faith, a prayer and a red scarlet thread.
Ruth in turn, tells Rahab about the sweet romantic love story of how she and Boaz met. She could recall every wonderful detail about that hot summer day which she would never forget and would be engraved forever in her memory and in her heart.
She was covered from head to toe with dirt and sweat, her hair a tangled mess as it refused to stay pulled back away from her face. Her skirt was stained and covered with dust and dirt that hardened into crusty mud from the day-long wiping of the running sweat from her brow. It had been a long hard day as she worked and gleaned from sunrise to sunset, just to gather what little she could harvest from the corners of the field from the last remaining barley stalks. The ones that were sparingly left behind by the other workers of the first and second gleanings. It was that very day, when in a very unsuspecting moment, during an ordinary task, that her life completely changed.
Boaz, while looking out over the vast spread of his all-encompassing barley and wheat fields, inspecting the abundant piles and bundles of stalks that were tied and stacked from that particular day, notices her out of the corner of his eye. He was taken back with her striving diligently to provide for, not only herself, but for her destitute widowed mother-in-law Naomi. He would come to tell her, much later of course, how he immediately fell in love with her genuine expression of strength, courage, dedication and relentless determination. But he also admitted to her that he must be completely honest. He had to confess that he quickly fell head-over-heels in love with her the first time that she came near to him. He was consumed by her beautiful gentle spirit and nature, and even more so by her sweet, beautiful, sun-kissed face, as dirty as it may have been at the time. He knew instantly that she was a god-send for him, one he had prayed for, a godly woman and companion that he had longed for.
He also revealed to her how he intentionally went out of his way to provide extra care, protection and provisions for her. He was awestruck and completely intrigued.
Ruth paused, blushed slightly for a brief moment, and then continued to relive her love story to the listening, all-attentive ears of Rahab, who was sitting on the edge of her seat, leaning in, smiling and waiting for the next chapter of the story to unfold. Ruth finally came to the most wonderful and memorable night of all.
That most memorable night of her life would take place after a long and tiring day of work for both Boaz and Ruth. Boaz, exhausted from an extremely busy day and full from a large and satisfying dinner, laid down and fell sound asleep on the threshing floor of the field. Ruth details to Rahab just exactly how, under the direction of Naomi, that it all played out.
Unseen by anyone, Ruth quietly went and sat at his feet that night. But this time she was no longer dirty. This time she approached Boaz clean and dressed in her very best. She patiently sat quiet, waiting for him to awaken, anticipation building with each passing breath.
After what seemed like an eternity to her, Boaz finally opened his sleepy eyes. And there before him was the soft glow of moonlight sparkling on her face, which seemed to slowly dance as if to the rhythm of music that only the moon could hear. He was immediately overcome by the sweet aroma of the fragrance of perfume. He saw her long, wavy, dark hair gently blowing and whispering hints of tenderness and purity of love in the air which settled and cast a perfect frame around her face. Her dark eyes sparkled with a captivating kindness, but yet full of mystery and intrigue. He was in love.
He slowly raised to a halfway sitting position as they both paused and rested in the conversation of the moment which only their eyes seemed to speak or understand. He felt physically paralyzed, unable to take his eyes off of the lovely creature that God had so graciously presented before him. What had he done to deserve such blessing from God, he thought? She became overshadowed with God’s gracious tenderness and love for her. God’s overwhelming and exceedingly abundant love for her, to have brought her to this very moment in time, one that she was not worthy.
Suddenly becoming keenly aware of the overly extended gaze of Boaz, Ruth shyly drops her head in sheer embarrassment which flooded over her in an instance. As awkward as she may have felt momentarily in that moment, he undeniably made her feel like the most beautiful woman on earth.
Then Boaz responded to her by lovingly spreading the corner of his garment over Ruth as a beautiful expression, a symbol, that he was willing to become her guardian, her husband, her “Kinsman-Redeemer”. He wanted her for his wife.
A rag to riches, beauty for ashes, “only God” type of story, told by Ruth as uncontrollable tears of joy filled her eyes, and tears of amazement and pride filled Rahab’s. Neither woman could believe the incredible blessing of mercy and grace and love that they had been given by the God of Israel, a God who compares to no other. Both overwhelmed by the enormity of God’s gracious abundance of kindness and compassion that He had poured out on them, changing their lives in ways exceedingly beyond what they could have ever dreamed or imagined.
Over the years, I could see the strong and beautiful Rahab mentoring and teaching sweet young Ruth, now her precious daughter-in-law, of all the things that she had learned and experienced when she came into this new family. I could see them never tiring of retelling their stories to one another over and over again with unfading passion. I could see them discussing what they knew and understood of the promises and wonders, of not only things past, but things yet to come. I could see them often crying and emptying a box of tissues together at the overwhelming fact that they, the most unlikely and most undeserving, have been adopted and grafted into the most important family and genealogy lineage in all of history.
Oh, the Undeserving and Unexpected Amazing Grace of God!
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”