Free Daily Bible Study Podcast

1 Samuel 10 | Romans 8 | Jeremiah 47 | Psalms 23–24

The introduction of a king in 1 Samuel 10 marks uncharted territory for everyone, raising all kinds of questions. How would Yahweh set apart his king, and what resources would Yahweh give to him to help him serve Israel well? How should the king himself act, and how should the people of Israel respond to their new ruler?

First, Samuel anoints Saul as king with oil (1 Sam. 10:1). The oil, however, was merely a sign that pointed to the greater gift that Yahweh would provide: his Holy Spirit. As Saul returns to his family, the Spirit of Yahweh rushes upon him and causes him to prophesy (1 Sam. 10:6). Through his Holy Spirit, Yahweh equips Saul with every resource necessary for shepherding Israel well.

Second, despite being equipped, Saul is nevertheless overwhelmed by the fact that he has been anointed as king over Israel, so he hides among the baggage rather than stepping up to his new role (1 Sam. 10:21–22). On the one hand, his apprehension speaks to his humility. But on the other hand, we should also see here the first signs that Saul judged his ability to serve as king on his own (inadequate) strength alone, rather than on the basis of God’s infinite strength. In contrast, consider how the boy David would later stand before the giant Goliath without hesitation, since he had already learned by experience how to depend upon the strength of Yahweh in battle (1 Sam. 17:34–37). The same poor theology that eventually caused Saul’s downfall here inspires fear at his introduction to Israel.

Third, the people of Israel respond to Saul in very different ways, although all of them make the same mistake. Some look upon his height and take his appearance as absolute evidence of his ability to lead Israel into battle (1 Sam. 10:23–24), while others look upon him and despise him, asking, “How can this man save us?” (1 Sam. 10:27). None of them look beyond Saul’s appearance to consider how Yahweh might lead them through him—Israel, after all, wanted a king so that they would not need Yahweh as king over them any longer (1 Sam. 8:7).

But through Saul, Yahweh begins to teach his people not only what a king over them would mean but also what their greater Anointed One (i.e., “Messiah” in Hebrew, or “Christ” in Greek) would look like. The Christ would be anointed with the full power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18), and, although rejected by Israel on the basis of his appearance (Isa. 53:2), the Christ would not hesitate to stand as Israel’s champion, battling the greatest enemies of God’s people all the way to death, and rising in victory at his resurrection.

All hail King Jesus!

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 9 | Romans 7 | Jeremiah 46 | Psalm 22

At last, Yahweh chooses a king to reign over his people. Nevertheless, we ought to read 1 Samuel 9 with some concern, since Israel’s demand for a king stems from the fact that they have rejected Yahweh from reigning as king over them (1 Sam. 8:7). What kind of a king will Yahweh give to his rebellious people? In 1 Samuel 9, we read three important principles to explain the selection of Saul as the first king over Israel.

First, Yahweh chooses a humble man as king, even despite the fact that Saul is tall and handsome in appearance (1 Sam. 9:2). When Samuel praises Saul, Saul responds with almost the same words that the judge Gideon had used when God called him (Judg. 6:15), saying, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” (1 Sam. 9:21). Saul’s pride will eventually be his undoing, but that is not how the story begins.

Second, Yahweh chooses Saul to save Israel “from the hand of the Philistines” (1 Sam. 9:16). Installing a king over Israel was not a vanity position but rather a means by which Yahweh would continue to establish his kingdom on earth. For Yahweh’s holiness to dwell with his holy people in the holy land of Canaan, the wicked, idolatrous inhabitants had to be driven out. Since the judges could not finish the job (Judg. 1:27–36), Yahweh was now appointing a king to complete the mission.

Finally, Yahweh chooses Saul to “restrain” Israel from seeking to do whatever was right in their own eyes (1 Sam. 9:17). Israel’s chief problem had been that they had done whatever was right in their own eyes because “there was no king in Israel” (Judg. 21:25). Saul’s responsibility as king, then, was to restrain Israel so they would keep the commandments Yahweh had given them through Moses. If the people of Israel obeyed, Yahweh would bless them and cause them to flourish in the land.

Despite the fact that Israel had rejected Yahweh from being king over them by demanding this king instead (1 Sam. 8:7), the story of Saul begins positively. Yahweh provides a king who would serve without any prideful pretenses and also who would seek Israel’s good by restraining them from their own wickedness.

While we know that Saul’s story will not end well, we should not too quickly overlook the positive beginning to this story. It is always better to obey, no matter whether we are at the beginning, middle, or the end. Ask yourself these questions: Where are you in your story? Regardless of where you have been, are you seeking to obey today? What might you learn about perseverance from Saul’s story?

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 7–8 | Romans 6 | Jeremiah 44–45 | Psalms 20–21

In 1 Samuel 7, we see the last iteration of the cycle of Israel’s judges: Israel sins, Yahweh delivers Israel to their enemies, Israel cries for deliverance, and Yahweh sends a judge to reform Israel. In 1 Samuel 7:3, Samuel instructs the people to reform their worship in order to regain the blessings of Yahweh: “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” As under the leadership of previous judges, the people again repent and return to Yahweh, and when the Philistines attempt to come up against Israel at Mizpah, Yahweh throws the Philistines into confusion with mighty thunder from heaven and Israel routs the army of their oppressors (1 Sam. 7:10).

But this is where Israel exits the death spiral they have experienced under the leadership of their judges. It is striking that not even Samuel can shepherd Israel away from doing whatever is right in their own eyes, despite the fact that Samuel is the greatest of the judges and a mighty prophet. Even Samuel’s own sons are corrupt and do not walk faithfully before Yahweh (1 Sam. 8:1–3). If even Samuel couldn’t bring about obedience, who could?

Simply put, Israel needs a king. This is not a new concept, since Yahweh had given laws concerning what his kings should be back Deuteronomy 17:14–20. In fact, Yahweh had foretold that kings would arise from his people back in the days of Jacob, who had prophesied in Genesis 49:10 that a scepter would never depart from the tribe of Judah.

And yet, when Israel asks for a king, Yahweh recognizes that Israel is rejecting him (1 Sam. 8:7). It’s not that Israel wants a king—at least, they do not want Yahweh’s idea of a king. It’s more that Israel wants someone other than Yahweh. The hearts of Israel are so stubborn that they are desperate for any kind of loophole that will allow them to avoid serving Yahweh at all.

What this means is that Yahweh’s king has a double challenge. Not only must the king govern Israel well, but he must somehow transform the hearts of God’s people so that they want to obey Yahweh. No ordinary king over Israel will be up to this challenge, but instead, Yahweh will eventually send a very different and special kind of king: his own Son. Jesus will not merely constrain his people from disobedience but he will transform his people’s hearts so that they will want to do what is right in God’s eyes.

But first, many kings will fail—including Saul, Israel’s first king, whom we will meet in tomorrow’s reading.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 5–6 | Romans 5 | Jeremiah 43 | Psalm 19

If the Israelites had treated Yahweh’s glory with contempt in 1 Samuel 4, the Philistines do so much more in 1 Samuel 5. When the Philistines capture the ark of the covenant in battle, they set it next to their god Dagon as a trophy of war (1 Sam. 5:2)—a situation that does not please Yahweh.

This whole story is written humorously, so we should feel free to laugh as we read about Dagon twice falling facedown before the ark of Yahweh in the night (1 Sam. 5:3–5)—even the false gods must bow down to Yahweh! The second time Dagon falls down is powerfully symbolic. Dagon’s head and his hands break off of the carved image, representing the fact that Dagon has no power actually to think, say, or do anything for the Philistines (1 Sam. 5:4). Then, Yahweh causes the people of Ashdod to break out in tumors (1 Sam. 5:6), killing many Philistines and inciting a “deathly panic throughout the whole city” (1 Sam. 5:11). Here, Yahweh’s wrath falls more heavily on the Philistines than on the Israelites in 1 Samuel 4, so that the Philistines recognize that they absolutely must get the ark out of their country: “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god” (1 Sam. 5:7).

The cows, lowing as they beeline straight toward Israel (1 Sam. 6:12), have more sense than the Philistines—and even more than the Israelites, who do not learn their lesson when the ark returns. When some Israelites further treat Yahweh’s glory with contempt by peeking into the ark of the covenant, Yahweh strikes them dead without hesitation (1 Sam. 6:19). Finally, the people exclaim, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?” (1 Sam. 6:20).

Today, we continue to struggle with the same fundamental misunderstanding of Yahweh’s glory and holiness, although our struggle looks a little different. We believe we can control Yahweh by ordering him into our battles or that we can tame Yahweh by keeping him as one God in the midst of our idols or that we can use Yahweh for our entertainment by studying his mysteries with cold detachment and without reverence.

The free grace of Jesus, however, does not give us license to live any way that we want. Put another way, Jesus came not because God had abandoned his consuming-fire holiness but in order to uphold it. Jesus faced the hard-handed wrath of his Father for our sin, not so that we might continue to treat God’s glory with contempt, but so that we might learn to worship and honor him as he deserves.

How do you treat the glory of God in light of his mercy toward you?

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 4 | Romans 4 | Jeremiah 42 | Psalm 18

In 1 Samuel 4, Yahweh brings three major forms of judgment against the people of Israel. First, when the Israelites bring the ark of the covenant out in battle with them against the Philistines, Yahweh hands them over to defeat, and the Philistines capture the ark (1 Sam. 4:11). Second, Hophni and Phinehas are put to death in battle just as Yahweh had promised in 1 Samuel 2 and 3 (1 Sam. 4:11). Third, when Eli hears the news of these first two judgments, he falls backward from the gate where he was sitting, breaks his neck, and dies (1 Sam. 4:18). These judgments are not random; rather, God’s people reap exactly what they have sown.

Israel’s specific sin in this chapter is that they treat the ark of the covenant as a magic wand, thinking that bringing it to battle will draft Yahweh into battle to fight for them (1 Sam. 4:3). In this thinking, Israel makes their decision based on two half-truths that amount to one deadly lie. First, they are correct in believing that they need Yahweh to fight for them, since the title LORD of hosts (1 Sam. 4:5) is not describing Yahweh’s ability to host a dinner party or social event but rather indicates that he commands the armies (the hosts) of heaven. Second, they are correct that Yahweh sits enthroned upon the cherubim of his ark (1 Sam. 4:4). Their mistake, then, comes from believing they can drag Yahweh around and sic him like a dog on their enemies. Yahweh had promised to fight for his people if they would ask him to, but he refuses to be treated with contempt in this way.

In fact, God is not giving Israel a stone when they ask for bread. Rather, Israel has requested a stone, and God gives them a stone. They are treating Yahweh’s glory with contempt, so Yahweh allows his glory to depart from their midst altogether, which is why Phinehas’s wife names their son Ichabod, meaning “no glory,” since “The glory has departed from Israel” (1 Sam. 4:21). The same is true for Eli. He did not want to discipline his sons himself, so Yahweh did it for him by putting Hophni and Phinehas to death—and then by putting Eli himself to death. Very often, when God gives us what we want, we discover that what we have desperately sought actually qualifies as judgment.

The question, then, is this: What do you want? As C. S. Lewis rightly noted, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it.”1 Do you want Jesus and his righteousness, or do you want the hell of your own sin?

1 C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (New York: HarperCollins, 2000), 75.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 3 | Romans 3 | Jeremiah 41 | Psalm 17

Sometimes we imagine that the people living in the Old Testament were constantly surrounded by great signs and wonders—a parted sea here, a prophetic vision there—but that wasn’t the case. Here in 1 Samuel 3:1, we read specifically that “the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” The reason God communicated so infrequently with his people is obvious if we remember the stories we have been reading since the book of Judges: Israel has abandoned Yahweh again and again, and part of the way that Yahweh judges his people for their apostasy is by withdrawing his word from them.

But when Yahweh breaks the silence, he does so in order to tell Samuel that he has rejected the house of Eli entirely as priests because of the sins of Hophni and Phinehas (as well as Eli’s failure to stop them), even going so far as to say that “the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever” (1 Sam. 3:14). Shockingly, when Samuel tells the prophecy to Eli the next morning, Eli does not repent in hopes that Yahweh might relent from his judgment. Instead, he simply acknowledges that “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him” (1 Sam. 3:18). While Eli does not dispute the charges against him, he also doesn’t make any movement toward repentance.

We ought to glean two important lessons from this story. First, this story should help us cherish our Bibles more. In those days, the people of God had to wait for infrequent visions to hear anything from Yahweh, but we have the privilege of holding the written word of God—through which he continues to speak by his Spirit—in our hands. Let us never take God’s word for granted.

Second, let us seek the Lord while he may be found. Yahweh leveled threats against his people multiple times during the ministry of Moses (e.g., Ex. 33:1–6; Num. 16:45), and even during the days of Joshua (Josh. 7:10–15). In each of those cases, Israel’s mediators pleaded with Yahweh for mercy, and each time, Yahweh graciously relented. The reason that Eli’s house will not be atoned for has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the sacrifices—instead, it has everything to do with the fact that Eli would not repent.

Do you worry that you are too far gone for God to save? Those lies from Satan are a form of self-righteousness, misleading you to believe that Jesus might be sufficient for others but that your sins are somehow bigger than Jesus.1 Repent from your sins and your self-righteousness and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is willing and able to save.

1 See Ichabod Spencer, “The Broken Resolution,” A Pastor’s Sketches, vol. 2 (Vestavia Hills, AL: Solid Ground Books, 2001), 242–49.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 2 | Romans 2 | Jeremiah 40 | Psalms 15–16

If Hannah is put forward as a model for godly parenting, the second half of 1 Samuel 2 reveals the priest Eli as a model for negligent parenting. Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are worthless men who do not know Yahweh (1 Sam. 2:12). They steal for themselves the choicest parts of the sacrifices that people bring to the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2:13–17), and they abuse their priestly authority by seducing the women who serve at the entrance of the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2:22).

Certainly, Eli tries to stop his sons from treating Yahweh with contempt. In 1 Samuel 2:23–25, Eli confronts them, warning that, “If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” (1 Sam. 2:25). Eli’s sons do not, however, listen, “for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death” (1 Sam. 2:25).

Because Eli does not remove his sons from the priesthood, Yahweh declares that he himself will put Hophni and Phinehas to death on the same day (1 Sam. 2:34). Yahweh rejects Eli’s house from the priesthood and instead promises to raise up a new house to serve him as priest forever: “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever” (1 Sam. 2:35).

On one level, Yahweh keeps this promise by raising up Samuel as the faithful priest who will do everything in Yahweh’s heart and in his mind. But on the other hand, Samuel cannot be the ultimate fulfillment of this promise, for two reasons. First, while Samuel is a Levite (1 Chron. 6:27, 33), he is a descendent of Korah and not of Aaron (1 Chron. 6:33–37), and we do not see any long-term justification for Samuel’s irregular priesthood. Second, Samuel’s sons do not end up walking in the ways of their father, but instead they take bribes and pervert justice (1 Sam. 8:1–5). Ultimately, Samuel’s house is not a sure house, to go in and out before Yahweh’s anointed forever.

Instead, Yahweh will later send another priest to mediate and to intercede for us with God—a priest who also could not claim Aaron as his ancestor. Instead, this priest arises from the order of Melchizedek (Gen. 14; Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7). Furthermore, we read that, through his perfect priesthood, this priest has made his entire people into a holy priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6).

In Christ, not only have have you been blessed by Yahweh’s fulfillment of his promise in 1 Samuel 2:35, but you are the fulfillment of that prophecy as well.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Samuel 1 | Romans 1 | Jeremiah 39 | Psalms 13–14

Quietly, through a poor, widowed Moabite woman—the most unlikely person possible—God put into motion a plan in the book of Ruth for raising up a king. This king would shepherd God’s people away from doing what was right in their own eyes and instead toward obeying God by doing everything that was right in his eyes. And in 1 Samuel, God finally anoints his chosen king to the throne of Israel—but not right away. Instead, 1 Samuel opens in the way that many of the best stories in the Bible do, with a barren woman pleading for Yahweh to open her womb. With this, God adds Hannah to the list of Sarah (Gen. 11:30), Rebekah (Gen. 25:21), Rachel (Gen. 29:31), and the unnamed mother of Samson (Judg. 13:23).

Also, the rivalry between Hannah and Peninnah (Peninnah would provoke Hannah because Hannah had no children; 1 Sam. 1:6) should remind us of the stories of Hagar, who looked on Sarah with contempt once she conceived with Sarah’s husband, Abraham (Gen. 16:4), and of Rachel, whose infertility brought her to great distress as she compared herself with her sister, Leah (Gen. 30:1). Sadly, polygamy does happen in the Bible, but it is always cast in the most negative light possible as an unworkable situation that unavoidably causes heartache for the people involved. God’s plan for marriage had always been that a man would cleave to his wife so that the two could become one flesh (Gen. 2:24)—adding additional members to the marriage union causes tremendous problems.

It is no surprise, then, that Hannah’s anguished prayers make her appear drunk to the priest Eli (1 Sam. 1:13). We read that Yahweh mercifully remembered Hannah by answering her prayers, so that “in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the LORD’” (1 Sam. 1:20). Then, according to her vow, she dedicates Samuel to service in the tabernacle as soon as he is weaned (1 Sam. 1:23–28).

Hannah is a woman of great faith who did not allow her pain to drive her to bitterness but rather poured out her soul before Yahweh, entrusting her fertility to the one who opens and closes wombs. This story does not teach that Yahweh will always give us what we ask for in prayer, but it does teach that Yahweh hears us when we pray.

The question is far less about whether Yahweh will give us the answers we want from him in prayer and far more about whether we, like Hannah, can actually trust Yahweh with our prayers. Whatever it is that brings anguish to your soul—are you pouring that out before Yahweh? And if not, what is stopping you from entrusting yourself to him as Hannah did?

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Ruth 3–4 | Acts 28 | Jeremiah 38 | Psalms 11–12

In Ruth 3–4, the other sandal drops. We discover here that there is another, closer kinsman-redeemer to the family of Elimelech who would have priority in choosing to marry Ruth (Ruth 3:12–13) and that redeeming Ruth would put that man’s inheritance at risk (Ruth 4:6). Under the Mosaic law, a surviving brother would marry his dead brother’s widow in a Levirate marriage. When the woman bore a son, that son would be considered the legal heir not of the living brother but of the dead brother (Deut. 25:7), which is exactly what Boaz describes to the other, closer redeemer in Ruth 4:5: “The day that you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.”

The man recognized, however, that marrying Ruth could present some challenges for his own inheritance (Ruth 4:6)—that is, he didn’t think he could afford it for a few reasons. First, this would add more mouths to feed. Second, the man would ultimately lose Mahlon’s field back to any children he had through Ruth. And third, if he provided Ruth’s children an additional inheritance from his own property, the man’s own children would ultimately receive smaller portions. In all, this arrangement would represent a net loss.1

Also, keep in mind that all of this takes place within the tribe of Judah, and as you may recall, one of Judah’s own sons had earlier refused to perpetuate the name of his dead brother through a Levirate marriage in Genesis 38:8–11—perhaps even out of the same kind of concerns. Here again, a son of Judah refuses to perpetuate the name of his dead kinsmen, so he avails himself of the exception provided for in the law of Moses by removing his sandal in the sight of all the people, waiving his right to redeem Ruth (Ruth 4:7–12; cf. Deut. 25:9).

But all of this legal negotiation is the precursor to the real story. When Boaz finally marries Ruth, they have a son named Obed, who becomes the father of Jesse, who later begets a son named David (Ruth 4:17, 22). Don’t forget—the book of Ruth takes place “in the days when the judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1), and the whole point of the book of Judges was to underscore the fact that Israel desperately needed a king (Judg. 21:25).

So at last, through the covenant faith of Ruth, God provides a king in Ruth’s great-grandson David. And ultimately, through the lineage of David, God would send his own Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to reign as our eternal king—not only over the nation of Israel, but also over Gentiles who, like Ruth, may enter the covenant family of God through faith.

1 Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., The Book of Ruth, NICOT (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988), 245–46.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Ruth 2 | Acts 27 | Jeremiah 37 | Psalm 10

In Ruth 2, we meet the third major figure in this story, a man named Boaz. Ruth, eager to keep the covenant vows she had made to Naomi, sought to provide for her anguished mother-in-law by gleaning in fields, and as she set out, “she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech” (Ruth 2:3). In Ruth 2, we learn two important details about Boaz that shape the story of Ruth, and ultimately, the story of the rest of the Bible.

First, we learn in Ruth 2 that Boaz is a righteous man who delights in leaving parts of his fields unharvested for the poor to glean. This had been a requirement in the law of Moses (Lev. 19:9–10, 23:22; Deut. 24:19–22), but that didn’t mean that wealthy, land-owning Israelites necessarily wanted to keep the law. Certainly, many greedy landowners would have found ways around keeping this law fully—and some of them would not have kept this law at all.

Boaz, on the other hand, does not reject this foreign, Moabite woman who has come to glean in his fields. Instead, he goes out of his way to care for her, insisting that she not leave his field and providing for her protection (Ruth 2:8–9). Ruth should feel free, Boaz assures her, to drink the water that his workers have drawn from his wells and to eat the meals he provides to his reapers (Ruth 2:14). Additionally, Boaz instructs his reapers to leave behind bundles of grain that they had already harvested for Ruth to gather, and even to allow Ruth to harvest directly from his crop (Ruth 2:16).

Second, when Ruth comes home with an incredible amount of grain, Naomi reveals to Ruth that Boaz is one of their family’s redeemers (Ruth 2:20). In other words, Boaz could marry Ruth in a Levirate marriage, an arrangement where their children would provide posthumous offspring to Ruth’s dead husband (Deut. 25:5–10). In this way, Boaz could redeem Elimelech’s family by marrying the widow of Mahlon, Elimelech’s son. To do this, however, could significantly endanger his own wealth and his own inheritance, as we will read about tomorrow.

But already, we are seeing a picture of Jesus Christ unfold in the book of Ruth. Like Boaz, our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, and yet he made himself poor so that through his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). And additionally, Jesus Christ came into this world not merely to enrich us but to redeem us—and to do that, he would have to put himself in harm’s way to take his people as his bride.

Tomorrow, we learn not only how Boaz redeems Ruth but also how Boaz’s redemption of Ruth led to Christ’s redemption of us.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.