Elimelech belonged to the tribe of Judah. Because of a famine, he left Bethlehem (the house of bread!) with his wife Naomi and his two sons to dwell in Moab – the people of which came into being through an act of incest that the Lord calls an abomination. (Lot, Abraham’s nephew bore Moab and Ammon through his daughters while he was not in his senses).

Soon, the father died. The two sons chose wives from the country of sojourn and died soon afterward without offspring. Naomi decided to leave the place to return to her own. Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law, a Moabitess, clave unto Naomi, already a battered woman. She said, “Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God”. Both arrived at Bethlehem where things had turned green.

Eventually, Ruth landed at the barley field of Boaz, a close blood-relative of Elimelech. As was the custom of Israel, poor people were allowed to glean ears of corn and gather after the reapers among the sheaves. Ruth found grace in the eyes of Boaz who allowed her to continue gleaning and gave her more allowances and protection too.

Finally, it turned out that Ruth, a virtuous woman, though a Moabitess, ended up marrying Boaz, the Israelite.

God honored her faith in Him. She would be the great-grandmother of David, the greatest king of Israel, in whose line would come the Lion of Judah! The Seed of the woman!

Oh no! The adversary of God didn’t expect this. The bird had escaped the net spread by him. Now, he would attempt to target the very person who would become a threat to his life. Life?