A CALL TO THE CHURCH (RUTH)

4/20/25 1:25 PM
Isaac Alvarado

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me!”

Ruth 1:16-17

Israel and the Gentile Church // Naomi and Ruth

// Ruth Helps Israel Return to Its Land

Today, a large part of the Gentile Church helps the Jews return to their land, Israel.

“But she said to them, ‘Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’ So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.”

Ruth 1:20-22

The Bitterness that Israel was Allowed to Experience in the Diaspora among the Nations in the Last Years and Centuries as Naomi Experienced // The Husband Died, how many Jewish “Children” fell in the Holocaust and Persecutions of History?? In Moab, but it was in Moab that Naomi met Ruth (the Gentile Church), they became a family. Ruth stayed with Naomi and helped her return because God had visited Bethlehem // They returned at the Time of the Barley Harvest which is SHAVOUT / PENTECOST!!!

The relative of Naomi’s husband “Boaz” (a type of Jesus Christ) became the husband of Ruth (the Gentile Church).

It’s interesting to note that Ruth worked in the fields to glean, and it was not the same Jesus Christ who said: “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

Ruth did not work in the olive harvest but gleaned in the fields of “Israel”…

Could it be that the Church still has a task to fulfill and begin to glean in the ready fields of Israel… Gleaning among the Jewish people???

There is a very special blessing; let us read:

“Ruth bowed down with her face to the ground and asked him, ‘Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?’ Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. How you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!'”

Ruth 2:10-12

There is a Church (Ruth) that is called to leave everything for Him and do the work for the Lord.

“And so Ruth gleaned in the field until evening; then she threshed the barley she had gathered and it amounted to about an ephah.”

Ruth 2:17

“So she stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.”

Ruth 2:23

Ruth worked until she could no longer see light until the harvest was finished // The Church must strive to glean until it is no longer possible to work because of the darkness that is to cover and already covers the nations!!

John 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me; night is coming, when no one can work.

Almost at the end of the work in the field, it was time for Ruth to prepare for a different encounter with Boaz; it was a key moment of transition from being a servant to becoming a wife // AT THE END OF THE HARVEST

“So wash yourself and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. And when he lies down, notice the place where he lies; then go in and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.”

Ruth 3:3-4

The Church prepares to be betrothed to the Lord Jesus Christ; she purifies herself through His Word (Ephesians 5:26), she is perfumed in prayer and worship with the presence of the Holy Spirit (Exodus 30), and follows the words of the Song of Solomon

“My beloved has gone to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies.”

Song of Solomon 6:2

“Then he said, ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your maidservant. Spread your wing over your maidservant, for you are a close relative.’ Then he said, ‘Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives! Lie down until morning.’”

Ruth 3:9-11, 13

The work that the Church does TODAY will be very important for the future of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. In Chapter 4, we see the type of restoration of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel

“Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!’”

Ruth 4:13-14

There is a declaration and promise in the Book of Jeremiah for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel:

“‘For I, the Lord, have spoken: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.’”

Jeremiah 33:17

What can I do as ( Ruth’)Church?

* Pray for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel

* Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ

* If you can be part of and help the ʿalijjah project in your country to bring Jews back to Israel, do it

* Stay informed about the situation in Israel

* Bless Israel, do not curse it; as you bless Israel, there will automatically be a blessing for you.

Courtesy of Brother

Isaac Alvarado Morgan // Bikurim 5785

Photos courtesy Depositphotos