I know that my Redeemer Lives

This week Sunday School kids learned about the book of Ruth.

Even though she was a gentile (a Moabite), instead of returning to her own family after her husband died, Ruth decided to follow her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi (who had also been widowed).

"Your people will be my people and your God my God..." Ruth 1:16

Both women left Moab for Judah to find food.

Through the course of the story, Ruth coincidentally meets one of Naomi's "kinsmen-redeemers," a land owner named Boaz.

Kinsmen-Redeemers were (Leviticus 25:25-25, Numbers 35:19-21, & Deuteronomy 25:5-10) responsible for helping extended family members in need; providing heirs for dead brothers, buying back lost land or even family members sold into slavery.

Boaz hears about how hard Ruth works to take care of her widowed mother-in-law and her loyalty to Naomi and to God. He decides to look out for her, "May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge" (Ruth 2:12).

When Naomi finds out who's fields Ruth has been picking up the leftovers from, she suggests she humbly seek even more refuge, so Ruth asks Boaz to take her in under HIS wing (Ruth 3:9).

Boaz married Ruth and the local elders blessed them, "May the Lord you have standing in Ephratha and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman..." (Ruth 4:12). As it turned out, Ruth would be King David's grandmother and therefore a gentile ancestor of Jesus Himself (Matthew 1:5-6).

Of course, God the Father sent Jesus His Son to be the ultimate "kinsman-redeemer" for all of us, both Jews and gentiles!

Ask your kids about what they learn in Sunday School, have conversations about the Bible and your faith. Talk about times when God used you or times when you may have thought you didn't need God but found out otherwise. 

Take a look at some of the stories they're learning about in Sunday School & Confirmation in the Bible for yourself and make these last few months of 2012 "The Year of the Word."

The  best way to get God's Word into you, is to start getting into God's Word.