Happy New Year and Happy Epiphany.
Epiphany is the season that remembers all the ways Jesus was ‘made manifest’ to the Gentiles, starting with the Magi. To the Jews of the first century anyone who was not a Jew was a Gentile, and outside of any relationship with the One God of Israel. The Gospels tell stories in which Jesus interacted with non-Jews. He made no distinction between the depth of faith and relationship to and with God of Jewish and non-Jewish people. It can be too easy to name someone as 'other' or 'bad' or 'wrong' simply because we really don't know them. How much better it might be to welcome one another with love in the name of the God who is love!
During Epiphany, I’ll be letting the characters in the Old Testament Book of Ruth tell their stories of faith. These men and women will offer insight into ways that God works in and through our fumbling attempts to follow God’s will and way. We’ll see that God uses all men and women to move the Kingdom forward.
In the genealogy of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew we see that there are three Gentile women listed. “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.” (Matthew 1:3-5) It is through these non-Hebrew women that Jesus’ lineage comes.
Tamar, whose story is in Genesis 38, was first wed to two of Judah’s sons. She likely was Philistine. We know she lived in the Philistine town of Timnah. Because Judah (one of Jacob’s sons) refused to honor his son’s marriage contract after his second son died, Tamar is forced to use trickery to expose his deeds. She then bears Judah twin sons, Perez and Zerah.
Rahab is known from the Book of Joshua. She is the Canaanite women, possibly a prostitute, who hid the Jewish spies when they came to Jericho (Joshua 2:1-24). Because of her actions, she and her family are saved when Jericho is razed. She then marries Salmon, who was one of the spies at Jericho. Her son is Boaz.
Finally, we have Ruth of Moab, who is first the wife of Mahlon, son of Elimelech and Naomi from Bethlehem. (Note: Bethlehem was also known as Ephrath or Ephratha which is why Elimelech is called an Ephrathite.) It is her faithfulness to her mother-in-law that brings her to Bethlehem Ephrath and ultimately marriage to Boaz.
These three Gentile women are important to remember when we consider the identity of Jesus’ earthly lineage. We’ll focus on the individuals in the Book of Ruth during Epiphany to see what they may teach us. Some were Jewish. Their faith in the One God was tested, like ours, by the circumstances of life. Others were not Jewish; yet came to believe in the One God of Israel They led the way for all the first century and beyond Gentiles to believe in the ‘One God has sent’. (John 6:29)
As you read the stories of the men and women found in the Book of Ruth, think about their lives and witness. Whether they realized it or not, they were evangelists for the Holy One of Israel. In the same way, we may be the ‘only Gospel some people see’. The quote is attributed to many people, and it is very true no matter who first said it.
How will you show Christ to your circle of influence? How will you draw a circle and be love?
