Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. -Genesis 13:12
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. -Ruth 4:13
When I told Pastor Chad that I had decided to read through the bible again, he suggested a book that would help me read it in a different way. I highly recommend it: What Is the Bible, by Rob Bell. I have only begun and have gotten many new insights into some of the bible stories. What we often don't realize is how connected the books of the bible are to each other and how some verses that we might think are unimportant can actually provide deep insight when you know why the author wrote them.
Did you know that the parting of ways between Abram and Lot is importantly related to the marriage of Boaz and Ruth? As Rob Bell explains: "Ruth is from Moab, and the Moabites were descendans of Lot. So when Ruth returns to Israel, this story about this obscure family becomes a story about Lot's tribe and Abraham's tribe being reunited...." just a couple generations before King David is born into their genealogy. Ruth, though a beautiful story about faith and loyalty, is also a story about a family reunited and healing. It's about bringing together what was separated years earlier.
When we read the bible as a whole, instead of as a bunch of verses that can be taken out of context, we find an incredible story of grace, forgiveness, and love from an amazing Creator God.
Amazing God,
Thank you for new insights to stories I've read and heard over and over. You do indeed make all t.hings new. Amen
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