Ruth and Boaz, Solomon's dream--it's all part of His poetry!

The Book of Ruth, written by Samuel, is a true love story about a Gentile woman who marries a Jew. It’s also a book of prophecy and doctrine in typology, completed during the early part of King David’s reign before the birth of his son Solomon.

“Someone once said, ‘Ruth is one of the richest rewards of truly knowing the Scripture,’ ” says Jordan. “Heart history appeals to people who have a heart. The stories that are based in appeal to affections are the things that attract people, and Ruth is that way.

“There’s always a charm in a book that’s filled with typology, and the main characters in Ruth are all pictures of God’s dealings with the nation Israel, and especially in the ‘kinsman redeemer’ Boaz, who is a type of Christ.

“Ruth’s life takes place during the deep dark ages of Judges but isn’t recorded until David because Boaz is his predecessor. David is in Boaz’ line and Boaz is one of those key people who are in the Messiah’s line.

“In that interlude between David and Solomon, where God is teaching Israel how He will work on their behalf, He writes this little book because the first thing Israel needs when there under all that judgment is for Him to be their Kinsman Redeemer. 

“When you start at the beginning of the genealogy of Christ and count down the first ten guys you come to Noah. The tenth one in Shem’s line (the line of Christ) was Abraham. Boaz is the third tenth man.

“Matthew 1:5 says, ‘And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse.’ The Book of Ruth is there to tell you who Boaz is. By the way, you can find in the Old Testament those other tenth men and their significance; it’s fascinating.

“Boaz has some real insightful wisdom and a determined commitment and undeterred love for Ruth to get the job of redemption done. The name Boaz actually means ‘strength is within him.’ The picture is of the Messiah. It’s Israel in ‘the time of Jacob’s trouble,’ being saved by her Messiah who comes out of Bethlehem.”

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"When the Lord came to Solomon at night in a dream and asked, ‘Solomon, what can I give you? I’ll give you riches and power—whatever you want,’ Solomon answered, ‘I want wisdom.’ I Kings 3:15 says, [15] And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream.

“When the text says ‘Solomon awoke,’ what’s meant by that is, ‘You know, it doesn’t help you to work incessantly; stay up half the night, get up early to go to work, work through all kinds of difficult, sorrowful, hard, painful experiences--God gives you His gifts when you’re not working at all. When you aren’t even conscious; you’re asleep.’

“I’ve thought about that; it’s not of works. It’s His workmanship, not of us. This stuff all comes from Him. Think back through Scripture. When did God give Adam Eve? When did He cut the covenant with Abraham? He put him in a deep sleep. I mean, Solomon isn’t the only one in Scripture that that’s true of.

“When Paul says, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,’ he’s saying God’s the one who gives the blessing, not based on your merit, but on His giving. ‘For we are his workmanship.’ This is His doing.

“That word ‘workmanship’ (Ephesians 2:10) is talking about a ‘work of art.’ A masterpiece. Preachers like to point out that the Greek word that’s translated there is the word we get our term ‘poem’ from.

“That word comes over in English as ‘poem.’ You’re His work of art. You’re literally the form through which He’s going to express Himself. A masterpiece is something you do to make yourself known.

“Romans 1:19-20 says, ‘Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. [20] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.’

“Everybody knows something about God. He’s manifest in them. Romans 2:14 says, ‘For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.’

“You see, God has indelibly printed into the heart of man, all men, some information. He manifested Himself. Everybody knows there’s a God. You have to educate yourself out of that, and what the educated guy says is, ‘Well, if you want to be sophisticated and educated, you have to get over your primordial tendency to believe in the superstitious idea of something bigger than you.’

“To get over that is to get over the mystery of life itself and to become nothing but a crass materialist where the only thing that’s real is what you can hold in your hand and you believe in ‘survival of the fittest,’ even though you’re never going to be the fittest, so you’re never going to survive. It doesn’t add to life; it detracts!

“You can look at Creation and see the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God; the fact there’s a Creator revealed, and in that term ‘things that are made’ is a translation of the exact same word in Ephesians 2 about workmanship! Creation is God’s workmanship; His masterpiece demonstrating His wisdom, His understanding, His knowledge. He’s placed it in the Creation!

“When you look at the Creation, what you’re seeing is God manifest His purpose; what He’s accomplishing. You find out about Him!”