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Ruth 4 bible study9/28/2023 ![]() Upon return from Babylon a person claiming priestly prerogatives was required to provide a genealogy proving priestly descent. For instance, in order to become a member of the most important social class among the Jewish people, a priest, one had to produce a genealogy connecting one to the family of Aaron. employment: In order to lay claim to certain jobs in the religious system that was central to Israel one had to produce a valid genealogy. ![]() The transfer of land required accurate knowledge of genealogy. 26:52–56 33:54) Sometimes in order to establish one’s claim to property it was legally necessary to produce a valid genealogy to substantiate one’s claim. land: Determining a family’s place of residence in the land was determined by tribes, families, and father’s houses (Num. (Joshua son of Nun, Solomon son of David, etc.) While most preachers and readers skip or ignore biblical genealogies, genealogies were very important to the people of God, but why? Why did God use genealogies in the Bible? Was this merely for the sake of establishing a good pedigree? There were many practical reasons for emphasizing genealogies.Ī. Rarely is a person mentioned in the Old Testament without at least some brief reference to his or her genealogical roots. ![]() Genealogies are sprinkled almost everywhere across the pages of the Old Testament. They were the people of God and this could be traced through their genealogies. The Hebrew people were painfully aware of the importance of history and they used genealogies to link themselves to the past. He says, in 1 Timothy 1:4 - “nor give heed to fables or endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.” It may strike the contemporary reader as rather odd that of all the things Paul could have warned the people of God to avoid, he told them to avoid disputes over genealogies. In fact they were so important that Paul gave specific warning against the misuse of genealogies. Genealogies played an important role in Jewish culture. Imagine - all of that from a genealogy! The Theology of Genealogy ⤒ □ This is a fancy way of saying that Samuel uses this story to point us forward into history towards the last things - the culmination of history itself in the coming of Messiah’s kingdom. Therefore, the concluding genealogy has redemptive/theological dimensions that are eschatological. The whole book of Ruth is also centered on the perpetuation of the generations in Israel, and by extension, on the indispensable culmination of salvation history - here in the person of David, then in the Messiah. Thus the kingdom of David was a kingdom of resurrection life. Think of it - David’s kingdom was historically connected with resurrection as the means by which it was established and as the means by which it would move into the future. The genealogy authenticates the kingdom of David, pushing the promises of David’s kingdom far into the future. His gracious care for two defenseless widows now emerges as divine guidance for the benefit of all Israel. It becomes a bright, radiant thread woven into the fabric of Israel’s larger national history. Suddenly, the simple, clever human story of two struggling widows takes on a startling new dimension. This short genealogy quickly advances the story’s time frame from “long ago” (i.e., “the judges’ days”) to “recently” (i.e. It is not an exaggeration to say that the future course of history was altered with the resurrection at the end of Ruth’s story. Samuel concludes with resurrection reversal in a genealogy of the child Obed, who will be a “restorer of life.” Obed’s birth has an unmistakable connection to the future kingdom of David, and thus it drives the reader into the future. In this sense a birth and a genealogy is a fitting way to conclude Ruth’s story. The story of Ruth concludes with a genealogy - but why? “Why end this beautiful story with a family tree, a piece of dusty historical information about long-dead people?” 1 Samuel moves the reader from famine to harvest, from faithlessness to faithfulness, from widowhood to marriage, from barrenness to fruitfulness, and ultimately from death to life.
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