Bread

Ruth 2:4
Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered him, “The LORD bless you!”

We often times speak of Boaz as a type of Jesus. He’s an Old Testament shadow of the Christ who was to come. So, in this line of thinking, it’s only fitting that Boaz would come from Bethlehem, where our King, the one true Jesus was born.

Interestingly enough, that’s not the point of this writing, just an added “ah-ha” for you to ponder. The real point here is in the word Bethlehem. The Hebrew word is made of two separate words, “bayith” meaning house, and “lechem” meaning bread. Put them together and you have a “House of bread”. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Nothing is left to the imagination with God. It’s all plain and simple. Reading the Bible isn’t and shouldn’t be a challenge, as it’s commonly taught. “I challenge you to read such and such passage and see what the scripture reveals.” These rules and regulations that we pull from the Bible aren’t at all the purpose for its printed text. If God was determined to have us live by the rules He established and know Him only as a tyrant king who loves and blesses based on works, He would have never put away the Ten Commandments.

Yes, put away the Ten Commandments. Even in the Old Testament God told the people to put the Commandments in the Ark and cover them with the Mercy Seat. If God had wanted those Commandments to be paraded around and thrown in the faces of the people, shouldn’t we assume that He would have ordered them placed on the walls of the Tabernacle?

This compilation of 66 books that we call the Bible was put together in Holy Spirit-inspired order to reveal one thing to us: Jesus Christ. Every verse, every word, every phrase, every name, every city, every mark of punctuation was placed in order to reveal to us the nature and true friendship found in Jesus Christ. This is what a relationship with Christ is, not a continual searching of scripture to find out how to be a better person.

These stories in the Old Testament are full of Christ. Yes, there are practical life lessons to be found, but the purpose of the stories is to reveal Jesus to us. Here, Boaz plays the part. We know the story: he redeems Ruth and provides for her and abundance in her life. He takes her as his own and gives her all according to his riches. But before that, Boaz came to her from Bethlehem.

You see, God knew that we would be able to draw the obvious parallel between Boaz and Ruth and Christ and the Church. Just to ensure that we would know that to be the reason for the story, He even made His redeemer come to the redeemed from Bethlehem. This is how awesome God is; this is how well planned His scriptures are.

So, during this Christmas season, remember that unto you is born a Savior. In the little city of Bethlehem, the house of bread, you’ll find the Bread of Life wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger (where grain is placed to feed the sheep). Come on, do I need to keep going?