Reflections on Bethlehem:
In the Fields of Fulfillment
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe
"But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose
goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." (Micah 5:2)
Most of us are familiar with the story of the Biblical Ruth,
but few realize that the story took place in Bethlehem during the period of the
Judges when, as scripture relates, “every man did what was right in his own
eyes” (Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25).
The book brings together some interesting and divergent people. We meet Naomi, the widow who, driven by sorrow and poverty, returns from Moab to her ancestral home. Traveling with her was her widowed daughter-in-law, the Moabite Ruth, descended from an incestuous relationship between Lot, the nephew of Abraham, and one of his daughters. Ruth met and married Boaz, a relative of Naomi and the son of Rahab the harlot who had been rescued from the battle of Jericho and who had later married Salmon, a member of the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1).
Naomi represents the nation of Israel returning to her covenant with Jehovah. Rahab and Ruth represent the Church, rescued from sin and entering into covenant with God through the sacrifice of Jesus who is a descendent of both.
Naomi and Ruth most likely had traveled from Moab to Bethlehem with other pilgrims during the festival of Pentecost which occurs during the wheat harvest. Boaz, a man of compassion and obedience not only allowed Ruth to glean his fields but arranged for Ruth to glean in abundance. Boaz, the great-grandfather of David and ancestor of Jesus, is a personification of John10:10b: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10 (NKJV).
It was in those same
fields that, centuries later, the shepherds watching their flocks by night, met
the army of heaven and learned of the fulfillment of covenant in the miraculous
birth of the Christ child. In His earthly
ministry, Jesus declared to the disciple Thomas, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through Me” John 14:6
(NKJV) .
John also wrote, "In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4 (NKJV). And that life is abundant.
In the fields that Ruth had gleaned, Warfare in the heavenlies
was taking place the night Jesus was born.
God sent a multitude of the heavenly host protecting the Child and declaring
the purpose of God in the incarnation, that in Jesus Christ, we have peace and
good will.
The angels who declared the
glory of God to the shepherds were not a choir of lovely females with halos and
harps. They were the heavenly host, the
army of God poised in strength, power and authority. Throughout scripture, the host of angels
refers to the mighty army of God. The
Hebrew word used is “Sabaoth” and refers to a large army. Most
descriptions of angels in the Bible describe them in military terms, such as
encampment (Gen.32:1-2), command structure (Ps.91:11-12; Matt.13:41; Rev.7:2),
and combat (Jdg.5:20; Job 19:12; Rev.12:7).
“We
don’t often see angels pictured as the army of God. We have hidden the epic,
heroic force of heaven under the cloak of the Celtic fairyland. Most of our modern day pictures of angels are
taken from fairy stories and not from descriptions from the Word of God. Cinderella has a fairy godmother. God has an angelic army, and that army stood
guard over the birth of His son in the fields once owned by Boaz." [i]
God’s army is greater than all the forces of Hell. His army stands guard over the Church, the body of Christ today. Just like the powerful, influential Boaz stood guard over Ruth.
Boaz provided, Ruth
gleaned, shepherds watched their flocks and angels stood battle-ready, all in
the fields of Bethlehem, the house of the Bread of God. All part of God’s plan
to bring us the bread of life in Jesus Christ.
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