by Pastor Ray Viola | Apr 21, 2025 | Selah
The Book of Ruth contains many images of Christ and the Christian life. In one of those images, Naomi sought rest in a God-ordained marriage for Ruth to a kinsman redeemer named Boaz. This parallels a sinner entering into rest when they cease from their own works and...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Apr 18, 2025 | Selah
Some believe that spirituality can replace hard work. However, Ruth did not sit at home praying for food when she knew that God’s Law allowed her to glean in the fields. Ruth was a hard-working, virtuous woman, which probably did as much to catch Boaz’s attention as...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Apr 17, 2025 | Selah
To provide for herself and Naomi, her mother-in-law, Ruth went out to glean in the fields. According to God’s sovereign plan, Ruth unknowlingly chose to glean in a field owned by Boaz, who was a close relative of Naomi. Her choice and the favor of Boaz played a key...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Apr 16, 2025 | Selah
Many words had surely been exchanged that are not recorded in Scripture, but Naomi’s first recorded words after returning to Judea are so revealing. Her soul was filled with bitterness, and she blamed God for all that had gone wrong. Bitterness, whether it is a single...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Apr 15, 2025 | Selah
Today we begin a new series on the book of Ruth. This book is not so much about the woman for whom it isnamed, but it is about the typological portrayal of Jesus Christ, our Kinsman Redeemer and the Church’s Bridegroom. The story opens during a famine in the days of...
by Pastor Ray Viola | Apr 14, 2025 | Selah
While few of God’s children are called to live Christian lives that are as dramatic as Paul’s, we are all called to live what’s been named by some The Glorious Exchanged Life, which is this: Jesus died to save my soul, and now I die, to live for Him. Every follower of...