Ruth and Hannah as Types

 I didn't post anything about the book of Judges last week since I did a pretty good post about it in 2022 and didn't have anything new to add. 

This week, however, I have two different things I wanted to post about. I did a post about Ruth in 2022 that covers the basics of the story. One thing I would add to that which I didn't know before, was that one reason Boaz might have been more compassionate toward Ruth is that he understood what it meant for a woman to be a foreigner and convert in Israel.  We learn from Matthew 1:5 that Boaz' mother was Rahab, the "harlot" who hid the spies of Israel in Jericho, and by so doing so was spared and protected when Joshua stormed that city.  Even though Boaz in the book of Ruth seems pretty well of, it might have been difficult for him to find a bride since his mother was foreign and a former prostitute. His kindness to Ruth may reflect his feelings toward his immigrant mother. 

The main thing I saw in the stories of Ruth and Hannah this time was that they can be seen as types.  I wrote before how Sarah's life foreshadowed the future of Israel. Sarah was "sold into Egypt" when her husband claimed she was his sister years before Joseph was sold into Egypt. The fact that the Lord remembered her and provided a way for her to be redeemed foreshadowed Israel's eventual escape from Egypt. This seems like a bit of a stretch unless you remember that throughout the Old Testament the Lord compares his relationship with Israel as a marriage. Later Jeremiah is even commanded to marry a harlot as a symbol of Israel worshiping other gods. I think both Ruth and Hannah's stories foreshadow things that are about to happen to Israel.

First let's talk about Ruth.  She is a Moabite, that is, not a member of the covenant family.  She marries an Israelite and comes to start to understand what Jehovah worship is. When her husband dies, she decides to stay with Naomi and follow the God of Israel rather than the gods of her own culture. Together they go back to Bethlehem and there she impresses and marries an Israelite man and through her the Davidic line is perpetuated.  How does this reflect what is happening is Israel?  Just as Naomi and her family left Bethlehem and traveled to pagan Moab, Israel has left their covenant with the Lord and has gone after idols. They leave because of a famine in Israel. We learn in the book of Judges that there was a famine of righteousness in Israel.  None of the Judges are without flaw, and the final judge, Samson, has truly left the covenants of Israel to follow a foreign path of violence and disregard for the law.

Israel needs a new system of government.  Later in 1 Samuel, we learn that they ask Samuel to find and anoint a king for them because they want to be like other nations (1 Sam 8:20). They are bringing in a foreign form of government just like Naomi is bringing in a foreign bride for Boaz. I think it is no coincidence that it is through Ruth, a foreign import into Israel, that the new foreign form of government, the Kingship, is established though David, her descendant. In other words, just as Naomi went into a foreign land and brought back a bride for Boaz, Israel looked to their foreign neighbors to replace the system of Judges with a King. 

Hannah likewise foreshadows  things that are about to happen in Israel.  Eli is a true High Priest, but his sons are corrupt.  The name Eli, means, Our God, so even though Our God is faithful, his sons, the house of Israel, and particularly the priests of Israel, have become corrupt.  God seeks a true priesthood but cannot find it among the priestly caste. Israel is barren, like Hannah, but when they pray for a king, just as Hannah prays for a son, the Lord grants their request.  Hannah gets a son, and Israel gets a king.  But Hannah doesn't get to keep her son.  After a few short years, he is given up to a lifetime of service in the temple as Hannah promised. Likewise, Israel does not get to keep its kingship.  Saul, David and Solomon rule over Israel as a united kingdom, but on Solomon's death the tribes of Israel fragment, and never again is Israel united under one ruler. In other words, even though Hannah rejoices at having a son, and Israel rejoices in having a king, for both the joy is short lived. 

It isn't as close of a connection as the story of Sarah predicting the story of Israel, but I still think in both cases,  God is using the marriage relationships described in these stories as symbols of his relationship with Israel.