There is one principle in Christianity I have always railed against…
And I believe rightly so…
I’m talking about the idea that the “Old” Testament should be interpreted in light of the New Testament and not the reverse.
I believe that notion is completely false and that actually the opposite is true.
Instead, the New Testament should and absolutely MUST be interpreted in light of the “Old” and NEVER the reverse.
Some real theological nonsense arises when you do it the Christian way…
And nowhere is this more apparent than the gentile church’s crazy idea that Ruth showed up to meet Boaz wearing a wedding dress!
How did they come up with such a nutty interpretation?
Simply by doing what I just said:
Working from the New Testament and then going backwards.
In other words, the gentile church has always held that Yeshua is the Kinsman Redeemer for all those who put their faith in him.
Well, they’re correct on that point.
However, what they do next is is take this image of the saints as the “brides” of Messiah who are attending the wedding feast of the Lamb…
And then they go hog wild and project that image onto the story of Ruth.
Their logic is that Ruth must’ve been wearing a wedding dress because she was about to enter into a relationship with her Kinsman Redeemer.
I know the idea is all romantic, lovey dovey and gives you warm fuzzies and all but…
Umm…NO.
That notion just doesn’t fly…
And it doesn’t fly on so many levels…
First of all, it would’ve been presumptuous and arrogant as all heck for Ruth to show up wearing a wedding dress.
Second, do you really think a couple of poor widows would have had a wedding dress, one of the most expensive articles of clothing one could buy, just lying around waiting for an opportune time to use?
It doesn’t even make sense.
But you know what does make sense?
The interpretation the Rabbis have offered up is I believe dead on.
Here’s what they say.
In those days, after the death of one’s husband, a widow stayed in mourning for a long time…
Sometimes even up until they found a new husband and remarried.
So what the Jewish sages say is that Naomi was telling Ruth the time to put away her widow’s clothing had arrived…
And to go back to wearing a SIMLAH or the normal everyday garments of the time.
Because putting fresh wine into old wine skins wasn’t going to cut it in this situation.
Yes, I think this interpretation makes much more sense…
And it fits in nicely with the idea of how God makes all things new.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Neither do people pour new
wine into old wineskins.
If they do, the skins will burst;
the wine will run out and
the wineskins will be ruined.
No, they pour new wine
into new wineskins,
and both are preserved”
-Matthew 9:16-17
“And he who was seated on the throne said,
‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”
-Revelations 21:5
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