In the book of Ruth, Boaz typifies Christ and Ruth typifies the church. This book shows us how Boaz redeemed both Ruth and her birthright. The birthright included a double portion of the land, the priesthood, and the kingship, that is, the right and position to enjoy Christ fully with the privileges to be a priest to bring man to God and a king to bring God to man. Ruth was Naomi’s daughter-in-law, and both had lost their birthright due to poverty. According to God’s ordination, the recovery of one’s birthright required the redemptive effort of a kinsman (Lev. 25:25).
Boaz treasured the God-given birthright. He was not only concerned for his own birthright, but also for that of others. He paid a price to redeem his kinsman’s inheritance and married his widow (Ruth 4:1-17). It was due to his compassion on the poor and weak Ruth and his redemption of her birthright that David, the king who established the kingdom, was brought in.
David was the last in the age of the patriarchs and the first in the age of the kings. He ended one age and began another. He was the landmark between two ages. Because the kingdom and the kingship began with David, he was the only one to be called “the king” in the genealogy of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.
David, being the eighth son of his father, was chosen and anointed by God (1 Sam. 16:10-13). The number eight signifies resurrection. As the eighth son, David’s selection by God denotes his union with Christ in resurrection. He was also one who was after God’s heart, establishing God’s kingdom.
Acts 13:36 says, “For David indeed, when he had served his own generation by the counsel of God, fell asleep....” This shows that David’s reign was according to the will of God.
David was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22). God sent Samuel to tell Saul that He had found another to replace him, for He had found Himself a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Apart from the sin he committed because of the wife of Uriah, David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (1 Kings 15:5).
The children of Israel fought their way step by step into Canaan. After they crossed the river Jordan, beginning from Jericho, they captured the land of Canaan battle by battle and city by city. The warfare did not end until David’s time. It was after David became king that all the enemies of the land were subdued (1 Chron. 22:18).
After David became king and subdued the surrounding enemies, the kingdom of God was established. From the time when God called Abraham to the end of the age of the judges, the nation that God promised to make of Abraham (Gen. 12:2) had never come into being. This was because the land had not been completely possessed and the adversaries destroyed. Only when God found David the son of Jesse, a man after His own heart, one who fought for God’s interest and conquered the enemies, was the kingdom of God established.