Redeeming Grace (Daughters of the Promised Land Book #3): Ruth's Story by Jill Eileen Smith

Author:Jill Eileen Smith [Smith, Jill Eileen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: FIC042030, Women in the Bible—Fiction, FIC027050, Bible (Old Testament—History of Biblical events—Fiction), Christian fiction, FIC042040, Ruth (Biblical figure)—Fiction, Bible fiction
ISBN: 9781493405923
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

25

Boaz walked with Ezra and every able-bodied man, woman, and child through Bethlehem’s gates. The road to Shiloh wound north past Jerusalem, where Jericho had once stood, and the remains of Ai. Shiloh had been set up during the days of Joshua as a place where God put His Name, and the priests ministered to the Lord there at the tabernacle.

The journey toward Passover was a few days’ walk, a joyous time when no regular work was done but the people gathered to sacrifice to the Lord and eat the Passover meal of remembrance. Boaz glanced at the donkey at his side, where a large sheaf from the first cuttings of barley was strapped to its back. Boaz would offer a thank offering, an early firstfruits of gratitude, though the act felt like mere formality instead of the true gratitude he should feel after so many years of famine.

How did one rejoice during grief?

He felt a knot in the pit of his stomach as he trudged with the throng, listening to the songs of praise. Maybe he should have taken Adi away from Bethlehem as Elimelech had done with his family. Maybe it was the famine that had weakened her and caused her to lose so many babes. But his mind discarded the thought as quickly as it came. Elimelech had moved, and he was dead.

He glanced again at the sheaf on the donkey’s back and felt the weight of the sacrificial lamb draped over his shoulders. Despite his grief, he had picked the best from the small flock—just not one of Adi’s favorites.

“Want me to take the lamb for a time, my lord?” Ezra pointed to the animal, his gaze sober. “You shouldn’t have to carry the burden the entire way. Not when we are sharing the Passover meal.” He stopped, arms outstretched.

Boaz patted the lamb, so content on his shoulders. He should feel the weight of his sin with the weight of the lamb, knowing that in a few days its life would end on his account. And Ezra’s. And Ezra’s family.

But as he lifted the small animal and handed him over to Ezra, he felt nothing. No sorrow over its coming loss, as Adi would have felt. As he should have felt. All he could pull from his emotions was anger. He clenched his hands as he continued to walk, his mind whirling. How could a good God do this to him? He’d done nothing against the law, nothing to deserve to lose every child Adi ever conceived, nothing to deserve to lose Adi too. He swiped an unexpected tear as a sense of injustice, even rage, burned within his chest.

Ezra settled the lamb on his broad shoulders and continued walking, saying nothing for many breaths. “’Tis a hard thing,” he said finally, glancing Boaz’s way. “Celebrating a feast when you are barely past the grieving period.”

People walked with them before and behind, and conversations rose and fell around them. Children darted between carts and people, laughing and joyous.

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