If you have read Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities you remember the unforgettable opening:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
If I could re-arrange Dickens’ order and apply it to world history, I would say that the “worst of times” is a picture of the world before Christ and the “best of times” picture the world post-Messiah. In the Old Covenant, the Bride was unapologetically alienated from her Groom again and again, yet, Yahweh never forsook her. He was testing her and maturing her to assume her role as royalty in the New World. As St. Peter puts it, “to be a royal nation.” The “best of times” of the Bride began at the coming of Jesus. Jesus gave her new eyes and a new heart. He restored her and provided for her a new dwelling place. She is no longer a stranger, but a recipient of all God’s good gifts dwelling in His house.
As we conclude our series on Ruth, we see a similar pattern. Ruth begins in the “worst of times,” but finds that God is reversing her story to fit into His story (the best of times). God loves to bring strangers into His home and He begins by making a stranger His wife.
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