God’s Glory in God’s Word Lesson 11 – Ruth

Introduction

Consider that our story begins in Moab – what is the significance of Moab in Scripture?

The origins of Moab: The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father." So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. (Gen 19:34-38)

The abomination of Moab: For went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. (1Ki 11:5-8)

The commands regarding Moab: "No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. (Deu 23:3-4)

In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of , but only the language of each people. And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?" (Neh 13:23-27)

But we must also consider that most of the narrative of Ruth takes place in Bethlehem – what is the significance of Bethlehem in Scripture?

So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), (Gen 35:19)

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Mic 5:2)

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'" (Mat 2:1-6)

Finally, and most importantly, we need to consider the promises of Scripture: I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen 12:3)

This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to by a promise. (Gal 3:17-18)

In the , God accomplishes His purpose in unusual and unexpected acts of Providence.

Chapter 1 – setting the stage

In a time of famine, Judahites abandon Israel for Moab. Naomi (sweet) becomes Mara (bitter). The men of Israel – including Mahlon (weakness) and Chilion (consumption) die in Moab.

We see the faithfulness of Ruth: But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." (Rth 1:16-17)

And the bitterness of Naomi: She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" (Rth 1:20-21)

Chapter 2 – The Kinsman Redeemer

From the New American Commentary (Daniel Block), there were five aspects of a redeemer’s role mentioned in Scripture:

1. To ensure that the hereditary property of the clan never passes out of the clan (Lev 25:25- 30) 2. To maintain the freedom of individuals within the clan by buying back those who have sold themselves into slavery because of poverty (Lev 27:47-55) 3. To track down and execute murders of near relatives (Num 35:12,19-27) 4. To receive restitution money on behalf of a deceased victim of a crime (Num 5:8) 5. To ensure that justice is served in a lawsuit involving a relative (Job 19:25; Psalm 119:154; Jer 50:34)

Additionally, Scripture speaks of a Levirate marriage: "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.' Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, 'I do not wish to take her,' then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.' And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, 'The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.' (Deu 25:5-10)

The book of Ruth doesn’t fit perfectly into any of these. But as Daniel Block states: “Although the story of and Ruth does not follow the letter of the law of the levir, it certainly captures its spirit.”

Chapter 3 – Interpreting the Plot

Consider again the origins of Moab. Also consider the account in the line leading up to Boaz – speaking of Levirate marriage - Judah:

1. Judah’s firstborn son – Er – is put to death by God. 2. Onan fails to fulfill his Levirate duty. 3. God kills him too 4. Judah fears his son will die too, so he withholds him from . 5. Tamar poses as a prostitute and becomes pregnant by Judah. 6. Perez is the outcome of that union 7. Descended from Perez? Boaz.

But what we see in the case of Ruth is not the deception of Lot’s daughters or the disobedience of Judah or the deception of Tamar. Instead, we see her appeal to Boaz and accept whatever decision he makes.

Chapter 4 – Providence and Promises Fulfilled

Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered , Hezron fathered , Ram fathered , Amminadab fathered , Nahshon fathered , Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered , Obed fathered , and Jesse fathered David. (Rth 4:18- 22)

The book of the Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of , and Isaac the father of , and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, (Mat 1:1-6)

Next Week: 1 Samuel