Download Ruth Devotional

Ruth a verse-by-verse commentary and devotional how to use this study → Start every day by praying first, then reading the Bible, then read this devotional alongside the Bible. This study will be a verse-by-verse commentary with personal reflection at the end. Every week will also include a different spiritual discipline that might be new to you. Those days just might become your favorite. → We should also discuss the types of Bible translations that are available. Some translations that are close to being what the Hebrew literally says, while others take some freedom in how they translate the text. When it comes to studying the Bible carefully and in detail, it is most helpful to have a translation that is close to being literal. Wayne Grudem has a helpful chart for this in one of his articles, “Are Only Some Words of Scripture Breathed Out By God?”. (The article is amazing too, and I would highly recommend reading it. You can find it by going to WayneGrudem.com -> “Articles” -> “Bible Translation”) www.waynegrudem.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Are-Only- Some.pdf 2 → Ask yourself what you are seeking. Are you seeking God above all else, and seeking to establish regular, daily time with him? Or are you just seeking to finish the reading so you can be “prepared” for Wednesdays? This study will mean nothing if God is not first. Don’t worry about getting through it just to get it done. Give God your full attention and your whole heart, and ask him to speak to you through this study. 3 schedule week date passage 1 Feb 17 Introduction & Ruth 1:1–6 2 Feb 24 Ruth 1:6–22 3 Mar 3 Ruth 2:1–3:5 4 Mar 10 Ruth 3:6–4:22 5 Mar 17 Esther 1–2 6 Mar 24 Esther 3–5 7 Mar 31 Esther 6–8 8 Apr 7 Esther 9–10 4 week 1 Day 1: Introduction to Ruth Before we get started in the book of Ruth, we should first look at some background information. This will give us a helpful framework from which to read and study the text. Title Even the title of the book is remarkable. There are exactly two books in the Bible that are named after women: Ruth and Esther. And can you guess how many books of the Bible are named after a non-Israelite foreigner from a pagan land? One. Ruth is the only book of the Old Testament named after someone who is not even an Israelite. What is even more remarkable about the title is the fact that out of the book’s three main characters, it is named after Ruth. The book opens and closes with Naomi as the main character. If we were to look at plot alone, the book should probably be named “The Book of Naomi.” Not only that, there is an incredible amount of direct speech (dialogue) in the book—but Ruth’s speeches are the shortest and the most infrequent. If we were to look at dialogue alone, the book should be named “The Book of Boaz.” But despite all of this, the title points directly to the author’s special admiration and reverence for the person of Ruth. He specifically wants to direct our attention to her and her character. Author Speaking of the author, we should point out that we do not know exactly who wrote Ruth. The Talmud is a collection of rabbinic 5 Jewish texts that record the oral tradition of early rabbis. It serves as the primary source for studying Judaism from the first to the seventh century AD. According to the Talmud, Samuel was the one who wrote Judges and Ruth. But the book itself gives no hint of who the author may be. The best we can do is analyze internal evidence—language, style, historical allusions, themes, etc.—to see if we can find some clues. Even this evidence, however, has led to a wide range of interpretations. At the end of the day, the important thing to recognize is the fact that, despite not knowing the author with certainty, the Book of Ruth has always been accepted as Scripture. The oldest manuscripts and lists of biblical books attest to its place in the Bible, and we can have confidence that its words were inspired by God. What is interesting, though, is that there are some differences in the placement of Ruth among the other books of the Bible. Our English Bibles place it after Judges, which follows the arrangement of the Greek Old Testament (known as the Septuagint). Hebrew Bibles, on the other hand, place it after Proverbs. → Before we go any further today, open up your Bible and read the last chapter in Proverbs. → Why might the Hebrews have placed Ruth immediately after this chapter? 6 Genre While this will be the entire focus for tomorrow, it is important to point out here that the genre of Ruth is narrative (with a short genealogy in 4:18–22). Identifying the genre will determine how we read and interpret the text. And because Ruth is narrative, we will often refer to it as a story and describe its features like the narrator, characters, and plot. These are all real and legitimate features of the text, but please do not mistake these features as making the book fictional. Just because it is narrative does not make it fictional. As Scripture, the book of Ruth is very much a real, truthful, and historical account. At the same time, its truthfulness does not mean that the biblical author was left to write without literary devices or styling. God inspired the biblical authors to communicate their messages in a variety of genres, and narrative is a major instrument in the communication of his words. Purpose Without a doubt, the main purpose of the book of Ruth is to reveal the providence of God and the character of God. It is God who graciously visits the people and ends their famine. It is God who brings the foreigner Ruth into his covenant people and unites her with Boaz. It is God who blesses her with a child whose lineage leads directly to Christ. The whole point of the book is that God redeems his people. And God works providentially through the obedience of his people. Not only do we see constant language of redemption throughout the text, but the author highlights it at the beginning (1:6) and the end (4:13) of the book. While we do not see the word for redemption in these two instances, we certainly see the acts of redemption. (You might remember from our last study that repeating a word or phrase at the beginning and the end of a 7 section, almost like bookends, is called an inclusio. It emphasizes that word or phrase, while also helping to explain everything in between those two bookends.) 1. What does the Lord do in 1:6? 2. What does the Lord do in 4:13? The biblical author is emphasizing the fact that the hand of the Lord is at work in the lives of his people. He is constantly redeeming and providing for his people. And by framing the story in between these two acts of the Lord, he calls attention to what he wants us to see about the book: the story is more about the providence of God than the deeds of human beings. (We should pause here and take a moment to be clear about what we mean when we say providence. Providence refers to God’s gracious outworking of his divine plan over human activity and his creation. It refers to the fact that the world is not ruled by chance or fate, but by God who directs people and creation toward his goals. Providence means that God is in control and is at work in our lives.) We will continue this discussion about the purposes of Ruth and Esther as we dig deeper into them. What is important to note now, though, is how to find the purpose of a narrative. In order to do that, we should ask ourselves the following five questions: 8 1. What does this story teach us about God? 2. What does this story teach us about the human condition? 3. What does this story teach us about the world? 4. What does this story teach us about the people of God and their relationship with him? 5. What does this story teach us about the individual believer’s faith? These are questions that we will keep asking ourselves as we go through the texts. 9 personal reflection 1. Read through the book of Ruth as if it were a short story. → What are some words or phrases that are repeated? → What are some key ideas or themes? → What questions are you left with after reading the book? 10 2. Finish today by spending some time in prayer. Do not rush through this step or go through the motions just to check it off your list, but give God your full attention and a sincere heart. → Pray that he would bless you by continuing to increase your understanding and renew your heart throughout this study. → Pray that he would open your eyes like never before to see the ways that he is providentially working in your life and the lives of those around you. 11 O God, Teach me to live by prayer as well as by providence, for myself, soul, body, children, family, church; Give me a heart frameable to thy will; so might I live in prayer, and honor thee, being kept from evil, known and unknown.

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