Introduction- Ruth 1:1
Ruth 1:1 Now it came about in the days when the Judges judged, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the fields of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
Introduction
Our text this morning begins our study of the book of Ruth.
Now, I am super excited about this book. I can’t wait to see what we will discover together and what the Lord would have us learn through its inspired pages. So let’s jump right in.
First, notice what you will not find. Ruth is not the chick-flick book of the Bible. It is not the Hallmark Cannel’s contribution to Scripture. In fact, Ruth is not a romance at all. It is not a book about romantic attraction or falling in love. Instead, Ruth is a book about God’s amazing and often hidden hand of providence at work for and in His people. It is a book about faithfulness, future, and familial duty.
In fact, the whole purpose of the book of Ruth is to show God’s support and choice of the Davidic kingship. However, what is intriguing (and where I think we have a good deal to learn from the book) is the way that God goes about making His case for David. You see, the account of Ruth dose not address grandiose notions such as kingship, monarchy, or even David. Instead, the book of Ruth is about small things. It is about the way that God works His amazing plan through the unlikely and the seemingly inconsequential events of every day kindness and faithfulness.
Verse 1:1
Notice at once, verse 1 provides the first clue that helps us locate the time of our account: Verse 1 tells us that Ruth takes place during the days of Judges. Not only that the genealogy at the end of the book provides the second clue. It indicates that that Boaz (one of the main characters in the book) is David’s great grandfather. As such, it places the events of the book some 100 years prior to David (a pretty good ballpark guess). The result is that these two points of reference combine to tell us that the events of the book take place during the latter period of Judges, around 1100BC.
However, that said, the issue of when the book was written is a completely different issue than when the events it records took place. So when was the book written? First, the Davidic genealogy at the end of the book lets us know that the book was written after David was born and thus after the time period of the judges. In turn, the objective of the book to make a case for David’s kingship also provides a clue. In all likelihood the book was written in the early days of David’s reign. Why? Remember, after king Saul’s death, Judah immediately embraced David as king. However, it took 7 ½ years for the northern tribes to accept David’s reign (I Chr 11:1-3). Such a scenario then provides for both the book’s purpose (to show God’s choice of David) as well as the gentle, non-combative nature of the book’s presentation. The result is that the book was written around 1015BC, during David’s early reign and some 100 years after the events it records FN#1/2.
Notice then the setting of the book that our background provides: when verse 1 tells us that the Book of Ruth took place during the days of the judges, it establishes the overarching environment in which the events of the book take place. That is, it identifies the religious, socio-economic, and political setting for the entire work. Notice then this setting can be described in just two indicative passages from the Book of Judges:
Judges 3:5 And the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; 6 and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. 7 And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth. 8 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,
Simply put: the setting of the Book of Ruth is defined by Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, moral and religious pluralism, pagan intermarriage, and cultic promiscuity. As a result, God sent hardship, subjugation, and famine against the land (just as He said He would- Lev 26:15-20). In fact, these dynamics pretty much explain the situation in the in the first 5 verses of the Book of Ruth, which in turn sets the backdrop for the entire account. Notice then, verse 1 tells us that there was a famine in the land. Not only that, notice the divine irony: there is a famine in Bethlehem (the “House of Bread”). In other words, the book of Ruth opens with God’s displeasure and correction of His people’s unfaithfulness. Not only that verse 1 tells us that this certain man took his wife and his sons and left the House of Bread in God’s land to sojourn in the fields of pagan Moab. In other words, instead of supplication and repentance there is sojourn and compromise FN#3. Thus, we have not gone 1 verse into the Book of Ruth and there is already trouble.
The next background verse that we need to look at is:
Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Bottom line: Ruth takes place during an extremely hard and chaotic time, one of moral degradation, pagan pluralism, and God’s displeasure. And yet it is precisely in this time that God’s quiet provision is at work for His people. Important: the same God works in and through the messy details of my life.
Finally, while overarching purpose of the book is to show God’s choice and support of the Davidic kingship, like the sovereign hand directing this purpose, it is at work in the background. Instead, it is the proximate themes (the small matters) through which God works that come to the forefront of the book and carry the larger message. This morning I want to end by teasing these themes and alerting you to what you can expect to find in the book of Ruth. Themes such as:
1. Faithfulness amid difficulty– Doing what is right even when it seems powerless to change the situation.
2. Profound insignificance– The Book of Ruth is about seemingly insignificant acts of faithfulness through which God brings about extraordinary results.
3. Eschatology– every detail of Ruth is about the future and God’s people’s place in that future,
4. Names– Ruth is a book all about names, the meaning, and the continuation of one’s name in God’s promise.
5. Feet– If you love feet (there is something wrong with you. Nonetheless) Ruth is a book all about feet
Bottom line: in the end, Ruth is a book about God and the way that this same God works in the messy details of people just like you and me.
Footnotes
1] A key factor in dating the book is found in 4:7
Ruth 4:7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning the redemption and the exchange of land to confirm any matter: a man removed his sandal and gave it to another; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel.
The idea is that enough time must have passed between the writing of the book and the events it describes to make this explanation of a past custom necessary. Dating the book during the early reign of David provides plenty of time for the transition away from a custom to a more standardized legal procedure under a centralized leadership, such as that of Samuel or the monarchy of Saul (e.g. Jer 32:8-15; I Chr 9:22). The result is that back then (just as today), folks might need to be reminded of customs that occurred during their great-grandparents’ time.
2] Another question that needs asking is, who wrote the Book of Ruth? Jewish tradition attributes the book to Samuel (the last judge and the prophet who anointed David as future king). However, there is a problem: Samuel died before David’s reign and thus before the situation that motivated the book. Thus, it is better to see Samuel’s hand and influence in the book yet with another author actually writing the book (much like Paul and the book of Hebrews). As such, someone like Abiathar the priest who served during Samuel’s day and who was also in David’s direct company from very early on is a good candidate. However, in the end (like with Hebrews), we can’t say for sure who wrote the book, except that God’s Holy Spirit has breathed out this word for His people down through the ages.
3] Note: the book opens with unfaithfulness, divine displeasure/correction, and famine in the House of Bread. However, by the time we return to Bethlehem in 1:19 the situation is completely different. We encounter great faithfulness among the people and God blessing the land with plenty. In other words, rather than seeking God with repentance, the man in verse 1 flees God’s correction. As a result, he and his sons are rejected (they die and do not return to God’s land or favor). Not only that, his wife (due to his poor leadership) is left empty (not full) like the he had planned.