The Theme of Ruth
What a contrast between Judges and the book before it. Joshua is a picture of walking in the spirit and living the victorious life, and immediately after it Judges pictures walking in the flesh and living a confused sinful defeated life.
Last week I made the point that in the book of Judges not everyone all the time sowed wrong. Not everyone all the time did what was right in their own eyes. And in those times God was there. Working in the life of someone who had an open heart.
No matter how bad it got in Judges with men doing what is right in their own eyes, God was always still willing to work in a life. He only needed some repentant hearts and a man who would do what God wanted done.
No matter how dark society is, God can still work.
Today we are going to take a look at the book of Ruth.
The last verse in Judges says:
Jdg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
The first verse in the book of Ruth says:
Rth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land.
God wants us to know that what happens in the book of Ruth happened during the book of Judges. In a very dark time God does some wonderful things in the lives of Ruth, and Naomi, and Boaz. The book of Ruth backs up the truth that God is always ready and willing to work in a life.
He is not dependent upon the conditions of society or culture to be correct before He can work.
The book of Ruth also starts out with an example of reaping and sowing. Elimelech left the land were God told him to be and ran to the world. He took his family to a land that worshipped a horrible false god.
What happened was not good. Elimelech died. His two sons both married women of Moab. And then they both die leaving Naomi and her two daughter in-laws. Elimelech sowed the bad choice of running from God’s will and his family reaped from that choice.
There is a lesson to be learned right there. Our sowing does affect others. And please remember sowing and reaping works both ways. You sow bad you reap bad and you sow good and you reap good. Bad sowing affects others. And our good sowing will also affect others in a good way.
But the theme of Ruth is not reaping and sowing. That was the theme of Judges along with showing how bad things can get when the majority of a nation sows wrong. The first 15 verses of Ruth set the stage. We need them to get us up to speed with what is going on in the lives of these people so we can understand the rest of the story.
We start to see the theme in verse 16.
Rth 1:16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
Rth 1:17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
The book of Ruth is short but it is deep and it teaches many things. It has many purposes. But the main story is about how a Gentile woman turns to God. Ruth says thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. And she later becomes the Bride of a rich Jewish man.
They have a child named Obed who is the grandfather of King David and later Jesus is born in that line. Ruth was fully accepted and used in God’s plan. God used Ruth and her descendants to accomplish His will.
This is a picture of how Jesus, the owner of all, will take a gentile bride, the church and thru that accomplish His will.
The book of Ruth is about many things. It is about people. Real people with real problems. And it shows how people turn from the world and come to Christ.
Rth 1:19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
Rth 1:20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Rth 1:21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
Rth 1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
In the Bible Moab is a type of the world. A system of false gods, and wrong goals. A life without the Lord. The world and its wicked ruler is not kind. The first step of someone coming to the Lord is to realize this.
A lost person must realize their need to get out of Moab. To leave the world and come to the Lord.
Naomi finally realizes that there is nothing good for her in Moab. She realizes her need and goes back to where she belongs. Ruth likewise leaves Moab and comes with. And they are in bad shape. They have nothing.
Rth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
In the story Boaz typifies the Lord. The one who has the power to be the redeemer.
Rth 2:2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
Rth 2:3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
I really love that. And her hap was. It just so happed that she, not knowing where she was walking to, walked right into Boaz’s field.
The implication here is that God was using His almighty power in the circumstances of life to direct her. Ruth already has said the Lord would be her God. God now is working in her life to draw her and guide her to find the redeemer.
Ruth out of a free will had to start walking. And God is busy doing His part. This is the way it works today. God does the work. He does the drawing and the guiding. He is the one who opens eyes, and brings conviction. He is the one who works in the circumstances of life to arrange the conditions that someone needs.
In my case it was my daughter finding a friend at school who invited her to Church. It was children’s church workers, and buss workers, and a loving pastor. God was at work in all of that to guide us to the truth. It was just Ruth’s hap to find Boaz’s field and it was just our hap to find Baptist Temple in Wheat Ridge.
When you are looking at one of the types of the Bible it is important to remember not to take it too far. It is not an allegory where everything stands for something. Boaz is not the lord. Everything he does is not a picture of the Lord doing something.
Boaz is only a type of Jesus in his role as the redeemer. Boaz is just a man living his life who God is going to use to show a picture of the redeemer.
Rth 2:4 And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
Boaz was a good man. He greets the workers with The Lord be with you. And they answer him with The Lord bless thee. People knew that Boaz was a believer. He was not shy about it. Following God was a big deal to Boaz. He put the things of God into the way he handled his business and his employees.
Boaz was a good godly man. And during the time of the Judges. From the beginning of time, God has always had a remnant of people who were true to Him. No matter how dark things got. One time it was so bad that God flooded the earth because their hearts were all evil continually. All except one family.
God has always kept a remnant unto Himself and in the time of Judges Boaz was one of them.
Rth 2:5 Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel is this?
Boaz notices Ruth and provides for her.
Rth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
He gives her access to the water that the men had drawn, and tells them to drop some extra on purpose. He asks her to lunch and lets her eat with the reapers.
Rth 2:18 And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed.
Rth 2:19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man’s name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz.
Rth 2:20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
Rth 2:21 And Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
Rth 2:22 And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet thee not in any other field.
Rth 2:23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
Day after day thru the harvest Boaz was faithful to provide in the same way for Ruth. Day after day she found grace and help and kindness.
Naomi tells Ruth how to present herself to Boaz in a way that lets him know that she wants him to perform the role of the kinsmen redeemer. And so near the end of harvest Ruth goes to the threshing floor.
Rth 3:8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
Rth 3:9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
Rth 3:10 And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.
Rth 3:11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
Rth 3:12 And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I.
Rth 3:13 Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the LORD liveth: lie down until the morning.
Boaz goes to the gate of the city and gathers witnesses and the kinsman who was nearer.
Rth 4:3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:
Rth 4:4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
Rth 4:5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Rth 4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
The kinsman did not want to. He wanted the land, but not Ruth. So he declines.
In the story Ruth pictures the gentile bride. Boaz pictures Jesus. The Kinsman redeemer.
And the nearer kinsman represents the law. The law is cold and strict. The law is the law. There is no bending the law. If you change the law, then the law is no longer what it was. We are not talking about man’s laws. We are talking about the law of God given on Mount Sinai.
It is interesting that the man said I cannot, he did not say I don’t want to. He did not just say I decline. He said I cannot. The man did not realize the part he was playing in the picture. He had no idea that this would be recorded in God’s Word. God is working in all of this.
The man who is a picture of the law said I cannot. This is because the law has no power to redeem. No man can follow all of the law.
Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
So to picture that the law cannot save, God had the kinsman say I cannot.
Boaz operated in Grace.
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Boaz then pays the price for Ruth.
Rth 4:8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
Rth 4:9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi.
Rth 4:10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
A picture of Jesus paying the price for His Gentile Bride, the church.
Act_20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Ruth is a beautiful story of Boaz taking a gentile wife, a picture of Jesus who paid the price to redeem us to Himself. Ruth is also a story of God working on behalf of Naomi and Ruth. A story of being redeemed, and finding the provision that was so desperately needed that they could not provide for themselves.
There is a lot in Ruth that we did not cover. We are doing a survey of the Bible in these lessons, so we are concentrating more on the high level overview of each book.
See more themes from Old Testament Books