In our English Bibles the Book of Ruth follows Judges and precedes Samuel. It’s not difficult to see why, since the first verse establishes the historical context as, “the days when the judges ruled.” In fact, some believe the Book of Ruth to be a commentary on the Book of Judges, a time when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” There are few greater symptoms of our human brokenness than doing what’s right in our own eyes. Indeed, much of the darkness of our own world is the consequence of reliving the time of the judges.
For the past 12 weeks we have examined what the Scriptures have to say about the four major areas of brokenness that exist all around us and often within us. And if you’ve been studying along with us you know that in 12 weeks we’ve only scratched the surface. In fact, we intend to continue examining the effects of Christ’s healing of brokenness throughout the first half of the year. We’re calling it “Living Beyond: A Transformed Life.”
This Sunday we begin a four-week Advent Series that continues our examination. It is uncanny how this little four-chapter Old Testament book speaks to the depth of our brokenness by highlighting the brokenness in the family of Elimelech. The way in which El Shaddai heals the brokenness in them is the same way He heals it in us. As is the case in so much of Scripture, the players in the story are mirror images of us. Their story is our story and their Healer is our Healer who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
We’ve titled these four messages to reflect the essence of the time of Ruth. It’s a time of deep darkness. It’s a time when both natural and spiritual famine are present in abundance. As one writer puts it, “It is a time when the broad sweep of Israel’s history is moving His people further and further away from God and increasingly under divine judgment.” It is a time much like the days of Noah. It is a time much like the final days, a time with which we are quite familiar.
But the darkness, the spiritual drift, and the increasing certainty of divine judgment are not the whole story. In the midst of all the brokenness is the God who works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
The story of Ruth is a microcosm of what life in Israel might have been, and would have been, if only the people of God had sought Him, loved Him, and trusted Him. The message of Ruth is the story of how God moves behind the scenes to reverse one family’s situation of collapse, despair, and brokenness by a series of remarkable providences. But it’s more than that. It’s the story of God’s governance on a macro-scale in which He is actively at work, bringing about a sequence of events that will lead to the emergence of the Kingdom of God in this world. Not only is David foreshadowed, but the Son of David is foreshadowed – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the same One who rules the universe in love, grace and truth.
We’ve titled our Advent Series, “Out of the Darkness, The Hope of Transformation.” This week we begin with Ruth, Chapter 1 and the title of the message is “This Present Darkness.”
In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the following:
1. Contrast the location of the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible and our Bible.
2. Why would the Book of Ruth be read aloud at the Feast of Passover?
3. What would cause a Jew named Elimelech to move his family to Moab?
4. Who are the Moabites and what does God have to say about them?
5. What are the meanings of all the names used in Chapter 1 and how do those
people live up to them?
6. What is “the ancient triangle of need?”
7. Why would the sons of Elimelach have Canaanite (Moabite) names? And what
does their choice of wives say about them?
8. What evidence of God’s blessing is to be found in Naomi’s brokenness and
bitterness?
9. How does a woman like Ruth, who grows up worshiping Chemosh the Moabite god
of war, come to saving faith in the true God?
10. What evidence is there in this chapter that God’s grace is in total control?
See you Sunday.
