Ruth

1. Ruth God Rewards the Selfless Dr. Rick Griffith, Singapore Bible College www.biblestudydownloads.com

2. The Often Quoted Saying In the Bible? "God helps those who help themselves"

3.  God Rewards the Selfless  Devotion Brings Food & Protection  Devotion Brings Messianic Ancestry  Love Revealed  Love Rewarded  Ruth and Naomi  Ruth and Boaz  Return  Romance  Chapters 1–2  Chapters 3–4  Selflessness Shown Temporal Rewards  Redemption Requested  Eternal Rewards  Return  Reward  Romance  Redeem  Death of a Family  Ruth Cares for Naomi  Boaz Cares for Ruth  Birth of a Family Moab  Fields in Bethlehem  Gate in Bethlehem 185 Ruth  God Rewards the Selfless  Threshing Floor in Bethlehem  30 Years

4. Key Word 185 If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Leviticus 26:3-4 (NIV) Rewards

5. 185 Key Verses Devotion "… Ruth replied, 'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16).

6. 185 Key Verses Reward "'The LORD bless him!'Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. 'The LORD has not stopped showing kindness to the living and the dead.'She added, 'That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers'"(Ruth 2:20)

7. 186 Title The name Ruth (tWrruth) literally means "friendship" & describes the outstanding characteristic of the main person in the book–Ruth herself.

8. 186 Authorship • Internal Evidence • The author is anonymous. Some doubt Samuel as author since David appears in Ruth (4:17, 22) & Samuel died before David's coronation (1 Sam. 25:1). • But Samuel himself anointed David as king although he had not yet been crowned (1 Sam. 16). • The genealogy (4:18-21) ends with David (not Solomon), so it was probably penned after David was anointed king (but not necessarily on the throne yet). • It is most probable that Samuel penned the narrative: • The only tradition ascribes the writing to Samuel. • It was written during Samuel's lifetime. • No internal evidence proves otherwise. • External Evidence Talmudic tradition ascribes the authorship of Ruth to Samuel.

9. Since the genealogy (4:18-21) ends with David (not Solomon), it was probably penned after David's anointing (ca.1030 BC) &, at the latest, just before Solomon's crowning as king (971 BC). Authorship by Samuel pushes the date back to probably 1030-1020 BC. The story occurs in the previous era of the judges (1:1; 1373-1049 BC). Since Ruth was David's great-grandmother (4:17) and he began ruling in 1010 BC, some believe Ruth lived in the latter part of the 12th century. Thus, Samuel records events that occurred about one century earlier. Genealogy 186 Date David as Designate David as King Era of Judges 1373 1105 1049 1030 1010 971 Othniel Samson Samuel's Lifetime Ruth's Life Ruth Written

10. The 1st readers were under the unified kingdom of Saul & David. Some of the older readers had experienced the tragedy of the end of the judges era. 186 Recipients Bethlehem

11. Occasion 186 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Judges 21:25 (NIV) • Ruth takes place at the time of the judges (1:1).

12. 186 Occasion • Samuel records the moral & spiritual failure of Israel during this time in the Book of Judges itself, which ends with 2 horrible accounts: • A Levite pagan priest blesses Dan's ungodly migration (Judges 17–18). • Benjamites murder a concubine so the other tribes nearly destroy this tribe (Judges 19–21). • The story of Ruth is a third illustration of life at this time, but provides the other side of the story.

13. Occasion 186 • Perhaps Samuel saw the need to balance the negative picture of the judges era with godly examples (Ruth & Boaz) who lived by the law of God despite national unfaithfulness. • One key theme of Ruth is similar to that of Judges–God's redemption–with this key difference: Judges Ruth Redemption through deliverers Redemption through a godly couple

14. Faithlessness Faithfulness Immorality Fidelity, righteousness, purity Idolatry Following the true God Decline, debasement, disloyalty Devotion Lust Love War Peace Cruelty Kindness Bethlehem Bad Bethlehem Benefits Anarchy Monarchy Tribal National Saul David Disobedience leads to sorrow Obedient faith leads to blessing Spiritual darkness Spiritual light 187-189 Contrasts Ruth Judges

15. Origin of Moabites So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. Genesis 19:36-37 (NIV)

16. Moabite Influence While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. Numbers 25:1-2 (NIV)

17. Geography of Ruth 192 Jerusalem Jericho Bethlehem Arnon DEAD SEA MOAB Kerak

18. Jerusalem

19. Jericho Road

20. Ancient Jericho

21. Arnon Gorge Dead Sea Tribe of Reuben Arnon River Moab

22. Moabite Judgment No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation. Deuteronomy 23:3 (NIV)

23. 187-189 Characteristics • Ruth is only one of 2 books in Scripture named for women (the other is Esther). Esther was a Hebrew who married a Gentile; Ruth was a Gentile who married a Hebrew. • The Book of Ruth contains the 2nd highest proportion of dialogue in the canon, surpassed only by the Song of Songs. Of the 84 verses in the narrative, 59 have dialogue!

24. 187-189 Characteristics Irony plays a very important part in the Ruth narrative: • This, the most beautiful love story in the Bible, never once uses the word "love." • At the beginning of the story God has blessed (1:6) but Naomi is bitter (1:20-21). However, at the end Naomi is blessed (4:14ff.) even though she once wanted to be called Mara, meaning bitter (1:21)! 

25. 187-189 Characteristics Irony plays a very important part in the Ruth narrative: • Naomi says she could not provide Ruth with anyman for a husband (1:11-13), but soon a member of her ownfamily marries Ruth (2:20; 4:13)! • Naomi complains that she returns to Bethlehem empty (1:21), but at the end Ruth is better to her than seven sons (4:15; cf. 1 Sam. 2:5)! • Boaz prays for Ruth, who has sought refuge under Yahweh's wings (2:12), but within a few months Ruth asks him to cover her with his own wing (3:9). So he marries her & answers his own prayer!

26. 187-189 Characteristics The Gleaning custom helps us understand the story of Ruth: • Israel's "welfare system" made the poor work (Deut. 24:19-22; Lev. 19:9, 10): • Land owners could not harvest the corners of their fields & left extra sheaves for the poor to pick up ("glean"). • Ruth benefited from this merciful provision in the Law (2:2, 3, 7, 8, 15-19, 22).

27. Seasons in Israel Nisan Iyyar Sivan u z T a m m Av Elul Dry season Heat Dates Figs Barley Wheat Grapes Figs Mar Apr May June July Aug

28. Harvesting was hard work!

29. Reaping

30. Bundling Barley and Wheat Harvest March - June Reaping

31. Threshing

32. Threshing

33. Winnowing

34. Sifting Winnowing Winnowing

35. Gleaning Prohibited for Landowners “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.” Leviticus 19:9 (NIV)

36. Gleaning Commanded for Poor “Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:10 (NIV)

37. Commanded Again “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORDyour God.” Leviticus 23:22 (NIV)

38. “When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” And Again… Deuteronomy 24:19 NIV)

39. God expects hard work We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8 (NIV) Ruth Returning from Gleaning, Samuel Palmer, c. 1850

40. God expects hard work We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 2 Thessalonians 3:9-10 (NIV) Ruth Returning from Gleaning, Samuel Palmer, c. 1850

41. God expects hard work "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV) Ruth Returning from Gleaning, Samuel Palmer, c. 1850

42. God expects hard work If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8 (NIV) Ruth Returning from Gleaning, Samuel Palmer, c. 1850

43. 187-189 Characteristics The Kinsman-Redeemer custom also helps us understand the story of Ruth: • A dead man's brother must marry his brother's widow to raise the first son in this marriage in the name of his brother. • The Law prohibited sex with a sister-in-law (Lev. 18:16), but it required the kinsman-redeemer law when the brother died: (a) without a son (male heir) & (b) when these brothers lived together on property inherited from their father. • The new husband was called the "kinsman-redeemer," or goel (Heb.). If the dead man had no living brother then the goel was the closest male relative.

44. 187-189 Characteristics This kinsman-redeemer (goel) idea beautifully typifies Christ & the Church. Christ fulfilled all 4 requirements as goel to redeem mankind: • He must be related by blood to those he redeems (2:20; cf. Deut. 25:5, 7-10). Jesus was God made fully man (John 1:14; Rom. 1:3; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 2:14-15). • He must be able to pay the redemption price (2:1; cf. 1 Peter 1:18-19). • He must be willing to redeem (3:11; cf. Matt. 20:28; John 10:15, 18; Heb. 10:7). • He must be free himself (4:10; cf. the virgin birth freed Christ from the curse of sin, Matt. 1:23).

45. 187-189 What's the Main Theme? The following is a partial list of what several have suggested as the main teaching of the book: No Purpose Whatsoever Affirmation of King David's rights to the throne God blesses those who help others God's faithful, providential workings Faithful obedience Redemption / Kinsman-Redeemer "Put Your Life Together" "Men, watch out for those women" Marriage to foreigners is OK Entertainment Several other purposes

46. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a (NIV) • Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

47. Ecclesiastes 4:10b (NIV) • But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

48. 189 Argument • The Book of Ruth chronicles the devotion of Ruth, a young Moabitess widow, to Naomi, her widowed mother-in-law. • The purpose of this account is to demonstrate how God blesses those who help others, which is especially significant since the story takes place in the most selfish period of Israel's history–the time of the judges–when "every man did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25).

49. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 (NIV) They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

50. 189 Argument • The LORD blesses Ruth's devotion to Naomi first only through provision of temporal needs such as food & protection (chs. 1–2), but the concluding chapters end climactically with Ruth's reward of a home & especially participation in the Davidic and messianic line (chs. 3–4). • Therefore, the Book of Ruth stands as a strong apologetic for the benefits of selfless and righteous living during the most selfish & unrighteous period of Israel's history.