Here are the extended notes from the first message in our current series, MOSAIC. If you're looking to dig deeper, here are a few of the commentaries / sources on the book of Ruth I've found especially helpful.
The Gospel of Ruth, Carolyn Curtis James
A Sweet and Bitter Providence, John Piper
Faithful God, Sinclair Ferguson
Redeeming Ruth (MP3 Downloads), Mark Driscoll
Here are the extended notes from today's message.
Grace Happens
MOSAIC – Part 1
Some Thoughts About The Book of Ruth:
• It’s a love story…
• It’s a book about manhood and womanhood… It gives us a great picture of what a godly man and a godly woman look like.
• It’s a book about racial tension and reconciliation…
NOTE: Ruth is an “unclean Moabite.” She was a member of a doomed race… According to Genesis 19:37, the Moabites were the descendants of an act of incest that took place between a guy named Lot and his own daughter… Furthermore, the Moabites worshiped a god by the name of Chemosh, that actually involved child sacrifice (Numbers 21:29; 1 Kings 11:7, 33; Jeremiah 48:7). Ruth had the kind of past people like to sweep under a rug…
Boaz, on the other hand, was a God-fearing Jew… When the sparks fly and Ruth and Boaz become an “item,” their relationship is going to be an interracial relationship with all the challenges that involves… But it’s also going to be a relationship saturated with grace…
• Finally, the book of Ruth is a book about the sovereignty of God…
The book doesn’t describe any mind-boggling miracles… The Red Sea doesn’t part… The walls of Jericho don’t come crashing down… The sun doesn’t stand still… But God is still at work, guiding the lives or an ordinary man and an ordinary woman towards an extraordinary destiny…
Background: The book of Ruth is set against the historical backdrop of the book of Judges - that period of time between the death of Joshua and the coronation of saul.
Judges 2:10 (MSG), Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.
Judges 21:25 (NLT), In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. (Cf. Judges 2:10; 17:6)
Ruth 1:1-5 (NLT), In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.
3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.
Meanings:
Bethlehem – “house of bread”
Moabite – a descendant of Lot through an incestuous union with his own daughter (Genesis 19:30-38)
Elimilech – “God is my King”
Mahlon – “sickness”
Kilion – “failing or dying”
Naomi – “pleasant, sweet or lovely”
Mara – “bitter”
Ruth 1:6-7 (NLT), Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.
Note: The Hebrew word “shub” appears 12 times in Ruth 1. It gets translated “turn,” “return,” “go,” or “back” (vv. 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 [twice], 16, 21, 22 [twice]). It’s the Old Testament’s main word for turning back to God’s covenant grace and mercy. It’s a word used for repentance or conversion.
Ultimately, the book of Ruth is the story of one little family turning back to God…
Ruth 1:8-15 (NLT), But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back to your mothers' homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage." Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept."
Note: Naomi offers the first of several prayers that appear in the book, and asks God to give them a great husband (1:8-9; 2:12, 20; 3:10; 4:11-12, 14). She prays that God will "be kind" to these women… The word "kind" is a dominant word in the book of Ruth… It’s the Hebrew word "hesed"…
The word often gets translated “loving kindness” in the Bible. But it’s a word that describes totality of God’s nature and actually means: “the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love of our Father God!”
Ruth 1:10-15 (NLT), "No," they said. "We want to go with you to your people."
11 But Naomi replied, "Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me."
“I would take Naomi’s theology any day over the sentimental views of god that permeate so many churches today. Endless excuses are made for God’s sovereignty. Naomi is unshaken and sure about three things: God exists, God is sovereign, and God has afflicted her.” ~ John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence
Ruth 1:14-15 (NLT), And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 "Look," Naomi said to her, "your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same."
In Ruth’s mind, these are the alternatives:
Jehovah plus nothing in Bethlehem
or
Everything minus Jehovah in Moab
Ruth decides, “It’s not even close… I would rather have Jehovah… I’m going with God…”
Ruth 1:16-18 (NLT), But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!" 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.
Note: This is more than a statement about friendship and loyalty… This is Ruth’s statement of faith…
Ruth 1:19-21 (NLT), So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. "Is it really Naomi?" the women asked.
20 "Don't call me Naomi," she responded. "Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?"
22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Five Mega-Themes in The Book of Ruth:
1. Faithfulness, devotion and loyalty matter. BIG TIME!
2. Redemption really is possible.
Redemption is the central theme of this little book. In fact, the theme of redemption is so important that the word “redemption,” “redeem” or “redeemer “ show up no less than twenty-three times in four brief chapters.
3. Grace happens, when and where you least expect it (Genesis 19:30-38; Deuteronomy 23:3; Romans 5:20).
4. God is present and active, even when life rips you off. Christians don’t believe in luck, we believe in providence (Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28; Jer 29:11).
• God is Sovereign.
• God is Good.
“Nothing – from toothpicks to tyrants – is ultimately self-determining. Everything serves (willingly or not) the ‘purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will’ (Ephesians 1:11). God is the all-encompassing, all-pervading, all-governing reality.” ~ John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence
Genesis 50:20 (NCV), You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done.
Romans 8:28 (NLT), And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
“[God's] design for your life pulls together every thread of your existence into a magnificent work of art. Every thread matters and has a specific purpose.” ~ Ravi Zacharias, The Grand Weaver
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
5. Sometimes transformational change comes down to the faith and courage to risk everything on one giant, radical leap of faith.
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