RUTH: The Romance of Redemption
Notes
Transcript
The Historical Context For The Book Of Ruth
The Historical Context For The Book Of Ruth
The book of Ruth is one of only two books named after women and they form an interesting contrast.
Esther is a courageous Jew who marries a Gentile and Ruth is a courageous Gentile who marries a Jew!
Esther begins with a FEAST but ends with a FUNERAL while Ruth begins with a FUNERAL but ends with a FEAST!
Today, I am going to lay the Historical Context for the Book of Ruth and next week I am going to reveal the Prophetic Layers embedded within the Book of Ruth!
I. The TIMING of the STORY!
Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
What were the day when the judges governed like?
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
II. The TRAGEDIES in the FAMILY!
A. The FAMINE in BETHLEHEM!
Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
B. The SOJOURN into MOAB!
SOJOURN: to leave with the intention to return
According to 1:2 the man and his family who sojourned into Moab was named Elimelech, Naomi, Mahlon and Chilion
Elimelech = My God Is King
Naomi = Pleasant and or sweet
Mahlon = Sickly or Weak
Chilion = Pining or Whining
Bethlehem = House of Bread
Judah = Praise
C. The DEATH in the FAMILY!
Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.
D. The MARRIAGE of the SONS!
They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.
ORPAH: one who is stubborn
RUTH: one who is friendly
Orpah and Ruth were MOABITE women living under a 10 generation curse
“No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord,
E. The WIDOWS in MOAB!
Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.
We See The TIMING of the STORY and The TRAGEDIES in the FAMILY and now:
III. The TESTIMONIES in MOAB!
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food.
*What did Naomi hear, do and say?
*What did Orpah and Ruth do and or say?
And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
What did Naomi say to Ruth?
Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.
“Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”
When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
We see The TIMING of the STORY, The TRAGEDIES in the FAMILY, The TESTIMONIES in MOAB, and now we see:
IV. The BITTERNESS in NAOMI!
So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
“I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
Bitterness: the state of the soul without Joy
Bitterness: has roots inward but it’s fruit is outward
Bitterness: is never content until it shows itself outward
and the women said, “Is This Naomi” and Naomi said, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me, I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty! Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
*Bitterness begins with an OFFENDED spirit but it continues with a wrong response!
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
We see The TIMING of the STORY, The TRAGEDIES in the FAMILY, The TESTIMONIES in MOAB, The BITTERNESS in NAOMI and in conclusion:
IV. The ARRIVAL into BETHLEHEM!
So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
What do you think the chances were that Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem “at the beginning of barley harvest?”