Ruth: Some Thoughts

We had a good sermon at church this Sabbath on Ruth 1. I think it’s a tough book to expound. We looked at the three main characters in chapter 1 in turn. Elimelech compromised, going to Moab, allowing his sons to marry outside the faith, and it ended in disaster (v. 5). Naomi suffered affliction, yet she expressed faith in the LORD, albeit confused faith: God’s hand does not go out against his people, which is clearly shown to us in the Lord Jesus. It’s all right to be honest about our feelings before God. Ruth showed kindness, reflecting the kindness of the God she has taken to be her God. Would that our congregation be characterised by the kind of kindness shown here. Being known for being welcoming and ’sound’ is not enough.

My Bible reading plan (the BCP lectionary) took me through Ruth at the beginning of this week, so I offer some thoughts.

First, we see the sorrows of covenant people. God’s people aren’t spared the problems of the culture around them (’in the days when the judges ruled’), nor are they spared want (’there was a famine in the land’) or bereavement (’the woman was left without her two sons and her husband’). It may feel as though God’s hand is against us.

Secondly, in the story of Ruth, we see the shape of God’s salvation in miniature. In Ruth 1.6, we read, “The LORD had visited his people.” The language of visitation is the same language used of the Exodus, and of Christ. ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. He has visited and redeemed his people,’ sings Zechariah in Luke 1, speaking of the deliverance of God’s people from the shadow of death by the forgiveness of their sins. There is a barley harvest (1.22): God delivers his people from famine and death. “He has filled the hungry with good things,” sings Mary, also in Luke 1, after she has received the promise of being the mother of the Christ, and Ruth certainly experiences that, e.g. Ruth 2.14. Ruth is the Gentile woman (her ancestry is repeatedly mentioned) who takes refuge in YHWH, who takes him to be her God, and his people to be her people (echoing the covenant refrain, ‘I will be your God and you shall be my people) and consequently, there is fellowship at the table of God’s people; she may eat bread and drink wine  with Boaz and his men. Similarly, the mystery in Paul’s letters is the inclusion of Gentiles in the promise of the gospel. (Ephesians 3.6). This is why Peter’s behaviour at Antioch is so scandalous (he was eating with Gentiles and then  separates from them) and leads Paul to rebuke him (Galatians 2.12). Jew and Gentile in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table, where they may eat bread and drink wine together and of course, they will feast in the New Creation together (Revelation 19). Naomi is concerned that her daughters-in-law find rest, protection, certainty and security for the future, which Ruth ultimately finds in being married to Boaz, (Ruth 3.1), and of course, Jesus, the descendant of Boaz, invites the weary to come to him and find rest (Matthew 11.28), the lifting of their burden of sin so that they may enjoy the security of life in the new creation, the Sabbath rest that yet remains for the people of God. God’s actions in the individual lives of these people are for the sake of Christ. We see that Obed, who is born to Ruth is David’s ancestor (Ruth 4.22), and thus God’s saving work in the life of Ruth is vital for Christ’s coming into the world. Living on the other side of Christ’s first coming, it is those who are in Christ who experience God’s salvation, for the sake of his work in the world.

Finally, we see some implications. Ruth is a model of faith, taking God to be our God and his people to be our God, which shows itself in commitment to God’s people. This story prepares us for the harsh realities of life often faced by God’s people, but it also offers hope for those whose faith is the same as that of Ruth, of ultimate salvation, of life in a world where we will neither hunger nor thirst anymore (Revelation 7.16). God’s work in the book of Ruth entails inclusion of the outsider, for all who take refuge in the Triune God are welcome at the table of his people. We must reflect the kind of welcome, the level of kindness, the liberal generosity, demonstrated for us here. Finally, Ruth offers us the chance to marvel afresh at God’s strange sovereignty in work in the way that he has to fulfil his purposes for the salvation of the world.