Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 93
IMMERSED IN RUTH
T H E B O O K O F J U D G E S E N D S with
a disturbing depiction of how bad
things had gotten: “In those days Israel had no king; all the people
did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” But the book of Ruth
shows that Israel wasn’t universally c orrupt—some Israelites actually
did follow God’s merciful and compassionate ways “in the days when
the judges ruled.”
In telling this remarkable story of Ruth, the book reveals a crucial link
from the period of the judges to the stories of Israel’s kings that follow
in the book of Samuel–Kings. It concludes with a surprising connection
to the future appearance of Israel’s famous King David.
The book of Ruth tells a single story and is written like a short drama or
play. First the narrative stage is set, and then a series of brief dramatic
scenes appear. Because of a famine in the land, an Israelite woman
named Naomi moves to the neighboring country of Moab with her
husband and sons to find food. They settle there, and her sons marry
Moabite women. The story’s conflict arises through the multiple tragedies that Naomi endures and her subsequent struggle to survive.
As the story unfolds, Naomi decides to return home to Israel. “I went
away full,” she sadly tells her friends, “but the Lord has brought me
home empty.” Naomi, now joined by her Moabite d
aughter-in-law
Ruth, faces the considerable hardship of being a single woman with no
male heir in an ancient patriarchal culture.
We discover that Naomi and Ruth both have deep reservoirs of inner
strength and resourcefulness. They face the significant challenges in
their lives together with courage, daring, and hard work. Along the
way they encounter Boaz—a faithful and compassionate Israelite who
proves to be a refuge to the women by following the provisions in
Israel’s law to help the poor. We see that God is at work throughout
the story from the way that people keep showing up in the right place
at the right time.
We can learn much from this brief but richly crafted story of Ruth and
Naomi. God is directly involved in our own human dramas, working
in ways we cannot always see and understand. So we must faithfully
press on and play our own parts in the story well, creatively using all
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