Redemption in the darkest times

Ok its been fun, to hang out, but i want to take some time to set up are next series that we will go through in July

Ruth

So I'm going to do something kind of different, not really a sermon, but more of a lecture, and background on our series sound good?

But i have a question for you

What’s your favorite series

Ask two students

So, I stopped watching Marvel, but if I did, I would be so confused now.

Why?

because to understand Marvel movies, you really need to watch all of them right

You might get the basic story, but not all the details

And the Bible is the same way, but much, much more detailed.

TO be honest, why the Bible doesn't all make sense is pretty simple: you and I just haven't read enough of it.

That's ok, but is why I'm always encouraging you to read more,

so im going to catch you up to speed on Ruth, so we can go deep in our study, ok? because who wants a boring study, not me

We are going to look at the background of the places, the time setting, the characters, and the major themes. And as this is not a proper sermon, feel free to raise your hand and ask questions.

Let’s dive in

places

There are two major places, Moab and Bethlehem.

Moab Genesis 19:36–37 “Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.”

Numbers 22:1–6 “Then the people of Israel set out and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will now lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.””

Bethlehem, House of Bread in Hebrew

A place where kings are born

David 1 Smauel 16:3, and it seems that around David or solomons time was when this book was written

Also Chirst was born here prophecies in Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

Time

So when was this written, the time of the Judges, this is after the people came out of Egypt in the Exodus account. But before there were kings.

Ruth 1:1 “In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.”

OK, what do we know about the time of the judges?

The book uses a refrain that actually ends the book Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

So are they doing good stuff, no!!!

The book uses this formula tha Israel did wicked in the sight of the Lord seven times

See Judges 10:6 “The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him.”

and the worship of these so-called gods was incredibly wicked

Chemosh was the god of moab Numbers 21:27

this was proablly the god who a king of moab sacrified his son to 2 Kings 3:27 “Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.”

Scholars think that the people in Moab would sacrifice their cities as a sacrifice to Chemosh

I could keep going deeper

But the idea of Judges is that everyone is wicked, the nations and Israel.

You're wicked, you're wicked, everyone is wicked.

So it's one of the darkest times, so we should expect this story to be grim in the context.

Let's see the characters

Characters

Ok, I am going to introduce some of the characters, starting with Ruth

Ruth, the main character, whose name means friend, is a widow, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, who is a Moabite, not the person you would think.

Naomi, central character, her name means pleasant, Ruth's mother-in-law, Israelite, she struggles in trusting God and therefore her own identity

Elimalech, Naomi's husband, whose name is God is King, from the tribe of Judah (that's important).

Malhon and Chilion, the sons of Naomi and Elimalech, ones name means week and the other is coming to an end

Boaz: name means strength, seen in many ways, but I think chiefly in his self-control. A relative of Elimalech, is wealthy, basically every man should want to be like this guy

Yahweh: God, Name means Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ Remember the Bible is not about us, it's about God.

now to Themes

Themes

Ok, I want to look at the theme of this book, redemption, and also the general theme of the Old Testament, looking for the offspring promised.

Redemption: We are going to see God redeem people, families, and nations in so many ways. This story is actually crucial in how you and I are redeemed.

What does redemption mean?

Redemption relates to deliverance from a situation or from enemies. Most often, this involves paying a price to “buy back” the person or thing that is being ransomed. The word most frequently expresses the process of delivering someone from slavery or exchanging a ransom for something that belongs to God

Kenneth D. Litwak, “Redemption,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

This idea of redemption is most clearly played out in what's called a kinsman redeemer, and this is important, this is seen in Deutronmy 25:5, it will seem weird, but bassically if someone is married and the man dies the closest realivte must marry the widow, and their first born will get the inheretant of the first husband

I know it seems weird but it was common in Biblical times

The meta-narrative thus far: Who is the kingly seed?

First when you start in the first pages in the Bible after the fall, you are looking for the child that will be born.

Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

So the serpent is the enemy, and God is telling Eve that for offspin will crush the serpent.

So after Genesis 3 when someone is born you should be thinking, is this the guy?

Thats why so often there is such tension with a micoulus birth in scrirpture.

Ok we get another hint about who this person is later in Genesis

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

So what we learned from this is that the offspring is going to be a king

Specifically from the tribe of Judah, there are twelve tribes, if you didn't know that

So we are looking for a king from the tribe of Judah that will crush the serpent's head, the meta-narrative of the Old Testament.

so

Main idea: God redeems the most unexpected characters into the greatest story.

This is the idea of Ruth

. This story is set in wicked times, with people going to places that seem like horrible decisions, with the oddest collection of characters.

Yet we are going to see God working in miraculous ways, in an incredibly engaging and integrated narrative, to bring redemption and make way for the true king.

Feel free to come up and ask questions, because that was a lot, but we will actually get into the text of Ruth next week.

let’s pray.