Ruth 2

OT Narrative

Last week we began to look at how to interpret and analyze OT narrative (narrative as in OT accounts or stories)

-As I’m preaching/teaching through Ruth, we’re using this account as a way to look at that and learn that

Now remember, OT narrative is different than interpreting and applying Paul

-Other places in the Bible can often give very clear statements about God, or very concrete action steps such as these NT examples

“walk in the Spirit”

“God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able”

OT narrative is different than the Prophets, where often God speaks and says things like:

“Come let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be white as wool”

Or even the Psalms, where the Psalmist says things like:

“the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

In OT narrative, we don’t have nearly as much of that

-Instead, the narrator is telling a story

-This is a true story, it’s an historical account

-But it’s not merely the arrangement of historical facts

-The author is telling this story in such a way that it invites us to think about it, and seek to understand God better and know Him more intimately

This is why I have this chart up here at the top:

-This is not a Holy Spirit inspired chart

-This is not the missing link to understanding the Bible

-But I think it’s helpful in understanding the basic structure of most plots, so that we can understand that narrative being presented to us

First we have the exposition

-This is the part of the plot where we learn information that will be necessary for us to get started on the narrative

The event that makes a plot is conflict

-Without it, you can’t really have a plot

-Something happens that must be worked through or overcome

-Things continue to build as the characters try to deal with the conflict and overcome it

-Finally, you get to the climax, which is the moment of greatest tension in the plot right before things settle down and get resolved

-At the climax, you either have the problem fixed, or maybe not fixed

-Then things begin to settle back down

-Finally, you have the Denouement, which is a French word which has the idea of “untangling of knots” or “tidying up of loose ends”

And I’ll show you how this can be helpful in the next few minutes

I want to look at a few of these principles here and kinda review them and flesh them out a little bit:

The first principle is: “What is the world (the setting) in which this narrative takes place?”

-It’s important for us to know and understand the world of the narrative

-You don’t necessarily need an archeology degree or a Masters in history to do this!

-A good study Bible and some cross-referencing can be helpful and good in this

Last week we noted that this narrative takes place in the time of the judges

-The narrator there is helping us understand the world!

-So what might be a good way for us to try to understand this world? (wait for an answer)

-Read judges!

Principle 2: Consider the whole narrative arc

-This is where being somewhat familiar with the form of a narrative can help you

-You can help determine the boundaries of a specific narrative

-Where does it begin and where does it end?

-It’s important to have the whole narrative arc in mind whenever you’re seeking to understand the narrative

-If you jump on a section here, or pull a phrase or paragraph out of context somewhere down there, you could end up misunderstanding or misapplying the Word of God to your life

So for instance in Ruth, we looked at last week where we started and where we ended

-We start with Naomi moving with her family to Moab and losing her husband and 2 sons

-She’s bitter at Yahweh and let’s everyone know

-But in the end, she’s given a grandson, and people are telling her that Ruth is better than 7 sons!

-And her grandson ends up being the grandfather of King David!

-So we always want to keep the whole narrative arc in mind

This goes along with Principle 3: What is the end game?

-Where do we end up?

-How does the narrative end?

-Does it end well or not well, and why?

Principle 4 is big to keep in mind: Note the speed of the narrative

-Whenever the narrator really slows down, that means that this is a scene or a moment, or a dialogue that he really wants us to focus on

So for example, the narrator blows through probably around 20 years worth of the story in 1:1-6 (6 verses) with her family moving and then her husband and sons dying

-Then, the narrator uses 1:7-18, the author uses twice the amount of verses to cover one day, and honestly more like one conversation

-So the narrator is saying “this conversation is very important, so pay attention!”

Principle #5 is this: What does the narrator say about God and the characters?

-First, what does the narrator say about God? How does he want to shape our view of

-So we noted that the narrator only mentions God twice in this account

-But both times really stress the sovereignty or Providence of God

-So this seems to be what he wants to emphasize

Second, what does the narrator tell us about the characters?

-The narrator doesn’t often come out and directly say things about characters

-But he will, if it’s important for the way you view the character

-So whenever that happens, sit up and pay attention

-We actually have that in our text today

Now, notice Principle 6: “What is the author trying to teach us about God and living for Him?”

-All of these principles/questions are helping us hone in on this right here

-As we work our way through the text and note things, study things, and ask questions, we’re seeking to answer this question

And lastly, Principle 7: “Applications will often be ‘come and see’ instead of ‘go and do’

-Now, what I don’t mean is that the Bible doesn’t affect our lives or change our behavior.

-Not at all!

-But we must always be careful not to make the Bible some quick fix application book to our lives!

-The Bible often does give us very specific and concrete commands

-But primarily, the Bible is God’s self-revelation

-It is God writing a book about Himself for us

-So therefore, oftentimes, the primary goal is to have our hearts transformed to know God better and love and worship Him more

-God desires to change at the heart level, not merely behavioral differences

-Especially in OT narrative, where there are little to no direct commands, probably 90% of the time, the application will be to come and behold this wondrous truth!

-And when we gaze on the glory of God found in His Word, our actions will be transformed out of a transformed heart and transformed desires

-So be careful about reading especially OT narrative, looking for a quick application step for the day

-Another reason for that is that often OT narrative is descriptive, not prescriptive

-What I mean by that just because an author of Scripture notes that something happened, or so-and-so did this, it doesn’t mean that you or I should do that

-Descriptive means that it happened

-Prescriptive means that you and I are intended to do that same

-So the narrator of 1 Samuel notes that David pretended to be insane in front of Abimelech so that he could escape from him, it doesn’t mean that the author is intending in anyway for us to follow that example

So, with these principles in mind, let’s jump into our text and continue our study of the Book of Ruth

Review

Last week we noted the book of Ruth starts off with a disobedient family moving to pagan territory

-Naomi is the wife, and she, her husband, and her 2 sons move to Moab, and a nation cursed by God

-Her husband dies, and then her sons marry Moabite women, a grave sin in the OT

-Eventually, both her sons die without children, and she’s left all alone in the pagan land of Moab

This is the exposition part of the narrative

-One of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, loyally stays with her and moves her life to Israel

-Naomi comes back to Israel and expresses her deep bitterness against Yahweh for what He has done

-As we noted earlier though, the account ends with Naomi having a family and grandchild because of Ruth

-In the end she sees the goodness of Yahweh in His providential leading

-And her grandson becomes the grandfather of King David

So, with both the beginning and the end of this narrative in mind, let’s look at our portion of Scripture through that lens

Ruth 2

So, we’ve seen Ruth’s publication declaration of her bitterness towards Yahweh and how He’s afflicted her

-The last verse of chapter 1 serves as the turning point for the whole narrative

-The accusation of Yahweh are ringing in our ears as the first act closes, begging the question: “Is Naomi right about Yahweh’s character and His intentions?”

-From this point onward, the narrator is going to go about showing how Naomi is actually wrong about God’s character

-The narrator is going to get us from this low-point to the triumphant ending in chapter 4

And 1:22 is the turning point of the whole narrative

1:22

-The narrator kind of sums up the situation for us, recapping where we’re at after the end of the first act

-but look at that last sentence

-They came back at the beginning of barley harvest

-This probably seems like an insignificant detail

-I’m not even sure if Ruth or Naomi ever gave this a second thought as to what time of year they came back

-But it’s incredibly significant to our story

-And by the narrator noting this seemingly insignificant detail, I believe he wants us to marvel at the Providence of God in orchestrating this

-Because if it’s not the beginning of barley harvest, Ruth doesn’t go out to the fields, and she might not meet Boaz

Vs. 1

-Now, here the narrator lets us in on knowledge that Ruth does not have and Naomi has forgotten

-This is always important to note, by the way, when reading OT narrative:

-What is my knowledge compared with that of the characters

-So we know something going into this chapter that Naomi and Ruth don’t know

-Now, the author tells us a few things about a man in the village named Boaz

-first, he is a relative of Naomi’s husband, and he’s of the family of Elimelech

-Now, if you’re an OT Israelite, this arouses your interest

-Because you know of the Levirate marriage law of the OT

Deuteronomy 25:5–6 NKJV

“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

-So, it was the responsibility of a family member to take care of the widow of a deceased family member, and help her raise children that will carry on the family name

-So we know this and our interest is aroused

Second, where it says “a man of great wealth” in your NKJV Bibles, that is a Hebrew phrase that is a little ambiguous

-On the surface, it could just mean a man of substance or wealth, as the NKJV translates it

-But, the same phrase is used in Judges 6:12 when the Angel talks to Gideon

Judges 6:12 NKJV

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

It’s translated as “a worthy man” in the ESV and as a man of “noble character” in the HCSB

-The phrase can also note someone who is a hero!

And this I believe is the way the author wants us to see Boaz

-From a human perspective, he’s the hero of this story

-God providentially has placed this wealthy man of noble character in a position to rescue Naomi and Ruth, so to speak

So we now know something that Naomi and Ruth don’t know

Vs. 2

-Ruth asks Naomi if she can go to a field and try to glean some

-This was permitted in the OT Law that the Israelites were to let the poor, the widows, the foreigners to come glean at the edges of their fields

Notice that she needs to find someone with whom she finds favor

-Although this was allowed, the time of the judges wasn’t exactly characterized by a lot of obedience to God’s Law

-She’s hoping that she’ll find someone who will show her mercy and not treat her bad or take advantage of her

-That’s important

And so Naomi gives her blessing and Ruth is off!

Vs. 3

-Now, this verse is incredibly important!

-The author here is emphasizing that seeming randomness of what happens next

-That phrase there could literally be interpreted as “her chance chanced upon the allotted portion of the field of Boaz”

-She “just happened” to come to Boaz’s field

And here, the author is wanting to catch our attention and make us marvel at this!

-What are the odds that she ends up in the field of this wealth, kind man who happens to be a family redeemer??

-Is it that this just happens by chance??

NO!!!

This is what we call the Providence of God

-Now, this is not a miracle

-Not by definition

A miracle is a supernatural event that can’t really be explained by anything else other than a work of God that defies understanding or explanation

-For instance, Jesus healing the eyes of a blind man

-We often use this word miracle, when we really probably shouldn’t

-You finding your lost keys after praying you’d find them

-Or, you praying for a chance to witness to your neighbor and then bumping into them at the store the next day and getting that opportunity, that’s not a miracle

-But, that is the Providence of God

-God’s Providence is when He orchestrates His will and answers prayers, or sometimes it’s something we’ve thought of and haven’t even prayed for yet!

-It’s when God orchestrates His will to work out His eternal purpose, even in the small, seemingly insignificant details of life

-Even in the smallest details that seem to be pure chance to us, are sovereignly orchestrated by the hand of God

Vs. 4

-The first thing we hear from the mouth of Boaz is him blessing his workers in the name of Yahweh

-And even in the mouths of the characters, the narrator continues this theme of Yahweh’s sovereignty, that He is the one who can bless

Vs. 5

-Boaz notices this young woman in his field that he’s not familiar with, and he wants to know about her

Vs. 6-7

The reapers explain to Boaz that this is Ruth, the Moabitess who came back with Naomi

-Now, word probably spread quickly around this small town of Naomi’s return, and how she has a Moabite widow with her who’s helping to take care of her

-And so the reapers explain that she’s come, she asked to gather some of the leftovers, and she’s been working hard to gather food for her mother-in-law

At this, Boaz approaches Ruth and we have the first dialogue between the two of them

Vs. 8-9

-Notice that the hope of Ruth back in vs. 2 has been realized!

-She’s found this guy who shows her favor and kindness!

-He tells her “Listen, don’t go to any other fields. Stay here and glean with the other women. You’re safe here! I’ve warned the men not to touch you and to keep an eye out for you. And you can even go grab some water when you’re thirsty!”

Vs. 10

-Ruth is humbled!

-She’s blown away

“Why on earth would you be so kind to me, a foreigner?”

Vs. 11-12

-Boaz tells her that he’s heard of her kindness and graciousness towards her bitter mother-in-law

-She’s a woman of character, and he knows it

-She’s left all she has to come to take care of Naomi: her people, her home, her culture, everything!

-And she’s exchanged it for a foreign land, a foreign culture, and people she does not know

In the next verse, he blesses her in the name of Yahweh “God of Israel”

-This is a wonderful testimony to this foreigner

“May our gracious God, Yahweh, the God of Israel, reward and shelter you”

Vs. 13

-Ruth here is really just showing her gratitude towards Boaz

-She acknowledges how kind he has been to her, and that she doesn’t deserve that

Vs. 14-16

-Boaz shows her more kindness by feeding her some good food

-He then instructs his reapers when she’s out of earshot:

“listen, I want you to let her glean anywhere she wants. Also, I want you to purposely drop some from our bundles so she’ll get even more.”

-A very kind act indeed

Vs. 17-18

-So, Ruth comes back with an absolute haul!

Daniel Block notes, and I think rightly so, that the point of telling us how much Ruth gleaned was to highlight Boaz’s generosity

Now, whenever you gleaned grain, you’d have to go beat the stalks you harvested to get the kernels or the grain out

-She harvests an ephah of barley

-That’s anywhere from 30-50 pounds worth!

-That’s a LOT of barley!

She takes it home to mom-in-law, as well as the food that she had leftover from her lunch

Vs. 19

-Naomi looks at the amount and is like “where did you go today??”

-And she blesses whoever it was that “took notice” of her, which goes back to their concern at the beginning of the chapter

She tells her that it was a guy named Boaz

And all of a sudden, a light bulb goes off for Naomi!

Vs. 21

-She knows who this guy is!

-He is a relative of their’s!

-And she knows the Levirate Laws

And because of this, she exclaims the praise of Yahweh!

It’s best to take this phrase as “blessed be he of Yahweh!”

-So blessing Boaz

But Yahweh is the subject of the next phrase:

“who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!”

Wow, how things have changed since the end of the first chapter!

Vs. 21-23

Ruth says that Boaz has invited her to continue coming to the field throughout barley harvest

-Naomi is all about that!

-So Ruth continues to to glean in that field all the way until the end of the harvest

Application

-Now that we’ve done our work of seeking to understand the setting, and we’ve gone through expositionally seeking to understand the text, now we ask:

What does the author intend for us to come away with?

We’ve stated that the intention of the story-arc is for us to see the good hand of God’s sovereignty in this story, and to consider this and be encouraged in this in our own lives

So I want us to consider this evening in closing the Providence of God

-I already discussed this earlier, but God’s Providence is Him working in all of the minute and seemingly small details of our lives!

Consider what the narrator has put forth for us today!

-Ruth and Naomi just HAPPENED to come back during the beginning of barley harvest

-Naomi just HAPPENS to have a rich relative that is also a man of noble character

-Ruth just HAPPENS to go to his field one day

-He just HAPPENS to notice her and show kindness to her

Now, are any of these things miracles?

No!

But they are God’s providence!

-And think of how over time, this just keeps getting better and better!

-By the end of the story, Ruth and Naomi are not only cared and provided for, but Ruth gets married

-And not only that, but she gives Naomi a grandson!

-And not only that, but that grandson has a grandson named King David!

-And not only that, but King David has a descendant named Jesus, who dies to take away the sins of the world!

-And not only that, but He rises again and sends His disciples out to the ends of the earth to draw people to Himself!

-And not only that, but one or 2 or more of His disciples found you, shared the Gospel with you, and now you’re here!!

-Praise the Lord!

Did you know every last detail in your life is orchestrated by God for your good?

-On Sunday, we heard so much of this!

-People going through hard times: getting pregnant as a teenager, going to foster care, going to jail

-And what happened? God used it to draw people to Himself

Because that is the kind of God we serve!

-And I don’t know why things happen in your life the way they do!

-I don’t know the specific reason God moved you to your current house

-I don’t know the specific reason why God put you at your job

-I don’t know why you’re going through that illness

-I don’t know why your kid won’t sleep through the night

But what I’m inviting you to come and see is this:

God is providentially in control in every small detail in your life

-nothing is left to chance

-not with God

-He’s too good, too powerful, and too loving

Way to often Christians spend their time trying to discern the will of God in all these small details

“what is God trying to tell me or do?”

-We don’t need to do that and we shouldn’t do that

-God’s will is found in His Word

-It’s frankly none of our business to try to tap into God’s secret will

-What we ought to do instead is to rejoice in the gracious providence of God in all things

“I don’t know what He’s doing. But I know that He’s in control, and whatever it is, it’s really really good.”

So let’s rejoice in that and worship God for that