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The Gospel According to Ruth · Enjoying the Journey

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  The Book of Ruth begins in dark days,
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  but even in the darkness, God was at work.
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  Through loss, uncertainty, and unexpected turns,
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  we discover a beautiful story of grace,
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  redemption, and hope. Join Scott Pauley for this new
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  study, The Gospel According to Ruth. Light for
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  Dark Days.
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  It has been said that the darker the night, the brighter
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  the light. And I want to tell you that from my study of history
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  and from my study of Scripture and from my observation of
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  God's work in this world, I can testify and tell you that
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  is exactly true. That the Lord very frequently
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  does his most amazing work at
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  the time when frankly no one is expecting it.
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  Seasons where it seems at least Satan
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  is having his way and the world is doing its worst. And that
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  is why for the next few weeks I want to bring you to a little
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  book of the Bible. It is one of only 2 books in our Bible
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  that bear the name of a woman And it is a book that is,
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  I think, frequently overlooked in the Old Testament. It is the little book
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  of Ruth. Now, Ruth is a book of romance. Ruth is
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  a book of redemption. Ruth is one of
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  the gospel books of scripture. In fact,
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  you might even refer to this as the Gospel According to Ruth,
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  because in the book of Ruth you see such a demonstration
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  of the grace of God not only in Ruth's life
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  but in the people of God and the line of
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  Christ and all that grows out of her
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  experience is just a reminder that God works
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  and the gospel works at the darkest times in history.
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  And so I'd like to take you to the last verse in the
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  book of Judges. Now you may say, well, I thought we were
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  going to study the book of Ruth. We are, but you'll notice that they are
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  strategically placed with the book of Judges first and
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  the book of Ruth immediately after. And this is very appropriate because in
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  many ways Ruth is almost a, an addendum,
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  if you will, to the book of Judges. It is found—
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  it fits in the same time period. Judges chapter
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  number 21 and verse number 25 really is a synopsis,
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  a summary verse of the season of the judges. Remember, this is before
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  the kings of Israel And someone said, well, what was that period like?
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  Judges 21:25 says, in those days there was no
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  king in Israel. Every man did
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  that which was right in his own eyes. You want
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  to know what it was like in the book of Judges? Much like what it
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  is in our world today. The anarchy of sin, the,
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  the rebel heart of man comes out, and everybody just
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  does whatever they think is right. Remember, there is a way that seemeth right unto
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  a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. So the last
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  verse of Judges really gives us the context for our text,
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  the setting for our story. And so we come immediately to
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  Ruth chapter 1 and verse number 1, and it says,
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  now it came to pass in the days
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  when the judges ruled. So you see here how the entire
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  little book of Ruth fits into the much larger
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  historical book that precedes it. It came to pass in the
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  days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land.
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  And we're going to come back and talk more about that famine,
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  because God very frequently used famines in scripture as a means
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  of his chastening, as a means of judgment, to get people to the
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  place where they realized they had nothing but God. Oftentimes it
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  takes us coming to the end of our resources before we recognize how
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  desperately we need him at all times. You may be living
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  in famine, or you may be living in fullness today, but dear listener,
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  you need God. I need God. And so God sends
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  a famine to the land of Israel, specifically in
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  the city of Bethlehem, which is where this family
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  lived. It came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that
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  there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem Judah
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  went to sojourn in the country of Moab,
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  he and his wife and his 2 sons.
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  And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi,
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  and the name of his 2 sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem
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  Judah. And they came into the country of Moab
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  and continued there. And Elimelech,
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  Naomi's husband, died, and she was left and her 2
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  sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the
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  one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there
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  about 10 years. And Mahlon and Chilion died
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  also, both of them, and the woman was left of her 2 sons and her
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  husband. Now, if we stop at the first 5 verses,
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  the introduction to the little book of Ruth, we would all agree this is
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  quite a dark, uh, despairing kind of story.
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  So there's nothing but death. The nothing but famine.
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  Their best-laid plans have come to nothing.
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  And here sits Naomi, and here sits her 2
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  daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah, and all
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  of them are widows. Somebody said, this is depressing.
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  Well, let me just point out to you that when men follow
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  their ways and when men do what they think
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  is best It always leads to death. It always leads
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  to despair. This is really just, I think,
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  a snapshot, if you will, of what you found in
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  the first 21 chapters in the book of Judges— a description
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  of this dark period in Israel's history.
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  And sin never gets better on its own.
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  But now here's what I want to bring you to today as we begin our
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  study of the little book of Ruth. I want you to see that that
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  is the scenario, that is the setting in
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  which one of the most miraculous demonstrations
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  of the mercy of God in scripture is found. In fact,
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  in the verses that follow, in these 4 little chapters in
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  the book of Ruth, you are going to discover the grace of God
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  in a way that is just going to make you rejoice. But this
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  is the setting. Now, why is it important to see this? It's important to see
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  this because I think in our world today, sometimes people watch the news,
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  listen to current events, observe the tendencies
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  of people, see the darkness around them, and think, well,
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  God is finished. No, my friend, God is not finished.
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  The, the gospel works at every season in history and at the
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  darkest seasons in history, and the book of Ruth
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  is evidence of that. Let me point out, like bookends on the book,
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  Go to the end of the book of Ruth with me for just a moment.
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  We'll come back and walk through the entire book, but notice that the book of
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  Ruth ends with another family. It opens with a family living
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  in sin, disobedience, and rebellion, a family feeling
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  the effects of, of famine and anarchy and death,
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  but it doesn't end there. It ends with a totally different, uh,
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  setting. Look at chapter 4, verse 18. Now these are the
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  generations of Perez. Pharez begat Hezron, and Hezron
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  begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon,
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  and Nahshon begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz,
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  and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat
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  Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
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  I know for a moment there you were thinking these are just names, but they're
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  not. This is the lineage of David. This is the line of
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  Christ. Isn't it wonderful that God can take you from a family of
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  sin and rebellion to the family of God, to the
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  very line of Messiah and the work of redemption?
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  This is the gospel according to Ruth. You see the
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  gospel in this book in many ways. You see it in history because God is
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  fulfilling his promises to his people. You see it in geography
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  because it is set in Bethlehem, the house of bread.
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  Which of course will be a place famous and familiar for
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  centuries following this because that's where Christ would
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  come. It is the gospel seen not only in history and geography
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  but in prophecy because it brings us to David, the promised king
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  in the line. But it is the gospel in typology
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  because here we're going to be introduced to a great redeemer by the name of
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  Boaz who pictures for us our great Christ
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  and the work of redemption he does for sinners at the darkest
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  times in history. I know things are bad, but the
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  gospel is still good. I know men are wicked,
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  but God is still gracious. And I want you to join me for
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  the next several weeks as we come to know our God in a greater way
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  in The Gospel According to Ruth.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's study. If you've enjoyed
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  this journey through Ruth, visit us at etj.bible
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  and explore our Journey Through Scripture section where
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  you'll find overviews, Bible teaching, and preaching for every book
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  of the Bible. Enjoying the Journey is made possible
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  If God leads you to give, simply click Give at etj.bible.
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  Until next time, keep following God's Word and
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  finding Christ's joy.