Joshua-Judges-Ruth is a short little sentence that helps you to remember the order of these 3 books. The difference between the books of Joshua and Judges, and the book of Ruth could not be greater.
Joshua is all about the battle to establish the Israelites in the Promised Land; there are stringent warnings about wiping the current residents off the land. The Israelites must have nothing to do with any of the people living in the Promised Land or the surrounding countries, because of the danger of being pulled into pagan worship. Dire consequences follow when they don’t comply.
In Judges, the nation is established in the Promised Land, but enemies still must be vanquished and God’s people need leaders to help them stay true to the Law and keep clear of pagan worship. The stories of the Judges are sometimes violent and shocking, and life seems particularly rough for women, as we read toward the end of Judges about Jephthah’s daughter and the seemingly routine threat of rape and forced marriage to strangers.
And then there’s the Book of Ruth. It’s a gentle story of love, both human love and God’s inclusive love. In this story, a man behaves with compassion and righteousness, a woman is welcomed into the family of God from a foreign country, a child is born and a family line established that will resound with glory for Israel and the whole world for generations to come.
We are asked to keep in tension the stern rule about no marriage to a non-Israelite and the very blessed and significant marriage of Boaz and Ruth, the Moabite woman. God’s story includes surprising alliances, redemption and reversal.
Some important themes to note:
- God’s concern and love for Naomi and Ruth, destitute and childless widows far from home. Though Ruth is a Moabite, she is drawn to the faith that she has witnessed in Naomi’s family and she vows to make their God her God.
- Note the power of a compassionate and intelligent man to bless his workers, and all who come into contact with him, and to show compassionate concern for Naomi and Ruth. Note the dangers of life as a woman (then, and now)!
- The concept of the guardian-redeemer, or as some versions put it, the “kinsman-redeemer.” This was a law intended to rescue a young widow by providing for her within the family. It kept any children born to her and the redeemer in line for inheritance within the family. You might think of Jesus as our kinsman-redeemer who takes us into the family of faith to rescue us from sin and death.
- God’s ability to use everyday circumstances to make His will for someone will come true. For example, Boaz blesses Ruth, in Ruth 2:12: May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. These wings of protection come true as in Ruth 3:9 as Boaz wraps his cloak around Ruth and accepts the invitation to become her Guardian-Redeemer.
Remember as you do the Quest, that there are ideas and themes that must be held in tension as we read through the whole story. By this point, we have a prostitute, Rahab and a Moabite, Ruth, who are part of the family tree of Jesus! God includes more people than we were expecting, and we should remember that.