Discover The Word

Monday, May 31, 2010, Part 1

IDEA: We should read the story of Ruth before talking about it.

PURPOSE: To persuade readers to read the book of Ruth for themselves.

Do you remember what CliffsNotes are?

Have you ever used them?

Have you ever used anything like CliffsNotes in studying the Bible?

I. Why do we think that it is necessary to read books ABOUT the Bible to understand the Bible?

The Bible was written at another time and in another culture and we may need some help in understanding what we read.

We tend to think that the Bible is for “experts” and we can’t be expected to understand it. Is that accurate?

The Roman Catholic Church historically kept her people from reading the Bible for themselves until Pope John XXIII set them free to read it for themselves.

F. F. Bruce, a New Testament scholar, observed, “The Bible was never intended to be a book for scholars and specialists only. From the very beginning it was intended to be everybody’s book, and that is what it continues to be.”

Scholars can help us to study the Bible, but it is amazing how much of the Bible we can learn simply by reading it.

II. Why should you read the Book for yourself?

Ruth is a lovely short story that you can understand and enjoy simply by reading it.

You can read the whole story in 15 minutes or less.

The NIV Study Bible says this of Ruth: “The book Ruth is a Hebrew short story told with consummate skill. Among historical narratives in Scripture it is unexcelled in its compactness, vividness, warmth, beauty and dramatic effectiveness – an exquisitely wrought jewel of narrative art.”

You can identify with the main characters in the story.

They are ordinary people living in a difficult time in history.

The opening words of the book are “Now it came about in the days when the judges governed . . .” What kind of time was that?

“There was a famine in the land.” What does that tell you? It was a famine that lasted for ten years.

People in that situation were trying to make the best of a tough situation.

This is a love story of a younger woman and an older man.

CONCLUSION:

Read the book of Ruth as we study it together.

Read it with imagination. Put yourself in the story – smell the aromas, observe the people, picture the sights.