Discover The Word

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The story of Ruth

IDEA: The chief actor in the story of Ruth is God.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that theology can be taught through a story.

When you read a story like Ruth, you have to ask two questions:

Why do you think the story was written?

Why was the story included in the Bible?

I. Why was the story written?

How would you evaluate the following suggestions?

It is a “charming tale” about a Moabite heroine in Israel when the judges ruled.

“God didn’t disapprove of foreigners as such.”

“It glorifies the faithfulness and devotion of a daughter-in-law or the piety of a widow.”

It was written to stress the duty of “levirate marriage.” That was a legal practice in Israel in which, if a man died without leaving a son, his brother was to marry the widow so that they could have a son to carry on the name of the deceased (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).

Herman Gunkel: “Men, watch out for these women; they’ll get you yet!”

(Any and all of these suggestions must be evaluated by the second question.)

II. Why would the story of Ruth be included in the Bible?

It teaches theology. The main actor in the story is God.

It is clearly a well-crafted short story, but can we believe that it tells us much about God? The theology is not prominent or plain. But it is there when you look for it.