Reading Ruth Backwards

A Multi-Layered Story of Love That We Love

This Sunday we will begin a new sermon series in the book of Ruth. This is understandably one of the most loved books of the Old Testament simply given its content. It’s a very personal story about a widow, Naomi, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, who through their resourcefulness, initiative, and faith, lean into the promises of Yahweh to redeem and reward his people, which he does in this case through Boaz. We love it because it is a multi-layered love story. It highlights the love between a widowed daughter-in-law and widowed mother-in-law who care for and provide for one another even at great risk to themselves. It highlights the love of a man for a woman, a woman whom the man is willing to risk his economic stability for in order to love her and do right by her and his kin. And, it highlights God’s love for Naomi and Ruth, whom he ultimately redeems and rewards. But we also love it because it fits into the bigger scheme of God’s redemptive narrative.

One grammatical feature stands out from the very beginning of the book of Ruth. The very first word in Ruth is the Hebrew conjunction that we render, “And.” So a literal translation for the first words in Ruth could be “And it was…”. This seems odd. We don’t usually start sentences, let alone entire books with a conjunction because they are meant to connect what follows with what precedes. This suggests, then, that the book of Ruth connects to something preceding it. What is going on? Well, the author of Ruth aims to make abundantly clear that this very personal and intimate narrative fits into the greater scheme of the canon of Scripture. Ruth is meant to be read in light of the whole of God’s grand redemptive narrative. This becomes even more evident when we start considering the book of Ruth by first reading it backwards. Or, rather, reading the end first. To fully appreciate the book of Ruth in all of its beauty and to apply the wisdom therein, we must understand the narrative in light of its ending.

 

Begin at the End

This is how the book of Ruth ends:

 

And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David (Ruth 4:17–22).

 

The book of Ruth ends by highlighting David. Thus, the ending of Ruth makes clear that through Ruth and Boaz, God preserved the line of king David. And in preserving the line of king David, God ultimately preserved the line of the the promised offspring, who would be the Messiah, Jesus. To make himself clear on both counts, the narrator repeats himself. First he notes the words of Naomi’s neighbors that say Obed was the grandfather of David (Ruth 4:17). Then the narrator offers a genealogy using the formula, “these are the generations of…” (4:18–22) which echoes genealogies elsewhere in the OT that highlight God’s covenant faithfulness to preserve the line of his promised offspring of the woman in Genesis 3:15 (Gen 5:1; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:19; 37:2). To fully appreciate the book of Ruth in all of its beauty, we must understand the narrative in light of this end. We must read Ruth backward, starting with the end, then go to the beginning. Indeed, this is how the original audience reading Ruth or hearing Ruth read to them would have interpreted the story.

For the original audience and/or those readers of Ruth in the post-exilic and intertestimental period—those who either experienced firsthand or heard and read about David’s glorious reign—the first few sentences in Ruth would create massive tension:

 

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband (Ruth 1:1–5).

 

Elimelech. Naomi. Ephrathites. Bethlehem. Judah. Ruth. Elimelech dead. Ruth’s husband dead. The ancient, OT-informed reader or hearer of this would immediately know that the line of king David was hanging in the balance. Just as we should read this and immediately know that not only was the line of king David in jeopardy, but the line of the Messiah was in jeopardy. As one reads the story then, one sees that through the very real, practical, innovative, yet covenantally informed faith of normal people (Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz), God worked to preserve the line of David and to preserve the line of Jesus. The riveting story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz’s mutual love and kindness toward one another becomes even more riveting when understood as culminating in God’s redemption of not only Naomi and Ruth, but of humanity.

 

A Glorious Principle

Besides just being a glorious story that points us to Jesus, there is a principle in Ruth for us to draw out. God uses means to carry out his covenant promises. And one of the primary means God uses is his faithful people. Through the man Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the exemplar of our faith, God fulfilled all of promises. And now, through Jesus working in his faithful people, the church, by the Holy Spirit, God continues to fulfill his promises.

 

Conclusion

Paul’s prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 seems apt here. There Paul prays this:

 

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Paul prays that every resolve for good birthed in the heart of his people and every work of faith that springs forth from those resolves would be fulfilled for a glorious purpose: that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in us and us in him. Our practical, creative faith in action right now proves to be a means by which God continues to work to glorify the name of Jesus in us so that we may be glorified in him. Just as God used the faith of very real people in the book of Ruth to preserve the line of David and ultimately Jesus, God continues to use the faith of his very real people today. Today he works through his people to carry out his plan of redemption through the spreading of the church. Therefore, let us take our cues from the book of Ruth and Paul’s prayer and continue to work by faith knowing that God is glorifying Jesus through us for our ultimate joy in him.

How to Keep a New Year’s Resolution: Be Empowered by God

One of the joys of a new year is the hope it generates that our lives can improve or our flaws can be overcome. The power of this hope often results in a New Year’s resolution. While there is disagreement about the usefulness of these resolutions or what makes a good resolution the one thing that we can all agree is we aren’t very good at keeping them. The average New Year’s resolution lasts about 10 days so by the time you read this post you will likely be more than halfway through a typical New Year’s resolution lifetime. So Instead of providing insight on what your New Year resolution should be or if you should have one at all (if you are interested in this topic see Jacob Smith’s post from December 2022), the focus of this post is how to keep a resolution (New Year’s or otherwise) to begin with. Put another way how do we develop a godly resolve to keep our commitments?

 

We should not rely on the power of our own will to complete the commitments God has set in our hearts.

 

First we should see that our conversion itself is a kind of resolution, empowered by God, to follow him. We have been saved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and are now slaves to righteousness (Colossians 1:13, Romans 6:15-23). Upon conversion our life is now marked by a commitment to follow the ways of Christ. This commitment comes with great power to obey him. We should not rely on the power of our own will to complete the commitments God has set in our hearts. Instead we must trust that he will provide the power and encouragement to us. Knowing that he has rescued us and that he now empowers us reminds us that we should actively depend on him to keep the “resolves for good” that we have (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12).

 

Our failures are an opportunity to depend on God even more to restore the path he has set for us and keep our commitments.

 

Another key to keeping a godly commitment is knowing how to respond to failure. Failure of some kind is inevitable with a year long (or life long) commitment, so it is critical that we train ourselves to persevere and overcome them.  Godly resolutions don’t die because we fail to keep a commitment perfectly, they die because we simply quit. Often times our failures are so demoralizing and debilitating that we are tempted to give up our commitments altogether. Because of our sin, we should expect to fail at some point. This fact shouldn’t provide us comfort but rather it should encourage us to prepare ourselves to respond to our failures in a godly way. The prophet Micah is great example and encouragement in this regard. His response to failure is not to run away from God but to acknowledge the results of his sin and put his trust in the same God he has sinned against to “bring him out to the light” (Micah 7:8-9). So even our failures are an opportunity to depend on God even more to restore the path he has set for us and keep our commitments.

If despair is the disease that weakens our godly resolve, then joy is the tonic.

If despair is the disease that weakens our godly resolve, then joy is the tonic. Paul describes his ministry to the church in Corinth as a work “with you for your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24). He goes on to give them many godly commitments that make for good resolutions. There are encouragements to give (2 Corinthians 9:6-15), to reconcile both to God and man (2 Corinthians 5:18), and to not tamper with God’s Word (2 Corinthians 4:2). We should see our godly commitments as a way to increase our joy in Christ, remove our despair, and keep our godly resolve. Our New Year’s resolutions and how we keep them (or not keep them) show us what we put our hope in. As we make these commitments, let us trust in God’s power to fulfill them, fight against our despair, and work toward joy in Christ.

Gospel Resolutions for the New Year

The year 2022 will soon exit stage right, and the year 2023 will make its grand entrance and take center stage. Time indeed marches on. And with this inevitable transition also comes the equally inevitable, and infamous, “New Year’s resolution.” Undoubtedly, we will soon be inundated with a deluge of suggested New Year’s resolutions whether we like it or not. In fact, just a quick Google search has already revealed the likes of “40+ New Year’s resolution ideas to help you achieve…”; “23 New Year’s Resolutions for 2023”; “55 Best New Year’s Resolution Ideas for 2023”; “50 Best New Year’s Resolution Ideas to Start 2023 off Right”; “27 New Year’s Resolutions…”; “72 Ultimate Best List…” — the lists go on and on. And apparently there is no consensus as to how many “resolutions” should be suggested. With all the noise, we as Christians might wonder what we should think about making resolutions.

In one of his “Look at the Book” passage studies at DesiringGod.org, John Piper digs into 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 to ask this question, “Should Christians make resolutions?” I’ll sum up his study here. But first, the passage reads:

2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 — 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Based on 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12, Piper answers the question of whether or not we as Christians should make resolutions with a resounding “YES!” And, Piper unpacks this passage in order to show how Christians should go about making those resolutions. First, when we make (what I will call) gospel resolutions to do good, we do so from a posture of faith. We recognize, as Piper points out, that we are fully and prayerfully dependent on God to fulfill our gospel resolves by turning them into works of faith. This is what Paul prays here. Paul prays that God would “make” the Thessalonians “worthy” of God’s calling. Piper equates “make worthy” to “walk(ing) in a manner worthy of the calling” in Ephesians 4:1. Piper helps us avoid a legalistic landmine here by observing that “worth,” is not a testament to our worthiness based on performance. Rather, it is a testament to the worth of the calling. In Piper’s words, “To be worthy of a high calling is to walk in a way that calls attention to the worth of the calling.”[1] So, when God ultimately does fulfill our gospel resolve for good and produces a work of faith, Christ is glorified in us, and we are glorified in him (v. 12). In short, Piper distills the how of making gospel resolutions in this way:

When we make resolutions, we make them (1) “by God’s grace”; (2) “through faith in God’s power”; and (3) “for God’s glory”.[2]

Amen! Now, I would like to dig a little deeper. As Piper points out, at the bottom of all of our gospel resolve for good is the grace of God. And this grace is yours because of God’s resolve. That is, ultimately, our gospel resolves to do good and our works of faith can be traced back to God. All of our gospel resolves to do good and all of our good works do not originate with us. Rather, they were first forged in furnace of God’s gracious resolve to do good to us. But don’t take my word for it.

One of richest passages of Scripture regarding our salvation is Ephesians 1:3–14. Here, Paul sweeps the reader up into his worship of God by heralding the glories of God’s sovereign plan of salvation. The passage is dense. Indeed, in the original Greek, it’s actually one long sentence. Paul waxes eloquent the glories of God and riches of salvation in Christ. There’s certainly much to tease out. But, if you were to put your finger on the pulse of Paul’s praise, it would likely beat to the rhythm of this declaration:

“4…In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ…6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us…” (Ephesians 1:4–5, 7–8).

Notice, I left out a portion of v. 5. What does that bit read? Do you recall? Verse 5 in full states, “5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”. Consider the word “purpose”. This is the same word that Paul uses in 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 that we translate “resolve”. It’s the Greek noun εὐδοκία (eudokia). It conveys the idea of good will, good pleasure, desire, and/or satisfaction. That is, it was God’s good pleasure, his desire, to do good to you by making you his son or daughter through Jesus Christ. Or, to say it another way — taking our cue from 2 Thessalonians 1:11 —, it was God’s resolve to save you. And what did God save you for? Well according to Scripture, he saved you in part for good works.

Paul declares in Ephesians 2:10,

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Gospel salvation translates into gospel works. And just like our salvation, God has prepared — before the foundations of the world —good works for each of us to walk in. Remember Paul’s prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12. His prayer was that God would make the Thessalonians worthy of their calling. That is, Paul prayed that Christians would walk in a manner worthy of the gospel (Ephesians 4:1). God does this by fulfilling our every resolve for good by turning them into good works of faith that he prepared beforehand. Christians make gospel resolutions to do works of faith because this is what God predestined us to do. To not resolve to do good is to go against our very nature. God resolved to save us for good works; therefore, we in faith resolve to do those good works with full confidence that he will bring those good works to fruition.

So, 2023 approaches steadily and somewhat rapidly, whether we are ready for it or not. New Year’s resolutions abound, and as Christians, yes, we can and should make resolutions as well — and not just in honor of the new year. We should always be making resolutions. But let us make gospel resolutions. So, as we step into this new year, let us resolve to do good works of faith. And rest assured, Christian, that God already has good works for you to do. Thus, through your faith in Christ, God will birth gospel resolves in your heart this year. And, God will fulfill those gospel resolutions, by turning them into those works of faith he has prepared in advance. So enter 2023 full of confidence not in your ability to do good works, but in his power to fulfill your every resolve. Resolve to do good works because he first resolved to save you for good works.

[1] John Piper, “New Year’s Resolutions: 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12,” Look at the Book, https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/new-years-resolutions.

[2] John Piper, “New Year’s Resolutions.”