Historical Background

The story of Ruth shines like a beautiful beam of light in the darkest of times. The events of the book take place during a low-point in Israel’s history, about the turn of the 11th century BC (around 100 years before King David’s birth). The book itself was likely written sometime during the beginning of David’s reign. One purpose for the writing of the book would have been an authentication of the line of David, which included Ruth, a godly Moabitess.

The book recalls a period that was filled with idolatry and moral decay. The decades were stained by a black mark. It was the time of the Judges—before Israel had a king and everyone did as they saw fit (17:6; 21:25). But in the midst of the darkness, Ruth, a foreign woman, is an example of what a true Israelite looks like.

The Israelites were idolatrous. They broke the first commandment by worshipping other gods. They worshiped the gods of their neighbors. They bowed down to Baal, Chemosh, and Molech. It was a time of great insecurity. As the Israelites continued to forsake the Lord God, the Lord God put them into the hands of their enemies. Thus, Israel was in a constant state of war. They needed to continually call upon leaders like Samson, Gideon, Deborah, and Jepthah to fight their battles. It was a terrible time in Israel’s history—a terrible time of chasing after other gods—a time of idolatry.

This idolatry led to moral decay. Perhaps the days are best summed up by the events that took place in a town called Gibeah. It was a town located in the region of Benjamin—located just north of Jerusalem. A man, a Levite, was traveling to Jerusalem with his concubine. He needed to stop for the night and find a place to sleep. He didn’t want to stop in a foreign city, so he traveled until he came to Gibeah, a city inhabited by his fellow Israelites. He expected to find hospitality in an Israelite city. And he did. An old man invited him to stay at his house for the night. But after he and his concubine had eaten, a crowd of men pounded on the door. They wanted the old man to send out the Levite so they could have sex with him. Wanting to protect his guest, the old man refused. Instead, he offered the crowd his own daughter and the Levite’s concubine. The concubine was raped throughout the night. When she was released at dawn, she made her way back to the house where her master was staying and fell at the doorway. The next morning, when her master, the Levite woke up, he saw his concubine lying dead in the doorway. He loaded her on his donkey and went home. At home, the Levite dismembered his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts. He sent the parts of her body into all the areas of Israel as a brutal call for Israel to awaken from its moral lethargy. Times were bad in Israel. The Book of Ruth takes place during this period.

But, even in this dark period, God was still working. Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz shine as examples of God’s love and mercy.

Although the book is named Ruth, her mother-in-law, Naomi, plays a major role (albeit more of a passive role). Naomi felt complete emptiness. She lost everyone she loved—her husband and her two sons. It was a heavy emotional loss, compounded by the fact that she had no grandchildren and she was living in a foreign land, outside of Israel. She was a woman, all alone, in a patriarchal society. She had no means for living—nobody to take care of her, nobody to provide her security, nobody to continue her family line. By the end of chapter one, we see the complete and utter despair that plagued Naomi. When she arrives back in Bethlehem and her friends call out to her, she responds “don’t call me Naomi,” meaning “pleasant,” “Call me bitter.” She is a bitter woman. And as a Jew, she thinks theologically about life. God has emptied her. She realized he is sovereign over everything and she blames God.

She is so entrenched in her own bitterness that she can’t even see how God has already begun to fill her by providing a loyal companion in Ruth. The rest of the book demonstrates God’s filling in her life. In addition to companionship, he provides food, protection, and progeny. Ruth, a Moabitess, and Boaz are the instruments of God’s filling in Naomi’s life.

Sermon Series

I’ve preached the Book of Ruth as one stand-alone sermon. Rather than breaking the book into smaller chunks, I kept the story intact by preaching on all four chapters. I’ve preached it as a traditional sermon as well as a first-person narrative; from the pulpit on a Sunday morning and from a stage during a women’s retreat.

Depending on the venue, this message has had a couple of different titles: Walking with God; Walking Together.

Subject: How does God fill Naomi?

Complement: Through the selfless acts of love of Ruth the Moabitess and Boaz.

Idea: God fills Naomi through the selfless acts of love of Ruth the Moabitess and Boaz.

Homiletical Idea: When we walk with God, we walk with others, and God uses that to fill emptiness.

Purpose: As a result of preaching this sermon, my listeners will be able to identify their understanding of their present situation as “empty” or “full” (or somewhere between); list two or three ways in which God is filling them in their emptiness; identify someone they can walk alongside during the week.

I write down several subject/complements before I settle on the one that I think best draws out the idea of the passage. When I wrestled with subject/complement for Ruth, I also jotted down a subject question that emphasized the action of Ruth. The homiletical idea and purpose didn’t change, but in the above example, the action is with God and below, it is with Ruth.

Subject: How does Ruth show that she embodies what it means to follow God (to be a true Israelite)?

Complement: She is selflessly loyal to Naomi in her time of emptiness.

Exegetical Idea: Ruth shows that she embodies what it means to follow God (be a true Israelite) by her selfless loyalty to Naomi in her time of emptiness.

Homiletical Idea: When you walk with God, you walk with others and God uses that to fill emptiness.

Purpose: As a result of preaching this sermon, my listeners will be able to identify their understanding of their present situation as “empty” or “full” (or somewhere between); list two or three ways in which God is filling them in their emptiness; identify someone they can walk alongside during the week.

Sermon Outline

-Naomi felt complete emptiness.

• Naomi lost everyone she loved.
• Naomi lost everyone who would provide security for her.
• Naomi was in bitter despair.
• We can feel complete emptiness and end up in bitter despair.

Transition: But even when Naomi was empty and in despair, God was at work filling her.

-God filled Naomi

• God filled Naomi by providing companionship.
• God filled Naomi by providing food.
• God filled Naomi by providing protection.
• God filled Naomi by providing an heir.
  • God provided a son, Obed.
  • Obed was the grandfather of David.
  • Both Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ lineage through Obed.
• God fills us in ways we don’t even realize.

Below is a barebones outline I used for a women’s retreat in which I was asked to talk about “comparison.”

-We ruminate and worry over decisions we’ve made to fill us, but end up emptying us.

• Naomi (and Elimelech) compared life in Israel to life in Moab.
• Her (and Elimelech’s) decision to leave Israel resulted in emptiness.

Transition: Emptying decisions are made when we don’t trust God and compare ourselves to other people. Women must keep their eyes on God and walk with him first and foremost.

-When we walk with God, we can walk together and God will surprise (fill) us in our emptiness.

My preference is to preach the entire book in a single sermon, but a preacher might also decide to preach the Book of Ruth as a sermon series.

Series Title: Filled or Walking with God; Walking with Others

Text: Ruth 1:1-5

• Subject: Why do Elimelech and Naomi leave Israel for Moab? OR—What happens when Elimelech and Naomi don’t trust God’s provision in Israel and instead, look to Moab to be filled?
• Complement: Because they don’t trust the provision of God in the midst of a famine. (They believe they’ll be filled in Moab.)
• Complement: They are emptied.
• Exegetical idea: Elimelech and Naomi leave Israel for Moab because they don’t trust the provision of God in the midst of a famine/they believe they’ll be filled in Moab.
• Homiletical idea: Trust in God’s provision wherever you are.

-Sometimes when we experience emptiness (famine) we look to avenues apart from God to be filled.

Transition: When we lose sight of God’s provision in our lives and we keep looking to what we believe others have, the more likely we are to walk away from God. When we walk away from God, we’ll soon find that we’re not filled. Rather, we’re emptied.

-Moving away from God is true emptiness.

Transition: It’s not until Naomi moves back to Israel (toward God) that she begins to be filled again.

-We can trust God’s provision wherever we are.

Text: Ruth 1:6-22

• Subject: How does Naomi return to Israel?
• Complement: Emptied of her husband and sons but filled by a loyal daughter-in-law.
• Exegetical idea: Naomi returns to Israel emptied of her husband and sons but filled by a loyal daughter-in-law.
• Homiletical idea: When we walk with God, we walk with others, and God uses that to fill emptiness.

-Naomi can only see her emptiness. (Sometimes we can only see our emptiness).

Transition: Sometimes we only see our emptiness and we can’t see how God is at work filling us. Even though Naomi can’t see it, God uses Ruth to fill her emptiness.

-God uses Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi to fill her emptiness.

Transition: Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi is rooted in a loyal love for the one true God.

-Ruth empties herself of everything she ever knew to be filled by the one true God. (Turning toward God means turning away from our idols).

Text: Ruth 2

• Subject: How did God show kindness to Naomi and Ruth?
• Complement: By providing a safe place for Ruth to glean through the kindness of Boaz.
• Exegetical idea: God showed kindness to Naomi and Ruth by providing a safe place for Ruth to glean through the kindness of Boaz.
• Homiletical idea: God’s kindness is demonstrated through the kindness of others.

-God was with Ruth as she chose a field in which to glean (God gets us where we need to be)

Transition: Boaz greets the harvesters by saying: “The LORD be with you!” The LORD has been with Ruth and he will continue to provide for her and Naomi through Boaz. Boaz is impressed by Ruth’s (a foreigner) devotion to her mother-in-law and he is kind to her. Sometimes God’s kindness to us is seen in the kindness of others.

-God’s kindness is demonstrated through the kindness of Boaz (of others)

Text: Ruth 3

• Subject: How does God provide protection for Ruth and Naomi? (A “male protector” was crucial in that culture).
• Complement: Through the love of Boaz.
• Exegetical idea: God provided protection for Ruth and Naomi through the love of Boaz.
• Homiletical idea: When we walk with God we walk with others.

-Boaz walked with God by protecting Ruth as she gleaned.

Transition: Walking with God means we walk alongside others in need.

-When we walk with God, we walk with others.

Text: Ruth 4

• Subject: How is Naomi’s emptiness filled?
• Complement: By God’s loving hand that provided a child and a future royal line.
• Exegetical idea: Naomi’s emptiness is filled by God’s loving hand that provided a child and a future royal line.
• Homiletical idea: God lovingly provides for us by filling our emptiness.

-Boaz redeems Ruth.

Transition: God fills Naomi’s emptiness beyond what she can even see. As the generations pass, another son of Naomi is born—Jesus Christ, the Redeemer.

-God fills Naomi (our emptiness) through the provision of a son (Redeemer).

Application

One of the applications of this sermon was to challenge listeners to walk alongside someone who was empty and in despair. Another application was to take a good look at oneself to determine if bitterness had taken root due to a loss or an emptiness. When talking about Elimelech and Naomi’s decision to leave famine-stricken Israel for Moab, I asked listeners to think of times they might have walked out on God’s provision in the midst of a famine. The idea that God provides in the famine resonated with a lot of women at the retreat and they were eager to respond with real-life examples. Another application was to list ways in which God was at work filling one’s life. Ultimately, God fills the emptiness caused by sin through Jesus.

There are immediate applications a preacher and listener can make during a retreat setting that simply can’t be done on a Sunday morning. Application is hands-on during a women’s retreat. There’s opportunity to hash out specific ways the text applies to individual lives. After my message, women answered the following questions and discussed them.

• True or false: Oprah Winfrey was named after Ruth’s sister-in-law, Orpah.
• Where are you now on the continuum between empty and full?
• What about the bitter/sweet continuum?
• At what point in your life were you most empty?
• At what point in your life were you most full?
• Go back to the time in which you were most empty. Maybe it was years ago. Maybe it’s now. Can you see how God was/is at work filling you even in the emptiness?
• Who has walked with you in your emptiness?
• Who might God want you to walk alongside?
• Think of an upward comparison you make to another person. Does that comparison empty you or fill you?
• Think of a downward comparison you make to another person. Does that comparison empty you or fill you?
• Think of a comparison you make to another life situation (home, job, family, friendships). Does that comparison empty you or fill you?
• Think of an upward comparison you make to another place. Does that comparison empty you or fill you?
• Think of a downward comparison you make to another place. Does that comparison empty you or fill you?
• Go back to the time in which you were most empty. Maybe it was years ago. Maybe it’s now. Can you see how God was at work filling you even when you were empty?
• The only comparison we should be making is to God. And you know what we’ll find. We’ll never measure up. An upward comparison to God should make us feel empty because we can’t measure up. But God’s way to fill us is through forgiveness. A forgiven life is a full life.

Something similar to the above application questions could be used for small-group discussion during the week if small groups follow the sermon series.

If preaching a sermon series on Ruth, application is specific to each chapter.

In the first chapter, one application might be to consider where we are looking for provision. How are we not trusting God in the “famine”? What “famines” are we experiencing?

Later in chapter one, an application could be focused on loyalty by examining all that Ruth left behind to follow God and stick by Naomi’s side. What have our listeners left behind to follow God?

In chapter two, the preacher can help her listeners think about God’s kindness through the kindness of others. Who has shown them kindness? How have they demonstrated kindness and how is that linked to God?

Chapter three presents an opportunity to talk about how one might walk alongside the vulnerable in our world. What does that look like?

Chapter four focuses on being filled by God through a redeemer. Have our listeners experienced the filling of God through Jesus Christ?

Theological Themes

God’s provision

The idea that God provides is of paramount importance throughout the Book of Ruth. His provision is experienced in very tangible ways. It demonstrates his love and concern for his people. The provision of his one and only Son fills our need for forgiveness.

Loyal Love

Ruth, a foreigner, offers Naomi a loyal love that is undeserved. It is steadfast, kind, faithful, and loyal. It’s a quality that is central to God’s character and should be central to God’s people. In the Old Testament, God’s character is often described as “loving-kindness.” Twenty-six times in Psalm 136, one reads the refrain “for his loyal love (hesed) endures forever.” God gives us his loyal love. We’ve done nothing to deserve God’s love, but he’s committed to loving us.

Kinsman-Redeemer

In order to survive as single women in an ancient patriarchal culture, Naomi and Ruth needed the help of a kinsman-redeemer. Boaz was a kinsman-redeemer. He was a relative. “The Levirate Law required that if a man died without an heir, his brother was to marry the widow. The first son born to them then became the legal heir of the deceased husband and continued his name, inheriting his property. If no brother were available to marry the widow, she could ask a more distant relative to do so.”[1]

Redemption is a major biblical theme. God redeems his people through his Son, Jesus. Redemption is “buying back,” usually from bondage. Through the sacrifice of his Son, God redeems us from sin and death. Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us …” (3:13a).

The Book of Ruth is a beautiful story of love, loyalty, and redemption. It’s relevant for our world today where true friendship is rare and love is fleeting, not steadfast. It offers true filling for those who experience emptiness because the Book of Ruth points to God as the one who fills in this life and forevermore by redeeming us. It’s also a reminder that God’s love can and does reach all sorts of people—even the most unexpected of people—like the foreigner, Ruth.

My Encounter with the Book of Ruth

I remember the first time I preached the Book of Ruth. I was pregnant with child number one and approaching my second trimester. And boy was I nauseous. My face was puffy and speckled with hives because I had been sick earlier that morning. I was a mess. But God is at work in the mess. And he can make something beautiful out of it.

The Book of Ruth demonstrates God’s loving-kindness (hesed) toward undeserving, messy people. It shows God at work in the messy lives of one family—a family that has turned from God; a mother who has experienced tragic loss; a mother-in-law who is bitter; a barren, yet loyal foreigner; a humble man from the village.

In the midst of it all is God. And out of that mess, comes a baby. Out of that mess, comes a king. Out of that mess, comes the King.

Commentaries

D. I. Block, Judges, Ruth (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999).

W. W. Wiersbe, Be Committed (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993).

[1] Alice Mathews, A Woman God Can Lead (Discovery House, 1998), 74.

Patricia Batten is a Ranked Adjunct Assistant Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and serves as an interim pastor at Community Congregational Church in Billerica, MA.