RUTH: GODLY COURTSHIP IN AN UNGODLY ERA

I. God’s Provision In An Ungodly Era

(Ruth 1:1-5; 4:13a)

I. Introduction

A. We live in the latter days of Church History as seen in the exponential growth of sin in society in general. Thus, the concern can arise as to how to obtain godly marital partners for godly believers.

B. The events in the book of Ruth occurred in the apostate era of the Judges (Ruth 1:1), so we study this book for insight on godly courtship in our era, noting in this lesson God’s encouraging provision in an ungodly era.

II. God’s Provision In An Ungodly Era, Ruth 1:1-5; 4:13a.

A. Due to the spiritual drought around her, from the human view, Ruth’s marital future seemed bleak, Ruth 1:1-5:

1. The events of the book of Ruth occurred in the era of the Judges (Ruth 1:1a) when “Israel’s disobedience to Yahweh and her worship of Canaanite gods resulted in her failure to experience divine blessing and the full conquest of her enemies (cf. 3:1-6)” (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 374-375).

2. Israel faced a famine (Ruth 1:1b), what the Mosaic Covenant shows was judgment for sin, Deut. 28:15-17.

3. A man in Bethlehem of Judah named Elimelech with his wife Naomi and their sons Mahlon and Chilion moved to Moab for relief from the famine, Ruth 1:1c-2. This was a human effort to solve the problem: The Moabites in the early Iron Age of the twelfth century B. C., the era of the book of Ruth, “had mastered the technique of making water-tight cisterns by using a plaster compound of slaked lime” so they “were thus much more independent of natural sources of water” than earlier inhabitants of Moab. They thus had a dense population and “all available land was tilled by the inhabitants” (Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., vol. Four, p. 263; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, “Introduction to the Book of Ruth: Date,” p. 406).

4. This human effort by Elimelech was met with God’s added judgment in accord with the Mosaic Covenant:

a. While in Moab, Elimelech died, leaving his wife Naomi a widow with her two sons, Ruth 1:3.

b. Naomi’s sons then took for themselves wives from the people of Moab, with Mahlon marrying Ruth and Chilion marrying Orpah, Ruth 1:4a,b with Ruth 4:10a. “While such mixed marriages were not specifically forbidden in the Mosaic Law, condemnation is implied in the restrictions placed on the offspring (Deut. 23:3)” (Ibid., ftn. to Ruth 1:4). Those restrictions directed that a male Ammonite or a male Moabite could not enter the temple of the Lord to the tenth generation due to the way the Ammonites and Moabites had mistreated Israel in her Exodus journey out of Egypt en route to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 23:3-6).

c. However, Deuteronomy 28:15, 18a, 25-26 implied that childlessness and a shortened lifespan would also be punishment for continued disobedience to God, so after 10 years of marriage, both of Naomi’s sons died without producing offspring through their Moabite wives of Ruth and Orpah, Ruth 1:4c-5.

5. Also, the national and religious heritage of Ruth and Orpah worked against their gaining divine blessing:

a. The Moabites worshiped the god Chemosh, “a savage war god” (op. cit., Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., vol. One, p. 786) whose worship practices were “cruel and licentious” (op. cit., Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 508).

b. As Moabites, Ruth and Orpah had descended from the incestuous union of Lot and his two daughters after their escape from vile Sodom when God overthrew it with fire and brimstone (Gen. 19:1-29, 30-38).

6. In addition, since Elimelech and Naomi had come from Bethlehem, for Naomi to return there with her widowed daughters-in-law was to return at dire risk to the welfare of Ruth and Orpah as foreign women:

a. In the era of the judges, a war occurred over an atrocity some men in Gibeah of Benjamin committed on a Levite’s mistress from Bethlehem as he and his mistress traveled north from Bethlehem, Jud. 19:1-20:48.

b. After the war, more wrongs were done to virgins in Israel to supply wives for the men of Benjamin, some of which men may have committed the initial atrocity against the Bethlehem woman, Jud. 21:1-25.

c. Foreign women like Ruth and Orpah had little social standing in Israel, leaving them even more vulnerable to abuse in a dangerous, turbulent era of the nation than would be even young women of Israel!

B. Nevertheless, Ruth 4:13a reports how godly, wealthy Boaz married godly Ruth, and how she bore him a son, so God’s provision even in a time of great apostacy is always available for those who trust in Him.

Lesson: Regardless of the many obstacles Ruth faced to having a godly, fulfilling marriage and family life, God was both able and willing to bless her with such a future because she came to put her trust in the Lord.

Application: (1) May we commit ourselves to trust the Lord to provide all we need for a fulfilling marriage and family life if that is His will. (2) May we thus live in hope, expecting God’s blessing for trusting in Him.