The Place
- Bethlehem of Judea – stands in contrast to the last two Bethlehem stories in Judges and to the first in Ruth dealing with Elimelech and his departure
- The Place of the book – 8th OT book – a new beginning after the dark night of Judges
The Period of Time
- Ten years at the beginning of the book
- In genealogy – ten generations
- Times of the Judges
- In chs.2-3 we have a time factor: ch.2, a morning and an evening; ch.3, an evening and a morning
The Prominent People
- Elimelech – failure
- Naomi – forgiveness and restoration
- Ruth – fruitfulness
- Boaz – fidelity
- The nearer Kinsman – faltering
The Purpose
- Practically – restoration of a soul
- Prophetically – restoration of the nation through blessing to Gentiles
- Topically – kinsman redeemer
- Doctrinally – redemption
- Historically – the link between Judges and then David the King
- Devotionally – Christ as the Redeemer, the true Boaz
The Pictures
- Naomi – Israel set aside; the title of the book could well be “Naomi,” as it is as much about her as about Ruth
- Ruth – A Gentile whose blessing leads to the restoration of Naomi; can also trace the progress of a new believer
- Boaz – A Kinsman Redeemer; seven mentions of the man in the book
- The Nearer Kinsman – the Law which was weak to save
The Parallelism
- Ch.1 and ch.4 are mirror images; ch.2 and ch.3 are mirror images
- Two men in ch.4: one withdraws and one goes on; two women in ch.1: one stays and one goes back
- Book begins with funerals and ends with family and birth
- Begins with weeping and ends with a wedding
- Begins with no king and ends with David
- Begins with anarchy and ends with a monarchy
The Parts – Outlines
Ch.1 Deciding by Faith
- Love’s Resolve
- Returning
- Famine and the Land
Ch.2 Gleaning by Grace
- Love’s Response
- Reaping
- Fields of Boaz
Ch.3 Communing in Fellowship
- Love’s Request
- Resting
- The Floor of Meeting
Ch.4 Resting in Redemption
- Love’s Reward
- Rewarding
- The Fame of Boaz
The Peculiar Features
- Aside from the name of Divine persons, this is the only book which ends with a man’s name
- Seven mentions of Bethlehem; seven sayings of Naomi (1:15; 2:2,19,20,22; 3:1-4, 16-18)
- Seven mentions of the fields of Moab, of the reapers, and of Boaz
- Esther, a Jew among Gentiles; Ruth, a Gentile among Jews
The Character of God (in ch.1)
- God’s Sovereignty – He will use the failure in leadership of Elimelech to bring about the conversion of Ruth and her place in the genealogy of the Messiah
- God’s Government – With Elimelech and his family
- God’s Timing – After ten years away, brought back at barley harvest (Passover time)
- God’s Tenderness – He is kind even when Naomi speaks of His dealing in harshness with her
