Title Background of the Book of Ruth
Background of the Book of Ruth
Ruth 1:1
During the reign of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem, Judah, took his wife and two sons, and went to live in the region of Moab.
Ruth 1:1 explains the background of what the book of Ruth was written.
"When the judges ruled."
The period in which the book of Ruth is set was the period of the judges.
“There was a famine in the land.”
The situation back then was difficult. Because there was a famine in the land.
“A man in Bethlehem in Judah took his wife and two sons.”
A difficult situation called a famine forced a family in Bethlehem in Judah to leave their hometown. However, if you look up to this point, the names of the people appearing do not appear immediately. It is not that each person's name is important, but that they are one family that cannot be separated until they are separated. This verse reminds us of the importance of the family. The story of a family who lived in the time of the judges is the story of the book of Ruth.
When did the period of the judges begin in the Old Testament history?
Judges 1:1, "After Joshua died, the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, Who among us will go up first and fight the Canaanites?"
When Israel escaped from Egypt, the leader was Moses. After Moses died, Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the land of Canaan. It was from the time of the death of this Joshua that the period of the judges began.
Then how long is the period of the judges?
1 Samuel 10:1 "Then Samuel took a jug of oil, poured it on Saul's head, and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance?"
Saul was anointed and became the first king of Israel. From this point on, the history of Israel enters the era of monarchy. The period before that, that is, from the death of Joshua until the establishment of Saul as king, is called the Age of Judges.
These were very dark times. Here's what it says in the first chapter of Judges: After the Israelites entered Canaan, they forgot God and what God had done.
Judges 2:10, "All the people of that generation went back to their ancestors, and the other generations that arose after that did not know the Lord, nor did they know what the Lord had done for Israel."
After Joshua's death, the people of Israel forgot God, worshiped the idols of Canaan and acted according to their own opinions, so God made them plunder and rule by other tribes.
Judges 2:18-19, “When the LORD raised up judges for them, he was with them, and as long as they lived, the LORD saved them from the hand of their enemies, because they were oppressed and afflicted by them, and they cried out with mourning. But after the death of the judge, they turned and became more corrupt than their ancestors, and they followed and served other gods and worshiped them, and did not cease their deeds and their rebellious ways."
Then, hearing the suffering of the people of Israel, he appointed judges and rescued them from their suffering. Then, when the people of Israel sin again and suffer, God appointed judges to rescue the people of Israel.
We do not know exactly when the judges were in the period in which the book of Ruth was set, but it is said that the period was when the judges ruled. So, in the Korean Bible, the book of Ruth is placed after Judges. You could say it's in chronological order.
However, in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Ruth does not appear after Judges. Jews traditionally divide the Bible into thirds. First comes the Mosaic Law, then the Prophets, then the Scriptures. Except for the Law and the Prophets, all other books are called written documents. The Law is also called the Pentateuch. Then comes Joshua and Malachi, which are called the Prophets. After that comes the scriptures, starting with the Psalms and ending with Chronicles. We can see that Jesus also divided the Old Testament into thirds according to the Jewish tradition.
Luke 24:44, "And he said to them, "This is what I said to you while I was with you, that all that was written about me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled."
The Psalms are the first of the scriptures to appear. Next comes the book of Job, and the third comes after the book of Proverbs. The Hebrew Bible places the book of Ruth after Proverbs. It is for the following reasons.
Let's look at the last chapter of Proverbs, chapter 31. The theme of the second half of Proverbs 31 is the virtuous woman.
Proverbs 31:10, "Who can find a virtuous woman, and her price is greater than pearls."
Then, he explains what kind of woman a virtuous woman is. Find and read the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31.
Verse 11, "The heart of the husband of such a man believes in him, and his inheritance will not be in need."
A virtuous woman is a woman trusted by her husband.
Verse 15, “He got up before nightfall and gave food to the household, and assigned the work to the maidservant.”
A virtuous woman entrusts her maidservant with her work, and is diligent without being lazy.
Verse 20, “He stretches out his hand to the needy, and stretches out his hand to the needy.”
A virtuous woman is a beautiful figure who helps and takes good care of the poor.
Verse 30, "Fine things are deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised."
Above all, a virtuous woman is a person who serves God well. Among the women in the Old Testament, if you were asked to choose one virtuous woman, the ideal woman described in Proverbs 31, who would it be representative of? That's Ruth. In fact, even in the book of Ruth, Ruth is described as a virtuous woman.
Ruth 3:11, "Do not be afraid, my daughter, I will do to you all that you say, and all the people of my city know that you are a virtuous woman."
In the words of Boaz, the male protagonist in the book of Ruth, to Ruth, we can see that Ruth is a virtuous woman. So, chronologically, the book of Ruth can be placed after Judges, but from a thematic point of view, the book of Ruth can come after Proverbs.
As we shall see, Ruth was indeed a virtuous woman. Although Ruth was a Moabitess woman, she went to Bethlehem, an unfamiliar land, and without delay went out to the fields early in the morning to glean. She took good care of her mother-in-law with it. I was faithful to my family. Also, as a foreigner, Ruth worshiped and feared the Lord God, not the foreign gods of her own country. Not only that, he allowed the inheritance of the deceased husband to be inherited even by sacrificing himself to inherit the broken inheritance of the deceased husband's house.
So Ruth received a wonderful blessing from God. He met Boaz, an ideal man, and started a beautiful family, and through him, an ideal king of Israel was born. That is King David. And out of his descendants, Jesus Christ was born. In addition, his filial deeds were recorded in the Bible, and he received a wonderful blessing that was praised by all generations from generation to generation. I wish all women reading this article to become such an ideal and virtuous woman.
So who is the male protagonist of the book of Ruth?
Ruth 2:1, "There was a powerful man among the relatives of Elimelech, Naomi's husband, whose name was Boaz."
The male protagonist in the book of Ruth is Boaz. The word "powerful" here is the same word as "virtuous" in the original language of the Bible. When translating the same word, when she was a woman, she said "virgin" and when she was a man, she translated it as "strong". In a word, Boaz is an ideal man. In fact, Boaz had compassion on the poor, orphans, and widows, as it was written in the Law, and helped them well. Also, he was a diligent man.
Ruth 3:18, "Then her mother-in-law said, "My daughter, sit still until you know how this thing will turn out, for the man will not rest until he has accomplished this today."
Who would that person be here? It refers to Boaz. He said he would not rest until he had accomplished his work. He was a diligent person doing what he had to do. Moreover, Boaz was a man who was sure to take responsibility for what he said, a man whose words and deeds were consistent.
Boaz was also a morally blameless man.
Ruth 3:8, "Boaz was sleeping, and in the middle of the night the man was startled and turned around and saw a woman lying at her feet."
Moving in the middle of the night, I found a woman close by unexpectedly. Did you say, "What kind of rice cake is this?" It's not like that. Boaz was a morally upright man with no blemishes. So God chose him and made him the father of David, and worked so that Jesus Christ was born from his roots.
Later, one of the descendants of Boaz, Solomon, built the holy temple of God. And he built two large pillars in the middle of the temple. Let's look at the Bible to name the two large pillars of this Jerusalem temple.
1 Kings 7:21, "And these two pillars were set up before the chamber of the temple, and they set up the pillar on the right and called it Jachin, and set the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz."
The same explanation is found in 2 Chronicles 3:17.
2 Chronicles 3:17, "And the two pillars were set before Ouso, one on the left and one on the right; the one on the right was called Jachin, and the one on the left called Boaz."
The names given to the two pillars are Boaz and Jachin. Solomon erected pillars of the temple and gave one pillar the name of Boaz, a man worth remembering among the ancestors of his father, King David. One pillar was called Jachin. It is clear that Jachin is also a human name. Among the kings of Israel, there was Jehoiachin with the word Jachin. There is no mention of Jachin in the Bible, but it is presumed that he was one of the most respected ancestors of Solomon's maternal line.
I hope that all the male saints reading this will become pillars of the temple like Boas and become strong pillars of this society. In addition, I pray in the name of Jesus that the women members will become virtuous women like Ruth and have a precious history of being praised by everyone.