RUTH & ESTHER

There is a Redeemer & Sudden Reversals

David Strain

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (nkjv) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2018 David Strain

ISBN 978-1-5271-0234-7

Printed in 2018

by

Christian Focus Publications Ltd.,

Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire,

IV20 1TW, Scotland, U.K.

www.christianfocus.com

Cover design by Daniel van Straaten

Printed and bound by Bell & Bain, Glasgow

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the U.K. such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London, EC1 8TS www.cla.co.uk.

For Sheena, whom the Lord gave me

‘for such a time as this’.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction to Ruth and Esther

Ruth

Esther

RUTH: There is a Redeemer

1 Subtle Steps (Ruth 1:1–5)

2 The Journey Home (Ruth 1:6–22)

3 The Way Ahead (Ruth 2)

4 The Wrong Turn? (Ruth 3)

5 The Savior and So and So (Ruth 4:1–12)

6 The Meaning of Marriage (Ruth 4:13–21)

Bibliography

ESTHER: Sudden Reversals

1 The Lord Reigns (Esther 1:1–22)

2 Beauty and the Beast (Esther 2:1–18)

3 The Plot Thickens (Esther 2:19–3:15)

4 For Such a Time as This (Esther 4:1–17)

5 Gallows Humor (Esther 5)

6 The Man Whom the King Delights to Honor (Esther 6)

7 The Big Reveal (Esther 6:14–7:10)

8 Eucatastrophe (Esther 8)

9 Holy War (Esther 9–10)

Bibliography

Subject Index

Scripture Index

Acknowledgements

This book has been a long time coming. I must thank William Mackenzie and Malcolm Maclean of Christian Focus Publications for their friendship, demonstrated especially clearly in their patience with me as I slowly pulled this material together. To the elders and members of the First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi, I also owe a great debt. They endured the material in this volume in two series of Sunday evening expositions, and their love and enthusiasm for it has been an enormous encouragement to persevere in the task. This volume is dedicated to them, among whom it has been my life’s greatest privilege to serve. May the Lord continue to bless you all.

David Strain

2018

Introduction to Ruth and Esther

There is something deep inside us all that is hard wired to respond to a good story. The books of Ruth and Esther stand out among the great stories of human history for their pathos, high drama, honest humanity, good humor, and spiritual depths. Unique in biblical literature, these two accounts focus on the lives of two women—a fact that immediately propels them to a place of special relevance ...