FINDING GOD IN THE MARGINS

THE BOOK OF RUTH

TRANSFORMATIVE WORD

CAROLYN CUSTIS JAMES

Series Editor

Craig G. Bartholomew

Finding God in the Margins: The Book of Ruth

Transformative Word

Copyright 2018 Carolyn Custis James

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are the New International Version, 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print: 9781683590804

Digital: 9781683590811

Lexham Editorial Team: Douglas Mangum, Claire Brubaker, and

Danielle Thevenaz

Cover Design: Brittany Schrock

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Entering the World of Naomi and Ruth

3. Inconsolable

4. Undocumented!

5. The Power of Hesed

6. Restless in Bethlehem

7. Breaking the Rules for Naomi

8. The Manly Side of the Story

9. Better than Seven Sons

Recommended Reading

1

INTRODUCTION

One of the biggest fears in today’s world is that something as harmless looking as a backpack will slip undetected through security checks, past bomb-sniffing dogs, and into a crowded area, where it will explode.

That fear became reality—twice—on April 15, 2013, in Boston. On that fateful day during the Boston Marathon, two brothers deposited backpacks 210 feet apart near the finish line in the midst of a preoccupied, cheering crowd. The backpacks contained pressure cookers packed with deadly explosive material that, as planned, exploded sequentially in two devastating blasts.

For Boston, nothing will ever be the same.

Ironically, though the aim of that life-altering attack was to terrorize and disable the community, in the aftermath Bostonians came together. Instead of being paralyzed by fear, the rallying cry resounding in a packed Fenway Park, on Boston city streets, and echoing defiantly round the world was “Boston Strong!”

Overview

It may seem odd to compare the Old Testament book of Ruth to a backpack containing powerful explosives, but for far too long the Christian church has underestimated the potency of this harmless looking ancient narrative.

Traditional interpretations see the book of Ruth as a beautiful love story between the impoverished Moabitess for whom the book is named and Boaz, the wealthy Israelite landowner. It’s the kind of story that is suitable for bedtime reading—not to make it hard to sleep at night. The romance interpretation is understandable, given that the story line focuses on the fortuitous meeting between a man (Boaz) and a woman (Ruth). But this is not a Disney movie.

A series of tragic events that befall Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi and push both Naomi and Ruth over the poverty line serve to draw Boaz and Ruth together. Their meeting ultimately leads to a marriage proposal ...