The Gospel: God’s Righteous Wrath and Judgment

Posted on September 12, 2026 by PastorDave

ROMANS: GOD’S GLORIOUS GOSPEL

Lesson 2 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Romans 1.18—2.29

The Gospel: God’s Righteous Wrath and Judgment

I | CONTEXT AND CONNECTIONS

1 / Paul’s purpose and aim for writing this Book-letter to the Romans is two-fold: [1] to thoroughly lay out in detailed explanation and comprehensive development what the Gospel is; and [2] to show that this one Gospel is equally applicable to both Jews and Gentiles—without distinction, favoritism, or partiality. God is not predisposed to favor Jews; nor is He predisposed to discriminate against Gentiles. God is neither prejudiced for Jews nor against Gentiles just because of who they are. For God shows no partiality, ch 2.11.

2 / Therefore, Paul will throughout Romans address one of the primary cultural dynamics that was plaguing the church fellowship in Rome and the unity among the Jewish and Gentile saints: conflicts, tensions, and even rivalry among the two ethnic groups. That’s why we will hear Paul repeatedly state some variation of his all-inclusive statement: to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentile].

3 / Our last lesson passage concluded with Paul’s all-inclusive ‘dynamic’ confession of the God’s Gospel in v 16. And then, Paul introduces in v 17 what will be his summary statement of what the Gospel reveals—and that is, ‘the righteousness of God!’ The Gospel is the message and the power by which the Righteous God saves—declares to be righteous before Him—those who are unrighteous. Or, as John Stott says, “…in the Gospel God’s righteous way of ‘righteoussing’ the unrighteous has been revealed” [ch 1.14-17].

4 / However, since everyone—Jews and Gentiles—are ALL unrighteous before God in their human-born nature and condition, therefore, the only way we can be ‘righteous’ before God is BY FAITH in the Gospel God has revealed in Christ! So, everything in Romans here on will be the revealing of that Gospel of God in Christ which everyone must believe by FAITH! “For in it [the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” [ch 1.17]. That phrase ‘from faith for faith’ simply means: ‘it is by faith, and only by faith, from beginning to end—and it’s always been that way!’ Paul quotes here from Habakkuk 2.4 to show that those who were saved in the Old Testament/Covenant era were saved by the same faith that the Gospel as it is now revealed in Christ requires! It is by FAITH and FAITH ALONE exclusively, solely, and always!

5 / NOW, beginning with this lesson passage, Paul will begin to lay his foundation for why it must be by FAITH. And that is because all of us—the whole human race without distinction—are unrighteous and ungodly, and since we are NOT the righteousness of God by born human nature and condition, we are therefore under the righteous wrath and judgment of God. And if we are to be saved from God’s righteous wrath and judgment against our sin, we must have FAITH IN, believe in the Gospel He has revealed in Christ!  

II | ch 1.18-31 | God’s righteous wrath is revealed from Heaven against all our unrighteousness and ungodliness—particularly those godless, pagan cultures [whether ‘cultured’ or ‘uncultured (ch 1.14)] who reject His Glory for their own preferred ‘lesser glories’

v 18: NOTE the repetition of the word ‘revealed.’ In v 17, God reveals His righteousness in the Gospel of Christ—which we must believe and receive by FAITH. In v 18, we must believe in God’s righteousness by faith because the righteous God’s wrath is revealed from Heaven against the unrighteousness and ungodliness we are and practice in our born human nature and condition. We call this ‘the bad news of the Good News.’ In the following descriptions of our universal human sinfulness, Paul will reveal that we all have suppressed the truth of God’s righteousness by our unrighteousness.

vv 19-20: God has shown us who He is in His creation. We know there is a God of eternal power and divine nature who is above, beyond, and more glorious than we are. And He has revealed Himself so clearly and powerfully, So they are without excuse.

vv 21-23: Our refusal to acknowledge, honor, and give thanks to God who so clearly reveals Himself in His creation has not only perverted [‘darkened’] our very faculties of thinking and emotions, but we have also ‘exchanged’ and counterfeited His Glory for the worship and glory of ourselves and other elements of His created things! NOTE that any object, idea, or belief of our ‘spiritual loyalty’ to which we give ourselves in ‘worship’ is an idol … and is a rejection of the Glorious God, the Creator.

vv 24-25: “Therefore…” as a righteous consequence of His righteous judgment, God has ‘given us up, given us over’ to the delusions and addictions to those sets of lies we have chosen to believe—preferred religion—whatever it may be. And then, to emphasize God’s righteousness in this turning us over to our own preferred idol-worship, Paul adds this doxology: “the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” NOTE: God’s giving us over to our worship of our worship of our preferred sets of lies is His present WRATH OF GOD that is being revealed now in this time! And it is a foreshadowing of the wrath to come in that final Day of Judgment “on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” in the end, ch 2.5, 16. Paul is leading up to that—but the accepted perversions of the culture right now in our own day and time is the wrath of God being revealed against us.

vv 26-27: What follows here is a sordid, detailed commentary of why God is righteously justified for revealing His wrath against a society and culture that so denies, abominates, and perverts God’s Glory that He reveals in His creation order. V 25 says “because they exchanged the truth about
God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” – and then v 26 follows with “For this reason…” God reveals His wrath against our unrighteousness by ‘giving us over, giving us up’ to what we choose to do as a society and culture of ungodliness. And the ultimate example is the prevalent practice of the homosexuality culture among both men and women. Both male and female homosexuality practices are exchanges and perversions of God’s righteous and glorious creation order. “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” NOTE that when a culture normalizes and ‘declares to be right and natural’ the abominable practices of homosexuality—that in itself is the wrath of God being revealed from Heaven. And the inevitable corruption, decay, and eventual erosion and destruction of that culture is the due penalty for their error. And, it is the righteous precursor of the coming Day of Wrath upon them, both individually and corporately that will be meted out in their eternal condemnation in the Day of God’s righteous judgment, ch 2.5, 16.

vv 28-31: When these ultimate shameless acts are normalized, accepted, and codified into a culture, every other practice of sinful unrighteousness will follow as an exercise of the wrath of God revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth [going back to v 18]. “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness…” and then what follows is a whole catalog of depravity that will be ‘approved and practiced.’ All of these social abominations will pervade and permeate their society because when they reject God and His righteousness to choose their own preferred lifestyles, God gives them up to a debased mind. They have no righteous sense of right and wrong, no conscience, and no ability to discern what is good.  

III | ch 2.1-16 | God’s righteous wrath is revealed from Heaven against judgmental moralizers, whether they be Jews or Gentiles

vv 1-2: Paul now turns his attention to another group of godless practitioners of unrighteous—those who think of themselves that they are the ‘righteous elite’ and judge, condemn, and reject everyone else who is ‘not one of them.’ Paul has already rendered the former class of pagan idolaters, who have rejected God for their own ‘idea-worship,’ are without excuse before the righteous wrath of God, ch 1.20. Now, the same indictment and verdict of “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” those who do not ‘worship’ their preferred ‘god.’ “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.”

vv 3-5: Two rhetorical questions expose their perverted and depraved delusions of ‘self-righteousness’ and ‘self-justification’: “Do you suppose, O man…?” and “Or do you presume…?” God has extended to them all over centuries of time the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, [they] not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance… God has not immediately, in their real-time generations destroyed them all, giving them space to repent and turn to Him in repentance. BUT, they are all consumed by their own self-imposed judgments in history, and God’s full, final, and eternal condemnation yet awaits when the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven…on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

vv 6-11: God will judge every person, every peoples, every culture by the one righteous standard that applies to all—“the Jew first and also the Greek [Gentile]…for God shows no partiality.” God will render to each one according to his works because our ‘works’ are the practical outworkings of our ‘faith’—that is, what we believe, trust in, and worship. The over-arching condition and requirement for righteousness [being declared righteous before God] is GOSPEL FAITH in God’s provision: “The righteous shall live by faith” [ch 1.17]. So, here are the two contrasting ends of those believe, trust in, and worship God…and those who do not: “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.”

vv 12-16: Paul continues with God’s righteous indictment and judgment against all those who moralize themselves into believing they are ‘right with God’ in their own self-assessment and self-justification because they presume they have practiced their religion in accordance with God’s revealed Law. But they have done so only outwardly and superficially and not with true saving faith in God.

[1] “The Law” is God’s standard for judgment because The Law is the expression of God’s own righteousness. Therefore, in order for us to be righteous before God or ‘right with God,’ we must be in perfect, absolute compliance with and conformity to The Law. This is the basis of the Gospel’s message.

[2] The two class distinctions Paul makes here are sinned without the Law and sinned under the Law. Those without the Law are the pagan peoples, whether ‘civilized’ and ‘cultured’ or not. They didn’t have the advantage of knowing God’s revelation of Himself. Those who have sinned under the Law are the Jews with their history of knowing God’s revelation of Himself in the Law. Paul will explain this distinction in the words that follow, and especially by referring to circumcision as the physical marker God gave His people from the beginning, Genesis 17.9-14 ff.

[3] The Gentiles, who have sinned without the Law…who do not have the Law, still know right from wrong because God has revealed a natural standard for righteousness in His creation, which they have rejected [ch 1.19-23]. But they have condemned themselves and made themselves without excuse before God and His Law because when they by nature do what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law. They show that the work of the Law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them…

[4] On the other hand, all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law because they have kept and observed its requirements only outwardly and superficially. They have just ‘gone through the outward physical motions’ without a heart of faith toward God, trusting Him to make them right before Him. They had a ‘head knowledge’ of the Law without a ‘heart knowledge’ of love for God and faith in Him to make them righteous. “For it is not the hearers of the Law who will justified [made righteous].” And since the Gospel that Paul preached first reveals the wrath of God from Heaven against all the unrighteous, Paul declares that it will be finally and eternally adjudicated on that Day when, according to my Gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

IV | ch 2.17-29 | Jews, therefore, are not ‘righteous’ and justified before God just because of their religious knowledge, legacy, or heritage—if they rely on their Jewish identity without FAITH

vv 17-24: Paul reveals the inconsistency and self-contradiction of the Jews’ trust and reliance upon their religious heritage to make them ‘right before God’…

[1] He proposes two ‘if’s to show them the fallacy and deficiency of their self-righteous presumptions that they have and keep the Law: “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the Law and boast in God and know His will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the Law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth…”

[2] However, even while they presume their moral and religious supremacy because of what they ‘know’ in their minds and presume to ‘practice’ in their lifestyle, they dishonor God by breaking the Law they boast in and seek to impose on others—to make the ‘others’ as ‘right before God’ as they presume they are: “While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” In this way, they not only prove themselves to violate the very Law they presume to impose on everybody else, but they also bring God’s righteousness and righteous Law into disrepute among the Gentiles they seek to assume superiority over. “For, as it is written, ‘The Name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’” quoting from Isaiah 52.5.

vv 25-29: Mere ‘Jewishness’ will not save without FAITH in Christ from their heart…

[1] Their required compliance with the Old Testament physical marker of circumcision, which God gave them to mark them as people of true faith, is of value if—and only if—they love, obey, and trust in their hearts that God will justify them by their faith in Him. Otherwise, if they have the physical mark of circumcision without faith in God’s righteousness, they are seeking to establish their own righteousness and, in effect, become uncircumcision. On the other hand, “if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the Law [by faith, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” That is, if an uncircumcised Gentile obeys and receives God’s righteousness by faith, then he is the one who finds favor with God!

[2] And then, we come to this inviolable marker of how God truly identifies who is His true Israel, or Jew: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not be the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” Being a Jew by ethnicity or religious heritage in no way makes one ‘more special’ to God or ‘more favored’ by God when it comes to righteousness; nor are they ‘grandfathered’ into the people of God by their ethnic or religious ‘Jewishness.’ God receives us into His grace and ‘makes us right with God’ only and solely on the basis of FAITH. This is the consistent proclamation of the Gospel in all of Scripture—both Old and New Testaments.

CONCLUSION: Paul will continue in the next section to declare that Yes! there are advantages to being a Jew—but only in that God first revealed Himself to them through their covenant forefathers: Abraham, Moses, David, and the others. But he will also continue to bring every human being, Jew or Gentile, ALL under the condemnation, judgment, and wrath of God because of the universality of their sin. This universality of sin and wrath of God against our unrighteousness is what requires FAITH! [see ch 3.19-20] The Gospel of God through faith in the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ begins with this revelation of the wrath of God against our sin—and will lead us to “Therefore having been justified through faith…”

But, we must ‘become lost’ before we can ‘become the righteousness of God’ in Jesus Christ!

ROMANS.L2.Romans 1.18–2.29.God’s Righteous Wrath and JudgmentDownload
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The Gospel

Posted on September 5, 2026 by PastorDave

ROMANS | Lesson 1 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

GOD’S GLORIOUS GOSPEL

Romans 1.1-17 | The Gospel

I | INTRODUCTION TO ROMANS / CONTEXT

1 / For the next few weeks, we will be surveying the Book of Romans. And, it will be no more than just a summary survey of this book. It may very well be that more has been written on and about Romans than any other book of the bible. So, with our limited number of class sessions and limited time in each session, all we can do is provide an outline of the book, try to follow Paul’s train of thought and ‘logic’ throughout the chapters, how they connect and flow from each other, and explain just the pith and core of why Paul says what he says where he says it.

2 / Or, as I always say to us about every Bible book we study, “We just want to learn how to read, follow, and understand the Book of Romans to get the message of what Paul was writing.” This is why we choose to survey the whole of books of the Bible intact, rather than just highlights of certain passages in the book.

3 / So, let’s begin by asking some pertinent questions that will help us read Paul’s message as well as his words.

4 / NOTE: here at the outset, I want to acknowledge my indebtedness to two works in particular who are helping me analyze, summarize, and express the various sections and sub-sections of Romans—which is all we can hope to do in this survey course. I will borrow and repeat from them often as they help me understand the flow, development, and connections of Paul’s Gospel message: Romans for You, by Timothy Keller, The GoodBook Company, 2014; and Romans, God’s Good News for the World, John Stott, Intervarsity Press, 1994. They both (along with Robert Yarbrough, ESV Expository Commentary) have helped me tremendously to discover, distill, and crystallize Paul’s logic and message here in Romans.

II | WHEN DID PAUL WRITE ROMANS?

1 / We believe Paul wrote Romans from Corinth during a 3-month stay there. This was at the end of his third missionary journey. See Acts 20.1-3. And, it was a return visit to Corinth after having been there previously. At this time in his ministry, he was on his way back to Antioch, his home/sending church. So this would have likely been during the winter of AD 57-58.

2 / However—and we must keep this in mind as we approach the text of Romans—it had long been Paul’s desire to go to Rome. He had never been there. But his heart was set on going to Rome. See Acts 19.21. This is important background to keep in mind. Because we also need to know that, to Paul, Rome was not just another city or region to be evangelized, but he had met some other believers from Rome prior to this time of his writing this Roman letter—and it was a ‘letter’ as we will see, and not just a ‘book.’ The believers he had met previously in Corinth were Aquila and Priscilla—and they were from Rome. See Acts 18.1-3. And Paul had previously spent some eighteen months in their company and fellowship. So, he would have learned a lot of contextual background information from Aquila and Priscilla, both about Rome and the affairs of the churches in Rome. We’ll expand on this connection…

III | WHY DID PAUL WRITE ROMANS?

1 / We often call Romans Paul’s ‘magnum opus’ or ‘greatest work.’ And it is. It is not only his magnum opus, but it is also the ‘greatest work’ in the whole Bible when it comes to laying out the glory and grandeur of the Gospel. Romans is the most complete, thorough, and carefully, meticulously written definition and explanation of the Gospel of God’s grace and salvation.

2 / But, as we said before, it is also a personal letter. Don’t ever think that Romans is like an ‘ivory tower’ academic dissertation. Paul didn’t just decide one day, “I think I’ll write a treatise on the Gospel and send it to the saints in Rome”—saints he hadn’t personally met and didn’t personally know. Romans is a very personal letter. Paul uses the “I” first-person-singular verb form over one hundred times in this letter. And when we get over into the end of Romans, chapters 15-16, we will listen to Paul talk about his personal desires to come to Rome and give many details about his ministry up to that time and his ambitions and aspirations for future ministry among the saints in Rome—and also beyond them on to Spain. So, we come back to our present question, Why did Paul write Romans? Just some reasons, not necessarily in the order of their importance or priority—they’re all intertwined together…

3 / Purpose #1: Paul wrote Romans as a ‘missionary letter’—both to evangelize the Romans and also to encourage them to assist him in his evangelistic mission beyond them…on to Spain. Remember that we pointed out how back in Acts 19.21, Paul had been making it known for some time that he wanted to go to Rome to preach the Gospel. And most likely, he had this goal even before meeting Aquila and Priscilla who had relocated to Corinth, having been exiled from Rome by Emperor Claudius in AD 49 [see Acts 18.1-3]. No doubt they further intensified and stoked his desire, but he had aimed to go to Rome long before. BUT, Rome was not the terminal point of Paul’s missionary desires. His ultimate missionary destination was Spain [Rom 15.22-28]. At that time, Spain was the western-most regions of the Roman empire. Paul was in Corinth, Greece at the time of writing Romans. Rome was mid-way. Spain was on the western land boundary of the Roman Empire. So, Paul is writing the Romans to anticipate his coming to them—and then asking them to prepare “to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while” [v 24].

4 / Purpose #2: Paul also wrote Romans to help them mediate many conflicts among them over issues between Jews and Gentiles. We surmise that the churches in Rome had been established [perhaps] by believers who had returned to Rome from Jerusalem after the Day of Pentecost [see Acts 2.10]. We don’t know who they were, but they had carried the Gospel of Christ back home, and more Jews in Rome had become believers—and churches were established. BUT THEN, not only were Jews being saved and converted to being believers in Christ, but Gentiles also were saved. And that created the inevitable conflicts and disagreements between Jews and Gentiles [Greeks] over whether they should still maintain the Jewish cultural and religious traditions. This will be one of the repeated lines of preaching and counsel that Paul gives the saints in the churches as make our way through Romans. Watch for it! Getting back to Aquila and Priscilla and Paul’s months of close association and fellowship with them, we have no doubt that they filled Paul in during many hours of intense conversations about these tensions and conflicts between the Jewish and Gentile contingents in the several churches in Rome.

5 / Purpose #3: Paul also felt the need to acquaint the Roman believers with his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ and his steadfast commitment to the Gospel of Christ and his faithful fidelity to it. Remember, they had not personally met, but they had heard a lot about him—and a lot of it had been negative and false accusations [see ch 3.8: “…as some people slanderously charge us with saying…”]. Remember: Jesus had commissioned Paul to be His apostle to BOTH Jews and Gentiles, but primarily to Gentiles [see Acts 9.15; Galatians 1.15-16; 2.9]. Paul preached the Gospel as it is: salvation solely and exclusively by God’s grace apart from our keeping the Jewish law, either to obtain salvation or to keep it. This Free Grace Gospel had brought Paul into disfavor among many of the hardline Jewish traditionalists. And so, if Paul is to maintain acceptance and influence among BOTH Jews and Gentiles, he must establish his true apostleship and authority from Christ AND proclaim the impartiality of God’s grace to BOTH Jews and Gentiles equally.

6 / Purpose #4: But, most importantly, and in all his preaching and activity, Paul must proclaim the purity and power of the Gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. So, we’re going to get the Gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in its fullest, and most complete, replete, and comprehensive proclamation in every line of Romans. In the opening ‘Gospel salvo’ in ch 1, Paul will name the ‘Gospel’ four times, and then throughout the letter, name the ‘Gospel’ seven more times. And, in between, in every paragraph and every truth Paul develops, it will be the ‘Gospel’—what it is, who it is about, and what it does to save and transform everyone who believes it. It’s ALL about the Gospel!

7 / So, with all this historical and biographical background in mind, let’s listen to Paul as he open this letter to the Roman saints. This first opening ‘introduction’ to Romans in ch 1.1-17 will serve as Paul’s summary doctrinal and personal statement of faith or confession of ‘THE GOSPEL’…

IV | ROMANS 1.1-17

vv 1-7 | Paul’s very identity and life’s mission, calling, vocation, and work is “The Gospel”

v 1 | We are ‘owned’ by the Gospel—and every fiber of our being and facet of our lives is committed to the Gospel of God. Paul identifies himself as a servant of Christ Jesus. He didn’t own or belong to himself. He belonged to Christ Jesus: he was Christ’s ‘doulos’ or ‘slave / bondservant.’ Called to be an apostle. Obviously, Paul refers to his conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus and Christ’s call on his life to be an apostle, or one specifically appointed by Christ to speak for Him—with His authority. AND Paul had no other vocation, purpose, ambition, or aim in his life and everything he did but proclaim the Gospel of God. And so, God Himself is the Author of the Gospel, and Paul had no other goal in his life, but to proclaim this Gospel that God had given him to proclaim. He had done that everywhere else he had ever been, and he wanted to do that in Rome also.

v 2 | This Gospel is what the Old Testament is all about—it is a ‘covenantal’ Gospel. NOTE here how Paul will identify immediately with the Roman saints who were Jews—who knew the OT Scriptures. Paul is not only identifying with the OT Scriptures, but he is declaring that all those Scriptures that they knew, believed, taught, lived by, and trusted—they all were a ‘prequel’ or ‘pre-enactment’ of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.

vv 3-4 | The Gospel is all about Jesus Christ, the God-Man. Jesus Christ is the personal embodiment of the Gospel, the subject of the Gospel, and the object of the Gospel’s proclamation. Jesus Christ fulfills all the OT covenant promises given to David according to the flesh: here Paul will establish Jesus’ incarnation-humanity lineage … AND [He] was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is a clear declaration of the God-ness, or God-hood, or Deity of Jesus Christ as evidenced by His sacrificial death on His Cross and His resurrection from the dead. There is also a distinct Trinitarian confession here, in that the ‘Spirit of holiness’ is the Holy Spirit.

vv 5-6 | The Gospel calls for, commands, and enables ‘the obedience of faith for the sake of His Name among all the nations.’ That is to say, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just another ‘faith journey’ or ‘faith tradition’ that is offered to those who hear it. It is the only faith that must be obeyed. And that goes for Jews and Gentiles [‘nations’] alike. As with any other good book, letter, or writing—if you’ll read the end of the book before you start the beginning, it will help you better understand what it is written from the first, and why it is being said. So, if you compare this purpose statement for the Gospel in ch 1.1-6 with ch 16.25-27, you’ll see that Paul both introduces and concludes Romans with the same purpose statement.

v 7 | The Gospel is for ‘everyone’ as Paul will repeat throughout Romans—but since this letter is specifically addressed, they are highlighted: “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

vv 8-15 | Paul’s passionate longing, intense desire, and long-time aim is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Rome

vv 8-10 | The Gospel of Jesus should inspire our hearts to share it with everyone! First, Paul says, he gives God the credit and recognition for the faith they already have. Their vibrant, steadfast faith in Christ is proclaimed in all the world. News of their faith and witness had already been reported and disseminated all throughout the Roman Empire. Everywhere Paul had been, people were talking about their faith. Paul is not pandering to them, nor is he engaging in self-serving flattery. He is sincere in his commendation—and, at the same time, he is directing their attention also to the power and grace of the Gospel that is already working in them and has been since from the beginning of their own faith. Not only that, but for the longest time, he has been praying that God would open up his way to come to them “always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” NOTE: ALL of our Gospel efforts and activities must be purposed, directed, and empowered by our prayers to God for Him to make it happen by His will!

vv 11-12 | There should be a longing in our hearts to share the Gospel with others! For Paul here, he shares his heart with the saints in Rome that he has been longing to bring the Gospel to them. And, he had entertained this longing in his heart even while he was continuing to proclaim the Gospel in all the other places where he had been—and even now, at the time of this writing, here in Corinth where he was ‘on hold’ in his travel plans to go to Antioch. And the reason he had this longing in his heart is because he knows that the Gospel is the message of God’s Grace and Peace—it is God’s blessing, God’s spiritual gift that He has given us in Christ. AND, the spiritual gift and mutual encouragement is not a one-way ministry. When we share the Gospel of Christ in community with one another, we are ALL strengthened and encouraged mutually and simultaneously. [Much as we are right now as we read and study this text together!]

v 13 | God is the One who makes our Providential arrangements and intersections with others to share the Gospel. This is a personal note from Paul to the Romans: he has wanted to come to them for the longest time, and has even tried to make the plans to come their way… “but thus far have been prevented.” Paul will add further commentary on this statement in ch 15.18-24. There, Paul gives the Romans just a little of his missionary itinerary over the past previous years. He has been hindered from coming to them because there were all these other regions where he was and around him that needed the Gospel. Paul’s ambition was to preach the Gospel primarily in pioneer missionary work, “not where Christ has already been named, let I build on someone else’s foundation” [15.20]. But now, he wants to make his way further west—to Rome—“in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.” We might ask: ‘But I thought you wanted to preach where Christ has not yet been known? The Roman saints are already believers. Christ is already known and believed there. Why such a longing to go to Rome?’ Good question, but as we shall see, they had a deep need there also to be strengthened in their faith. And, there were all the tensions and conflicts—and even rivalries—among their Jewish and Gentile communities. And so, Paul knows he can help them to come to a fuller understanding of the Gospel—as he will proceed to write in the text of this letter. ALSO, keep in mind: Paul will want them to help him through their prayers to God, encouragement, partnership, and even financial assistance to go on further from them—to Spain…where truly Christ and His Gospel has not yet been preached: “as well as among the rest of the Gentiles [nations].”

vv 14-15 | We are ‘under obligation’ [‘debtor’ KJV] to preach the Gospel to everyone! Where does this ‘obligation’ or ‘debt’ come from? Who has placed us under obligation or debt to them? It is not the world of unbelievers who have put us in debt or under obligation to preach the Gospel to them. They are in unbelief and disobedience to the Gospel. As Paul will tell us in ch 3.11, “…no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Those who need the Gospel couldn’t care less. But, the One who puts us under obligation and in debt to them is Christ Himself. He has commanded us to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel … Go and make disciples of all the nations.” And so, for this reason, to fulfill this Great Commission [and his own personal calling and apostleship], “So I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome.”   

vv 16-17 | Paul will now begin his proclamation of the Gospel—what the Gospel is in its purest essence and expression—The Gospel of God declared and defined

v 16 | God’s Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—and it is the only power that will save! After everything Paul has said about his bold confession, affirmation, and commitment to the Gospel [“for I am not ashamed of the Gospel”—when you get Paul, you get the Gospel], he will now begin with his definition and declaration of what the Gospel is—and what it does. The Gospel deserves our fullest confidence. NOTE here how begins with his ‘inclusive’ appeals to both Jews and Greek [Gentiles]. As we go on, there will be discussions where Paul will address them separately, but all of his definitive and declarative proclamations of the Gospel will include them all.

v 17 | The Gospel is the revelation and manifestation of God’s righteousness from faith for faith. This is what the Gospel is all about: God’s righteousness both condemns those who do not obey and believe the Gospel … and His righteousness justifies, forgives, reconciles, saves, and sanctifies ALL those who believe the Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ! Quoting from Habakkuk 2.4, Paul reiterates and re-affirms the one way God has always saved: through faith in His Good News!

“THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!”

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Ruth, chapter 4 | Redemption and Restoration

Posted on August 29, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua / Judges / Ruth | Lesson 10 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH

THE ROMANCE OF REDEMPTION

YAHWEH’S PREPARATION FOR HIS TRUE KING

Ruth, chapter 4 | Redemption and Restoration

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / Ruth, chapter 4, is an explicit and prophetic ‘pre-enactment’ of Christ—when He will come in the fullness of time to redeem His people from the bondage and moral indebtedness of their sins. Not only would God’s Redeemer come from the tribe of Judah and be born in the town of Bethlehem, but He would also be a direct royal descendent of King David. Isaiah 11.10: In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place [see Ruth 3.1] shall be glorious. Paul goes back to get this verse and writes it again in Romans 15.12 where he is exulting in God’s forethought and fore-planning to bring His Redeemer into the world to save not just Israelites and Jews, but peoples from ALL the nations. Romans 15.12: And again Isaiah says, ‘The root of Jesse will come, even He who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope’ [see Ruth 2.11-12].  Again,Paul quotes Isaiah 59.20-21 in Romans 11.26-27 when he announces that Christ had come to fulfill all of God’s OT promises and pre-enactments of our Redeemer: …as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” THIS is the Christ redemption Boaz is ‘re-enacting’!

2 / The theme of Ruth, chapter 4, is REDEMPTION & RESTORATION. The central theme of REDEMPTION has been woven all throughout this short-story pre-enactment of the Gospel. The noun or verb form of go-el has been used at least 12 times during this narrative. AND, chapter 4 will bring us full-circle back to chapter 1 [‘Emptiness & Exile’] and fulfill all the needs introduced there.

3 / Now, in chapter 4, Boaz will fulfill the redemption of Naomi and Ruth. As chapter 3.18 concludes, the narrator is giving us a ‘teaser’ for the next act. Ruth has returned from the threshing floor where she has proposed to Boaz that he fulfill his role prescribed by the law as their ‘go-el / redeemer.’ “She [Naomi] replied, ‘Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.’” This is a pre-enactment of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer! Get the picture that God is inspiring and writing here to point us to Christ and to pre-enact what He will do for us when He comes!

4 / In chapter 4.1, Boaz makes his appearance at the town’s gate—the place where civil and legal transactions were formalized—to accomplish redemption for Naomi, Ruth, and for Elimelech’s and Mahlon’s family name. When this formal, legal transaction has been made, Boaz can exclaim “It is finished! – It has been paid in full! It is done! Redemption accomplished!”

5 / Because…we have to see this! In this immediate transaction, Boaz is going to redeem [see chapter 4.9-10]: [1] Elimelech and his family land and inheritance in Bethlehem; [2] Mahlon and his perpetuity of their family’s name and lineage; [3] Naomi and her future security and provision; [4] Ruth and her place in the family’s name and lineage; But, God is working through Boaz to also restore the family lineage through whom He has chosen, purposed, and planned for CHRIST to be born to redeem us! [see Luke 1.67-75; Galatians 4.1-7; Hebrews 9.11-12; Ephesians 1.7-10; 1 Peter 1.17-21; et al.]

II | A simple breakdown and historical, covenant background of chapter 4…

1/ A simple way to break down this chapter and flesh out the theme of Redemption & Restoration:

  • verses 1-11a: A legal transaction – blessing comes through a costly redemption
  • verses 11b-17: A series of blessings – the restoration of the family’s land and lineage [11b-12: the blessing of the people and elders in the gate on Boaz / 13-17: the blessing of the women of the neighborhood on Naomi
  • verses 18-22: A genealogical pointer to the future and Christ [see Matthew 1.2-5]

2 / However, before we begin to explore this narrative and how Boaz pre-enacts, promises, and points to Christ, our Redeemer, it would be helpful to refresh our memories re: how God provided for go-el/kinsman-redeemer and redemption in His law…

3 / Yahweh’s covenant provisions for redemption. Yahweh had provided for the perpetuity and continuation of two covenant blessings: [1] the family (lineage) [see ch 4.10], and [2] their enjoyment of the Promised Land inheritance He had given them.  And so, if someone fell into need and either of these two covenant blessings were in jeopardy of being broken, a close family member was expected to volunteer to step up and step in to help – to become that needy family member’s go-el / redeemer. The noun go-el comes from the verb galal = to redeem / deliver.

Let’s review a couple provisions Yahweh gave them to prevent the loss of either family or inheritance:

[1] Leviticus 25.23-28: if the family’s property [which was their land-grant inheritance from Yahweh Himself in the Promised Land, see v 23], had to be mortgaged [‘hocked / escrowed’] to another member of their tribal clan, the go-el could redeem it [buy it back], regain possession of it for the original owner, and return it to the family. This way, the family would not lose their allotted inheritance in the Land.

[2] Deuteronomy 25.5-10: this provision is called levirate marriage from levir which is Hebrew for ‘brother-in-law.’ If a brother of a family dies without first fathering a son who will perpetuate and carry on the family name and lineage, then the next available unmarried brother [the widow’s levir / brother-in-law] will take her as his wife to father a son who will become the heir of the deceased brother to perpetuate his family name and lineage. This is what Boaz fulfilled in Ruth 4.9-10.

III | Redemption and Restoration

So – getting back to Ruth 4, Redemption & Restoration, here’s how the legal transaction was ‘finished’!

verses 1-11a: The legal transaction – blessing comes only through a costly redemption

Boaz makes good on his promise to Ruth just a few hours before [3.11-13]

v 1: Boaz immediately makes his way to the ‘gate’ of the city as soon as it is daybreak – he goes from the threshing floor to the venue of the redemption transaction: the gate—this is the entrance into the walled city from the surrounding fields outside where town’s elders & council members would convene and ‘sit’ to officially conduct the town’s legal civil and social matters. Notice the 5 repetitions of the word ‘sit’ – this was their formal legal posture. The narrator highlights and emphasizes how the nearer- go-el ‘just happened’ [Providentially, of course!] to be passing by at that very moment: “And behold!” [see also ch 2.3-4]. Boaz calls for his to come and ‘sit’ down with him. Boaz obviously knows his name—he is a relative [see ch 3.12]—but he is keeping this transaction as impersonal as possible between the two of them. “Friend” is actually too personal and friendly for this greeting; more like “Hey, you there!”—the words the narrator uses makes him just a generic “Mr So-and-So.” But, this unwilling go-el  shall remain nameless forever—while Boaz’s name will go down into Messianic redemption legacy and greatness!

v 2: Boaz seeks for a formal quorum of city elders—he may have had to go and find them—but he does, and they, too, are ‘seated.’ All the legal parties are now present, seated, and ready for the transaction to be formalized. Boaz begins his first public, formal, legal proposal to the nearer-go-el…

vv 3-4: Boaz presents the legal “whereas” conditions of this transaction… “Whereas Naomi is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.” NOTE: Naomi didn’t have possession of the land they had mortgaged, some other family member had the ‘lien’—but she is seeking a go-el to act on her behalf to recover and restore it to Elimelech. “Whereas you are a nearer-go-el than I am, I thought I would honor Yahweh’s law and give you first priority to make the redemption…” We don’t know whether Boaz and the others who have gathered around to witness the redemption transaction were surprised or horrified by the nearer-go-el’s response—but he readily responded “I will redeem it!”His thinking was that he would redeem Elimelech’s property—yes, he would have to take care of Naomi for as long as she lived – but since there were no male heirs, when she died, the land would be his.

v 5: Boaz counters with the additional caveat: whoever redeems Elimelech’s land must also marry Ruth to raise up a son/heir to Elimelech’s dead heir, Mahlon – Ruth’s former husband. This is the ‘levirate’ marriage provision we referenced above. Boaz obviously saved this additional responsibility as a ‘rider’ or a ‘codicil’ in order to present a complication which he hoped the nearer-go-elwould have to refuse

v 6: It worked! Boaz probably knew him well enough to know that he was a shrewd landowner, farmer, and businessman. He couldn’t risk or jeopardize his profit and estate in order to fulfill his legal / moral responsibility to marry Ruth [and especially with her being a Moabitess!] in order to raise up and restore a relative’s family and lineage! He wouldn’t be adding to his own personal estate!

vv 7-8: the ‘exchange of the sandal’ ceremony—“Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redemption and exchanging…”: as a formal recognition that he was reneging on his ‘levirate’ responsibility and forfeiting his nearer-go-el claim to redeem Elimelech’s property, he took off his own sandal and gave it to Boaz—thus relinquishing and transferring the nearer-go-el right of redemption to Boaz—giving Boaz the ‘right of ownership’ to ‘walk’ on that property. Some historians/commentators believe this custom derived and had evolved from Yahweh’s promise to Joshua when they went into the Promised Land to possess it [see Joshua 1.3].

vv 9-11a: Boaz had now bought and ‘owned’ his right to redeem and claim Elimelech’s land…and assume the responsibility to provide and care for Naomi for the rest of her life……and marry Ruth! and raise up a son to carry on the family name and lineage!

verses 11b-17: A series of blessings—the restoration of the family’s land and lineage [11b-12: the blessing of the people and elders in the gate on Boaz / 13-17: the blessing of the women of the neighborhood on Naomi]

1 / I’m calling this section Prayers, Promises, & Prophecies. There will two remaining scenes and then the final genealogy [which is a ‘historical scene’]. All of these Prayers, Promises, & Prophecies are going to be pointers to Christ. That’s what we will highlight…

2 / I’m calling them: Prayers because when you read the words “May the LORD…” what you are reading is a prayer they are praying to Yahweh to do this. Promises because what they are asking Yahweh to do in the lives of these saints is what He had already promised He would do. Prophecies because they were not aware of how prophetic they were speaking. But we know that God was speaking His own prophetic words and purposes through them. God was pre-enacting and pre-announcing what He would do 1000+ years later when He would send Christ into the world to be our anointed and appointed Redeemer!

3 / So now, let’s see how these Prayers, Promises, & Prophecies were announced:

Scene 1: ch 4.11b-12 – city elders and townspeople

…at the gate of Bethlehem where the redemption transaction was publicly witnessed. The speakers are the elders and the townspeople who had gathered to witness the redemption transaction. They will make three separate statements in their Prayers, Promises, & Prophecies.

[1] “May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.” Remember: Ruth had been Mahlon’s wife for the 10 years they had been in Moab, and was barren, childless [see chs 1.4 & 4.10].Rachel also was barren until The LORD opened her womb and gave her Joseph and later Benjamin. They are praying that Ruth may become as fruitful as Rachel and Leah, who [along with their handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah] gave birth to the 12 sons who became fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel [Genesis 29-30].

[2] “May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem…” Literally, “May your noble acts be remembered, and may your name live on in perpetuity through the offspring who will be born to you and bear your name for generations to come…”Just think of the implications of that prayer in terms of Matthew 1.1-5.

[3] “…and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.” This reference is to the tawdry story of Genesis 38. Judah is the father of their tribe, the royal tribe – from whom would be born David…and Jesus! But Perez was born to the unwitting ‘levirate’ [incestuous] marriage that his daughter-in-law, Tamar, deceived and seduced him into. The only similarities between these stories are that both Judah and Boaz bore their sons through a levirate union.

Scene 2: ch 4.13-17 – neighbor women, friends of Naomi

…nine months later, presumably in the home of Boaz, Ruth, Naomi, and now little Obed. The speakers are the neighboring women who love Naomi and have come to celebrate this birth with her and bless her in the name of The LORD with their Prayers, Promises, & Prophecies.

“So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.” The redemption had been consummated. Now the marriage had been consummated also.The LORD gave conception and the birth of a baby boy – to this formerly barren / childless foreign Moabite woman – who had professed her faith in Yahweh the God of Israel [see ch 1.15-17 & 2.12]. “Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be The Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer…’” All credit, recognition, and praise is given to Yahweh who has given Naomi this little go-el—this baby boy who will save her from loneliness, destitution, poverty, and the extinction of her family and name…and God will save us all from our sins in generations to come through Christ who will be born from this little baby’s lineage! “…and may his name be renowned in Israel!” As the elders and townspeople had prayed for Boaz [v 11], may this baby boy’s name also be renowned, not just in Bethlehem, but in Israel! Jesus’ Name will not only be renowned in Israel, but God will give Him the Name that is above every name! [see Matthew 1.21 & Philippians 2.9-10 & Acts 2.36, & others…] “He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age…” This word ‘restorer’ is the same word the narrator used 12 times as ‘turn,’ ‘turn back,’ ‘return,’ etc. as he was showing us there how God was ‘turning’ Naomi’s whole life fortunes from emptiness to fullness, from bitterness to blessing. This baby boy go-el is going to ‘restore’ her very life to her and take care of her in her old age—for as long as she needs to be taken care of. “…for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Although love is shown in so many persons and so many ways in this redemption romance, this is the only time the word ‘love’ is mentioned in this whole narrative of Romance of Redemption. And it is Ruth’s love for her mother-in-law Naomi. In the Hebrew culture, seven sons was considered to be the ideal family. Yahweh had given and restored to Naomi more than the ideal of family completeness and fullness in Ruth and her baby boy.Read Ephesians 1.1-14 in the light of this promise and prophecy – how many parallels of promises that God has given us in Christ can you find? 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Scene 3: ch 4.18-22 — the genealogy.

This, too, is a ‘scene’ in the sense that the narrator will give us a flashback of history from Perez to David. It is included in the Prayers, Promises, & Prophecies because in this genealogy, the human narrator [inspired by the Spirit of Christ…(1 Peter 1.10-12)] is revealing to us why he is writing this historical record. Obviously, he is writing this Book of Ruth after David had been anointed and inaugurated as Israel’s King. Otherwise, Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, and Obed would have been just among the other millions of common people Israelites who lived and died unnamed during all these generations. But now that David is known, they, too, become part of the public record as his predecessors. They are King David’s lineage and family tree. They are King David’s ‘credentials’ as the rightful king of Israel—being a direct descendent of the royal tribe, the tribe of Judah. “Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. ~This prophetic genealogy is repeated in Matthew 1.1-5

Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. ~Acts 13.23

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Ruth, chapter 3 | Audacious Asking and Assured Acceptance

Posted on August 22, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua / Judges / Ruth | Lesson 9 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH

THE ROMANCE OF REDEMPTION

YAHWEH’S PREPARATION FOR HIS TRUE KING

Ruth, chapter 3 | Audacious Asking and Assured Acceptance

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / We don’t know who the human writer and narrator of this story was, but what we DO know is that “the Spirit of Christ Himself was in him” [to paraphrase 1 Peter 1.10-12]. Jesus Christ Himself is inspiring the human writer and narrator to ‘pre-enact’ what He Himself would do in generations to come – when He would come into our world through this very same ‘little town of Bethlehem’ to be our Redeemer [see Micah 5.2]. See also Luke 2.38—and all the other related NT texts to ‘Redeemer / redemption’…

2 / Not only would God’s Redeemer come from the tribe of Judah and be born in the town of Bethlehem, but He would also be a direct royal descendent of King David. Isaiah 11.10: In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious. HEADS UP: this promise of ‘rest’ is one of the premises of Ruth, ch 3 [v 1].

3 / Paul goes back to get this verse and writes it again in Romans 15.12 where he is exulting in God’s forethought and fore-planning to bring His Redeemer into the world to save not just Israelites and Jews, but peoples from ALL the nations [as He will do here in our lesson, i.e. Ruth]. And again Isaiah says, ‘The root of Jesse will come, even He who arises to rule the Gentiles; in Him will the Gentiles hope.’

4 / NOW, what we are going to witness here in Ruth, chapter 3, is a picture of Jesus Christ committing to assume the role of Redeemer of His people and assuming the responsibility of redeeming us for Himself – to belong to Him! See, e.g. Titus 2.11-14, et. al.

5 / Boaz is intentionally presented to us here as a pointer to Christ. He may not be a formal type of Christ [a ‘type’ must be formally recognized and specifically named as such in the New Testament], but Boaz is certainly a ‘motif’ or [as I like to call it] a ‘pre-enactment’ of Christ. And we know that Boaz is a pre-enactment of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer because the writer/narrator repeatedly emphasizes that Boaz is ‘a near relative, a redeemer’ [see 2.20; 3.9; 4.4]

6 / So, when we come here to chapter 3, we are going to witness Boaz’s commitment to redeem Elimelech’s estate for Naomi, and in so doing, he will also commit to marry Ruth and raise up a family in the name of Mahlon, Ruth’s deceased husband. In this way, he will redeem their family from dying out [‘be cut off’ ch 4.10].

7 / AND, by perpetuating Elimelech and Mahlon through Ruth, Boaz will become the great-grandfather of David – who is the human forefather and progenitor of Jesus Christ! ch 4.18-22

II | SO – HOW DOES BOAZ BECOME THE ‘REDEEMER’?

1 / I’m going to give chapter 3 the theme of Audacious Asking – because Ruth’s proposal to Boaz to marry her is one of the most audacious askings in all of Scripture! [NOTE: ‘audacious’ means: bold, daring, fearless, willing to take big risks!] And since Boaz is the ‘pre-enactment’ of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, then it is consistent with his character to encourage audacious asking and agree to granting audacious requests! Hence…the second part of our lesson title: “Assured Acceptance”!

2 / Jesus certainly did! Matthew 7.7-11: ‘ask and you shall receive’ / Matthew 8.1-3: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean…” “I will…!” / Mark 10.46-52: To Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” / Luke 11.1-13: the parable of the insistent neighbor / Luke 18.1-9: the parable of the insistent widow.

3 / So, what we’re going to do is work our way through Ruth chapter 3. And, yes, we will focus on Boaz’s gracious consent—his ‘assured acceptance’—to be Naomi’s and Ruth’s redeemer … but we will also focus on the audacity of Ruth’s way of asking him.

4 / We are going to cast Ruth as a woman of great faith in her redeemer. And we want to learn to pray, ask, and expect great graces from our Redeemer just as Ruth did from hers.

5 / I’m going to present us with six facets of Ruth’s faith in Boaz as they play out in the story … and then challenge us to act toward Christ, our Redeemer, with these same acts of faith. [NOTE: these six ‘facets of great faith’ are borrowed from Christopher Ash’s excellent little commentary Teaching Ruth & Esther, published jointly by Christian Focus / Proclamation Truth Resources.]

6 / Chapter 3 can be called Act 3 of this Drama of Redemption. And Act 3 can be broken down into 3 scenes:

  • SCENE 1, vv 1-5, begins in their house again
  • SCENE 2, vv 6-15, will go to the threshing floor
  • SCENE 3, vv 16-18, will be back in the house

1 | read vv 1-5 | GREAT FAITH IS INTENTIONAL

1 / The ‘rest’ that Naomi wants to find for Ruth is the rest of a permanent family and home—a husband who will love her and provide for her safety, sustenance, and security. They are still without their family property. For the past several weeks – maybe months – they have been living off of the gleanings Ruth has been bringing home from Boaz’s field. But, what about the future? For Ruth? For Naomi?

2 / Boaz is, after all, a close relative and redeemer, ch 2.20, and he is fully qualified  as such to redeem or ‘buy back’ Elimelech’s ‘hocked’ property and estate which he had ‘sold off’ when they first went to Moab seeking relief from the famine in Bethlehem [see ch 1.1].

3 / So, Naomi proposes a daring plan: Ruth will go to the threshing floor and propose to Boaz that he marry her! Look at all these intentional preparations: [1] wash yourself;  [2] anoint yourself [with perfumed oils]; [3] put on a cloak-garment [this may have been an instruction to take off her former widow’s / mourning garments and assume her place among the eligible women for marriage];  [4] go to the threshing floor – but remain hidden until after the evening meal and festivities; [5] After Boaz retires, she is to go where he is lying down, remove the covers from the lower parts of his legs, and lie down beside his legs and feet. We need to note here also that everything is intentionally planned with chastity and discretion…

4 / Naomi is so confident that Boaz will comply with this proposal, that she tells Ruth: “…he will tell you what to do.” Here, the emphasis heavily points to their dependence upon Boaz’s willingness to redeem.

5 / Ruth obediently and trustingly consents to carry out this plan in full: “All that you say I will do.”

6 / You must take Christ at His word and ask Him for His grace! “Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved!”

2 | read vv 6-7 | GREAT FAITH IS VULNERABLE

1 / I don’t know if we can even begin to recognize and appreciate what a risk Ruth is taking here: she is Moabite woman; she runs the risk of being seen as a prostitute soliciting illicit services; she runs the risk of being rejected; she runs the risk of being publicly shamed and shunned for her ‘perceived and imputed  improprieties.’ NOTE: everything Ruth did was risky—but not one act was ‘risque’!

2 / But she casts herself upon the good character and ‘mercy / hesed’ of Boaz – believing that he will respect her need and her request.

3 / We live in abject dependence upon the Grace of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer – but we believe in His mercy and grace! We have no one else to go to – we need none other! “All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and whoever comes to me shall not be cast out!”

3 | read vv 8-9 | GREAT FAITH IS INTIMATE & PERSONAL

1 / Sometime during the night, Boaz was startled awake – could have been shivering from the night air or could have been delayed reactions to the movements at his feet.

2 / What he discovered was a woman sleeping at his feet, without recognizing her! “Who are you!”

3 / Notice how the narrator continues to cast everything in the ambience of darkness and secrecy—creating and building up the tension of uncertainty of outcome: ‘tonight’; ‘do not make yourself known to the man’; ‘at the end of the heap of grain’; ‘she came softly’; ‘at midnight.’ This is not out in the open field in broad daylight; this is just the two of them with no one else even knowing or participating…

4 / Faith is always intensely intimate and personal – a personal transaction of love and trust with Jesus Christ, casting ourselves upon His promised Grace, love, and ‘assured acceptance’!

5 / Ruth identifies herself by her name: “I am Ruth” … she takes the place of a ‘servant’– even a foreigner, not a citizen, not an employee—with no rights to request anything at all. [compare Matthew 15.21-28]

6 / And yet, she proposes to Boaz that he marry her! “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer!” The ‘wings’ were the lower portions of his outer cloak or the blanket with which he was covering himself for sleep.This was an act of engagement to marry—to take Ruth to himself—to assume the responsibility to take care of her every need! see Ezekiel 16.8-10

7 / Jesus Christ invites you into His own life – into His family – into His very heart! “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God!” [John 1.12-13]. This is redemption, adoption to Himself!

4 | read vv 10-11 | GREAT FAITH IS GROUNDED IN COVENANT PROMISES

1 / Faith is our conscious, deliberate, intentional decision to trust that God is both able and willing to do what He has promised to do—and then acting upon that confidence with obedience! [see Romans 4.16-25; 1 Thessalonians 5.24; Hebrews 10.23; et. al.]

2 / We have to recognize that everything that has been going on in this little story is grounded in God’s Word and in the laws He had given to Israel to govern their conduct – every aspect of their lifestyle and conduct: the gleaning; the expression of charity and hospitality to the poor and disadvantaged; the rights of the redeemer to buy back the property of a close relative and restore it back to their original family…

3 / Ruth has already made her profession of faith in YAHWEH, the God of Israel [ch 1.16]; Boaz greeted his reapers and farmhands in the name of YAHWEH [ch 2.4]; Boaz had already recognized Ruth’s membership in their family of faith and her personal trust in YAHWEH [ch 2.12].

4 / Boaz also commends Ruth and acknowledges that she has already proven her personal faith in YAHWEH and her commitment to obey and serve and follow Him by the ways she has taken care of her mother-in-law Naomi [ch 3.10-11].

5 / So, Boaz accepts his personal responsibility under God’s law to marry Ruth and have children with her—to restore the family line she lost when Mahlon died! [Leviticus 25.24-55; Deuteronomy 25.5-10]

5 | read vv 12-17 | GREAT FAITH IS EFFECTIVE

1 / The narrator is deliberately crafting his words [under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit] to show us that God is the One who is doing through these faithful servants everything they are doing.

2 / vv 12-13 So – the first response we get from Boaz is: “Of course! I will marry you and redeem Elimelech’s property and resume the family line of Mahlon! But, there is a redeemer who is closer to Naomi than I am. We’ll have to see if he wants to claim the right. If he does, I will have to honor the law and the custom and concede to him. But, if he doesn’t – as surely as YAHWEH lives and is faithful [and He is!], I WILL!”

3 / This is such a beautiful picture, pointer, and pre-enactment of Jesus Christ being willing to obey His Father to come to earth, be born as one of us so He could be like us and close to us – AND REDEEM US! …except that, of course, in His case – He was the ONLY One qualified to be our Redeemer! [see Hebrews 2.14-16; et. al.]

4 / v 14 They were all up before it was light enough to be seen and recognized. Boaz was always careful and conscientious all through the transactions of the night to be a man of character, integrity, above-board—nothing was ever done that was indecent or inappropriate. He is committed to keeping it that way: “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.”

5 / v 15 But Boaz is not going to send her home to Naomi without another abundant blessing. “Hold out your shawl…” and he filled it with as much of the threshed grain as Ruth could carry home for her and Naomi. This is so much more than just another hospitable gesture—THIS was Boaz’s ‘dowry’ or ‘pledge’ of his ‘assured acceptance’ of Ruth’s marriage proposal! If you could call this transaction an ‘engagement,’ this was Boaz’s way to ‘put a ring on it’—promising to follow through with his redemption.

6 / vv 16-17 Naomi is waiting up for Ruth: I really doubt she even slept all night long—wondering how the night was going? Will Boaz be willing to secure their future? Did she do the right thing sending Ruth out there to the threshing floor in the night with a bunch of men? [Remember: this was during the days of the Judges [ch 1.1]…]

7 / Ruth gives Naomi her good report – and then shows her the bountiful gift Boaz has sent home with her for them. NOTE again how the narrator is crafting his words to show us that God had completely reversed their prospects for the future… when Naomi first came back to Bethlehem, her bitter complaint against YAHWEH was: “I went away full, and YAHWEH has brought me back empty!” [ch 1.20-21]. But here, the narrator puts it in Boaz’s mouth, “Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed…” [same word]. God has done this! –- and this was God’s intention and plan all along! … and not only is He filling up their human and physical provisions, but He is also pre-enacting here how He will send our Redeemer into our world in the fullness of time and when He comes, He will be “full of grace and truth!” “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace! [John 1.14, 16].  

8 / We will see the prophetic and Messianic fullness Yahweh is preparing for them and us in ch 4.18-21!

6 | read v 18 | GREAT FAITH IS WILLING TO WAIT

1 / Naomi concludes her celebration with her call to wait for Boaz to act. She knows he will be faithful to do all he has promised. 1 Thessalonians 5.24: He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it! This is a sterling testimony to Boaz’s faithful integrity—not just his personal character, but also his faithful obedience to his family responsibilities commanded by YAHWEH’s Law.

2 / Naomi’s instructions to Ruth to “Wait…” were personal to them in that moment, household, and family. But, at the same time, this ‘waiting’ is also the prevailing and pervasive attitude of the whole OT community of faithful believers. They were ‘waiting’ for their Promised Redeemer. And, they had been ‘waiting’ ever since the first promise had been given to Eve after their fall into sin in Genesis 3.15: I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. All of these OT provisions for their family ‘redeemers’ were promises, pictures, pointers, ‘pre-enactments’ of the Messianic Redeemer who would come to redeem them from all their enemies [Luke 1.71] and ‘return’ them back to YAHWEH, their God. This whole OT era of ‘waiting’ is quintessentially distilled in the testimonies of Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna when their Redeemer finally appeared: “And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people…!’” [Luke 1.67-68]; “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” [Luke 2.25]; “And there was a prophetess, Anna…And coming in up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” [Luke 2.36-38].   

3 / And, in that very same spirit of waiting in confident, expectant hope, we. too, are ‘waiting’ for the full redemption that Jesus Christ will bring us when He comes again! see Romans 8.18-25!

When our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, victoriously proclaimed “IT IS FINISHED!” … He secured for us “an eternal redemption”! [Hebrews 9.25]

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Pastoral Prayer | 2 Corinthians 5.11-21 | All things “Back to School”

Posted on August 17, 2026 by PastorDave

During our Lord’s Day corporate worship services, our Pastors rotate delivering the public reading of the Scripture (1 Timothy 4.13) and Pastoral Prayer (1 Timothy 2.1). We strive to publicly cultivate and model the exercise of ‘praying God’s Word back to Him’ as we have just read and heard it … and it focuses on a particular subject of intercession for that day and occasion. We intentionally keep the Pastoral Prayer brief and pointed.

I was asked to deliver it on 9 August 2026, and since that week was the beginning of new school terms, we prayed for all things “Back to School.” For those who expressed an interest in it or asked for a copy of the prayer, I humbly offer it here with the on-going prayer that God will use it to inspire, encourage, and edify your own…

The Scripture references that are included are not recited—they are just the other relevant Scriptures that come to my mind as I prepare to pray it and inspire the specific wording of the particular petitions. 

SCRIPTURE READING | 2 Corinthians 5.11-21

PASTORAL PRAYER | All Things “Back to School” 

O God, You are the creator, fountain, and giver of all true knowledge and wisdom. You are the All-Wise, Only-Wise God! And to fear You, know You, and to be reconciled to You is true wisdom and eternal life. (Romans 16.27; 2 Corinthians 5.18-20)

And so, it is to You we pray for all of our students who are now beginning a new school year. Some of them may be excited about going back to school—maybe even for the very first time. Or it may be that they [or their parents] are suffering from anxieties, dread, or even fears during these days for various reasons. If they are, may You quiet their hearts as they entrust their children and themselves to Your care.

We call on You, O God, to cover them with your physical protection—keep them from danger, harm, and violence.

And guard, not only their physical bodies, but keep and guard their minds and hearts, especially. Keep them from all the alluring temptations to believe, accept, or embrace anything that is only “falsely called ‘knowledge’”—that will distract them from seeing and pursuing the Glory of Christ and the will of God—or the convictions of our faith that are grounded in Christ – whether it be in beliefs, conduct, or lifestyle. (1 Timothy 6.20-21)

May we test and prove everything we hear by the purity and truth of Your Holy Scriptures…which are ‘able to make us wise unto salvation.’ (2 Timothy 3.14-16)

Some of our parents are in school or other trainings, also. Give them the physical strength, Godly wisdom, and spiritual stamina to balance all the priorities and demands that they must deal with—and may they keep their eyes of faith and focus fixed on Jesus. (Hebrews 12.1-2)

And if they are schooling at home, give them all the wisdom, discernment, and strength they need to do that well!

We pray for all of their teachers, professors, and administrators also—a host of whom are right here in this very room. May each of them exercise their wisdom and influence toward God and righteousness—& be good models for their students to follow—good models of the ‘new creation’ of Grace we are in Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5.17)

We pray that we will not seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge only—but that we will—every one of us—commit to a never-ending discipleship after Christ, who calls each one of us to “Come to Me … Learn from Me!”         May we commit ourselves and everything we learn to “no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who for our sake died and was raised” to ‘save us from our sins’ and ‘from this present evil age.’ (Matthew 11.28-30; 2 Corinthians 5.14-15; Galatians 1.3-5)

MAY WE ALL BE RECONCILED TO GOD! (2 Corinthians 5.20)

And whether it is book knowledge or vocational training, may each one of us apply everything we learn and come to know … to our preeminent vocation: to be ambassadors for Christ! (2 Corinthians 5.20)

And now, Pastor Ben is coming to deliver your precious Gospel to us! Anoint him with the Spirit of The LORD…with wisdom and understanding / counsel and might / knowledge and the fear of The LORD... (Isaiah 11.1-2)

And grant us these desires of our hearts through the merits of Your Son, Jesus Christ, whom You have made to be to us … The Wisdom of God — Amen. (1 Corinthians 1.24, 30)

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Ruth, chapter 2 | Fullness & Friendship

Posted on August 15, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua/Judges/Ruth | Lesson 8 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH / THE ROMANCE OF REDEMPTION / YAHWEH’S PREPARATION FOR HIS TRUE KING

Ruth, chapter 2 | Fullness and Friendship

Ruth finds favor in Boaz’s fields [and also in his sight]

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / FLASHBACK: before we even get started on this lesson, I want to ‘flashback’ to some previous comments we have made about Moab and Moabites. The narrator names Moab or identifies Ruth as a ‘Moabitess’ 13 times in this short story. I have told you before that the very mention of or reference to the name had a visceral ‘cringe-factor’ for Israelites. Let’s just refresh our minds how an Israelite would have associated the mention of this name:

[1] Genesis 19.30-38: the Moabites descended from a sordid incestuous conception plot between Lot and his daughters following their fleeing burning Sodom.

[2] Numbers 22-24: Balak, king of Moab, is the one who hired Balaam to come and curse the Israelites when they arrived in his regions [but Yahweh turned it into blessing…]

[3] Numbers 25: when the cursing of the Israelites failed, Balaam then advised the king of Moab to seduce the men of Israel with their daughters | 24,000 Israelites died in the ensuing plague.

[4] Deuteronomy 23.3-6: at this same time, they refused to meet the Israelites with bread and water when they came out of Egypt into their regions – Yahweh forbade them entrance into the assembly for ten generations.

[5] Judges 3.12-14: since the story of Ruth happened ‘when the judges ruled,’ the eighteen years of oppression from Eglon king of Moab would have been fresh in their memories.

2 / AND YET – Yahweh loves Ruth and chooses her to be in the lineage and genealogy of His Messiah [Matthew 1.5-6] by redeeming her through marriage to Boaz [Ruth 4.13-22] – see chapter 1.22…

3 / We would do well to examine our own hearts and the ways we look at and evaluate other groups of people … to see if we allow ourselves to entertain ‘cringe-factors’ toward any person or groups of persons that are contrary to the ways God sees them and evaluates them. See 1 Corinthians 6.9-11 & James 2.1-13 & Revelation 5.9-10. 

II | PLEASE KEEP IN MIND…

1 / Our focus and theme for this study is: SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH / THE ROMANCE OF REDEMPTION / YAHWEH’S PREPARATION FOR HIS TRUE KING!

2 / We can’t – and we won’t try – to explore or expound every detail or lesson that is in this rich little story … we want to focus on our main theme and search…

3 / We don’t know who the human narrator is of this book – but we do know who the Divine Author is: He is God, or more specifically ‘the Spirit of Christ who was in them’ [see 1 Peter 1.10-12].

4 / God knows where He is going – both in the orchestration and preparation of the unfolding events of this part of human history and His unfolding historical/redemptive metanarrative … and also in the writing of the Story that will prepare us to recognize Christ when He comes ‘in the fullness of time.’

5 / Therefore, what we are witnessing and studying is a ‘pre-enactment’ of the coming of Jesus Christ into our world: [1] who He will be born from [human family and lineage]; [2] what roles He will fulfill [‘Redeemer’]; [3] what ministry He will perform: *save His people from their sins [including ‘the nations’ & Gentiles: compare Ruth’s recognition of her ‘foreigner’ status in 2.10 with Yahweh’s Gospel promise to include those same ‘foreigners’ in Isaiah 56.6-8], and *give them ‘rest’ [Ruth 2.12; 3.18].

III | SO, LET’S SEE HOW GOD CONTINUES TO ‘PRE-ENACT’ THE ‘STORY OF JESUS’ IN CHAPTER 2!

The narrator is pointing our attention to the sovereign and gracious Providence of God by setting up some contrasting themes:

1 / Emptiness and Fullness – Naomi registers her bitter complaints against God in ch 1.20: “I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty…” – and yet she has no idea just how FULL the LORD is preparing to make her again. But, by the time we get to the end of the narrative, we find out! see ch 4.13-17. We would do well here to quote that instructive and inspiring hymn of William Cowper—both to Naomi and also to ourselves:

  • God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform;
    He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm.
  • Deep in unfathomable mines / Of never-failing skill
    He treasures up His bright designs / And works His sovereign will.
  • Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; / The clouds ye so much dread
    Are big with mercy and shall break / In blessings on your head.
  • Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, / But trust Him for His grace;
    Behind a frowning providence / He hides a smiling face.
  • His purposes will ripen fast, / Unfolding every hour;
    The bud may have a bitter taste, / But sweet will be the flower.
  • Blind unbelief is sure to err / And scan His work in vain;
    God is His own interpreter, / And He will make it plain.

2 / Famine and Harvest – chapter 1 begins with famine in the land of Bethlehem [House of Bread] [v 1] … and now the LORD has given them food again [v. 6] … and the LORD has brought them back [‘returned them’]: [1] to a specific place [Bethlehem]; [2] at a specific season of time [beginning of barley harvest]; [3] and here in chapter 2, we’ll see how He directs their very physical steps to a specific field where Ruth and Boaz can meet [ch 2.3]…because… Ruth and Boaz will have to meet / before Boaz can have the opportunity to redeem her and Naomi / and they can marry / and have a child / who will be the grandfather of David / who will be the royal Covenant progenitor of Christ! [see Matthew 1.1, 5-6]

IV | HOW DOES GOD MAKE THAT HAPPEN?

1 / v 1 | God prepares and introduces Boaz to be His ‘pre-enactment’ of Christ, our Redeemer

Note how the narrator sets up Boaz as a qualified ‘redeemer’ [Hb: go-el] because that is his Divinely-appointed role he is going to fulfill as a ‘pre-enactment’ motif for Christ, our Redeemer. [1] Naomi had a relative of her husband’s; [2] a worthy man [great in personal character and qualifying wealth] the same word is used of Ruth in ch 3.11 in the sense of the Godliness, virtue, beauty, and ‘worthiness’ of her character. [This is the word for the ‘virtuous / excellent’ wife in Proverbs 31.10.]; [3] of the clan of Elimelech [a necessary, qualifying relationship]; [4] whose name was Boaz.

2 / v 2 | God puts in Ruth’s heart and desires to assume responsibility to help provide for her and Naomi. Ruth expresses not only her covenant love for Naomi, but a courageous love!

[1] God had commanded and provided for the feeding of the poor, sojourners, widows, and orphans from the ‘gleanings’ of their harvests [see Leviticus 19.9-10; 23.22; Deuteronomy 24.19-22].

[2] More than that – God commanded them to treat the oppressed and the sojourners among them the same ways He treated them when they were in that same condition [see Deuteronomy 10.12-22].

3 / v 3 | God directs Ruth’s path that day to the field of His sovereignly-chosen ‘redeemer’

[1] Yes, ‘she happened…’ to come to this specific plot of harvest-field – but does anyone doubt God’s sovereign and Providential direction of her steps and path? [see, for example: Genesis 24.26-27; Proverbs 3.5-6]. “Such commentary subtly points to the Lord’s providential hand at work. Indeed, we might picture a certain twinkle in the narrator’s eye in writing these words, knowing that the attentive reader/listener will soon interpret Ruth’s arrival to Boaz’s field as evidence of the Lord’s sovereign grace, not mere circumstance.” Mary Willson Hannah, ESV Expository Commentary.

[2] Note also how the narrator reminds us again of Boaz’s relationship with Elimelech—this is a continuing thread/theme of this Book: redeemer/redemption!

4 / vv 4-7 | God Providentially directs Boaz to visit this specific portion of his harvest-fields that day

  • Take note of Boaz’s greetings and interactions with his reapers and what it says about his character and especially about his spiritual faith in YHWH: “And behold Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, ‘The LORD be with you!’ And they answered, ‘The LORD bless you.’” Again, the narrator is pointing us to Boaz’s personal faith and covenant loyalty to Yahweh, the God of Israel. “This exchange portrays Boaz’s godly leadership in cultivating a gracious work environment, especially by seeking the Lord’s blessed presence among his supervisees.” [Hannah].  It’s like a glistening jewel of covenant faithfulness to Yahweh in the moral and spiritual dunghill of the surrounding culture. In the day when the prevailing rule of the majority, mainstream culture was “And in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” [Judges 21.25; Ruth 1.1], Boaz was like a throwback to Joshua’s confession: “And if it is evil in your eyes to sere The LORD, choose this day whom you will serve … But as for me and my house, we will serve The LORD!” [Joshua 24.15, 31; Judges 2.6-10].
  • Boaz’s questions re: ‘Whose young woman is this?’ is only an acknowledgement that he doesn’t recognize her from among the other Bethlehem villagers and residents. As if to ask: “Whose family is she from? What family does she belong to?”
  • When the foreman associates her with Naomi, Boaz immediately recognizes her family connection—and he will identify with her, at least by association!
  • And, Boaz is very interested! His heart is drawn to Ruth and Naomi—he begins to exercise not only his public social responsibility, but more personally, a family responsibility toward Ruth and Naomi. And, even as the narrator wants to start subtly revealing, Boaz is taking a personal attraction and interest in Ruth! This Divinely-appointed and -orchestrated Romance of Redemption is beginning to blossom!

5 / vv 8-12 | God opens up Boaz’s heart of responsibility, sympathy, compassion, and even the beginnings of affection toward Ruth

There are actually four conversations between Boaz and Ruth sub-set into this exchange:

[1] Boaz to Ruth, vv 8-9

  • Boaz appeals to Ruth to continue returning back to his fields to glean [with a subtle, implied commitment to see that she is adequately provided for…both in grain and water]
  • He also promises her protection by charging the young men not to touch or harass her. And as we have seen from our previous study in Judges, this warning was appropriate given the immoral climate of their surrounding society!

[2] Ruth to Boaz, v 10

  • Ruth expresses her humility, respect, and gratitude for Boaz’s favor—his offers of hospitality and grace – she recognizes that she is a ‘foreigner’ with no ‘rights’ other than those commanded by the law for social conduct, like gleaning. [NOTE also the narrator’s repetition of ‘favor’ in vv 2, 10. Favor is what she set out this morning to look for—and now she has found it!]  
  • But, he is going way above and beyond merely what the law requires. He is showing her extreme grace! Boaz is not a ‘minimalist’ when it comes to faithfulness to Yahweh’s law!  

[3] Boaz to Ruth, vv 11-12

  • Boaz recognizes not only her human and family love shown to her mother-in-law, Naomi, but also her profession of faith and commitment to Yahweh, the God of Israel. “The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by The LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” [This image will come up again in ch 3.9…]
  • He recognizes her as a sister in their mutual covenant faith, a fellow heir in the covenant, and a recipient of God’s grace!

[4] Ruth to Boaz, v 13

  • Ruth finally acknowledges her indebtedness to Boaz for his gracious favor: “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant…”
  • and, in addition to identifying herself as a ‘foreigner’ [v 10], she now also calls herself ‘your servant,’ though not one of his native-born, citizen-servants—in itself, a promotion of status!

6 / vv 14-16 | God moves Boaz even further to invite and accept Ruth into his own personal and intimate fellowship [Much as Jesus did when He said to His disciples: “No longer do I call you servants … but I have called you friends…” (John 15.15).]

  • He shares his own meal with her: “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine…”
  • He personally serves her: “So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain…”
  • He feeds her until she is not just satisfied, but has leftovers to take home [NOTE how the ‘fullness’ theme continues to be drawn out]: “And she ate until she was satisfied, and … some left over…”
  • He commands his reapers to purposely “pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her!”
  • He commands his reapers to respect her and treat her graciously: “…and do not reproach her…rebuke her.”

IS NOT ALL THIS – AND SO MUCH MORE – WHAT CHRIST HAS GIVEN AND DONE FOR US BY HIS COMING AND IN HIS GOSPEL? SEE JOHN 1.16: “FOR FROM HIS FULLNESS WE HAVE ALL RECEIVED, GRACE UPON GRACE!”

7 / vv 17-23 | God begins to reveal His sovereign covenant mercies of grace to Naomi … as she begins to recognize the unfolding of Yahweh’s plan and provision of her redemption

[1] Boaz not only generously supplied Ruth with grain in the field, but he also loaded up her ‘go box’ to take home with her to Naomi. When Naomi saw the exceeding generosity with which Ruth had been treated, she obviously wanted to know where and by whom this grace had been received

  • “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”

[2] When Ruth names Boaz, Naomi can’t contain her excitement and enthusiasm—she immediately recognizes Boaz as well-qualified to be her ‘redeemer’ [go-el]—if only he will be willing!

  • She blesses Boaz in the Name of Yahweh: “May he be blessed by The LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” She recognizes his ‘hesed’ or covenant/steadfast love.
    • She exclaims, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers!”

[3] Obviously, Naomi charges and encourages Ruth to continue to receive the benefits of Boaz’s gracious overtures of grace and provision.

[4] Verse 23 highlights BOTH Boaz’s continued generosity to Ruth and Naomi “until the end of the barley and wheat harvests” AND Ruth’s committed ‘steadfast love’ to her mother-in-law—AND ALL OF THIS FROM YAHWEH’S PURPOSE AND PROVISION TO ‘REDEEM’ THEM…AND US…THROUGH THE COVENANT KING YET TO BE BORN AND ANNOUNCED!

BUT NAOMI HAS YET OTHER AND MORE PLANS FOR THE SECURITY OF THEIR FUTURES TO COME! AND SO DOES GOD!

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Ruth, chapter 1 | Emptiness and Exile

Posted on August 8, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua/Judges/Ruth | Lesson 7 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH / THE ROMANCE OF REDEMPTION / YAHWEH’S PREPARATION FOR HIS TRUE KING

Ruth, chapter 1 / Emptiness and Exile

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / “The Bible’s metanarrative [big story, whole story, all-encompassing story] begins in the garden of Eden, comes to its climax in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and culminates in the Lord’s return, when he will bring his redemptive work to consummate effect and usher in the new heavens and the new earth. The narrator of Ruth transparently tethers the book to this broader biblical storyline (cf. 1:1; 4:17b–22), thereby leading the audience to interpret its drama as one scene in the Bible’s metanarrative. Within the book of Ruth, several inner-biblical connections underscore the book’s ties to the larger biblical story. Outside the book, the Bible mentions the person of Ruth only once (Matt. 1:5), in the genealogy of “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1). Ruth’s inclusion in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, Abraham’s and David’s greater son, is fitting since her inclusion among God’s covenant people represents partial fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) and the book of Ruth concludes by pointing to God’s provision of David.” Mary Willson Hannah, ESV Expository Commentary, p. 682.

2 / We will begin our brief 4-part survey study of the Book of Ruth.

3 / Please keep in mind that our laser-focus is going to be the same as God’s focus was when He inspired the writing of this book in the original author [1 Peter 1.10-12]: our focus is SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH! The Spirit of Christ who inspired this book knew where He was going: both in the telling of the Big Story, this story, and in the coming generations of human/redemptive History [remember: history is His-Story, the Story of CHRIST, THE KING OF KINGS!].

4 / The Book of Ruth is more than just a sweet love story … or valuable life-lessons. If we were looking only for a good moral human-interest or love story, or if all we wanted to do was to make some good applicable life-lessons, then we could outline the book by chapters like an author did in a commentary I have: ch 1, Till Death Do Us Part; ch 2, Boy Meets Girl; ch 3, Some Enchanted Evening; ch 4, Happily [for]Ever After. This outline is cute, catchy, and creative. But Ruth is more than just a sweet love story [though it is certainly that]; this is a ‘pre-enactment’ of the coming of Christ into our world to redeem us from our sins! This is a ‘prequel’ of the Gospel! This is the promise, pattern, and pointer to Christ as our Heavenly Husband who will come to take us and marry us to Himself forever! And, God The Holy Spirit knows that when He is inspiring the original narrator to write this story.

5 / So, THAT is what we are going to be reading, studying, and looking for: SEARCHING FOR CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF RUTH—THE ROMANCE OF REDEMPTION! This is a romance narrative on both levels, horizontally and vertically. The ‘horizontal’ romance is a ‘pre-enactment’ of the vertical romance yet to be revealed.

  • ALSO…as a follow-up to the Book of Judges [“In those days there was no king in Israel…”], this Book of Ruth could also be themed “YAHWEH’S PREPARATION FOR HIS TRUE KING”!

6 / So, let’s get started by keep asking ourselves these three questions as we make our way through the scenes and movements of this story:

[1] Why did the narrator write this book? Of course, the main key answer is in ch 4.18-22—to trace and certify the ‘family tree’ of “the house and lineage of David” [Luke 1.26; 2.1-4] through whom Christ will be born.

  • But there is also much to be learned about God’s Presence and Providence: especially how He faithfully fulfills His eternal, covenant Kingdom purposes through the obedience of His common, everyday  servants who remain faithful to Him even while everyone else around them is unfaithful.

[2] Why did the narrator write the words he wrote? We’ll note how the narrator teaches his lessons he wants us to learn by using very specific words. We’ll pay particular attention to the contexts and connotations of those words. We’ll also learn intended lessons by repetitions of words and contrasts

[3] Why did the narrator write the story the way he wrote it? …because without a doubt, the narrator wants us to see the hand of God, not only in the physical providences, but also in His larger redemptive plan for Israel and also for … the nations [as in “Moabites”]. I know all these questions will all weave in together, but also each question can be considered with much interest on its own merit…

II | OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 1

So, let’s get started on chapter 1…

THEME: Emptiness and Exile

MAJOR MOVEMENTS:

  • v 1: The context
  • vv 2-5: Naomi is emptied
  • vv 6-14b: Naomi pleads with her two daughters-in-law to “return” [or ‘stay’] in their native home, Moab
  • vv 14c-18: Ruth’s promise and response of love … she made a covenant ‘love’ commitment to Naomi, and made a profession of faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel
  • vv 19-22: Naomi and Ruth return and arrive in Bethlehem

III | Ruth 1.1: The context

There are three key elements in this contextual setting:

1 / ‘when the judges ruled’ There are almost no nice words we could use to describe the days when the judges ruled: civil disorder, social unrest, violence, debauchery, perversions. And yet, in the midst of all this, God is still working out His sovereign and gracious plan of redemption

2 / ‘there was a famine’ The famine was no more a random, chance fluke of nature than God’s giving them bread later [v 6]. God intended for famine to bring them to repentance and back to Him

3 / ‘in the land’ The land was not just chattel or real estate … the land was God’s inheritance given to His people, and where He would dwell with them and bless them. To leave the land was to leave the Presence and blessing of Yahweh, their God [see Lev 25.23-24]. Watch for the repetitions of ‘land’ and ‘fields’ and for contrasts of ‘land’ and ‘country’ – between ‘Bethlehem’ and ‘Moab’

IV | Ruth 1.2-5: Naomi is emptied

1 / So here’s where the downward spiral into emptiness begins [see v 21]

2 / Their story begins in Bethlehem. The name means ‘house of bread’ [see also 1.6 & 2.14]. Micah 5.2 refers to Bethlehem as just an ‘insignificant’ village in Judah—viewing at it from a merely ‘horizontal’ perspective…human, physical point of view. And, even as far as the human author is concerned, Bethlehem’s distinction is just as the home village of David—who is Israel’s first God-anointed king…and from whom Christ will come! But God knows where He’s going with this Story!

3 / They all go to sojourn in the country of Moab. We can’t begin to feel the visceral cringe factor that ‘Moab’ would have had to an Israelite in that day [Gen 19.30-38; Num 22-25; Deut 23.3-6; Judges 3.12-14]. Moab was the son born to the incestuous relationship between Lot and his two daughters.

4 / Note the progress of ‘emptiness’: v 1 ‘famine’; v 3 ‘died’; v 3 ‘left with’; v 5 ‘died’; v 5 ‘left without.’ God is bringing Naomi to the painful and bitter end of herself and all her resources for joy – so He can bring her back to Himself and begin filling her with His fullness … and all of us are receiving the fullness of the blessing of Christ as a result of this…

V | Ruth 1.6-14b: Naomi pleads with her two daughters-in-law to “return” [or ‘stay’] in their native home, Moab

1 / This is obviously the bulk of the story in chapter 1 – the author begins in verse 6 with twelve repetitions of some form of the word ‘return / turn back / go back’: vv 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 (x2), 16, 21, 22 (x2). Yahweh is ‘returning’ to Israel and ‘returning’ Israel to Himself!  NOTE: find at least 3 reasons why Naomi says Orpah and Ruth should ‘return’ back to their previous country and families [vv 8-13]

2 / God’s blessing is not in Moab – it is in ‘the land’ of His covenant promises. So God must devise the means to bring Naomi back to ‘the land’ … with Ruth—the Gentile Moabitess convert!

3 / The author also introduces another word in v 8: ‘kindly’ [from ‘chesed’]. This is the same word used so often in Scripture to speak of God’s covenant love and faithfulness. The word is often translated: ‘mercy’ / ‘steadfast love’ / ‘lovingkindness.’ God is obviously pointing to Himself as the covenant God of Israel [note Boaz’s covenant blessing on Ruth in ch 2.12]. …AND He is ‘pre-enacting’ how He will send Jesus Christ into our world as our Merciful Redeemer [see Lk 1.76-79]  

4 / Naomi also expresses her first grievous complaint against Yahweh’s treatment of her in how He has emptied her of all her fullness and joy [v 13]

VI | Ruth 1.14c-18: Ruth’s promise and response of love … she made a covenant commitment to Naomi, and made a profession of faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel

1 / v 14c begins the story of Ruth: “but Ruth clung to her…” [the same word found in Gen 2.24]

2 / Naomi again attempts to persuade Ruth to go back to her former people and gods – this was the only humanly reasonable recourse for Ruth

3 / But Naomi’s God—Yahweh of Israel—had won Ruth’s heart – and the commitment of her life

4 / Find and repeat the five promises / vows / commitments Ruth made to Naomi – and by extension, to Naomi’s God [vv 16-17]

5 / Think how these same promises/vows/commitments reflect the commitments of faith we make to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, when we believe on Him and follow Him

VII | Ruth 1.19-22: Naomi and Ruth return and arrive in Bethlehem

1 / v 19: “So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.” Yahweh is returning them to “the house of bread” – not just the bread of  physical food, but more … to the place where He had foreordained that our Redeemer would be born “in the fullness of time…”

2 / This is where they must be to establish the human family lineage to God’s Christ / Messiah – who will come to redeem Israel AND the nations from our sins [see Luke 1.26; 2.1-7; Matthew 2.1-6]

3 / All Bethlehem was abuzz with Naomi’s arrival – so glad to see her. But Naomi rebuked them for calling her by her name “Pleasant” and insists on the name “Mara” = ‘bitter.’

4 / Yes – Yahweh had afflicted her, but not to mistreat, abuse, diminish, or destroy her … Yahweh had afflicted her to give her no choice but to come back to the place of covenant blessing – so He can begin filling her to the full with His MERCY [chesed – go back to V, 3/]

5 / v 21 becomes the theme sentence of chapter 1 – but it also sets in stark contrast what God is about to do for her – AND FOR US! There is also Ruth the Moabite [Gentile / ‘nations/] coming to Bethlehem [house of bread] AND future birthplace of the Redeemer!

6 / “at the beginning barley harvest” because God has timed it perfectly for her to need and meet Boaz … who is God’s foreordained “pre-enactment” of His Christ, our Messiah-Savior, our Redeemer!Up until this little simple phrase, all we have seen and witnessed is ‘emptiness.’ But now, by timing His Providences for this precise season for Naomi’s and Ruth’s ‘turn/return’ to Bethlehem, Yahweh is going to begin His sovereign graces of supplying His ‘fullness’ of their ‘emptiness.’

That will commence immediately in the next scene!

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The Depths of Israel’s Apostasy

Posted on August 1, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua/Judges/Ruth | Lesson 6 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Judges, chapters 17-21

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / As we have already learned, the Book of Judges is divided up into three distinct larger sections—though each of these sections will have other sub-divisions within them:

[I] chs 1—3.6: The Roots of Israel’s Apostasy [Lesson 3]

[II] chs 3.7—16.31: The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostasy [part 1, Lesson 4; part 2, Lesson 5]

[III] chs 17-21: The Depths of Israel’s Apostasy [this lesson]

2 / What will we find in these concluding chapters of Judges? These five concluding chapters of Judges tell two more ‘short stories.’

[1] The first story will be told in chs 17-18. This story is about a man named Micah, a man of the hill country of Ephraim. He has established a shrine, or ‘house of gods,’ or a place of idolatrous worship. He hires a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who is sojourning in Ephraim, and thinks by doing so, he can invoke the blessing of Yahweh on his idolatry. He ends us losing everything he has made by the works of his own hands. He lost his ‘house of gods’ to tribesmen of the tribe of Dan who paid his Levite ‘priest’ more than he could afford to pay.

[2] The second story is told in chs 19-21. This is a dark, sordid story of murder and sodomy—so dark and sordid that the Judges narrator intentionally invokes numerous parallels between Judges 19 and the accounts of Sodom in Genesis 19. We won’t be able to point out all those parallels, but they are there for the studious reader. What occurred in Gibeah of Benjamin then led to the near extinction of a whole tribe of Israel—Benjamin. That part of the story is told in chs 20-21.

3 / Why are these stories told and included in Judges? They are a fitting conclusion to what we found in the introductions of Judges in chs 1—3.6. There, we found that Israel began their downward spiral into apostacy by two over-arching practices which they have cycled over and over throughout the ‘short stories’ of the judges:

[1] they broke faith with Yahweh and the covenant obedience He had commanded them by their idolatrous practices. They forgot, forsook, and abandoned The LORD to go after all the gods of the peoples around them; and

[2] they failed to drive out the inhabitants of the Land which The LORD had given them for their inheritance. They chose to coexist with the wicked Canaanites; and as a consequence, they became like them.

4 / Each of these two stories contains three scenes or movements. All we will able to do here is give the ‘Cliff’s Notes’ summary of how these stories unfold. But they will tell the story of just how far downward Israel had descended into the abysmal pits of apostacy and corruption when they forsook The LORD. They are representative and illustrative of the effects of sin and disobedience against God.

5 / I will add just one more clue to interpreting the narrator’s purpose in telling these stories—as it relates to his overall scheme in the developing storyline of the coming of Christ, the King, into the world. We are all familiar with the Judges theme of “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” That line is repeated four times in Judges, and all four are found in these two stories: 17.6; 18.1; 19.1; 21.25. That summary statement will ‘book-end’ both of these concluding stories. That line is first of all an indictment against Israel…because they did, in truth, have a King! Their King was Yahweh! But they rejected Him and His rule over their lives, thus leading to their total corruption and apostacy. AND, these concluding stories will also prepare them [and us] for the next chapters of their history when they do choose a king to rule over them. Two tribes are prominently mentioned and repeated throughout these concluding stories: Judah and Benjamin. Judah, of course, is the tribe from which David will come [as we will find out in Ruth]; and Saul will come from the tribe of Benjamin. The influences of both of these tribes will stand out in their future selections of a king. Just as Benjamin does not turn out well in the conclusion of Judges, neither will Saul turn out well in the history yet to come…

II | chs 17-18 | The Story of Micah, his ‘house of gods,’ and his Levite

ch 17.1-6 | Micah’s shrine or ‘house of gods’

This story took place in the hill country of Ephraim which was situated in the allotment just north of Judah’s. The main character’s name is Micah, which means ‘Who is like Yahweh?’ Apparently, this Micah thought ‘whoever I choose to make to be like Yahweh is like, or even better than, Yahweh.’ He stole a significant portion of his mother’s silver; then returned it to her with an apology; then she gave it back to him to make carved images to set up in his ‘shrine,’ or ‘house of gods.’ In the opening movement, the Holy Spirit wants us to see that when you forget God, you then do whatever is right in your own eyes. Look at the commandments he violated: he coveted his mother’s silver; he stole his mother’s silver; he dishonors his mother when he steals her silver; he worships other gods before Yahweh; he makes a carved image; and he takes the Name of The LORD in vain when he and his mother call on Yahweh to bless his idolatry [“Blessed be my son by The LORD,” v 3; “Now I know that The LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest,” v 13]. So this Micah establishes his own place of worship to the gods he has made for himself, ordains one of his sons to be his priest, and sets up his own religion—all IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! Here is the first entry of the Judges theme line: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

ch 17.7-13 | Micah’s ‘ordination’ of a Levite to serve as his priest

We are introduced in v 7 to a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. Remember: the Levites had no physical inheritance in the Land because The LORD was their inheritance. They were charged with serving the priests in the Tabernacle in the worship of Yahweh. But they were given cities and fields in numerous locations among the other tribes. This Levite lived in Bethlehem in Judah. He goes to live in Ephraim where he meets up with this Micah, who sees this excellent opportunity to ‘sanctify’ his man-made religious system and idolatrous ‘house of gods’ with a Levite. So, he hires him to be his priest and thinks that he has obligated Yahweh to bless him.

ch 18 | The Danites steal Micah’s ‘house of gods’ and his Levite priest

1 / But, Micah’s religious system is short-lived. When you depart from the Living God and strike out on your own to practice the religion of your own choosing and making, then your ‘god’ and your religion are up for grabs to the highest bidder for whatever religious fulfillment you are seeking. And so it happened to Micah and his priest and house of gods. Here is the second repetition of “In those days there was no king in Israel [and we supply in our minds, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”]

2 / What happened here was that the tribe of Dan had failed to drive out the Canaanites from the allotment that was assigned to them in the original allotment [see ch 1.34-35]. So they start trekking northward to see if they can find another locality where they can settle. The Danites sent out a search party to scout the lands to their north, and they happened to come to the city and house where Micah had set up his house of gods. Lo, and behold! they recognize the voice of Micah’s Levite ‘priest.’ He tells them about his cushy arrangement he has found for himself. So they ask him to inquire of God for them to see if their mission will be blessed by The LORD. Of course, he tells them that The LORD has blessed them. They do go a little farther north and do find a spacious city, Laish, and lands that are wealthy—and unprotected. An easy take for themselves. The scouts go back to their fellow Danites and give them this good news. So now 600 armed Danites to take the city and lands for themselves. However, on their way, they stop again at Micah’s house of gods—and long story short, they outbid Micah for the services of Micah’s Levite priest. They re-hire him for more money than Micah is giving him and offer him a more prestigious position he can’t refuse: “‘Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?’ And the priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people,” ch 18.19-20. Poor Micah! All he can do is helplessly protest, cry, wring his hands, and mourn his losses: “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left?” v 24. The Danites then go on to destroy the city of Laish, burn it to the ground, kill the inhabitants—then rebuild the city to live in it, and renamed it Dan. This city will come up again centuries later when Jeroboam, the first king of the newly-seceded kingdom of northern Israel, will again set up an idolatrous calf in Dan for Israel to worship. In Jeroboam’s day, there will be a counterfeit king in Israel who is again…still…doing what is right in his own eyes! [1 Kings 12.25-33].

3 / Our Judges narrator now reveals the name of the Levite ‘priest,’ and what a shameful besmirching of his family’s name—he is a great-grandson of Moses! see ch 18.30.

III | chs 19-21 | The Story of the Benjaminite’s’ Abominations and Near-Extinction

ch 19 | The Benjaminites have become Sodomites

1 / Here in this second ‘short story’ of Israel’s plunging into the depths of apostacy, the opening line is the third repetition of In those days, when there was no king in Israel… [see also 17.6; 18.1] And here we will see the depths of the moral depravity, debauchery, and perversion to which Israel had descended. The events of this chapter transpire in the city of Gibeah. Gibeah is in the tribal allotment of Benjamin. The narrator is taking us back to the opening introduction of Judges, back to ch 1.21, where the failure of Benjamin to drive out the Jebusites from their allotted inheritance—but rather chose to let them live and live among them is recorded. [As we have seen earlier, Gibeah is also the king Saul’s hometown later on.] But when the Benjaminites failed to drive out the Canaanite inhabitants, they became just like them.

2 / The story also is about another Levite. In the previous story, that Levite went from Bethlehem to the hill country of Ephraim. In this story, this Levite will go in reverse: from the hill country of Ephraim down to Bethlehem. The gist of this story is that this Levite had taken [married—he is called her husband] a concubine from Bethlehem and brought her to Ephraim to live with him. But she abandoned him and went back to her father’s house in Bethlehem [just like Israel had unfaithfully abandoned her Heavenly Husband, Yahweh]. But her Levite husband loved her and arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back [19.3]. This is the same theme and language of Hosea. When he arrived in Bethlehem to fetch her back, her father was glad to see him; and through a lot of cajoling, he persuaded him to stay for five days—two days longer than he had intended—while he hospitably wined and dined him. Until on the evening of the fifth day, the Levite husband insisted they had to go, even though it was late in the day. They did leave—the Levite husband and his wife—and they traveled north.

3 / As the evening fell, they came to the city of Jebus [Jebusites—which would later become Jerusalem]; but the Levite husband didn’t want to risk spending the night among Canaanite ‘foreigners.’ “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah [Benjamin]” ch 19.12. At least there, they will be among their own people. But what they found out is that the Benjaminite inhabitants of Gibeah were worse than the Canaanites—or at least just like them. No one in Gibeah offered them hospitality of staying the night with them, so they ‘camped out’ in the city square. But there was an old man coming home from working his fields; he saw them there in the open square; and knowing more about the Gibeah-ites than they did, told them they would not be safe in the square, and brought them home with him. He hosted them hospitably until they could resume their journey in the morning.

4 / What happened overnight is one of the most sordid stories in the Bible. And it happened in one of Israel’s own tribal cities—Gibeah of Benjamin. This is where the narrator lays his story here in Judges 19 right alongside the story of Sodom in Genesis 19 to show us that when you forget, forsake, and abandon the Kingship and Lordship of God [apostacy] to do what is right in your own eyes—then there are no boundaries to the depths of perversion to which you will sink. The men of Gibeah surround the old man’s house and demand that he “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him” [v 22]—that is, have sodomite, homosexual relations with him. The old man offered them his own virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine, but they insisted on the man. The concubine was thrown out the door, and the men of Gibeah sexually abused her to her death. It is called ‘murder’ in ch 20.4-5.

5 / The Levite goes out first thing in the morning only to find her dead on the threshold. He is heart-broken [remember v 3], and takes her body home to Ephraim. He wants to publicize what an abominable, outrageous, evil act has been committed—even here in Israel. So “he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine, he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel,” ch 19.29. We don’t know how much explanatory commentary he sent with the pieces of her body—we do know he will tell the whole sordid story when the elders and armies of the twelve tribes gather at Mizpah and he tells them what happened in Gibeah in ch 20.1-7. What we also know is that “all who saw it said, ‘Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day…,’” [ch 19.30]. Such is the depths of depravity, debauchery, and perversion to which a people will sink—even professing covenant people—when they forsake, forget, and abandon Yahweh their God to do what is right in their own eyes.    

ch 20 | Civil War–The tribe of Benjamin is attacked and all but exterminated, annihilated

1 / We will be able to only briefly summarize the events of these next two chapters. But this was the consequential, resulting bloodshed and destruction that came upon Israel, and especially the tribe of Benjamin, for their evil, abominable, and outrageous acts they had done in the sight of The LORD. “Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to The LORD at Mizpah…400,000 men on foot that drew the sword,” vv 1-2. They heard the Levite husband’s story behind his sending his concubine’s dismembered body parts to them. They determined that the responsible Gibeah-ites must be executed “that they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel,” v 10. But when they demanded that the tribal elders of Benjamin deliver up the people of Gibeah “that we may put them to death and purge evil from Israel,” v 13, Benjamin instead rallied to the support of Gibeah.

2 / So what happened was: Israel declared civil war against the whole tribe of Benjamin—their brothers—with the intent of exterminating and annihilating the whole tribe. Benjamin was heavily out-numbered: 400,000 Israelites v. 26,700 Benjaminites and Gibeah-ites. That’s a 15 to 1 numerical [dis]advantage! What ensued was a three-day war with Israel suffering substantial casualties during the first two days of combat [vv 19-28]. Israel succeeded, though, on the third day by setting ambush strategies against Benjamin—and they were all massacred [vv 29-46] with the exception of 600 men who escaped to a wilderness hideout where they stayed for four months [v 47]. “And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire,” v 48.

ch 21 | Israel schemes to find wives for the 600 surviving men of Benjamin

1 / Then the men of Israel had a kind of change of heart. “And they said, ‘O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?’” [vv 3]. They were left with 600 surviving Benjaminite men without wives—without which, they could not perpetuate they tribe. But Israel had sworn a great oath to The LORD that no Israelite could ‘willingly give’ his daughter to a Benjaminite as a wife. So, what follows in ch 21 is a whole series of pragmatic compromises they made to the ‘great oath’ they had made to The LORD at Mizpah. At the very best, these compromises were ‘loopholes’ or ‘work-arounds’ so they could at least maintain the appearance of keeping their oath—but yet give their fellow Israelites a way out of total extermination and annihilation.

2 / However, what follows is yet more slaughter of fellow Israelites of Jabesh-gilead which supplied 400 of the needed 600 wives [vv 8-15] and a deceptive ‘kidnapping’ and ‘stealing’ of the remaining 200 wives from among the virgins of Shiloh [vv 16-23]. None of this was on the ‘up and up’ in keeping with either Yahweh’s covenant obedience, nor even with the keeping of their two-part ‘great oath’ they had made before Yahweh [vv 5-7]. It was all still on the ‘down and down’ … further and further into the ‘depths of Israel’s apostacy.’

3 / All of which makes our narrator give his fourth summary thesis of everything he’s written in Judges:

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  

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The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy, part 2

Posted on July 25, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua/Judges/Ruth | Lesson 5 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Judges, chapters 6-16

The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy, part 2

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / As we have already learned, the Book of Judges is divided up into three distinct larger sections—though each of these sections will have other sub-divisions within them:

[I] chs 1—3.6: The Roots of Israel’s Apostacy [Lesson 3]

[II] chs 3.7—16.31: The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy [part 1, Lesson 4]

[III] chs 17-21: The Depths of Israel’s Apostacy [next lesson]

2 / Of course, just from looking, you will note that the over-arching theme of Judges is ‘apostacy,’ that is, ‘standing away from’ where you formerly stood or had stationed yourself. In Israel’s case, their ‘standing’ was in the covenant Yahweh had made with them and given them, going all the way back to Abraham. But now, after Yahweh had faithfully fulfilled every covenant promise He had made to them by delivering them from bondage and slavery in Egypt, faithfully leading and providing for them in their wilderness wanderings, and now bringing them into the Promised Land as their inheritance and rest … but now, they are forgetting, forsaking, and abandoning their commanded obedience to Yahweh. And they did this in the most blatant and egregious ways! See again the historical summary in the introduction, ch 2.6-23.

3 / So, the Book of Judges describes Israel’s ever-repeating cycles of apostacy. We have itemized them before, but I will name them here again so we can see them played out in the stories of the judges who are named in this present lesson section: [1] Sin (apostacy); [2] Subjugation / Servitude (being subjugated to serve their neighboring oppressors); [3] Supplication (crying out to The LORD for deliverance); [4] Salvation (The LORD raised up the judge to deliver them); [5] Sin ‘again’ (returning to their apostatizing ways—even more so) … and cycle re-cycles. See also the ‘seven steps’ of apostacy, Lesson 4 / III.

4 / We will now do a quick and brief survey of the second section of this larger ‘centerpiece section’ of the Book of Judges: “The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy.” This larger section [chs. 3.7—16.31] contains the ‘short stories’ or biographies of the twelve named judges plus one renegade, rogue ‘king wannabe’ by the name of Abimelech [ch 9]. He is a kind of outlier here among the other judges, but yet he also serves as an illustrious example of the apostatized faithless and rebellious spirit that pervaded this whole period of Israel’s history: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” [ch 21.25]. In truth, they did have a King, Yahweh—but they rejected Him!

5 / To get a clearer ‘bird’s-eye’ view of the Judges narrator’s writing plan [structure] for this book, this center section of these twelve judges’ biographies is further divided into two sections. Lesson 4 surveyed the first section [chs 3.7—5.31]. In that section are the stories of three major judges [Othniel, Ehud, Deborah/Barak] and one minor judge [Shamgar]. Now, in this second sub-section, we will again review the stories of another three major judges [Gideon, Jephthah, Samson] and another five minor judges [Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon]. The total number of judges [12] may also be an intentional indicator by the narrator that all twelve tribes of Israel were participants in this wholesale apostacy from Yahweh…

6 / And so, as you read through the Book of Judges, here is the order you will follow [Major / Minor]:

  • Othniel (1st major judge—tribe of Judah) [3.7-11]
  • Ehud (2nd major judge—tribe of Benjamin) [3.12-30]
  • Shamgar (1st minor judge—tribe unknown) [3.31]
  • Deborah/Barak (3rd major judge—tribe of Ephraim) [4.1—5.31]
  • Gideon (4th major judge—tribe of Manasseh) [6.1—8.35]
  • Abimelech, apostate ‘king’ [9.1-57]
  • Tola (2nd minor judge—tribe of Issachar) [10.1-2]
  • Jair (3rd minor judge—tribe of Gilead-Manasseh) [10.3-5]
  • Jephthah (5th major judge—tribe of Gilead-Manasseh) [10.6—12.7]
  • Ibzan (4th minor judge—tribe of Judah?) [12.8-10]
  • Elon (5th minor judge—tribe of Zebulun) [12.11-12]
  • Abdon (6th minor judge—tribe of Ephraim) [12.13-15]
  • Samson (6th major judge—tribe of Dan) [13.1—16.31]

II | chs 6-8 | Gideon / 4th major judge [see Hebrews 11.32]

1 / “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of The LORD…” is the opening line of this second sub-section of the twelve judges—corresponding with the first sub-section in ch 3.7.

2 / The oppressors during the judgeship of Gideon were the Midianites along with numerous allies from the Amalekites and the people of the east [ch 6.3]. Several times throughout this narrative, we are told that they invaded Israel with vast hordes of armies and camels [chs 6.5; 7.12]. Their oppression consisted of ravaging the crops and countryside of everything that was edible, leaving the Israelites without food. This went on for seven years. In fact, when the angel of The LORD appeared to Gideon to call him to serve as Israel’s deliverer, he was hiding down in the winepress pit, beating out some wheat he had salvaged. Gideon was a reluctant judge from the get-go. He doubted himself every step of the way. But Yahweh worked wonder after wonder for him to witness—just so he would be sure that when deliverance did come, it would be the work of Yahweh: “But the Spirit of The LORD clothed Gideon…” [6.34].

3 / Gideon was the son of Joah; and just to show you how far Israel had apostatized from Yahweh, Gideon’s first commission from The LORD was to destroy his own father’s altars and images of Baal and Asherah that he had established for community worship. But The LORD was calling Gideon to overthrow the Midianites and lead them back to Yahweh. In spite of all his flaws, faults, and foibles—and his repeated lack of faith and trusting Yahweh [as we shall see], he is still listed in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11.32.  

4 / Gideon is best known to us for his ‘fleece’ signs that he asked Yahweh to show him. We still talk about asking for some kind of specific sign to discern God’s will as ‘putting out a fleece’ [ch 6.36-40]. Gideon is also well-known for his military conquests with only ‘Gideon’s 300’ [ch 7.1-8]. That number of only 300 soldiers was whittled down from the original 32,000. 22,000 were disqualified under the first test, and then the remaining 9,700 were disqualified in the second test. This was to show Gideon that any victory that ‘he’ won against the innumerable hordes of Midianites would be Yahweh’s doing! In fact, even these 300 men went to war against the Midianites without swords of their own! The only weapons they ‘fought’ with were clay jars, the torches they concealed in the jars, and trumpets they would blow at Gideon’s command. Their shout of their military might and power was “For The LORD and for Gideon!” and “A sword for The LORD and for Gideon!” [ch 7.18, 20]. The way they defeated the Midianites was that The LORD turned the Midianites against themselves—and they killed each other! “When they blew the 300 trumpets, The LORD set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army” [ch 7.22]. When Yahweh turned them upon themselves—they self-defeated!

5 / There is a sad ending to Gideon’s story, though, because at the end of his own life, he established himself as a spiritual cult-leader of a sort and led Israel away from Yahweh during his own latter lifetime. “And Gideon made an ephod [a counterfeit religious vestment/garb] … and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family” [ch 7.27].

III | ch 9 | Abimelech / renegade/rogue ‘king wannabe’

1 / Abimelech’s story begins at the end of Gideon’s. Abimelech was the son of Gideon’s concubine in Shechem [NOTE: Gideon as also called Jerubbaal, chs 7.1; 8.29; 9.1]. As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel once again turned from Yahweh to serve their local false gods [ch 8.33-35]. This son of Gideon, Abimelech, took advantage of the apostacy of Israel where he lived and persuaded his hometown folks in Shechem to anoint him as their ‘king’ rather than serve the other seventy sons of Gideon [ch 8.29-32]. They were all too glad to follow Abimelech. NOTE: the Judges narrator highlights this self-appointed ‘kingship’ of Abimelech to show the stark contrast to the over-all theme of the book: “There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” [ch 21.25]. What we must keep in mind—not only here, but all throughout this book—is that there was a King in Israel all along. Yahweh was their King! It’s just that they would not recognize or obey the King they had! They rejected and apostatized from their True, Righteous, and Rightful King! This prepares us for the need of a Messianic King!

2 / At any rate, Abimelech ruled over Israel three years [ch 9.22], until The LORD sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech…[ch 9.23]. They betrayed Abimelech. This, too, was from The LORD to avenge the blood of Gideon’s seventy sons whom Abimelech had executed. In the series of a civil war battles that ensued, Abimelech was killed when a lone woman dropped a millstone from the roof of a tower where the inhabitants of Thebez had fled when Abimelech besieged it. That was the end of Abimelech and his story.

IV | ch 10.1-5 | Tola and Jair / 2nd and 3rd minor judges

These two minor judges are recorded in these five verses. Tola was from the tribe of Issachar. He judged Israel twenty-three years, and he died. Jair was a Gileadite from the tribe of Manasseh. He judged Israel in his locale for twenty-two years, then he died. He does appear to be quite a figure among his people since he was known for having thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities. And the narrator notes that Jair’s legacy and lore continued for generations following, even to this day [10.4].

V | chs 10.6—12.7 | Jephthah / 5th major judge [see Hebrews 11.32]

1 / Jephthah was another Gileadite [Gilead was the inheritance of the half-tribe of Manasseh on the east side of Jordan]. Except that, Jephthah was an illegitimate son of his father Gilead with a prostitute [11.1-3]. So his brothers expelled him from their inheritance, and he went and settled in a secluded area. Then when they came under servitude and subjugation, they sent to him and asked him to deliver them. Again, Jephthah is the third judge of whom it is said: “Then the Spirit of The LORD was upon [him]…” [11.29].  

2 / The Ammonites were the oppressors in his day. The Ammonites contended with Jephthah to give them back the land that Moses had conquered enroute to Canaan. These were the kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and especially of Sihon king of the Amorites. Jephthah just repeats back to them the stories of those days when Yahweh delivered these kingdoms and lands into the hands of Moses and the Israelites [11.12-28].

3 / Jephthah is well-known for the vow he made to Yahweh—“If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be The LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” [11.30-31]. The LORD did give the Ammonites into his hand…and to his dismay, who was first to run to meet him when he returned home—but his daughter, his only child! So, scholars have debated ever since: did Jephthah actually slaughter his daughter and offer her as a burnt sacrifice? Or was she devoted to The LORD as an unmarried virgin servant for the rest of her days? [11.34-40]. [See Deuteronomy 12.31; 18.9-12]

VI | ch 12.8-15 | Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon / 4th, 5th, and 6th minor judges

Their three stories are briefly related in the narrative…

VII | chs 13-16 | Samson / 6th major judge [see Hebrews 11.32]

1 / Of course, Samson, a Danite, is best known for his super-human strength [as well as his super-weakness for forbidden women, and his rebellious self-will]. And, no doubt, Samson had the physical physique through which Yahweh would work. But, for the fourth time, the Judges narrator credits Yahweh with all of Samson’s victories: “And the Spirit of The LORD began to stir him…” [13.25; 14.6,19; 15.14]. Samson’s strength was in his availability and usability of Yahweh to carry out His judgments of vengeance against the Philistines [chs 13.5, 7; 14.4; 16.28-30]. His ‘Nazirite’ dedication, with all its distinctive lifestyle exclusions [13.4-5, 7, 14; 16.17] designated Samson as an agent through which Yahweh would work His salvation purposes and power. ‘Nazirite’ means ‘devoted, consecrated.’ But, without the immediate Presence of Yahweh, Samson’s strength was no more than any other man’s [16.17, 20, 22-30].

2 / Samson repeatedly violated his Nazirite vows throughout his lifetime, but in the end, he repented of all his failures and called upon Yahweh one last time to fulfill His purposes through him…which He did!

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The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy, part 1

Posted on July 18, 2026 by PastorDave

Joshua / Judges / Ruth | Lesson 4 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Judges 3.7—5.31

The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy, part 1

I | INTRODUCTION / CONNECTIONS / CONTEXT

1 / This is now the second of four survey studies we will be conducting here in the Book of Judges. All we can hope to do is survey the ‘landscape’ of the book.

2 / The over-arching theme of the book is Israel’s apostacy. Apostacy means ‘to move away from [apo] where you once stood [stacy] to stand or station yourself in another place. In Israel’s case, it meant moving away from standing in faithful obedience to Yahweh and the covenant commandments He had given them. They moved away from faithfulness to His covenant obedience to ‘stand’ or ‘station’ themselves as worshipers of the false gods of the nations around them in the Promised Land, Canaan.

3 / This apostacy is summarized for us in the opening paragraphs of Judges, especially in ch 2.11-15. These same scenes summarized here will play in loops all throughout the book in the twelve ‘short stories’ or biographies of the judges whose stories are told in the book.

II | STRUCTURE: DIVISIONS / SECTIONS OF JUDGES

We will divide the book into four sections in this summary survey. The book clearly divides itself into three sections—with the second section sub-dividing itself into two sections also. Here are the sections:

[I] chs 1—3.6: The Roots of Israel’s Apostacy. Here, the narrator will give us the background information that will lead them into their apostacy from covenant obedience to Yahweh. The roots of their apostacy are explained in two scenarios. [1] ch 2.21, 27-36 describes how tribe after tribe did not drive out the Canaanites as Yahweh had commanded to do in Deuteronomy 7. ‘Incomplete’ obedience is disobedience. When they did not drive out the Canaanites, but chose rather to coexist among them, the Israelites conformed to their ways. As a result, they repeatedly were subjugated by the enemies they had been commanded to drive out. [2] As we have already noted above in ch 2.11-15, instead of loving The LORD their God with all their hearts—as they were commanded to do in Deuteronomy 6—they did what was evil in the sight of The LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth [abominable false gods of the Canaanites] … abandoned The LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them … They abandoned The LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth… As we shall see, this cycle was repeated during the 300-350 years or so of the Judges.

[II] chs 3.7—16.31: The Downward Spiral of Israel’s Apostacy. This is the real ‘meat’ of the book. These chapters will give us the twelve ‘short stories’ or biographies of the various judges whom The LORD raised up to save them from their local oppressors. But the reason there are so many cycles of apostacy is stated in ch 2.19: But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. Over and over again this cycle repeats itself over this Judges span of time. [We will divide this section into two lessons: chs 3.7—5.31 and chs 6.1—16.31.]

[III] chs 17-21: The Depths of Israel’s Apostacy. These chapters are not a continuation of the biographies of the judges, but they did occur at some point during these times. But what we will find in those stories when we get to them are two representative narratives of just how far Israel had apostatized from Yahweh’s covenant faith. These two stories will relate some of the darkest, most debauched and sordid accounts in Israel’s history. Yes, there are still some graphically dark events yet to come during the days of some of the kings, but these are representative of just how deep into apostacy Israel descended during these early days of their times in the Promised Land.

III | CYCLES [& RE-CYCLES] OF ISRAEL’S APOSTACY

1 / As we get into these ‘short stories’ or biographies of the twelve individual judges, we will see this cycle of apostacy repeat itself each time. I have given you in our last lesson a series of five stages in each cycle:

[1] Sin (apostacy);

[2] Subjugation (being subjugated to their neighboring oppressors);

[3] Supplication (crying out to The LORD for deliverance);

[4] Salvation (The LORD raised up the judge to deliver them);

[5] Sin ‘again’ (returning to their apostatizing ways—even more so) … and cycle re-cycles.

2 / Or, we can break it down even more into these components:

[1] Israel does evil in the sight of The LORD;

[2] The LORD ‘sells’ or gives His people over into the hand of their enemy oppressors;

[3] Israel cries out to The LORD to save them;

[4] The LORD raises up the judge, or deliverer;

[5] the judge delivers Israel from the hand of their oppressors;

[6] the land has rest and peace for a period of time;

[7] the judge dies, and the people revert once again to their covenant-breaking, Yahweh-forsaking ways.

3 / NOTE: Everyone of these seven elements may not be found in all of these judges biographies—but the Judges narrator includes them in enough of the individual accounts to let us know that they are present and active even if each one is not specifically detailed.

IV | TWELVE ‘SCENES’ OF APOSTACY & JUDGES IN TWO ACTS

Let me give you just one more clue to help you follow the writing plan or structure of the Book of Judges. This will help you see what the author/narrator wants to show us about this downward spiral of Israel’s apostacy. As you read through this section of Judges that gives us the narratives of these twelve judges, we will discover that this lengthy section is actually divided up into two sub-sections. Each of these two sub-sections will give us the biographies of three ‘major’ judges with six other ‘minor’ judges inserted into the narrative.

[1] In chs 3.6—5.31 there are three major judges: Othniel, Ehud, and Deborah/Barak. There is also a ‘minor’ judge, Shamgar, who is given one verse in ch 3.31, with another honorable mention in ch 5.6.

[2] In chs 6.1—16.31 there are three more major judges: Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. There are also five ‘minor’ judges who are noted during this narrative: [Abimelech, ch 9, is technically not a judge like the others, but a self-declared king wannabe–interloper], Tola and Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.

V | ch 3.7-11 Othniel

 1 / Othniel is the first judge to be named. In his account, we will find every one of the seven components of the judges apostacy cycles noted above in III (2/). What the narrator wants to do here is to set the pattern we will find in each of the following judges’ biographies. We would do well to fix this pattern in our minds as a template into which we can fit all the following accounts.

2 / In Othniel’s time, the neighboring oppressor was Cushan-rishathaim [‘Cushan the double-wicked’] king of Mesopotamia. Locate Othniel on the map I have provided for you on page 4 down in the south-central regions of Israel in Judah. Mesopotamia was a then-current superpower to the NE of Israel. Sometimes it is called ‘Aram,’ and is the regions around the Euphrates River. This is the same region where Abram was when The LORD called him to come south to the land He would show him and give him. And, it is also the same region where Jacob fled to live with Laban when he was fleeing Esau.

3 / We have met Othniel before in ch 1.11-15 and Joshua 15.13-19. Othniel was the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother—Caleb’s nephew. And being from the tribe of Judah [the prophetic kingly tribe, Genesis 49.10], it is fitting that the first ‘deliverer’ whom The LORD raised up would be from Judah—the tribe, of course, from whom Christ will come. This family of Caleb, Kenaz, and Othniel seem to be a God-fearing family who like Caleb ‘wholly follow and trust Yahweh.’ In other words, they were a covenant-keeping family.

4 / Note also that Israel’s faithless covenant-breaking sin is described as ‘They forgot The LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.’ This forgot is not a lapse of memory—rather it is a blatant and intentional disregarding and turning away from—apostacy.

5 / In all of these accounts, like we noted in our survey of Joshua, the prominent actor is not the human judge or deliverer. The judge is only the human agent in each space and time. The prominent Actor is Yahweh Himself! “Therefore the anger of The LORD was kindled against Israel, and He sold them… But when the people of Israel cried out to The LORD, The LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel who saved them… The Spirit of The LORD was upon him… and The LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim…into his hand.”

6 / “The Spirit of The LORD” will also come upon three other judges: Gideon, ch 6.34; Jephthah, ch 11.29; Samson, chs 13.25; 14.6, 9; 15.14.

VI | ch 3.12-30 Ehud

1 / The second of the three major judges in this first series is Ehud. NOTE the 7th element in the apostacy cycle we have listed above [OR #5 in the previous steps of apostacy: “Sin ‘again’”]: ‘the judge dies, and the people revert once again to their covenant-breaking, Yahweh-forsaking ways.’ Ch 3.12 says, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of The LORD…” And so the second cycle of apostacy begins…

2 / In Ehud’s time, the oppressor was Eglon the king of Moab, a neighboring nation to the SE of Israel on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were the descendants of the incestuous relations Lot had with his two daughters, Genesis 19.36-37. [Moab is also the country from which Ruth will come.] Locate Ehud’s notation on the accompanying map on page 4 in central Israel just W of the Jordan River.

3 / “The account of Ehud is filled with humor, irony, wordplay, and graphic scenes of deliverance. If these events were to be depicted on television or film, they would certainly come with a strong parental warning.” Miles V. Van Pelt, ESV Expository Commentary.  Long story short, Eglon king of Moab was a very fat man, and Ehud delivered Israel from his hand by paying Eglon an official visit and assassinating him by stabbing him in his belly, rupturing his intestines, and leaving his dagger in his belly.

VII | ch 3.31 Shamgar

Shamgar is given one verse of text, though he is mentioned one more time in ch 5.6. You can locate Shamgar on the judges map in the extreme N region of Israel—though his activity was probably more down in the S region on the Mediterranean coast where the Philistines inhabited: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza. He serves as a bridge between Ehud [‘after him’] and the accounts of Deborah and Barak

VIII | chs 4-5 Deborah and Barak

1 / Deborah’s service is located in the central part of Israel. The oppressor during her time was Jabin king of Canaan. Deborah was a wise woman who gained a wide reputation for giving counsel and judgment. Deborah’s role is a credit to her for sure; but her service also more importantly shows the absence and neglect of the men of her time from ‘manning up’ and serving as they should. This is emphasized and accentuated by her charge to Barak to assume the role of deliverer [ch 4.4-7]…and Barak’s cowardly response that “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go” [ch 4.8].

2 / The LORD did deliver Israel by the hand of Barak [and Deborah’s charge to him], but the means by which Yahweh chose to deliver Israel was facilitated by another noble and brave woman, Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite [ch 4.9, 17-23]. Jael hammered a tent peg through the temple of Sisera, Jabin’s general and delivered him dead to Barak.

3 / The song of Deborah and Barak in ch 5 is a hymn of praise to Yahweh for His spectacular intervention in saving Israel.

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