Page 75 - Advanced OT Survey Revised

Practical Application: Disobedience always brings judgment. The Israelites present a perfect example
of what we are not to do. Instead of learning from experience that God will always punish rebellion
against Him, they continued to disobey and suffer God’s displeasure and discipline. If we continue in
disobedience, we invite God’s discipline, not because He enjoys our suffering, but “because the Lord
disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son" (Hebrews 12:6).

The Book of Judges is a testament to God’s faithfulness. Even “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful”
(2 Timothy 2:13). Though we may be unfaithful to Him, as the Israelites were, still He is faithful to save
us and preserve us (1 Thessalonians 5:24) and to forgive us when we seek forgiveness (1 John 1:9). “He
will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God,
who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:8-9).
lvi

Ruth
Ruth is a book that narrates God’s providence in a time of Israel’s
decline in leadership and spiritual condition.

Author and Date: The author and date of writing are both
unknown.

Themes include: Steadfastness and Sovereignty.

Message: In the face of exile and emptiness, with no escape evident, God used a faithful foreigner to
providentially preserve Naomi, secure the royal line (David/Messiah) Exigencies Exiled? Empty? Escape?

Full to Empty (1:1-6) - Set in the Judges period, the story opens with an Israelite family moving to Moab
temporarily due to famine. In a short time, Naomi’s husband and two sons die. As a result, Naomi is left
far from the patrimony of her husband’s family, with no husband, no sons, and no grandchildren. In the
Israelite mind, this family has become an ‘non-family’ and this woman is in dire straits. Naomi is left
exiled in Moab) empty (no provider), and no evident escape (no male heir). But she hears from Moab
that YHWH has taken notice of His people, giving bread the ‘house of bread.’ (Bethlehem). Yet the
question remains whether Shaddai will protect and provide for Naomi and Ruth. Does He care for
individuals? Will He fill Naomi’s emptiness?

Levirate Marriage and the Sandal Ceremony

Levir is the Latin word for “brother-in-law.” The levirate marriage is described in the
legal text of Deuteronomy 25:5-10. If a man died without leaving a male heir, his
widow was to marry within the husband’s family. Moreover, the husband’s brother
(the brother-in-law of the widow) was required to perform the duty of the levir; that
is, marry the woman and produce a son (an heir).

Preserving the family line was important in Israel. The levirate marriage was linked to
the laws of inheritance, so any offspring from the husband’s brother were considered
children of the deceased. The firstborn son would take the name of the dead former husband.

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