the story of the old testament session 4: joshua, judges, ruth (the promised land) 1

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The Story of the Old TestamentSession 4: Joshua, Judges, Ruth (The Promised Land)

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Recap Of Covenants#1 Adamic CovenantGenesis 2

#2Noahic CovenantGenesis 9

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Recap of Covenants#3 Abrahamic CovenantGenesis 12, 15, 17

#4Mosaic CovenantExodus 19-24

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Recap Of Covenants#5 Davidic Covenant2 Samuel 7

#6New CovenantJeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-32 (hints before this – e.g., Deut. 30:6)

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JoshuaAs we begin Joshua, where are we in the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham:

Land – a new generation, with a new leader, stands at the edge of the land poised for conquest!Numerous offspring – fulfilled!Worldwide blessing - closer than ever, Israel as God’s covenant people, his treasured possession, are to mediate the Lord’s presence (blessing) to the nations by being a kingdom of priests & a holy nation!

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Israel Enters the Promised Land (1-5)

Joshua Commissioned (1:2)“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.”

The Lord’s Presence Promised (1:5)“Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave or forsake you.”

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The Lord’s covenant promises central (1:6)

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

Reminder that only obedience enjoy the blessing of the Lord’s covenant promises (1:7-8)

“[D]o according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn

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from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

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Israel Enters the Land (6-11)

Joshua sends spies into the land (2:1)

Rahab protects the spies because she has cast her lot in with Israel and put her faith in Israel’s God (2:9-11)

“I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you

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came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”

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Rahab’s confession takes us back to Exodus 9:15-16

“For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Alignment with line of restoration=salvation

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Spies give a faith-filled report (2:24)

“Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt way because of us.”

The Lord parts the Jordan as He parted the Red Sea (3:7-17) Israel obeys the Lord in circumcising the males of the wilderness generation & in observing the Passover (5:2-10) because only the obedient experience the blessing of fulfillment

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Israel Takes Possession of the Land (6-11)

The First Battle in the Land – Jericho (6)

Victory pronounced (6:2)“See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.”

Strange strategy given (6:3-5)March around the city, blow trumpets, and shoutSchreiner: “The bizarre strategy confirmed that Israel could not attribute

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victory to its own military prowess. Their victory was a gift of grace-an astounding work of the Lord.”

Victory realized through obedience

The people did as the Lord commanded. For six days, the people marched around Jericho. On the seventh day, the people raised a collective shout of faith and the walls of Jericho “fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man

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straight before him, and they captured the city.” (6:20)

Reason for complete destruction of certain Canaanite cities – Back in Genesis 15!

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they

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serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Gen. 15:13-16)

This reality puts God’s incomprehensible and all-encompassing sovereignty on full display!

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Achan’s Disastrous Disobedience (7:1-26)

Took items under the ban & “the anger of the Lord burned against the people” (7:1)Israel defeated by Ai – 36 men dieIsrael spiraled in fear (hearts melted)Joshua doubts and calls out to the Lord – “Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to

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dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” (7:7-8)Achan’s entire family put to death (7:25-26)

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Schreiner: Israel “would experience the same fate as the inhabitants of Jericho if they violated the provisions of the covenant.”“Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their

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enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.” (7:11-12)

Defeat Turned To Victory (8:1-2)After justice of the Lord satisfied through judgment, the Lord gives Israel victory over Ai

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Deuteronomy 28 Comes to Life!

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“[A]ll Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law,

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the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.” (8:33-35)

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Gibeonite deception (9:3-21)While the majority of the peoples in Canaan responded in rebellion to the revelation of the Lord’s glory through his awesome acts on behalf of his people (9:1-2), the inhabitants of Gibeon responded like Rahab and made a covenant with Israel so that they would not be destroyed by them.

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Gibeonite faith (9:24)“[I]t was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you-so we feared greatly of our lives because of you and did this thing.”Another echo of Exodus 9:15-16!

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Israel’s Foolishness in Entering Covenant

Exodus 34:12 - “Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.”

Consequence of Israel’s Foolishness

Pulled into a war between Gibeon and the 5 kings of the Amorites (Joshua 10)

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God’s Grace Triumphs Over Israel’s Foolishness

“Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” (Joshua 10:8)Israel prevails primarily because of a hailstorm sent from the Lord (10:10-11)The rest of Joshua 10 outlines the “Southern Campaign”

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The Southern Campaign (10:29-42)Libnah (10:29-30), Lachish (10:31-32), Horam king of Gezer (10:33), Eglon (10:34-35), Hebron (10:36-37), 10:38-39), and “the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and

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all their kings. He left none remaining, but devote to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the county of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.” (10:40-42)

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Israel Takes Possession of the Land (6-11)Joshua 11 traces the Northern

Campaign

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At the end of Joshua 11, we encounter profound words of fulfillment: “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.” (11:23)

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Israel Makes the Land Their Home (12-22)

Review & Introduction to Third Section

1-5 – Israel Entered Land6-11 – Israel Took Possession of Promised Land12-22 – Israel Makes Promised Land Home

Work Left to Do – Land Yet to Conquer (13:1)The Lord Will Go Before Them (13:6)

“I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.”

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½ of Manasseh, Reubenites, Gadites take inheritance East of the JordanPromised Land Divided Among Other Tribes (save the Levites) (13:7-8, 14)

Entered, taken, possessed, now owned as an inheritance!

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The Experience of Fulfillment (21:43-45)

“Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled their. And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their

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enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”

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Israel Dwells in the Land (23-24)

In Joshua 23, Joshua Reminds Israel that:

they have possession of the Promised Land because the Lord fought on their behalf (23:3);that he allocated a portion of the Promised Land to the respective tribes as an inheritance pursuant to the Lord’s instructions (23:4);that the Lord will drive out the peoples that still remain in the Promised Land so

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that they can fully come into their inheritance (23:5);they must “be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left” so that they (a) don’t become led astray by the surrounding nations and (b) can continue to “cling to the Lord your God”

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and “[b]e very careful . . . to love the Lord your God” (23:8-11);if they turn from the Lord and cling to the gods of the nations then they will experiences the curses set forth in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 (23:12-13, 15-16);“not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.” (23:14)

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In Joshua 24:2-13, Joshua recounts the Lord’s progressive fulfillment of his redemptive promises:

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.

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And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between

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you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in the Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to

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curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Grigashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on

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which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat of the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.”

In light of the Lord’s relentless faithfulness to them, the people of Israel are called to respond in faith: “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.” (24:14)

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Joshua famously declares his alignment with the Lord: “[A]s for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (24:15)The people of Israel claim that they will obey (24:16-18)Joshua makes it clear that they will not obey but, rather, rebel, experience the curses that naturally flow from that rebellion (24:19-20)Joshua dies, Joseph’s bones buried, Joshua’s generation obeyed the Lord (24:29-33)

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Where are We At the End of Joshua?

Land – we are finally in the Promised Land, this promise has been fulfilled!Numerous offspring – we are an exceedingly numerous people, this promise has been fulfilled!Worldwide blessing – partial fulfillment by people mediating the Lord’s presence to the nations by being his treasured possession, kingdom of priests, holy nation (e.g. Rahab, Gibeonites)

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Judges: The Story Continues

As we begin Judges, we pick the story up right were we left off in Joshua.

2/3 of the Lord’s promises to Abraham have been fulfilled, progress is being made on the third promise, and Joshua is dead

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Cycle of Rebellion, Judgment, Repentance, Salvation Introduced

(1:1-3:6) While Judges begins with the optimistic mood carried throughout the book of Joshua (1:4-26), the mood quickly changes

7 of the 12 tribes are mentioned in the last ½ of Judges 1 as failing to complete the task of driving the Canaanites from their respective portions of the Promised Land!

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(1:1-3:6) The angel of the Lord confronts Israel’s in Judges 2:1-3: “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

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(1:1-3:6) Israel’s rebellion was caused by the rise of a new generation: “there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” (2:10)Schreiner: “Apparently, the Deuteronomic ideal of teaching children to love, fear, and hold fast to the Lord had failed (see Deut. 4:4; 10:20; 11:22; 13:5; 30:20). Israel was in the land but not in the Lord.”

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(1:1-3:6) This new generation “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they 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. And they provoked the Lord to anger.” (2:11-12)

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(1:1-3:6) Schreiner: “The book of Judges dashes any hopes that worldwide blessing would come soon through Israel.”Promised Curses Come (2:14-15)

“So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.

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(1:1-3:6) Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.”Sadly, we are seeing what was pronounced in Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 4 & 30Cycle of rebellion, judgment, repentance, salvation spelled out clearly in Judges 2:16-19

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(1:1-3:6) “Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he

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(1:1-3:6) saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.”

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Cycle of Rebellion, Judgment, Repentance, Salvation Recounted

(3:7-16:31) Series of JudgesOthniel (Judges 3:7-11)Ehud (Judges 3:12-30)Shamgar (Judges 3:31)Deborah (Judges 4:1-5:31)Gideon (Judges 6:1-8:35)Abimelech (Judges 9:1-57)Tola (Judges 10:1-2)Jair (Judges 10:3-5)

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(3:7-16:31) Series of JudgesJephthah (Judges 10:6-12:7)Ibzan (Judges 12:8-10)Elon (Judges 12:11-13)Abdon (Judges 12:14-15)Samson (Judges 13:1-16:31)

Need for a KingSchreiner: “As the story goes on in Judges, it becomes apparent, despite the victories

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(3:7-16:31) won by the judges, that they are weak and fallible. . . . The faults of the judges whom Yahweh raised up to deliver Israel indicate that Israel needed a king-a man after God’s own heart.”

Genesis 49:8-12 (blessing of Judah), Numbers 24:17 (king will crush head of Moab), Deut. 17:14-20 (laws for kings) point to restoration coming about through a king

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(3:7-16:31) Placement of Judges in OT argues that need for king is a theme – Ruth provides genealogy of future king, 1-2 Samuel tells the story of how the future king rose to powerSeveral false steps toward kingship in Judges

People ask Gideon to be king – he refuses by saying: ““I will not rule over you, and

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(3:7-16:31) my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” (Judges 8:23)Abimelech, Gideon’s evil son, seizes power as king by killing 69/70 of Gideon’s other sonsAbimelech only ruled 3 years – cursed time filled with needless bloodshed

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(3:7-16:31) These chapters in Judges are anything but boringSchreiner: “The narrator often calls attention to how unusual [the judges] were, indicating that they are unexpected saviors . . . . Yahweh was ‘realizing his providential designs by means which completely overturn human expectations.’”

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(3:7-16:31) The “highlight reel” from JudgesEhud (left-handed!) delivered Israel by first stabbing Eglon the king of Moab (who was very fat) while he was going to the restroom causing “the dung” to come out. Eglon’s attendants “waited till they were embarrassed” and then went in to find him dead. Once the fat king was dead, Ehud led Israel in battle against the Moabites and defeated them (3:12-30);

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(3:7-16:31) The “highlight reel” from JudgesShamgar killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad (3:31);Sisera, a general on a Canaanite army, was killed by a tent peg being driven through his head while he slept (4:21);Gideon famously asks, twice, for a sign by laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor (6:36-40);

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(3:7-16:31) The “highlight reel” from JudgesGideon’s army was reduced from 32,000 to 10,000 with every fearful person having the opportunity to go home and then reduced from 10,000 to 300 based upon how they took a water break. Then, the “army” of 300 defeated a great army by blowing trumpets, shouting, and smashing jars (7:1-25);Jephthah bizarrely made a vow that he would sacrifice “to the Lord” the first person who

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(3:7-16:31) The “highlight reel” from Judgescame out to greet him from his tent which led to the killing of his only child (11:29-40)The Spirit of the Lord of the Lord rushed upon Samson and he tore a lion in pieces with his bare hands and then several days later ate honey from the lion’s carcass (14:5-6) Samson burned the fields of the Philistines by

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(3:7-16:31) The “highlight reel” from Judgescatching 300 foxes, and connected flaming torches to the tails and set them free (15:4-5)Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey (15:14-17)Samson is eventually taken down through his relationship with Delilah and her deceptive cunning. The Lord left him and “the Philistines seized him and gouged out his

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(3:7-16:31) The “highlight reel” from Judgeseyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles.” (16:20-21) But, the Lord’s presence returned to him as “the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved” and in his last act killed 3,000 Philistines by breaking down the pillars of the house in which they were gathered to worship their god. (16:22-31)

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(3:7-16:31) The battle between the line of restoration and the line of rebellion is nothing short of bizarre in the book of Judges!NT casts the judges as people who trusted the Lord and “acted on that trust and thereby delivered Israel from its enemies. In other words, the judges should be remembered primarily as people of faith, not as those who disobeyed the Lord.” (Schreiner)

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(3:7-16:31) But, how do these judges and these accounts point to Jesus?Goldsworthy: “We need to distinguish between the pattern of events and their perfection. The events of saving history in the Old Testament prefigure and demonstrate the pattern of the one true and perfect saving act yet to come. They do it well enough to point the people of that time to the way of salvation by grace through faith. God is not

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(3:7-16:31) playing games with Israel for the sake of us who come afterward. His promises are true for them, and the way of salvation is made plain. Yet the failures of the saving figures, the prophets, the priests, and the kings, as well as the overall failure of Israel, all point to the fact that the real saving event still lies in the future. . . . . Thus, we not only distinguish between the pattern and the perfection . . . but also between the inadequacy of the Old Testament type to save and its function of pointing forward

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(3:7-16:31) to the only true basis of salvation in Jesus Christ. The epistle to the Hebrews shows us that a principal point of unity between the two Testaments is the pattern of redemption, while the real distinction lies in the fact that only the saving work of Jesus suffices to save anyone.”Judges were imperfect; Jesus is perfect!Judges brought about temporary victory; Jesus brings about eternal victory!

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The Downward Trajectory of Israel’s Rebellion (17:1-21:25) The book of Judges closes with 2 disturbing stories

Schreiner: “Israel was supposed to be the offspring of the woman, but they were virtually indistinguishable from the offspring of the serpent.”The root of the problem set forth in Judges 17:6: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

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The Downward Trajectory of Israel’s Rebellion (17:1-21:25) First Disturbing Story – Judges 17-18

Great-grandson of Moses ordained to a priesthood devoted to the worship of idols!

Second Disturbing Story – Judges 19-21

Inhabitants of Gibeah sexually abuse and kill the concubine of a LeviteLevite cuts the body of the dead concubine into 12 pieces and sent pieces to the 12 tribesIsrael assembles against the tribe of Benjamin and almost wipes them out

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The Downward Trajectory of Israel’s Rebellion (17:1-21:25) The Closing Verse of Judges Again Restates the Problem And Points to the Need For A King

“[I]n those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (21:25)

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Where Are We As We Leave Judges?

Land – the people of Israel are still in the Promised Land – still fulfilled Numerous offspring – still exceedingly numerous, but the tribe of Benjamin greatly reduced.Worldwide blessing – the partial fulfillment of the promise of worldwide blessing through the mediation of the Lord’s presence by Israel being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation has completely evaporated. Israel is many things but holy is not one of them at this point.

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RuthRuth does not progress the storyline of the Old Testament but, rather, shines a ray of hope into the darkness set by the book of Judges

The story of Ruth takes place during the time of the judges (1:1)

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I Left Full & Return Empty (1:1-22)

Elimelech, Naomi, and 2 sons leave Bethlehem to seek refuge from the famine in the land of MoabEbimelech & 2 sons die leaving Naomi with 2 daughters-in-lawIn her distress Naomi exclaims that the “hand of the Lord has gone out against me” and “I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the

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Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”Schreiner: “Naomi’s theology here is quite sophisticated, anticipating the book of Job. She does not maintain that her sufferings are the result of her sin, nor does she argue that what happened to her was outside of the Lord’s control. Yahweh brought calamity upon her. His hand was stretched against her. He made her bitter. And yet Naomi was not suggesting that the Lord was defiled by

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any evil in what he did to her; the Lord was just and good despite the evils that Naomi experienced from his hand. The Lord remained King even in the midst of difficult times. Naomi did not minimize the evils that she experienced; she did not give a saccharine response that was contrary to the depth of human experience. She lamented and grieved over the pain that had come her way.”

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But, not is all lost for Naomi, for Ruth clings to her in her distress (1:14) and famously pronounces her undying loyalty: “Do not urge me to leave you are to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

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Ruth’s faith points us back to Rahab and the Gibeonites and even further back to the promise of worldwide blessing made to Abraham!Ruth’s faith is a ray of light shining through the darkness of the book of Judges & this ray of light shines brighter as we learn that the Lord visited his people and gave them foodWith this news, Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem

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Refuge & Blessing in Israel (2:1-4:22)

Ruth works diligently in Boaz’s fieldsBoaz is “one of our redeemers” – Deut. 25:5-6

Boaz protects, blesses, and generously provides for Ruth & NaomiStaggering loss to unexpected blessing – the ray of hope shines even brighter!Boaz fulfills the duties of a redeemer and takes Ruth as his wifeThe blessing of the people is profound!

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“Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, ‘We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. . . . [M]ay 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.” (4:11-12)

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Rachel & Leah gave birth to 8/12 of the tribes of Israel!Judah was the chosen tribe through whom the promised restoration would come!All included in genealogy of Christ: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. . . .”

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The genealogy in Ruth 4:18-22 is the most important part of the book: “Now these are the generations of Perez:

Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed,

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Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”

This is the exact genealogy we find in Matthew 1:3-6 (with some important additions!):

Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and

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Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, andJesse the father of David the king.

Rahab is the same prostitute from Jericho that protected the Israelite spies, Ruth is a Moabite, and David is not just described by name but also by title – KING!

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Where Are We As We Leave Ruth?

Ray of light is shining through the darkness of the judgesIt is becoming clearer that the promised restoration would come through a kingJudges shows the need for a king, Ruth gives the kings genealogy, and 1-2 Samuel shows how the promised king rose to power!

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Where Are We As We Leave Ruth?

But what about the Abrahamic promises?

Land – still in state of fulfillment. Numerous offspring – still in state of fulfillment.Worldwide blessing – the partial fulfillment of the promise of worldwide blessing through the mediation of the Lord’s presence by Israel being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that was completely evaporated in the book of Judges has been somewhat revived

the story of the old testament session 4: joshua, judges, ruth (the promised land) 1

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