Can God Fix This Mess?

The Bible, as God's written word, is a wonderful mix of various genres—or types of literature—that work together to tell the main story of how he is rescuing a people to be his prized possession. So, in reading the Bible you encounter poetry but not simply for the purpose of inspiration but to reveal in a beautiful form the beauty of God. You encounter law but not simply as a code of right and wrong but as a guide for how to live in relationship with the Savior. And, among many other genres, you encounter story as in the case of Ruth.

Stories convey truth in a special way. In the Bible stories are mainly a vehicle for moving forward the big story of God's redemption. Ruth is not mainly about Ruth, or Naomi, or Boaz. It isn't mainly a series of moral lessons wearing a disguise called narrative. It reveals God; his holiness, his tenderness, his covenant loyalty. It presents God in such a way that, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, we want to know him, and trust him, and love him, and serve him. Still, Bible stories invite us into the lives of characters as they navigate the twists and turns of the plot. Along the way we can learn about ourselves, not because the story is about us but because it is like our story.

So as we study Ruth we hope to learn about ourselves but never apart from a conscious awareness of our place in God's big story of redemption.