A Romantic God

A Romantic God Who Rewards the Risk Taker 

"A ship is safe in harbour, but that is not what ships are built for."

- William Shedd

The Almighty Lord, that is, the all-powerful, loving and personal, God who binds himself to His people in covenant, is looking to reward you, his courageous faithful one, with a guaranteed hope. 

That’s the message of Ruth, chapter 3. 

Ruth is a romance.  It’s not a romance novel though; it’s a true story, and understanding the type of literature you are reading in the Bible will go a long way toward helping you understand its meaning and get the most out of it.  In Scripture, some kinds of literature – or genres – are easy:  Jesus’ parables for instance, the historical books (e.g., the gospels), poetry (like the psalms), apocalyptic literature, like the book of Revelation.  Each represents its own genre and each leads us, consciously or unconsciously, to make assumptions about how to interpret it. 

When we read the Bible – or any literature – we consciously or unconsciously make decisions about what kind of literature it is, about the genre.  Even our children understand the difference between a story like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and their school textbooks.  As we make those interpretive decisions, we form expectations about the nature of the passage and its meaning, and how it applies to us.  If we jump to false conclusions about genre, it can lead us to false conclusions about the passage. 

God’s actions in history, properly interpreted, are essential, core components of the Christian religion.  One theologian regards Ruth as a folk tale.  A folk tale would render Ruth historically irrelevant and so, from a Christian perspective religiously insignificant.  Another commentator makes a persuasive case for treating the book of Ruth as an "edifying short story."  As with any good story, Biblical short stories include the setting, a problem, complications, incidents leading to resolution of the problem, the resolution itself, a response and conclusion.  As a short story, we can treat Ruth as both historically accurate and theologically significant.  And it makes for good story telling! 

Ruth is a romance.  Blink and you’ll miss it; put on your prudish Sunday School glasses and deny it, but Ruth, chapter 3 is romantic.  Just as we can lose sight of the romance in a relationship, we can miss it elsewhere too.  We can miss the romantic or marriage-like aspect of our relationship with God.  We can fail to see romance in the Bible when it’s right there in front of us.  Ruth's rendezvous with Boaz on the threshing floor is steeped in romance.

But the message of Ruth 3 is bigger still: the Almighty Lord, that is, the all-powerful, loving and personal, God who binds himself to His people in covenant, is looking to reward you, his courageous faithful one, with a guaranteed hope. 

Tonight, Ruth will put everything on the line for the sake of her mother-in-law.