We just went through the lovely story of Ruth, with Naomi, the destitute widow, Ruth the foreigner, and Boaz, the wealthy farmer – ending with Boaz and Ruth, both mentioned by name, in the line of Christ. And here’s the biggest lesson of all, hidden in the very first phrase of the book:

In the days when the judges ruled… (Ruth 1.1, ESV)

How weird is that? What kind of days are we talking about? Have you read Judges, the book that opens, “There arose a generation who knew not the Lord...” (Judges 2.10), and closes with:

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21.25, ESV)

Some of the ugliest stories in the Bible are in Judges – read chapters 17 to 21, for example. Even most of the heroes of Judges leave a lot to be desired. Read the story of Samson, for example, chapters 13 – 16.

In those days, the days of the judges, God did something behind the scenes in an out-of-the way place, with a widow and a foreigner. God’s story plays out…in the worst of circumstances.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. (Luke 3.1, 2, ESV. Those were pretty bad times, too!)