Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God
Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God: Sweet and Bitter Providence in the Book of Ruth
By: John Piper
“Ruth answers the question ‘Can I trust and love the God who has dealt me this painful hand in life?’”
Based on the primary title of this book I thought it would be a more political book or one with a lot of statistics or modern context. I suppose Piper’s book Bloodlines is for that.
I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong about this book.
The story of Ruth has a special place in my heart and it was really insightful to read about all the things I missed about a story I loved!
There are many things woven into the threads of this four chapter book of the Bible:
Ruth is…
“a love story”
"a portrait of manhood and womanhood”
”about racial and ethnic diversity and harmony”
”about how God’s purposes are good”
”meant to release radical, risk-taking love”
”a showing of how all of history, even its darkest hours, serves to magnify the glory of God’s grace”
It’s possible that much of this book was taken from a sermon series Piper did on Ruth and I wouldn’t be surprised. It read like a sermon— and by that I mean it was expositional, conversational, applicable teaching.
The book is comprised of four chapters, like Ruth, and in each one he dissects the material and pulls out the threads listed above.
One of the most obvious themes of the book of Ruth is the story of Naomi who loses much and falls into bitterness but who is revived by God’s providence.
“The book of Ruth reveals the hidden hand of God in the bitter experiences of his people. The point of this book is not just that God is preparing the way for the coming of the King of Glory, but that he is doing it in such a way that all of us should learn that the worst of times are not wasted. They are not wasted globally, historically, or personally.”
I have had a ‘Naomi’ time in my life. I had miscarried my first pregnancy and had a hard time getting pregnant. I believed God was withholding children from me and I became bitter. After a long faith journey, God showed his providence in giving us four children over the next several years.
But my first child came while I was still bitter. I had been reading Ruth at the time. I knew that God was faithful to me that whole time even while I was in despair and blaming him.
I named my first daughter with the middle name of Ruth. It will always be my reminder that God does not waste our pain and I can trust him with my life even times of pain and grief.
That was six years ago. Reading this book now that I have a full home was a humbling experience and one that brings me to worship God in a new way. It reminds me that in any painful or dark day, I cannot stop looking for the light peaking through.
Piper says, “Seeing is a precious gift. And bitterness is a powerful blindness.”
I know this from experience.
While the entire book unfolds a picture of God’s sovereignty, we see the other two words of this book’s title in specific chapters.
Chapter 3 shows us the purity of Boaz and Ruth’s love. Piper gives more background on the confusing scene on the threshing floor that is often misconstrued.
“Ruth and Boaz were strong. They were not enslaved to their desires. Their desires were great and greatly governed by God-given commitments. They sent their culturally appropriate and provocative signals.”
Chapter 4 shows us God’s love and plan for diversity.
“All the calamities of this story seem to be designed to get a Moabitess into the genealogy of Jesus. Ruth is one of the four women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy (Mt 1:5)”
The other three women include Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheeba (Uriah’s wife). This tells us that there is room for all kinds of people in the family of God. There is diversity and there is forgiveness. God loves all of his children and invites us into his story of redemption and glory.
One other thing that Piper pulls out of the story that really resonated with me was this:
“Serving a widowed mother-in-law, gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby— for the Christian these things are all connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they seem.”
“Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is significant.”
This is something I’ve thought about a lot in the last couple years as a stay-at-home mom. I often wonder what I’m doing for God’s kingdom. What impact could I be making? Is there something more for me than this?
But look at Ruth. She served, she gathered food for her family, she fell in love, she had a baby. And the eternal trajectory of her life and child led to the very birth of Christ. We cannot see how God is going to use our small acts but we can be confident that he will.
As I said in my blog post, Faithful with Little, about this topic: “No task is small and meaningless in the hands of a big and sovereign and faithful God.”
Other Quotes
“Grace is not intended to replace lowliness with pride. It’s intended to replace sorrow with joy.”
“One of the lessons I have learned from this chapter is that hope helps us dream. Hope helps us think up ways to do good. Hope helps us pursue our ventures with virtue and integrity. It’s hopelessness that makes people think they have to lie and steal and seize illicit pleasures for the moment. But hope, based on the confidence that a sovereign God is for us, gives us a thrilling impulse that I call strategic righteousness.”
“One of the reasons we must help each other “hope in God” (Ps 42:5) is that only hopeful people, hopeful families, and hopeful churches plan and strategize.”
“God wants us to know that when we follow him, our lives always mean more than we think they do… For the Christian there is always a connection between the ordinary events of life and the stupendous work of God in history.”
Recommendation
I highly recommend this book. No, it’s not a full modern commentary on the topics of sex and race that fill our Facebook feeds, but it does give us foundational truths about both. [If you are looking for a book more like that, browse THIS SECTION of my website.]
The story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz shows us God’s love and providence, his love and plan for diversity, and his design for sex and purity.
The book of Ruth is short, and so is Piper’s book, but what you’ll read in its pages has depth eternal and I bet you’ll learn something you didn’t know before!
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