R-INTRO-14: The Political Agenda Behind The Book Of Ruth Most Folks Know NOTHING About

Here’s something amazing about how the Bible was written you might find surprising.

The writers of the books of the Bible, being mere mortals just like the rest of us with their own insecurities and fears, were driven by their own personal and political agendas when they edited and compiled the Scriptures.

And the book of Ruth is a perfect case in point.

The writer wanted to establish an irrefutable genealogical link between the tribe of Judah and David when he wrote Ruth.

Since there’s no genealogy of David provided in 1st Samuel, the editor of Ruth was doubly motivated to establish the House of David over the House of Saul.

Since Saul’s son Ishbosheth was staking his claim to the throne of Israel, this had to be countered.

So enter the book of Ruth to defend the claims of David as the only legitimate successor to the House of Saul.

Since there was no way the author could predict any connection to the future Messiah, no doubt it was this political agenda that was foremost in his mind when he compiled Ruth.

See here’s the thing.

After King Saul was killed in battle with his body hanging on the walls of Beit-Shean, it wasn’t like David became the King over all of Israel overnight or something.

At first he only ruled over Judah while Ishbosheth ruled over the 10 northern tribes (called Ephraim at the time). 

So the author’s intention was to have Ruth serve as the closing summary or epilogue to the book of Judges…

Kind of like how the last five books of Judges are categorized as appendices by scholars.

Again, we have to understand Israel’s tragic situation during the era of the Judges in order to really understand the author’s intentions when he wrote Ruth.

Remember, the book of Judges was all about how Israel allowed itself to become Canaanized.

This happened because of syncretism…which means Israel mixed with and absorbed elements of Canaanite culture with their own.

This was unholy and an abomination in the Lord’s eyes.

Therefore, the author of Ruth wanted to demonstrate that David’s ancestors (from the tribe of Judah) were the godly and pure divine line.

“We ain’t part of that unholy group of Hebrews who mixed themselves with the Canaanites” was the author of Ruth’s intention.