Ruth, Judges and the (mis)treatment of Women

In the beginning, the Bible declares, men and women were both created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Tragically, after Adam and Eve sin, the Bible records how every society then diminishes, oppresses, and exploits women in a myriad of sulphuric ways.

This continues today, not only in countries where ‘girl babies’ are less desired than ‘boy babies’, and are aborted or killed after birth, not only in countries where domestic violence against women is a cultural assumption, but also in the UK. Indeed, whatever our laudable progress in law, academic achievement, or employment opportunity, misogyny and sexism have been experienced by almost every woman I’ve ever met: on the street, in the office, in our schools.

God sees it all as clearly as he saw Hagar’s plight (Genesis 16:6–15).

This is not the way he intended it to be, and not the way he intends it to be. You only have to look at the way Jesus honours women or to ponder PauI’s words that in Christ ‘there is no male or female’ (Galatians 3:20) to see that.

The Bible gives us many examples of impressive women of God. In Judges alone there is Aksah – forthright in initiative (1:12–15); Deborah – excellent in leadership (chapters 4–5); and Samson’s mother – deep in theological insight (chapter 13). Importantly, the Bible does not shy away from recording the ways women are mistreated. Again, in Judges we read of terrible violence: the human sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter (11:29–40), the gang rape of the Levite’s concubine (19:25–29), the kidnapping and forced marriage of the daughters of Shiloh (21:20–23). Yes, in Ruth we see how a woman of great love, bold initiative, and verbal brilliance can resolve a desperate situation. But her actions were only necessary because the men of Bethlehem failed to take the initiative to fulfil God’s laws to care for the widow and the alien, or to ensure that a guardian-redeemer stepped up to buy Naomi’s land. Risky female initiative was required to generate appropriate male response. The story ends joyously for Ruth and Naomi (Ruth 4:13–17) but they still find themselves in a patriarchal society where their well-being is essentially dependent on men. Society had not changed.

In Boaz, we also begin to see a better way forward for men. When Ruth arrives in his field, he’s not content to see if Ruth can cope with the predatory men around her, nor content to wait until something terrible happens to her before acting. He takes the initiative to prevent the men molesting Ruth. And he not only tells them, but he also tells Ruth that he’s done it. Similarly, women in our society need to be safe and they need to feel safe. This highlights the reality that if we are to see a significant change in the way women are treated, it doesn’t just fall to women to call out bad behaviour, off-colour comments, unequal treatment, and so on. It falls to men too. In the world and in the church.

The reality is, whatever our personal convictions about the roles of men and women in leadership in the church, those should not deflect us from working to create a culture in our land, in our workplaces, and in our churches that reflects the infinite value that Christ places on women. We have a way to go.

The Gateway Seven Series from LICC comprises seven studies from seven books that together will deepen your understanding of the whole Bible and impact your discipleship seven days a week. This blog post was extracted from 'Ruth', you'll find the full range below...