How much does it take to make news in a small town? When Naomi arrived in Bethlehem accompanied by this strange foreign woman Ruth, it created a stir. The Hebrew word translated “stirred” or “excited” is like its English counterpart, “hum,” an imitative word, probably originating in the noise made by a swarm of bees.

Is Naomi in a mood for homecoming parties? Far from it. “Naomi” means “pleasant.” Don’t call me that, she says. Call me “Mara,” meaning “bitter.” Notice that she readily says it is God who has brought her home. She went away full, she returns in emotional and probably financial poverty. The name of God Naomi uses, translated “Almighty,” is the Hebrew Shaddai, meaning “all-sufficiency.” This name portrays God as the one who is self-sufficient and the satisfier of his people. The name reveals God as one who is adequate to deal with his enemies victoriously, and even able to destroy enemies. In whatever state God has brought her back, full or empty, she willingly admits that God is in her life, the director, the one and only God. He has brought her safely back to Bethlehem. She is home.

Just here the author puts in one of his little sidebars that looks irrelevant at first. But oh, how important it turns out to be. Barley harvest is just beginning when Naomi and Ruth arrive back in town.

After living in Moab, Gentile territory located southeast of the Dead Sea, for at least ten years, Naomi decides to go home to Bethlehem. Why do you think she urged her daughters-in-law not to join her but to return to their native Moab? She unselfishly thinks of their best interests. Naomi knew her own prospects were uncertain. What could she offer two young Moabite widows in Judah? Suspicion and prejudice existed between the Jews, Naomi’s people, and the Moabites. Based on old perceived wrongs, the Jewish Law states flatly that Israel is to have nothing to do with Moab (Deut. 23:3-6). Orpah is sad about it, but she turns back. It seems the sensible thing to do.

Ruth stays put. She volunteers to go home with Naomi, asserting that she will share her life completely. Ruth’s decision to give up her Moabite gods and accept Naomi’s God, had to be rooted in her own faith in that God. Her worship of the Hebrew God was not valid unless she herself had saving faith in that God. Evidently Ruth had come to see that Jehovah was the one true God. She was willing to brave the scorn of being a Moabite. Jehovah loved her. He was real in her life. She wanted to follow him only and live with Jehovah’s people. What can we learn? Can you get to heaven on your mother’s religion? No, it must be your own.

Did you ever have a prized possession that was tiny, exquisite in detail? The book of Ruth is like that. It is a little gem gleaming in the middle of Old Testament books full of wars and lists of names. It does not contain one extra word. But somehow the author includes homely yet vivid detail. The author keeps us in suspense, holding our interest to the very end. It teaches no elaborate theological lessons.

Nobody knows who wrote Ruth or when it was written. Ruth stands at the end of the books telling of the time when strong heroes called “judges” ruled Israel. They led Israel over a period of about 400 years, ending probably about 1047 B.C. Samson and Gideon were two of these judges. The last one was Samuel who was replaced by King Saul when the people demanded a monarch instead of judges. David is mentioned at the very end of Ruth, leading scholars to assume the book was probably written during his reign, about 1000 B.C.

Today’s reading is sad. Naomi’s husband and her two sons all die. She is alone in a strange land. What can we learn? God’s people are not exempt from trouble. Often God does not complete his work suddenly. We should look ahead, not back, trusting that God will bring good from terrible sadness. Like Ruth and Naomi, trust God with your life.

The Bible gives many names to the one transcendent God. Shaddai, the Almighty and Adonai, Lord, come to mind. “The God of all comfort” Paul calls him, 2 Cor. 1:3. We know well Jesus’ “I Am” names for himself which John records. “I am the good shepherd,” he says, among others, John 10:11, 14. Yet is any more precious than the name Paul uses here? The Lord of peace. What a broad application Paul makes, asking that the Lord of peace give us “peace at all times and in every way,” v. 16. Can we really have the peace of God in death of loved ones, in financial difficulties, in divorce, in our own sicknesses and quandaries? If Paul had not thought that possible, he would not have written it. Our living Lord can meet the needs of all who will call upon him. The Bible repeatedly teaches that only God can speak true peace to the human spirit.

Paul takes pains to authenticate this letter. Even at this early date, as he says in 2:2, possible counterfeit letters, claiming to be from Paul, were circulating. If it did not have a final benediction in Paul’s own distinctive handwriting, it wasn’t his. It’s been a tempestuous epistle, with references to “eternal destruction” and the satanic “man of lawlessness” interspersed with Paul’s prayers for his much-loved Thessalonians. Now comes the peaceful close, written to us just as much as to them.

“If a man will not work, he shall not eat,” v. 10. It’s hard to get much clearer than that. Many in the Thessalonian church thought the Lord’s return was so near that they had quit work. This distressed Paul. He calls them idle busybodies, v. 11. He reminds the church members that he and his team worked hard to support themselves, “as a model for you to follow,” v. 9.

What is the Bible’s teaching about work? The Fourth Commandment assumes work. It says we are to rest on the Sabbath, pointing out that we have six days to do our work, Ex. 20:9. Many—perhaps all—of the Old Testament prophets worked at some secular job. Jesus sanctified working with your hands forever by his example of laboring for years as a carpenter. Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians is that caring for those physically unable to work is the church’s duty. He spells out a systematic plan for raising money for that purpose, 1 Cor. 16:1-3. Notice that the civil government is not involved in Paul’s solution for caring for the disabled.

Paul advises shunning the lazy in order to shame him into reforming. But, he adds, don’t regard him as an enemy. Such a person is to remain a Christian brother. And what does he say to the hard-working members of the church? Keep at it. Don’t give up. Persevere. That’s still good advice, don’t you think?

Paul has been praying for the Thessalonians. Now, he asks them to pray for him. His requests are that the gospel he is preaching would spread rapidly and be well received. He wants prayer that he would escape his persecutors. He is writing from Corinth where the Jews were attacking him with bitter hatred, Acts 18:6. While Paul does not believe everyone will accept the gospel, he emphasizes a great attribute of God here, faithfulness. No doubt Paul remembers that the Thessalonians themselves were under persecution, Acts 17:5, 13. Paul mentions two specific ways the Lord can be depended upon to help you. He is faithful to provide needed strength. He is faithful to guard us from Satan’s power and tricks, v. 3.

In this quiet interlude of verses, Paul prays the Lord will turn us toward two things, God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. In councils of heaven we will never understand, the loving Father sent his only Son to take upon himself the burden of our sins, dying in the process. Turn toward that, remember that, Paul says. Tell others about it. Remember that in spite of misunderstanding, political and religious opposition, and finally physical and emotional torture, Jesus never gave up. He never lost sight of his mission. He never quit thinking it was worthwhile to die in agony for a bunch of ungrateful humans. Jesus never gave up and neither should we.

Paul packs an entire system of theology into these verses. Notice how much you learn about God and our relationship to him here.

What does God think of us? He loves us. What power saves us? The Holy Spirit’s work, not our good works. How did you hear that Jesus Christ came to save us? By Paul’s preaching. This good news should be the base of all Christian preaching, though it can take endless forms. We speak of people being called to be preachers or missionaries. Isn’t this the call for every Christian in the world? Don’t you think Jesus wants every one of us to share with others the good news that he loves us and can save us from sin?

Paul closes his theology lesson with a short prayer. Jesus not only loves us, but by his grace gives us “eternal encouragement” and hope. Paul prays we will find that encouragement and hope, letting God strengthen us, enabling us to do and say good deeds and words. This agrees with what Christ prayed the night before he died, John 17:24. The reason he gave in his prayer to the Father why he wanted us saved was so we could be where he is and see his glory. Jesus does not intend for any human to wind up in hell, separated from God’s presence. We make the final choice about whether we want God in our lives or not.

Has judgment day come and gone and we missed it? These precious Thessalonian Christians were bothered. Evidently someone had sent the church a false letter, claiming to be from Paul, saying the day of the Lord had already come. “No, no,” cries Paul. “Don’t be upset by such things.”

That does not mean everything is lovely. In this difficult passage Paul hastens to reassure them. Christ has not returned. You haven’t missed him. The problem is, before the Lord’s return, “the man of lawlessness” will appear. Evidently Paul had taught them orally about this, because in v. 6, he says, “You know what holds him back.” They did, but we don’t. We have no idea what holds back this mysterious wicked one who is allowed to appear. But this much we can say, God is in control. The world operates on God’s time, not Satan’s. What finally destroys this wicked one? It is the Lord Jesus Christ’s breath and presence, v. 8. Notice in vv. 9-10, that although this wicked one has great power, it is not his power that causes people to perish. Ultimately sinners are lost by their own choice. Those who do not welcome God’s saving truth, repent and believe on him, are lost. Having refused God, they leave themselves open to trouble, vv. 11-12. People are lost because they rebel against God in unbelief. Let us not be among that number.

Paul had an ability we all should develop. He made the persons to whom he wrote feel good about themselves. Yet what he said could never be interpreted as insincere flattery. How did he do that? Was it because he never said anything that was not true? When he told the members of the Thessalonian church that their faith was growing and their love for each other increasing, does it ring true because it was true? Having assured them that they were on the right track, Paul tells them specifically what his prayer for them is. He doesn’t just pray for the church to grow. He prays that they will live in God’s will, thus finding God’s favor. His prayer says in effect, “I pray God will take your loving best effort to please God and multiply it and use it and grow it into a great work.” Notice, in v. 12, Paul’s motive for praying such a prayer. Paul’s basic purpose was to glorify our Lord Jesus.

Is the real burden of Paul’s prayer spiritual maturity for these people? Many reasons exist for wanting to grow up in the Lord, including a happy, well-ordered life. But what is the ultimate reason? To glorify God? Remember the question in the catechism: “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” May we all do it, becoming answers to Paul’s prayer.

Paul announces the most devastating news in human history with no fanfare at all. You are suffering, he says. Do not worry. Relief is on the way. To repay your persecutors is not your job, Paul says. The Lord will eventually deal with such persons in his own way. Then he proceeds to tell us when and how God will accomplish this. In the most understated way he paints an appalling picture of what happens to unbelievers. First, Christ will appear with blazing fire and powerful angels. He does not elaborate, but goes on with a simple description of the unimaginable punishment of the unbelievers who have persecuted these Christians. Everlasting destruction, shut out of God’s presence, he says. You have to think about that a bit before the awfulness of it sinks in. He leaves us wondering what “everlasting destruction” would be. What would it be like never, ever, for all eternity to be able to cry to God and know he heard and would answer?

Our trouble is that we want justice done instantly. Paul counsels patience. Punishment of the wicked and relief to God’s people will come at Christ’s return. By following this teaching, God’s people are spared so many burdens. Bitterness, vengeance, all of that God says he will deal with. We do not have to bother with it. All we have to do is marvel at Christ when he returns.