This is the first of what is expected to be a small series on prophetic types and shadows. Simon Pease has written several book reviews for us at Prophecy Today UK but this is his first venture into writing and publishing his own books.

Pease is clearly a serious Bible student who approaches the scriptures with intelligence and integrity, and who has a strong desire to share what he learns. In the introduction he sets out a clear objective for his book, namely “to look at this story from a different perspective – that of a prophetic parable. The idea that we shall explore is that the key players in Ruth’s story are prophetic types for people who are central to the sweep of Biblical revelation” (p13). There is no doubt that he pursues this objective with vigour and achieves a remarkable amount in a slim volume.

Concern for Accuracy

The introduction also contains a brief excursion into some of the terminology he will use. A later appendix is devoted to a much fuller explanation of the author’s use of terminology so there is a degree of repetition here which may seem rather unnecessary. Nevertheless, Pease is clearly concerned from the outset to make sure his readers can follow his argument accurately.

He then takes us through the typology of the main characters from the Book of Ruth: Boaz (as Messiah foreshadowed), Ruth, Naomi, as well as two of the minor roles (Orpah and the other claimant). These have tended to be neglected by commentators, so an examination of their part in the narrative and what they represent by way of typology is a welcome addition.

Stretching Too Far?

Looking for prophetic typology is a worthwhile exercise, especially where there are strong parallels. But as Pease admits, with this approach there is always “a risk of being overly analytical and possibly reading things into the text which are not present” (p41).

Pease largely tackles this well but some of his points are open to challenge. For instance, in order to press the analogy between Naomi and Jews today who are making Aliyah, he claims that Naomi returned to her homeland in “unbelief” (p27). Does the text really indicate this? Although ‘bitter’ through misfortune, she still held onto the belief that God had his hand on her life and had “come to the aid of his people” (Ruth 1:6). She also makes positive use of the term ‘the LORD’ when speaking with her daughters-in-law and townsfolk. Maybe a point has been stretched too far here. Careful readers may well uncover other inconsistencies. But at the very least, the book should make us want to read Ruth again and study it more closely for ourselves from a prophetic perspective.

Pease is clearly a serious Bible student who approaches the scriptures with intelligence and integrity, and who has a strong desire to share what he learns.

Application for Readers

In earlier chapters the author provides good questions, often of a practical nature, which engage the reader more fully with the issues being raised. Perhaps more questions of this kind could have been usefully generated in the later chapters; it might also have been good to repeat such questions at the conclusion of each chapter so that readers could reflect on the content and its application before moving on.

There are several useful appendices, six in all, which occupy a quarter of the book. These include one on Replacement Theology and another about choosing which god to follow. Others map out in diagrammatic form the relationships between the characters and offer a biblical basis for Gentile believers helping Jews. All these appendices are helpful in setting out specific aspects of the author’s intentions in a clear way and have rightfully been kept apart from his main text. The final appendix is a useful list of further reading.

The preface contains a series of key questions: How does the book of Ruth speak into the vexed relationship of Jew to Christian? What is the Christian’s responsibility to the Jewish people? Is your church a Ruth church or an Orpah church? These questions help establish what we can hope to learn from this book and the challenges we can expect to face. To this end the author has provided an excellent service and achieved a very creditable outcome.

‘Ruth: A Prophetic Parable’ (84pp, Christian Publications International, 2019) is available from the publisher for £7 + P&P.