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Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God: Sweet and Bitter Providence in the Book of Ruth
John Piper Reveals Timeless Cultural Themes in the Old Testament Story of Ruth Sex . Race . Scripture . Sovereignty . The book of Ruth doesn’t shy away from addressing them all head on. Though it recounts events from 3,000 years ago, this ancient story of a poor widow seeking protection in a foreign land holds surprising relevance for Christians in the twenty-first century. In Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God (previously titled A Sweet and Bitter Providence ), John Piper explores unchanging truths and inspiring hope in the life of Ruth.
- GenresChristian
160 pages, Paperback
Published August 23, 2022
5 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
John Piper
609 books4,621 followersJohn Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 16, 2022
Reissued and Repackaged from the 2010 volume, “Sweet and Bitter Providence”
“Sex, Race and the Sovereignty of God” is a softer more accessible John Piper. He dedicated this book to his wife and daughter and they get mentioned in his personal sharing within the body of the book as well. It’s these inserted stories that make this short book feel more approachable and personal. There’s a warmth about this tiny tome I’ve not experienced since reading “Desiring God” many years ago.
Piper provide the full scripture text so readers don’t need to juggle a Bible. As usual, he exposits the historical, cultural, and religious information that impacts the story. Character studies for Naomi, Ruth
and Boaz complete the big picture and then Piper does what he does best - weave in the details pointing
to God. In this book that includes personal stories from his life and from supporting scripture. It’s a blend that works superlatively in this case.
All things considered, from the bitter comes a book of love, hope & promise📚
“Sex, Race and the Sovereignty of God” is a softer more accessible John Piper. He dedicated this book to his wife and daughter and they get mentioned in his personal sharing within the body of the book as well. It’s these inserted stories that make this short book feel more approachable and personal. There’s a warmth about this tiny tome I’ve not experienced since reading “Desiring God” many years ago.
Piper provide the full scripture text so readers don’t need to juggle a Bible. As usual, he exposits the historical, cultural, and religious information that impacts the story. Character studies for Naomi, Ruth
and Boaz complete the big picture and then Piper does what he does best - weave in the details pointing
to God. In this book that includes personal stories from his life and from supporting scripture. It’s a blend that works superlatively in this case.
All things considered, from the bitter comes a book of love, hope & promise📚
November 7, 2022
The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there—God sees to it.
The best is yet to come. That is the unshakable truth about the life of the woman and the man who follow Christ in the obedience of faith. I say it to the young who are strong and hopeful, and I say it to the old, for whom the outer nature is quickly wasting away. The best is yet to come. - Piper
The best is yet to come. That is the unshakable truth about the life of the woman and the man who follow Christ in the obedience of faith. I say it to the young who are strong and hopeful, and I say it to the old, for whom the outer nature is quickly wasting away. The best is yet to come. - Piper
September 24, 2024
“The book of Ruth wants to teach us that God’s purpose for his people is to connect us to something far greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow him, our lives always mean more than we think they do.”
March 28, 2023
“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.
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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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.
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!
Book Review Blog | Facebook | Pinterest
August 28, 2022
Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God by John Piper explores the sweet and bitter providence of God in the book of Ruth. The author lays the book out in a clear and compelling way, inviting readers to engage with God and trust his promises.
Piper’s concluding appeals are worth the price of the book and are worth noting in order:
The principles that Dr. Piper articulates will be controversial in some minds. But careful readers will note that he is merely unpacking biblical reality and commending God’s truth for anyone with ears to hear. These principles cut against the grain of postmodern culture and help encourage a strong and robust Christian faith.
The sum of the matter concerns a great eschatological reality. In Piper’s words:
Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God is a deeply encouraging book. It will challenge and encourage anyone who has a heart that heeds the Word of God!
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Piper’s concluding appeals are worth the price of the book and are worth noting in order:
Study the Scriptures
Pursue Sexual Purity
Pursue Mature Manhood and Womanhood
Embrace Ethnic Diversity
Trust the Sovereignty of God
Take the Risks of Love
Live and Sing to the Glory of Christ
The principles that Dr. Piper articulates will be controversial in some minds. But careful readers will note that he is merely unpacking biblical reality and commending God’s truth for anyone with ears to hear. These principles cut against the grain of postmodern culture and help encourage a strong and robust Christian faith.
The sum of the matter concerns a great eschatological reality. In Piper’s words:
The best is yet to come. That is the unshakable truth about the life of the woman and man who follow Christ in the obedience that flows from faith. I say it to the young who are strong and hopeful, and I say it to the old, for whom the outer nature is quickly wasting away. The best is yet to come. And God is at work in the darkest of your times to get you there.
Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God is a deeply encouraging book. It will challenge and encourage anyone who has a heart that heeds the Word of God!
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
January 11, 2025
This was an easy read - I didn’t read it consistently. It was an awesome book going deeper into the book of Ruth and how it relates to God’s sovereignty over all things even presently. Very practical and totally recommend!
September 1, 2022
The book of Ruth is one of the Bible's books that is often misrepresented. If you were to ask many churchgoers how the Gospel is presented through it most could not tell you. It kind of reads like a short, clunky, romance novel without all the hot and steamy parts. This should tell us that the characters were well aware of their desires but they were more adamant about following the commands of God than their own feelings.
This reprint of an earlier work by John Piper is a short, but powerful read that walks through the narrative we are given in the book of Ruth. We hear Piper's thoughts about Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz with great detail. There is a bit of reading into the account to help give the reader a better understanding of the background of the story. I am not one that will write off all of these things when they happen and I do find it ironic that it is coming from Piper but I still greatly enjoyed the work. Everything that he describes is rooted in Scripture and backed up by other sources in Scripture so nothing is out of line.
Even through the sexual undertones of the book Piper always brings the reader back to the truth of God's sovereignty. The hand of God prevails in spite and despite of everything that we believe and we do. One day his will must be fully accomplished but until then our journeys may be full of detours, hills, and valleys that move us back closer to him.
Overall the work is a short volume that will not cover all of the doctrinal details of the account of Ruth but I am thankful to have had the opportunity to read this and to put it alongside other books on my shelf to quickly reference when I am teaching Ruth or others have questions. The four chapters are accessible to most readers and are not comprised of difficult words. Instead, it is something that could be devoured in one afternoon but would be best savored as a daily sampling.
Crossway provided this book for my reading so long as I gave a review. I was not required to give a positive review but cannot help to do so after reading it.
This reprint of an earlier work by John Piper is a short, but powerful read that walks through the narrative we are given in the book of Ruth. We hear Piper's thoughts about Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz with great detail. There is a bit of reading into the account to help give the reader a better understanding of the background of the story. I am not one that will write off all of these things when they happen and I do find it ironic that it is coming from Piper but I still greatly enjoyed the work. Everything that he describes is rooted in Scripture and backed up by other sources in Scripture so nothing is out of line.
Even through the sexual undertones of the book Piper always brings the reader back to the truth of God's sovereignty. The hand of God prevails in spite and despite of everything that we believe and we do. One day his will must be fully accomplished but until then our journeys may be full of detours, hills, and valleys that move us back closer to him.
Overall the work is a short volume that will not cover all of the doctrinal details of the account of Ruth but I am thankful to have had the opportunity to read this and to put it alongside other books on my shelf to quickly reference when I am teaching Ruth or others have questions. The four chapters are accessible to most readers and are not comprised of difficult words. Instead, it is something that could be devoured in one afternoon but would be best savored as a daily sampling.
Crossway provided this book for my reading so long as I gave a review. I was not required to give a positive review but cannot help to do so after reading it.
January 23, 2024
4.5/5 Classic Piper. Thoughtful exposition and helpful application.
This short book on the (very) short book of Ruth is fantastic. Piper provides an exposition of the text of the book with a few moments of helpful application. I wasn’t expecting this to be formatted more as a commentary than as a devotional, but I appreciated Piper’s thoughts throughout the text. Each chapter takes a chapter of Ruth and provides not only helpful cultural and Biblical context, but also mentions how we can apply the teachings to our own lives. Contrary to the title, I didn’t find race and sex to be at the forefront of this book. Rather, the providence of God is at the forefront and discussed quite significantly throughout.
I would recommend this book to someone already convinced of the Calvinistic understanding of God’s sovereignty, or at least open to and knowledgeable of Piper’s position. He has many other books (Five Points, Providence) that defend his position, but here it seems he at times assumes agreement with the reader as he exposits God’s workings in Ruth.
This short book on the (very) short book of Ruth is fantastic. Piper provides an exposition of the text of the book with a few moments of helpful application. I wasn’t expecting this to be formatted more as a commentary than as a devotional, but I appreciated Piper’s thoughts throughout the text. Each chapter takes a chapter of Ruth and provides not only helpful cultural and Biblical context, but also mentions how we can apply the teachings to our own lives. Contrary to the title, I didn’t find race and sex to be at the forefront of this book. Rather, the providence of God is at the forefront and discussed quite significantly throughout.
I would recommend this book to someone already convinced of the Calvinistic understanding of God’s sovereignty, or at least open to and knowledgeable of Piper’s position. He has many other books (Five Points, Providence) that defend his position, but here it seems he at times assumes agreement with the reader as he exposits God’s workings in Ruth.
September 22, 2022
This is a great example of a pastoral-commentary. Piper does not neglect to the text and yet writes with significant application on a heart level. It’s also a quick and easy read and one well worth the time. It is filled with powerful illustrations as well as moving song recommendations.
I do wish it was a book with a different title. The subtitle about the sweet and bitter providence of God is certainly far more addressed than that is sex and race, which really are brief.
I never thought I would resonate with Naomi until this season of life. Through Piper’s expounding here on God’s propose and grace in suffering, as well as a call to have a posture of hope, was very stirring to continue to walk in faith. Because, “behind a growing providence he hides a smiling face” (Cowper, God Moves in a Mysterious Way. Check out the Jeremy Riddle version of the song, it’s well worth it).
I do wish it was a book with a different title. The subtitle about the sweet and bitter providence of God is certainly far more addressed than that is sex and race, which really are brief.
I never thought I would resonate with Naomi until this season of life. Through Piper’s expounding here on God’s propose and grace in suffering, as well as a call to have a posture of hope, was very stirring to continue to walk in faith. Because, “behind a growing providence he hides a smiling face” (Cowper, God Moves in a Mysterious Way. Check out the Jeremy Riddle version of the song, it’s well worth it).
December 21, 2022
A wonderful book on the Book of Ruth. It was my pleasure to teach through this book in Fall of 2022.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews