Introduction For generations the book of Ruth has held a prominent place as one of the Bible’s greatest love stories. Ruth has an attractive “happily-ever-after” quality where a widow’s fortune turns on a dime from death to resurrection. This places her in the arms of a powerful man who rescues her from poverty and restores […]
We are better able to pay attention to the theology of the story of redemption if we recognize that as a story, it is a work of literature. Leland Ryken says, There is a quiet revolution going on in the study of the Bible. At its center is a growing awareness that the Bible is […]
All good stories are generally divided into three basic parts: a problem, an unraveling, and a solution. Following this pattern, Ruth’s narrative has an opening scene that introduces us to a genuine predicament. As the story opens, we encounter a man who takes his family to Moab because there is a famine in Bethlehem of […]
Ruth is filled with indicators that God will restore his people from the grip of death and set them in a new direction of life for the future. Samuel weaves this theme into the fabric of the story of Ruth using even the city of Bethlehem as an illustration. We know now that Bethlehem is […]
In only a few verses, Samuel has provided us the setting for a dramatic and deadly problem that has consumed our family from Bethlehem. It is as if Elimelech marched into the jaws of death. While the family left in the middle of a famine, the story has taken a remarkable turn for the worse. […]
But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should […]
In chapter 2 Samuel shows us the savior of the story, or better yet, one should say that God Himself provides a redeemer. Yes, every detail of this profound little story drives us forward to the coming encounter with the kinsman redeemer, Boaz. It may go without saying, but this author will still remind the […]
The Encounter The apex and center of chapter 2 is the God-ordained encounter of Ruth and Boaz. Samuel designed their meeting to be dramatic, and he uses the dialogue, the structure, and virtually everything in the story to pull the reader closer and closer to the center of the chapter, where the hero meets the […]
Chapter 3: The Final Turning Point In chapter 2 Samuel gives the account of Boaz and Ruth’s first meeting. In chapter 3 the reader discovers the couple’s second meeting, the most pivotal circumstance of the whole story. Like the meeting in chapter 2, this is not a mere chance encounter; this meeting is divinely arranged. […]
The Levirate Laws The book of Ruth is one of the places in the Bible where the levirate laws find their fullest expression. In fact, readers can see the levirate laws in action throughout the whole story. Ruth’s story, however, has so many interesting twists and turns that readers really need to view her story […]