The simple love story is a key to understanding the plan of god for love, and. Ruth shows family to be at the center of gods plan. Check out this chart of ruth for a broad overview of the book of ruth. Van gorder ruth the book of ruth provides a postscript to the judges. When you combine the three words, story ruth bible, most everyones eyes will light up. An overview of the book of ruth theology religion essay. The book of ruth is one of the brightest gems of sacred biography. The story of ruth takes place during the time of the judges. Block also contends, theologically, the most significant statement in the book, may be naomis response to ruths first visit to boaz field in 2. Watch our overview video on the book of ruth, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. After we have read that amazing speech of ruth in chapter one, a speech that has become the only part of the book that anyone appears. Ruth book of yesterday i read the whole book of ruth, it is only 4 short chapters. In the book of ruth, the name ruth itself means mercy. Recently, my wife and i read through the book of ruth as part of our devotional time.
The first chapter of the book of ruth relates the background of the two main characters. The book of ruth is named after one of the main characters in the story. Reflections of a jewish girl a memoir in 36 essays lehrer, ruth on. Reflections on the book of ruth affectionately addressed to persons in younger life. Reflection by robin parry 1 phyllis tribble, god and the rhetoric of sexuality, fortress, 19 and then theres this reflection on ruth from helen warnock. Yesterday i read the whole book of ruth, it is only 4 short chapters. The first chapter of ruth is very important because our appraisal of ruth, naomi, and soon boaz in the first chapters of ruth will greatly shape our understanding of the rest of the book.
Famine forces her to move east with her husband, elimelech, and her two sons, mahlon and chilion, to the far side of the dead sea. The book of ruth provides a postscript to the judges. Ruth is a book for all times, whether written in post. There are those who attempt to guild the lily as they read the book of ruth, desperately seeking some basis for making a pious israelite of naomi. The book of ruth a story of redemption gospel blog.
Even bethlehem, the most fertile of places, was affected. Its a beautiful little story, composed of a series of tautly. The other festival scrolls are song of songs, lamentations, ecclesiastes and. Christians disagree with each other about questions such as individual vs. The book of ruth offers an entirely different perspective on this often maligned. The book of ruth is named for the moabite woman who commits herself to the israelite people by an oath to her motherinlaw naomi and becomes the greatgrandmother of david by marriage to boaz of bethlehem.
The setting of the book is the spring barley harvest, hence its long association with the festival of pentecost, which pictured this early harvest. A story of love and redemption daily bible reading series 1 kindle edition by bateman, deborah h. A study of the book of ruth coalition for christian outreach. The book of ruth is an important historical work in hebrew scripture, our old testament of the bible, as it traces the lineage of king david and ultimately that of the messiah, jesus christ. Is not boaz, b whose young women you were working with, a relative of ours. My mom and i studied the book for months and put together all of our background work to create a verse by verse guide through the book of ruth. As mentioned, the book of ruth is traditionally read at this time and i thought you would appreciate jeans insights.
Ruth was a moabite woman, whose sense of piety and devotion to her motherinlaw naomi led to her marriage to the prominent boaz of bethlehem in judah. There are two books in the bible that bear the name of a woman. The book of ruth in the old testament is very short, only about three times the length of this little essay. Ruth 2 commentary commentary critical and explanatory on. Women of the bible ruth devotional reflections from the. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Pdf engaging with the book of ruth as single, african christian. Ruth 1 begins on a very tragic note as it recounts the story of one particular family from the tribe of judah and city of bethlehem. In the hebrew bible, ruth stands with the song of solomon, lamentations, ecclesiastes, and esther. The story of ruth begins with multiple tragedies, but ends with great favour from the lord.
Michael moore focuses on boaz because he discerns the intentions and character of ruth, the moabite immigrant, and graciously welcomes her into the community of israel. Because the wonderful book of ruth is a story, i thought that today and next. An author interestingly wrote and titled the book of ruth as loving god enough to break the rules. When ruth was back with her motherinlaw, 1 naomi said to her, my daughter, should i not be seeking a pleasing home for you.
Elimelech, the family head, took his wife, naomi, and their two sons and moved to the nearby country of moab to avoid the famine in judah. The book of ruth, which appears in the third section of the hebrew bible, ktuvim, writings, is a beautiful folktale written in four short chapters. Personal reflections on myths and sacred stories through the lens of depth psychology. The book of ruth and its account of the woman ruth is a bright spot out of the period of the judges which had few positive accounts related through the book of judges.
Interdisciplinary new volume on the biblical book of ruth offers informative and inspiring range of reflections. Thus she is an ancestor in the messianic line that leads to jesus. Halpern, senior advisor to the provost, in his 15thedited work of jewish scholarship, has assembled an international allstar lineup of contemporary scholars, educators and community leaders offering their readings of the book. Ruth is one of the five festival scrolls, also known as the megilloth, in the writings section of the old testament. Im excited about this bible study in the book of ruth, which has cling all over it. The relationship between ruth and naomi is a reflection of the.
Reflections from ruth reflections from ruth my goal in writing reflections from the book of ruth are the following. The reflections on the book of ruth jews for jesus. The book of ruth is one of only two books of the bible to be named after women the other is esther. John brown 17221787 was raised in extreme poverty, but his herdsman father was. First, to encourage you the reader that if you will pay attention to the words on the page and listen. Reflection the book of ruth has three richly nuanced characters. Ruth and boaz have a son, and the book closes with a surprise. This was a dark period for israel, dark primarily because of her lack of faith in god. Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. The story occurred during this time of strife and bloodshed. You might read the entire book of ruth it contains only 84 verses, or have. It was interesting to get some of the points out of it that i had not gotten before. After all, its a classic tale of boy meets girl, of unexpected love discovered in the most routine of settings. Ruth the book of ruth provides a postscript to the judges.
Reflections on the book of ruth 1798 edition open library. The book of ruth is a beautiful story, and probably one you may have heard in. Because the wonderful book of ruth is a story, i thought that today and next week i would tell the story myself in my own way. The book of ruth is certainly one of the best short stories ever written. Book of ruth, old testament book belonging to the third section of the biblical canon, known as the ketuvim, or writings. Engaging with the book of ruth as single, african christian women. This beautiful narrative, involving a family, is a graphic picture of the gospel story. Careful reflection on the book of ruth is unlikely to resolve these disagreements, but perhaps it can highlight shared aims and common ground. Ruth is the greatgrandmother of king david, whom we meet later in the book of 1 samuel.
Reflection on the book of ruth the book of ruth tells the story of two women, naomi and ruth, who are respectively motherinlaw and daughterinlaw. Overview of ruth the story of ruth is often thought of as the love story of the old testament but its so much more. If you dont get the workbook you can still join us. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the book of ruth. Ill be posting the daily reading plan, reflection questions and a weekly video here on the blog so you can follow along.
The judges cycle is a great piece for reflection and gaining insight into our. In this interview, another author explains how one can preach the gospel from the book of ruth ill start with a few gospel reflections from ruth, with the intro, outline, and content below. Reflections on ruth 1 ruth 01 contemporary english version. This beautiful narrative, involving a family, is a graphic picture of the gospel story the redemption provided in christ jesus. Ruth forsook father and mother, country and friends, to cast in her lot with the people of god, and her name is linked with that of the greatest. It celebrates the loyalty and reward of a young moabite widow ruth who chooses to follow her israelite motherinlaw naomi back to bethlehem after naomi was bereaved of her own husband and two sons. To be honest, it isnt quite any of those things, yet it has aspects of all three. Women of the bible ruth naomis grief women of the bible ruth has been told over and over, and yet we still love to read it. The book of ruth ruth is a story about loyalty, love, and faith. While ruth was moabites, esther on the other hand was a jewess. As with any analogy, it is important to appreciate the similarities as far as they go and not to take them further than what is stated. The injunction, directly from jehovah, was that israelites have no dealings with foreigners.