An Overview of a Book of the Holy Bible - Putting the Book of Ruth in Perspective

Ruth is one of only two Bible books named for women. The other is Esther. If read quickly and not too deeply, the book of Ruth appears to be a love story between Ruth and a man named Boaz. Ruth, of course, is a love story, but it's much more than just a love story.

The Context of Ruth. The book of the Old Testament that precedes Ruth is Judges. Judges describes the period when the nation of Israel was led by occasional judges who emerged during times of crisis to rally the nation to overthrow oppressive nations. That period was too often a time when Israel turned away from the true God in order to worship the gods and idols of the surrounding nations. It was a time of near anarchy when, according to Judges 21:25, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."

In the midst of that dark and morally lawless period, the book of Ruth shines like a bright ray of light as it presents a story of love and compassion between a woman and her mother-in-law, and a story of virtuous love between a woman and a man. Not only is the story beautiful in itself; it also has ties to the story of Jesus who appears in the New Testament.

The Basic Plot of Ruth. Ruth and her sister are from Moab, a country located near the land of Israel. A man from Israel, his wife, and two sons leave Israel during a time of famine and settle in Moab where the Ruth and her sister marry the two sons. Eventually, the two sons and their father die, leaving behind Ruth, her sister, and their mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi decides to return to Israel and Ruth insists on going with her, even though it means that Ruth will leave behind her people as she goes to a new land.

In Israel, Ruth cares for Naomi, meets a farmer named Boaz, a kinsman of Naomi, and eventually marries Boaz. The son born to the marriage of Ruth and Boaz is an ancestor of King David and, far into the future, the ancestor of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

The Deeper Meaning of Ruth. Unless the reader knows something of Jewish history, the significance of the Jewish Boaz marrying Ruth the Moabitess will not be apparent. Genesis 19 gives the story of the birth of the original Moab, the father of the Moabite race. Moab is one of two sons born in incest to Lot and his two daughters. The Jews and Moabites hate each other, and so the story of a good Jew marrying someone from the hated Moabites must have been surprising to the Jewish readers.

The book of Ruth is sometimes seen as an anti-prejudice tract, urging an end to racial hatreds, by showing the good result of the marriage of Ruth and Boaz: the eventual birth of the beloved King David. It is interesting that in Matthew 1, four women are listed in the genealogy of Jesus and all four of them have tainted or questionable pasts. Tamar played the part of a prostitute in order to make a point with her father-in-law; Rahab was alleged to be a prostitute in Jericho when she helped the Israelite spies who were in danger of being captured in Joshua 2; Ruth, of course, was a foreigner from a hated nation; and Bathsheba ('the wife of Uriah") was involved in an act of adultery with King David. Yet all four are in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

One more underlying theme involves the contrast between emptiness and fullness. Naomi leaves for Moab with a full life. She returns to Israel empty, bereaved of her husband and two sons. She and Ruth arrive in Israel at the beginning of the barley harvest, and Naomi's life becomes increasingly full and becomes really full when a son is born to Ruth and Boaz.

Behind the events of the book of Ruth, the reader senses the hand of God at work to bring about the fulfillment of a Divine plan that will introduce the Savior into the world. This Divine ordering is perhaps the most important deeper meaning of Ruth.

What are we to make of all of this? Two thoughts occur to me:

Prejudice is a human idea, not a Divine idea.
God can use any person, regardless of past actions or attitudes.

Read the book and enjoy it in whatever way you can, but remember: God can make all things new, including the way you see and relate to the people around you, whoever and whatever they may be.