What a happy ending to what could have been disastrous. I see a woman who was honest with herself, her neighbors, and God, confessing bitterness and no small amount of anger about what she had experienced. She had been taken away from her home and family by her husband to go to a land hostile […]

From loss and bitterness, Naomi’s family line is restored. From Ruth’s foreign origins, a future lineage is secured—one that would ultimately lead to King David and, generations later, to Jesus Christ, the ultimate Redeemer. The sandal, the witnesses, and the blessings together proclaim that redemption is not just a human arrangement but a divine act […]

  It is one thing to say something; it is another thing to do what you say you will do. Ruth followed up her words with proof of her new allegiance to Naomi and God – she went to live with Naomi in Bethlehem. This is possibly one of the more courageous acts in the […]

Remarkably, the person who so clearly embodies God’s love is a Moabite woman – she’s not Jewish. Ruth’s steadfast loyalty to Naomi and her wholehearted embrace of the God of Israel reveal her as a true daughter of Israel and a worthy ancestor of David. She is proof that entrance into God’s kingdom is not […]