Ruth

The book of Ruth is often read like a love story but Ruth is no rom-com. Instead it’s a story of real suffering and genuine courage as characters experience famine, death, and poverty. In this short Old Testament book we read the story of real people who are trying to trust God in their everyday. It isn’t easy. It isn’t pretty. It isn’t a rom-com with a meet-cute, but a story of hard fought faithfulness and hope.

Some books of the Bible are easy to read through a theological lens. But, Ruth has often caused difficulties for Christian readers because God is not present in the same kinds of ways as in other books. Yet, Ruth is deeply theological because it showcases how most of us live, everyday. As the commentator Tremper Longman, writes,

The book of Ruth is theologically rich. It presents a compelling account of how most of us experience God in our everyday lives… More often we see God working indirectly behind the scenes, answering prayers and rewarding faithfulness, bringing life where there is death, hope where there is despair, fullness where there is famine, and inclusion where there is exclusion. The story enacts a theology of divine and human cooperation, as those who pray for God’s blessings participate in answering their own petitions as well as the prayers of others.

The book of Ruth is beautiful story of God’s faithfulness expressed in everyday ways.

At the same time, the story of Ruth challenges us to pay attention to lives that are unlike ours. Ruth and her mother in law Naomi are refugees fleeing famine and death. They are women in a patriarchal society who are, legally, dependent on their male relatives. In their story, we are challenged to pay attention to the stories of women and refugee who are like them today.

And finally, Ruth is a part of God’s grand story. The book of Ruth is about everyday people who are caught up the work of God. Ruth, a refugee from a foreign country, is the ancestor of Jesus. In this story about a particular people and a particular place, we seen hints, and foreshadows of the divine story of rescue and liberation.