Ruth at a glance

RUTH

 

The 8^th book in the Bible whose author is most likely the Prophet Samuel. Tradition tells us that it was written between 1150-1100 BC. The time period covered in this book is 1150 BC to 1150 BC. Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David after a good deed of refusing to desert her mother-in-law, who was from Israel. Her story takes place mostly in Bethlehem, the future birthplace of Jesus.

 

The Purpose of writing this book was to show three people remained strong in character and true to God even when the society around them was collapsing.

 

The Setting of the book is a dark time in Israel’s history when people lived to please themselves, not Almighty God.

 

Stories told ...

 

1) Ruth goes to sleep on the threshing floor to earn the trust of Boaz, a man she wanted to marry and who had been kind to her.

 

Important Points found in this book:

 

1) Ruth is only four chapters long and is a story. Ruth was from Moab, but after her husband died and her mother-in-law’s husband died, she agreed to return with her widowed mother-in-law to Israel. This was a remarkable leap of faith for a young girl, who would have had many chances to remarry in the familiarity of her own people.

 

2) Ruth’s mother-in-law was Naomi. With Naomi’s wisdom and God’s grace, they moved from a situation of beggars in Bethlehem to Ruth finding a kind and generous husband who took Naomi in as a mother also. Ruth and the man, Boaz, had a baby boy whom they named Obed. He was the father of, Jesse, who became the father of King David.

 

Key Verses:

 

“Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” - (Ruth 1:17)

 

“The living there said, ‘Naomi had a son!’ And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.’” - (Ruth 4:17)

 

Next time we’ll take a look at the book of 1 Samuel ... Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His glory,

Rich Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: Books of the Bible at a Glance; published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 18, 2018); The Life Application Study Bible.

Note: I took my information from this lengthy compilation of bible book information for all 66 books of the Holy Bible & the margin notes from the study bible.