Ray of Sunshine. art

We were all over the place in the April reading! We read some Psalms, finished Judges, read Ruth, and entered into 1st and 2nd Samuel. For our recap this month, I am going to focus on the book of Ruth. Our reading of Ruth coincided with a study of the book of Ruth that I participated in with my Bible study group. I gleaned so much from that study that I wanted to share what I learned with you!

Ruth

Let’s start with some vocabulary to get us through Ruth.

1. Redeem: The act of being saved, rescued, clearing of our debt, and kindred
2. Glean: To gather; to collect
3. Stranger: Foreign, alien, non-relative
4. Kinsmen: To redeem, act as a kinsman redeemer, be next of kin, deliver
5. Threshing Floor: Barn floor, an open area, a void place

Theme

The theme of Ruth is God’s people experience His sovereignty, wisdom, and covenant kindness and this can come disguised in hard circumstances and mediated through the kindness of others. The story occurs during the time of Judges which was filled with spiritual unrest as everyone did what seemed right in their own eyes.

In Ruth we have a kinsman redeemer and that is someone who is a relative responsible to act for a relative that is in trouble and to redeem their property or help them when they are in need. Boaz was able to redeem Ruth through Naomi. We also see that in Ruth she was redeemed from following the gods of the Moab people and turning to the one true God- the God of Israel- YAWH.

Here is where things get interesting and why it is important to know about the Jewish roots of the Bible. Ruth 3:15 gives us a glimpse into the time period, Ruth was occurring during Shavu’ot. This is the festival that focuses on God’s provisions for His people! How cool is that, it is the theme of Ruth! Harvesting and gleaning are an important part of Ruth just as it is an important part of Shavu’ot. Some also believe that the 6 measures of barley that are part of the offering represent the 6 famous descendants of Ruth.

Conclusion

There is so much to learn or glean from Ruth. I encourage you to take a deeper study into Ruth and share what you have learned in the comments. I also encourage you to study Shavu’ot to see the importance of it.