Ruth

Man, it's been a while since I've posted! Next in the traditional Christian ordering of the Old Testament is the book of Ruth.  Ruth is a fascinating little book that is one of the few in the Bible that takes place during the time of the Judges.  Because of this, it is placed right after the book of Judges in the traditional Christian ordering, although in the Jewish Bible it is typically place it in another section, treating Genesis through Kings as a sort of literary unit.

Ruth is a short book, telling the story of two women, Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi, who have both been recently widowed.  This is a huge deal in their day, and Naomi is particularly upset over it.  Ruth, interestingly, is not Jewish, but is a Moabite - a group of people who have a very long and fascinating history throughout the entire Old Testament.  (Moabites were said to be descended from Lot).  They didn't believe or live like the Jews, but Ruth (who married an Israelite) adopted their beliefs and practices.

The main plot of the story is how Ruth meets and marries a wealthy Israelite named Boaz.  According to Jewish law, she was expected to marry a relative of her deceased husband.  Boaz ends up being this "kinsman-redeemer", marrying her and rescuing her and her mother-in-law from poverty.  Some theologians have used this same phrase to refer to Jesus (Boaz being a Christ-like figure in this story).

Interestingly, Ruth is, of course, not just any Moabite, but the future great-grandmother of King David.  It's interesting to see a story like this in the Bible, as Moabites were not generally looked at favorably by the ancient Israelites.  It's a fascinating piece of Biblical history.