#33: The Gospel of Ruth

Earlier in the year, I began a study of the book of Ruth in hopes of helping coordinate a ladies' retreat for our church ladies, but due to lack of interest at this time, the retreat was delayed, but not my study of this book of the Bible.  I had read this book before but never had I intentionally chosen to intensely study a book of the Bible, so I ordered a few books.  After skim/scanning them, I chose The Gospel of Ruth:  Loving God Enough to Break the Rules. Oh, what a blessing this study has been thus far!

When the Biblical narrator would skip over details or time, author Carolyn Custis James would slow us/me down and analyze and provide scholarly research on the meaning(s) within and between the lines.  While I have always admired and respected both Naomi and especially Ruth, I never truly knew the story.

Their journey fully demonstrated the term hesed:  the living out of the gospel, "something you do."  James takes the actions of each woman and further explains that Naomi, the female version of Job, mourns more than just the loss of family and home; she mourns the loss of hesed, rejoices as she sees Boaz as a living example of hesed, and watches carefully as Ruth makes choices that prove her knowledge of hesed.

This concept I am sharing with my discipleship training class as we continue our study of Andy Stanley's Discovering God's Will, for it seems to me that if we are in God's will, we too will exude hesed.

While I, too, had read this book of the Bible as the typical Cinderella story, through James' book, a whole new meaning takes shape.  Ruth's goal is self-less; her goal is to salvage the name of Elimelech, to honor her promise to Naomi:  "Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried." (1:16-17)  Now, that is a promise.

I do have one concern about James' thoughts about the Ruth's baby and Naomi's role in his life.  That thought, though, needs to be discussed after you have read this book.

The book is full of nuggets, simply a mine of value.  I so encourage your reading this book.  Blessings!