Welcome to the Biblical story of Ruth and Boaz – the Great Grandparents to King David through whom the human lineage of Jesus Christ the Messiah can be traced. This story of Ruth and Boaz is as much a love story as it is a story of God’s grace and mercy, redemption, providence and protection all rolled up in a little book of the Bible with the title of Ruth.

The assumed author is the Prophet/Priest Samuel and the period in which the story takes place is during the Biblical narrative of the Time of the Judges. Long after the conquest of the land of Canaan by Joshua and the twelve tribes of Israel, the people who were then known as the Israelites (commonly referred today as the Jews) were not fully obedient to God’s instructions. Although the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan (often referred to as the Promised Land), they never fully conquered the people of that land who worshipped false gods, practiced pagan rituals and lived outside of God’s blessings. This resulted in continual warfare between the 12 tribes of Israel and the non-Israelite tribes and people groups, such as the Moabites, Ammonites, Canaanites, Amalekites, Philistines and others.

The events found in the Book of Ruth probably takes place toward the end of the period of the Judges (perhaps during the time of Gideon) in which the people of God (The Israelites) were known for this statement; “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The events of the Book of Ruth precede the events recorded in the Book of I&II Samuel in which the people of Israel eventually secure their first King (Saul) and the King that succeeded him was David. This first lesson introduces two of our main characters – Naomi and Ruth. Through a series of tragic events, Naomi will find herself in the foreign land of Moab and she will lose her husband. Two of Naomi’s sons will each marry a Moabite woman and subsequently both of Naomi’s sons will die. This will leave Naomi in a foreign land, among people who worshipped multiple gods and not the God (Jehovah) that Naomi worshipped. Naomi will decide to leave Moab and return to the land of promise and this decision will be life changing for her and her two daughters in laws. Ruth will follow Naomi and her God while Orpah (the other daughter in law) will stay behind in Moab. This first chapter of Ruth will show evidence of God’s mercy and grace to two people who will find redemption, restoration and hope all because they chose to obey God.