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The Gift of Love (Hesed): Ruth · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the deep dive, and today
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we are opening a story that often feels like an Oasis of
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calm right after a severe storm. You asked us to analyze the book
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of Ruth, one of the most structurally and theologically
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tight narratives in all of Scripture, and we're going to be
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using the rigorous framework of Bruce K Walke's Old Testament
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theology. And that request gives us, I
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think, the perfect mission. We're not just, you know,
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summarizing a short story. No, not at all.
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Our goal is to really dissect the specific insights, the vital
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Nuggets of knowledge that explain how divine Providence
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and the human expression of covenant kindness or at the ASAI
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intersect how they drive forward salvation history and.
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We're framing the origins of David's royal ancestors during
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what was probably Israel's darkest hour.
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The morally bankrupt era of the warlords.
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The time of the judges, yeah. I think framing it within that
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chaos is just, it's essential. The Book of Judges ends with
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total societal breakdown, right? Every man did what was right in
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his own eyes. And then immediately we get
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this, this narrative of order and fidelity and and future
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hope. It's like a theological palate
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cleanser, and we need to remember the historical context,
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the events in Ruth, they took place during that chaos of the
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warlords, right? But the book itself, in its
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final written form, was clearly composed much, much later, maybe
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between the establishment of the monarchy, say 1000 BC, and the
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exile around 600 BC. That distinction is so
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important, isn't it? The timing of the events versus
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the timing of the writing. It's key.
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The composition date is pretty much signaled by that concluding
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genealogy, which links this whole seemingly private family
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story directly to King David. So it's not just history.
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No, it's an authoritative theological commentary.
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It's written to explain the legitimacy and the divine
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sponsorship of the Davidic monarchy.
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It offers hope that God is working quietly even when the
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nation is at its absolute worst. I find its placement in the
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Canon really intriguing. In the Hebrew Canon, it's often
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grouped to the five Mejaloth read during Pentecost.
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But the placement that interests me more is the one you sometimes
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find after Proverbs. Why would a story about a
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Moabite widow follow the Book of Wisdom?
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Well, that placement is quite deliberate and I think
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beautiful. The final chapter of Proverbs
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gives us that iconic ideal of the Oshit Isle, the noble,
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competent, virtuous woman. Placing Ruth immediately after
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that provides a specific, lived out example.
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Ruth isn't some theoretical ideal.
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She is a Moabite widow in a field.
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Her virtue becomes tangible, practical.
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Her actions define covenant fidelity better than any, you
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know, abstract list of traits ever could.
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And of course, the placement we're most familiar with right
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after Judges gives us that burst of heavenly sunshine you
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mentioned. It's an immediate reassurance
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that, look, National Villier doesn't mean God's plans have
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failed. That's it.
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Even when the tribal armies are failing, the priests are
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corrupt, and political anarchy is the rule of the day, I AM is
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orchestrating events. He's working through the
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fidelity of individuals to secure the lineage necessary for
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salvation. History.
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The story shifts the focus. It moves from Israel's huge
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political and moral failure to the certainty of future hope.
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And that hope is rooted in David's line.
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Exactly. OK, let's unpack back this set
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up and jump into the narrative. We begin in that desperate
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period when warlords ruled, which sets the stage for
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spiritual chaos. And that leads us right to the
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initial descent in Ruth, Chapter 1.
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The narrator is swift and very precise in establishing the
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stakes. The setting is Bethlehem of
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Judah, which ironically means House of bread.
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But during this famine I am through Providence is punishing
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his people, and the House of bread is empty.
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And we meet Elimelech and Naomi, who decide to emigrate from
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Judah to Moab. Their names carry so much
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expectation. They.
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Absolutely do Elimelech means my God is king, which reflects the
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hope of that covenant relationship, and Naomi means
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pleasantness. These names suggest they were
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once prosperous, maybe faithful. But their actions, I mean
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leaving the promised land to escape a famine that already
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signals a kind of lack of faith in the king whose name Elimelech
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bears. And the contrast with their sons
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names is just stark. It's devastating.
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It truly captures the declining glory of Israel in that time.
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The sons are Milan and Kilian, and while there's some debate on
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the precise meaning, the common interpretations are something
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like sterile and spent or sickness and wasting.
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The tragedy of their spiritual and physical state is written
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right into their names. So this isn't just a family
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migrating, this is the household of my God is King becoming the
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House of sterile and spent. That shift is such a visceral
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theological comment on the state of the covenant community during
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the judges. Israel itself is becoming
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sterile, wasting away its inheritance.
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And the tragedy just continues. It compounds in Moab.
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Elimelech dies, then after 10 years, both sons die childless.
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And they had married Moabite women.
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A choice that was a questionable theological practice at best,
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according to the source material.
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Right, Moab was the product of Lot's incest, and the law was
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pretty clear about Moabites being excluded from the
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congregation. For 10 generations, yeah,
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because of their hostility toward Israel during the Exodus.
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So Naomi is left utterly destitute, helpless. 3 widows in
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Moab, a Pagan land devoted to the vile DD Chimash.
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No male protector, no food, no way to preserve a Limelek's name
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or property back in Israel. They are in absolute need of a
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site. Their predicament is the lowest
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point, but the narrator never lets this deep personal tragedy
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be seen as just random misfortune.
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And this brings us to the powerful literary device that
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frames the whole story, the inclusio of Providence.
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OK, the story begins and ends with an explicit statement of I
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Am's intervention. The opening intervention is in
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Ruth 1.6. Naomi hears the good news that I
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am had come to the aid of his people by ending the famine that
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signals hope. It calls her home.
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It's the gift of grain seed. Right.
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And the conclusive intervention is in chapter 4 verse 13.
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The text says so Boaz took Ruth and I am enabled her to conceive
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and she gave birth to a son. This is the gift of human seed.
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By using this framing device, the author is making an
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authoritative theological statement to the listener, isn't
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he? Precisely.
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A human might only see chance or coincidence, or maybe just
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Ruth's hard work. But the narrator, speaking with
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authority for God, asserts that the entire arc of this story,
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from death in Moab to the birth of David's grandfather in
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Bethlehem, is guided by the good hand of Providence.
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It moves from sterility and death back to life and
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abundance. All orchestrated by the
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sovereign I am. And that's really the essential
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message from Walk Case Analysis. I Am is the unseen yet major
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actor directing the whole play. His purposes are moving forward
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even when all human institutions are collapsing.
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He is sovereign, yes, but what compels him to act in this
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redemptive way? Well, that takes us to the
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theological engine of the book. You see, You see, it's one of
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those Hebrew words that we can't just translate as kindness or
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mercy. Yeah, it's so much heavier than
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that. It is it's.
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I am sublime attribute of of abundant EC and it's best
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understood as help to the utterly helpless rooted in a
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covenant relationship. OK, so when we talk about
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easing, we're talking about loyalty, fidelity and
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reliability shown to a covenant partner who can't reciprocate or
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help themselves. So when I am show CC the Israel,
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he's acting in line with his own character and the promises he
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made to Abraham. He sustains his plan of
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salvation through Abraham's seed, even when Israel deserves
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destruction. That's the divine side, and this
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attribute then becomes the standard, the inspiration for
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how true Israel should live. It inspires them to serve I am
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by redeeming their covenant partners through acts of CC.
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Human thesi is a mirror of the Divine.
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I think we need to slow down on one nuance here, which I find
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particularly important. The source material
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distinguishes between two types of feces operating.
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Here, Yes, that's a subtle but critical theological point.
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IMCC to national Israel. His promise to preserve them,
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bring them out of famine, fulfill the Abrahamic covenant.
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That's unconditional. It guarantees restoration to the
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whole people, regardless of their immediate spiritual state.
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But the essay shown to the individual the reward of a life
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preserved, a name maintained. That's conditional.
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It's conditional in the sense that I AM rewards those who
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themselves shows have the reward for an individual's fidelity is
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directly tied to their willingness to practice self
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sacrificial kindness toward the helpless.
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Those who embody I Am's character are the ones I AM
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actively blesses within the redemptive program.
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And this theology of action isn't just in the plot, it's in
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the very structure of the book. The literary artistry of the
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chiastic structure is like the narrative skeleton.
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Absolutely. The chiastic arrangement where
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the narrative turns at the center, harmonizes the plot and
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reinforces the theme that God moves everything from chaos to
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covenant order. We can divide the story into
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five acts, but the Chaastic pattern ABXBA shows the internal
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balance. Let's trace those outer
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parallels, the A and a parallel, because they capture the
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beginning and end state of God's work so well.
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OK so A is the famine in chapter 1 verse one, and that balances
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A, the barley harvest at the end of chapter 1.
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But A is also Naomi who is too old, empty and sterile, and that
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balances A in chapter 4. A son was born to Naomi.
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The structure itself reinforces that transition from death and
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hunger to abundance and life, all framed by God's gifts of
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grain, seed, and human seed. And if we follow that pattern
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inward, the structure points us straight to the center X as the
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turning point of the whole story.
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And that center point is Chapter 3, the plan laid by Naomi and
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Ruth, which culminates in Ruth lying at Boaz's feet on the
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threshing floor. Why is this the center?
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Because this is the riskiest yet most decisive moment.
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It's where human initiative, a bold counterculture act of
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asset, intersects most dramatically with the unfolding
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of Providence. So the structure itself
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testifies that human action, when it's motivated by covenant
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loyalty, is the very mechanism through which I AM brings his
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promises to fruition. Yes.
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It moves from Baroness A to the plan of Hope X to the resulting
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life. It's a beautifully crafted
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assurance. Now let's look at the players.
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Because the narrator uses the characters themselves to
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illustrate the different degrees of covenant fidelity, we can
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start with a flawed covenant partner, Naomi.
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Naomi is a study in spiritual distress.
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Her name, pleasantness, becomes this cruel irony when she gets
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back to Bethlehem and renames herself Mara, which means
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bitterness. She explicitly says I am has
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testified publicly against me. I am has afflicted me.
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She feels she has been left empty.
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Her faith has just been shattered by her double
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bereavement. She is spiritually divided and
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at first without hope. We see this so acutely when she
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advises her daughters in law. She pragmatically tells Orpa and
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Ruth they have no future with her.
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She says go back to your mother's house.
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And in doing that, she's implicitly advising them to
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return to worshipping their Pagan gods.
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And that's the tragic irony. A true covenant partner in her
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deepest despair is directing 2 potential converts back toward
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vile Shimosh. It's irrational behavior born of
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utter desperation. Yet paradoxically, just moments
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before she prays for I am say side upon them.
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This split just reveals her broken state.
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She feels empty. She sinned by leaving the land,
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and she can't reconcile her despair with God's promises.
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But deep down, she still has enough understanding of the
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covenant to pray for its blessing on others.
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Which makes her one of the most relatable characters in
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Scripture. Yeah, but despite her initial
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lapse, she remains a true covenant partner through her
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later actions. Her fidelity is restored in
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three key ways. First, she physically returns to
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the Promised Land. Even in her bitterness, she
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accepts God's intervention in the famine.
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Second, she continues to interpret her life under
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Providence. She names her affliction, but
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later she praises God for the goal.
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And 3rd, and this is critical, she becomes the architect of the
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redemption plan based on Mosaic law.
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And her community affirms her at the end, they embrace her,
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rejoice with her. Her position is solidified.
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I and M rewards her ultimate faith.
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And this return journey also provides that critical
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comparison between the two women who were grafted into the
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family. ORPA functions as the foil
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character. ORPA is tested to the limit,
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isn't she? Naomi makes it absolutely clear
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their future depends on faith in an invisible God, not on visible
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immediate security. And Orpa chooses the visible
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path, she acts on sight, she weeps, she kisses Naomi.
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But ultimately she goes back to Moab and her Pagan family, her
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initial ASIC to her husband and mother-in-law.
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It proves to be based on, you know, familial affection, social
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pressure, not total dedication to I am.
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The narrator doesn't judge her harshly for being human, but he
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does judge her choice. Oh yes, she disappears entirely
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from the stage of sacred history.
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She was unwilling to participate when the cost involved
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abandoning her old life. Her brief presence really only
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serves to magnify the radical decision of Ruth.
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And then we come to Ruth, the true Gentile partner.
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Her response is one of the most quoted declarations of faith in
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all of Scripture. Ruth the Moabitus by a radical
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act of faith in Isaac, she cleaves the word is dabuk to
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Naomi and to the living God. Her classic confession in 1.16.
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Your people will be my people and your God, my God.
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It's often compared to the call of Abraham.
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She also leaves her homeland, her family, and her gods for the
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security found than I am alone. It's an act of total dedication,
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and her fidelity is practical. When they get to Bethlehem,
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facing poverty and prejudice, Ruth takes the initiative to
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glean. Her faith is expressed through
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her seat toward Naomi, making sure they eat.
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And the narrator tracks her escalating social acceptance
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through her changing titles. She starts at the very bottom.
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She calls herself no Korea, a foreigner.
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Then, as she gains acceptance, she calls herself a sheepa, a
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menial slave, which implies she's not even eligible for
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marriage. Finally, under Naomi's guidance,
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she sees herself as an Emma, a marriageable female slave.
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This ascent mirrors her acceptance into the community.
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It's a beautiful progression, but Boaz elevates her status
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even further when he first sees her.
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When he notices her diligence, she's Anera, a girl.
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He immediately addresses her as BT my daughter, which signals
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acceptance and family standing. But the pinnacle is reached when
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he identifies her as Initiativeile.
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The same term used for the ideal woman in Proverbs 31.
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It's the highest accolade. It means a noble and competent
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woman. It signifies loyalty, courage,
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strength. It places her on the same moral
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and spiritual plane as Boaz himself, who is introduced as a
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Gabor, a man of standing. He recognizes her moral
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integrity outweighs her ethnic origins.
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And that recognition extends to the whole community.
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They ultimately declare that Ruth is better than seven sons,
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which is the greatest possible complement in that culture.
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Her sighing is not passive, it's active and courageous.
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Boaz even calls her second act of kindness, the proposal,
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bolder than her first. Exactly.
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She acts out of sacrificial love, risking everything to
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secure a future not just for herself, but for her dead
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husband's lineage. Which brings us perfectly to the
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mechanism of that security, the kinsman Redeemer that's.
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All the entire plot hinges on this legal and relational
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concept, the root word for redemption.
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Geol appears about 20 times in the short book Wow, which tells
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you exactly what the author wants us to focus on, family
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protection. The ghoul is, strictly speaking,
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the family protector. And the responsibilities tied to
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this role were heavy under Mosaic law.
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We should probably detail those to understand the weight of
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Boaz's decision. OK, so the Gujo had four main
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duties. First, avenging the death of a
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murdered relative. Second, buying back family
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property sold due to poverty. Third, redeeming A relative sold
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into slavery. And 4th The Leverett
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responsibility, marrying the widow of a deceased brother to
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preserve his name and inheritance.
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And Boaz is introduced as the man most capable of taking on
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this role. He's described as a gibber Hale,
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a capable, powerful man of wealth and standing.
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He has the means, the reputation, and the character to
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serve as the protector. His very first words in the book
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are a prayer blessing. I am be with You, which
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immediately confirms his faith. His actions in the field are the
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first tangible sign of his extraordinary sate.
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His generosity goes so far beyond the legal requirements of
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gleaning The law just required him to leave the corners of the
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field unharvested. But Boaz gives Ruth protection
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from the workers. He invites her to share a meal
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and crucially, he commands his workers to deliberately pull out
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sheaves from the bundles and leave them on the ground for her
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to find. That's a practical illustration
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of Duma. It's grace, not requirement.
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It's kindness that goes above the minimum required by law.
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And it mirrors I am his action toward helpless Israel.
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And this sets the stage for the dramatic and highly
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unconventional proposal scene orchestrated by Naomi.
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Yeah, Naomi instructs Ruth to prepare for marriage, go to the
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threshing floor secretly and lie at Boaz's feet after he's
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asleep. This seems incredibly risky.
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It's countercultural, bordering on impropriety.
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Naomi. She's relying on both Ruth's
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reputation as an no shit ale and Boa's moral character.
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She takes a gamble born of desperation.
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The instruction to lie at his feet, which can be a euphemism,
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introduces serious dramatic tension.
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How does the text mitigate the risk in this act?
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By Ruth's specific wording, when she makes the proposal, she
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elevates the entire encounter from a potential seduction to a
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solemn legal request. When Boaz wakes up startled,
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Ruth identifies herself and makes the formal request.
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Spread the corner of your garment over me.
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That word for corner NA NP is the exact same word used for
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wings in Boaz's earlier prayer where he prayed that Ruth would
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find refuge under Imms wings. I see the rhetorical cleverness
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there. She uses his own prayer of
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blessing as the basis for her marriage proposal.
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She's asking him to become the physical agent of the divine
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protection he had just invoked. It's brilliant, she's saying.
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You asked I am to protect me. Now you be.
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I am protector for me. And Boaz recognizes the depth of
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her fial. He immediately blesses her,
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recognizing that her second act of Baia is bolder than her
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first. But Boaz, though willing, has to
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operate strictly within the law. He acknowledges that there is a
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near cujole and he has to give that relative the first
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opportunity. Which leads us to the crucial
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legal scene at the city gate and the introduction of the
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narrative foil to Boaz. Boaz, as the model of covenant
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fidelity, immediately convenes the legal quorum of 10 elders.
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He waits for the nearest relative.
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And the narrator gives us this gift of subtle theological humor
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and judgment. Here that nearest relative is
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addressed as Paluni Amini, which is basically Mr. so and so,
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right? It's a derogatory, dismissive
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term. The narrator deliberately
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refuses to immortalize the name of a selfish man, ensuring that,
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like Orpa, he just vanishes from salvation history.
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The legal dialogue unfolds in two masterful exchanges designed
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specifically to expose this man's self-centered motives.
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In the first exchange, Boaz presents the easy part of the
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deal. Naomi is selling her field, and
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the nearest kinsman has the first right to redeem it.
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Mr. So and So agrees immediately, no hesitation.
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Why? Because redeeming the land
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enhances his personal fortune. It's an investment.
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But the second exchange is the trap that tests genuine covenant
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fidelity. Boaz reveals the full obligation
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redeeming the land is tied to a liberate marriage to Ruth the
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Moabites. And this changes everything.
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If he marries Ruth, any son born to them will be the heir of the
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deceased Limeluk. This means the redeemed property
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will be used to maintain the dead man's name, not add to Mr.
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So and So's own property. He has to sacrifice his own
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interests. And his response is an
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instantaneous retreat. He says he can't redeem it
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because he would jeopardize my own inheritance.
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This is the moment of theological clarity.
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Mr. So and So is willing to participate in the covenant
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community only when there is no risk and no personal sacrifice.
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He values his own fame and fortune over the legal, moral
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and divine command and to protect 2 helpless widows.
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And Boaz contrasting action provides the entire books
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theological climax regarding human sauce.
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Boaz steps forward willingly, sacrificing his wealth and
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future inheritance to redeem the property and Mary Ruth.
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He does this explicitly to maintain the name of the dead
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with his property so that his name will not disappear.
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The source material makes it clear this isn't primarily a
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story of romantic attachment. It's a story of unselfish and
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sacrificial love within a family that can survive in no other
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way. He acts as the ultimate goodle,
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going above and beyond, taking on the cost himself to bring
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life and order out of death and chaos.
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And the story of redemption doesn't stand in isolation.
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It intentionally links back to earlier, darker precedents in
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Genesis, forming what Waltke calls the Ruth Corpus.
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This corpus links the story structurally to Lott and his
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daughters in Genesis 19 and Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38.
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These comparisons highlight the extraordinary moral ascent that
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paves the way for the Davidic line.
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Let's first acknowledge the dark similarities.
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All three stories involve A separation from the elect
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community. Elimelech from Judah, Lot from
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Abraham, Judah from his brothers.
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All suffer tragic results. Death, loss, barrenness and all
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feature female barrenness and the subsequent need for a near
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kinsman to secure the lineage. And critically, they all feature
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the woman taking dramatic countercultural initiative,
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so-called bed trick, during a time of celebration or loss of
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order. Lot is made drunk.
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Judah is heading to sheep shearing festivities.
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Boaz is merry after the harvest. In all cases, the initiative
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secures a male child. Lot's offspring are Moab and
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Ammon. Judah's are Perez and Zara.
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Boaz is Obed. The similarities confirm a
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repeating pattern of God working to secure the seed, but the
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difference is they illuminate a powerful moral development.
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That diachronic scale of escalating morality is where the
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theological insight really lies. How does the quality of the
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redeemer's responsibility increase?
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It's a stark progression, showing God gradually refining
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the expectations of his people. Lot is compelled by his
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daughter's trickery. Judah is compelled by Tamar's
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legal trap, even if he declares her right, but Boaz willingly,
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sacrificially and publicly redeems the family, even though
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he was only the second choice. He's the active agent of Desai
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who forfeits his own wealth. And the women's actions also
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escalate impropriety. Lot's daughters act crudely,
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fueled by alcohol, just to secure propagation.
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Tamar uses guile, disguises herself as a harlot to compel
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Judah to act. Ruth, however, acts innocently
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and delicately. Her proposal is backed by Naomi
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and approved publicly by the elders.
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She acts with transparency within the bounds of the
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Covenant community. And most significantly, the
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issue of these unions escalates, moving us closer to the central
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salvific event. The sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon
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become hostile nations, rejected by Israel.
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Perez, the son of Judah and Tamar, is acceptable and becomes
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Boaz's direct ancestor. But Obed, the son of Boaz and
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Ruth, is the grandfather of King David.
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The union moves from being politically rejected and morally
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questionable to being fully within the law and leading
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directly to the kingship. This.
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Brings us to the climax. The restoration and lineage, the
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marriage and the birth of Obed are explicitly attributed to I
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am completing that divine frame of Providence we discussed.
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And Obed's name means worker or server.
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The women of the community deliver this poignant
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benediction over Naomi celebrating her restoration.
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They praise I am for providing a ghoul.
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And the high point of their joy is that declaration.
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Naomi has a son. Her bitterness is reversed.
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Her emptiness is made full. She receives the child
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metaphorically as her own. The women specifically predict
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that this child will rejuvenate and sustain Naomi in her old
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age, and they attribute this blessing to the love of Ruth,
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noting that Ruth is better than seven sons hyperbole indicating
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that her loyalty and losat have accomplished what 7 male heirs
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could not. And the book concludes with the
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genealogy cementing the stories political and theological
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relevance. Right.
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The ten name genealogy from Perez to David mirrors the 10
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nameless in Genesis 5 and 11. It signals a new ordered chapter
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in salvation history. Boaz fills the favored seventh
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slot and David fills the 10th slot of completion.
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So Boaz sought only to give social immortality to Elimelech,
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but I am rewarded him with something far greater, inclusion
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in the lineage of King David and by extension, the Messiah.
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And this entire framework allows us to see the characters not
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just as historical people, but as types, foreshadowing the
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larger history of redemption. We see Boaz as a type of Christ,
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the Greater Kinsman Redeemer. Boaz sacrificed financially to
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pay the price of redemption, giving land and inheritance to a
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family he wasn't legally obligated to save.
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And the antitype Jesus Christ sacrifices his own blood, his
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life, to give eternal life and a regenerated inheritance.
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Boaz brought his bride in to rest and secured the dead man's
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name. Christ, the Lion of the tribe of
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Judah, resurrects the dead and gives the Church final rest and
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eternal social immortality. And Ruth herself typifies the
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status of redeemed Gentiles within the covenant.
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Her inclusion, a Moabitess in the royal line of David and
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later in Matthew 1, demonstrates the universal scope of the
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Savior's lineage. God elevates these women, Tamar
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Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba from their non Israelite or
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compromise statuses not through ethnic purity but solely through
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their fidelity and faith commitment to I AM.
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Ruth becomes the people of God by faith alone.
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And finally, the union of the two widows, Naomi and Ruth,
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typifies the inseparable union of ethnic Israel and the
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Gentiles in the formation of the Church.
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Naomi, representing ethnic Israel, mediates Ruth's entrance
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into the covenants, but the hopeful young widow injects
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vitality back into the failing old widow.
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Ruth's self sacrificial love transforms the bitter and
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hopeless Naomi back to the joy of salvation.
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They are Co heirs of the same covenant relationship secured by
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the actions of the ghoul. It's a perfect picture of the
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sovereign. I am working through desperate
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circumstances. So what does this all mean when
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we bring all these insights together?
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The book of Ruth is a deeply constructed theological
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narrative showing the beautiful harmony between God's absolute
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sovereignty, His Providence, and human faithfulness.
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Divine Providence uses human that sacrificial covenant
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kindness as the mechanism to secure the birth line of King
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David and ultimately Christ. It assures us that even during
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times of anarchy, I am as active and sovereign, moving through
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the seemingly ordinary events and motivations of ordinary
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people, a Moabite widow, a desperate mother-in-law, a
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landowner answering prayers and rewarding courageous human
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initiative rooted in covenant fidelity.
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The key characters progress from barrenness and distress to
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fullness and fame precisely because they display these
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covenant virtues. And the consequence for those
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who display self interested false O sit like Orpa and
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Paulucciniomnis is that they simply disappear.
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They sacrifice their chance at social immortality for immediate
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gain it. Teaches us the covenant life
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requires requires a self sacrificial cost, believing that
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God will give life to the dead and preserve a name through
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costly action. And this concept of costly ESET
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demands contemporary application.
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The whole narrative structure holds Boaz and Ruth up as
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examples for us to imitate. And that's where it gets really
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compelling for us today. The book leaves us with an open
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challenge drawn directly from Ruth's experience.
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What sacrifices and promises can we claim today as we humbly ask
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God to work through his loving kindness?
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And in what specific ways are we called to demonstrate, you said
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in our generation, understanding both the cost and the rewards of
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that practice? You know, consider the example
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of Boaz. He willingly sacrificed his own
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wealth and inheritance for two helpless outsiders and a
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deceased relative. He never know.
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We have to ask ourselves if we are willing to put aside our own
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immediate self-interest, our inheritance, to show radical,
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costly kindness to those who can't repay us.
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It's a striking concept that our willingness to show Eason to the
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helpless might be the very mechanism I AM uses to continue
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his work in the world, moving the current situation from
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emptiness toward future life. The book of Ruth demonstrates
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that the future of salvation history is secured through the
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quiet practice of extraordinary fidelity.
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A truly challenging and layered deep dive into the sovereignty
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of I AM and the requirements of human covenant kindness.
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Thank you for walking us through the gift of Hassad and the
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lineage of David.