Notes

Verses

Quotes

Eugene Peterson : The great names and stories can be intimidating. We may begin to think “Surely there is no way that I can have any significant part on such a stage.” But the story of the widowed, impoverished, alien Ruth is proof to the contrary. She is the inconsequential outsider whose life turns out to be essential for telling the complete story of God’s ways among us. The outsider Ruth was not born into the faith and felt no natural part of it – like many of us. But she came to find herself gathered into the story and given a quiet and obscure part that proved critical to the way everything turned out. (The Message Study Bible); Paul E. Miller : As an ethnic minority widow, Ruth is choosing to be sexually vulnerable and unfulfilled; without money she is financially destitute; without a friend, she is lonely; without her country, she is open to prejudice. She has no protector, husband, tribe, family, or food. And she is shouldering the responsibilities of Naomi. Ruth is one gutsy lady. Love carries risk. + (A Loving Life); Carolyn Custis James : Ruth was doing God’s work – perspiration, dirty and broken fingernails, rough surroundings, and all – and she did it with all her might, her resources, and her wit. Ultimately, her bold initiatives bless God’s people, challenging them to contemplate what it means to live as Yahweh’s people, and Ruth herself becomes a powerful catalyst for change. God gave us Naomi and Ruth to remind us that courage, boldness, and godly leadership are important feminine attributes when it comes to living for God. When we swim upstream against the culture; use our voices to speak the truth; advocate stubbornly for others; and sweat, toil, and strategize to advance God’s Kingdom on earth, we are doing woman’s work. (The Gospel of Ruth);