This is the eight book in the OT, and eight is the number of new beginning.  The events in Ruth take place during the days of the Judges, but what a difference between these two book! Instead of violence and lawlessness, we see tenderness, love, and sacrifice.  It is good to know that there are still good people in bad days, and that God is at work in the "corners of the land" though violence may fill the news. (Wiersbe, W. W. 1993)