The book of Ruth focuses on two things that reveal our dependence upon God: land and children. We typically think of land as just matter that we through technology impose our will upon, but in the ANE land meant life, provision, and security. Central to Israel’s conception of land is the idea of an inheritance — God himself apportions various plots to tribes and families. These are gifts to be received rather than objects to generate profit. God nourishes his people through the land. Similarly, God grants children as a gift. Land and children remind us not only of our dependence, but our place as one rung in a ladder of generations through time. Everything in our modern world drives us to focus on the here and now. But land and children gives us a broader perspective. But even these temporal things are not the final end, for as we learn in the NT, the great inheritance we possess as Christians is an eternal kingdom, a new creation. And that the extension of our life in time through children is only finally fulfilled in our resurrection. Ruth draws us into that fundamental reality of God as our ultimate provider, protector, and redeemer. This is Understanding Ruth. 

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