The Book of Ruth is a family story. It is an old story, possibly over three thousand years old. It is a story about a family in trouble. Let me briefly summarize the story. Elimelech flees with his wife and two sons from the famine in Israel and heads for Moab because they heard that things were better there. In desperation they move to Moab, an out-of-the-way sort of place. You would have to be desperate, really hungry to move your family to Moab. Soon after their arrival Naomi's husband dies and she is left with two sons in a foreign land. Her sons, Mahon and Chilion, took Moabite wives, Orpah and Ruth. Ten years after their arrival in Moab Naomi's sons die. She again is in a desperate situation, but this time she has no one to fall back on. She is alone with her two daughters-in-law.

N…