Harvest time is a good time to tell the story of Ruth. Ruth is one of two books in the Bible named after women, the other is Esther. One could argue that the book could be more accurately named for Ruth’s mother- in-law, Naomi. Our lesson for this morning gives the denouement, the happy ending, of Ruth’s saga. To get a true picture of how her story applies to us today we need to cover some of the background, some of what happened before Ruth went to the threshing room in her best dress.

In what Christians call the Old Testament, the book of Ruth follows the book of Judges. That’s the logical place for it. The book of Ruth begins, “In the days when the judges ruled…” Ruth 1:1 (NRSV). It is worth noting, however, that the Hebrew scriptures have a different sequence. In that version, the book …