Theme: A God for all

Exegetical Note
The fact that the heroine of this story is not a Hebrew but a Moabite woman, and thus a traditional enemy of the Israelites suggests what, at the time of the writing, must have been an extraordinarily liberal idea, namely, that membership in God's chosen people should be open even to (hated) foreigners and that the God of Abraham could be their God, too. The fact that the book (named after this foreigner!) achieved canonical status suggests that the notion prevailed.

Call to Worship
Leader: L…