What is the purpose of the Book of Ruth?
Through the story of the experiences of this family, Ruth presents unobtrusively but powerfully the concept of divine providence. There are no direct conversations with God or appeals to him, though God is mentioned in the book in various places, and the solemn oath “As surely as the Lord lives” (3:13) is invoked. Clearly divine providence is behind everything that happens in the book–the famine, the deaths, Ruth’s choice of Boaz’s field as a place to glean, his attraction to her, and their eventual marriage. The covenant relationship that bound the people of Israel to God and to one another underlies much of the book. Though the word “covenant” is not found in Ruth, it is a significant factor in the book’s unfolding plot. Ruth’s eloquent commitment to the God of her mother-in-law (1:16–17) was her acceptance of a relationship voiced earlier by Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:3). When Boaz commended Ruth’s loving care of Naomi (2:12), he was echoing Deuteronomic theology (Deuteronomy
