The Book of Ruth | Bible Study

"This story is so beautiful in that it shows almost the entirety of your spiritual life - where there was life change that happened, and God finds this family in the most devastating of circumstances." - Pastor Zach Stephens

The Tree Church Bible Study is stepping into a new season - and the book of Ruth is the destination. Pastor Stacey Crawford, Pastor Chris Reed, and Pastor Zach Stephens open this introductory episode with energy and genuine excitement, and it does not take long to understand why. Ruth is a short book. Four chapters. But as the pastors make clear from the very first minutes of this conversation, there is enough in those four chapters to fill twelve episodes - and then some.

This first episode does not dive into the text yet. Instead, it lays the groundwork. It covers what listeners can expect from the season, why the book of Ruth matters, and what historical and literary context is needed before the story begins. Think of it as a map before a journey.

One of the things that makes this season of Tree Church Bible Study different is the resources being built around it. Pastor Chris Reed walked through the new format, which is designed to help listeners do more than simply follow along - it is designed to help people learn how to study scripture for themselves.

Each week, show notes will be released alongside the podcast episode. Those notes will include key takeaways from the discussion, study questions to process throughout the week, and links to commentaries, podcasts, and other resources the pastors reference in their own study. The Bible Project is highlighted as one resource listeners will encounter regularly.

In addition to the weekly notes, a community discussion board is being launched so that listeners can engage with the material together - asking questions, sharing observations, and processing the text in community. As Pastor Chris noted, Bible study was never meant to be a solo endeavor. The process of understanding scripture takes conversation, and this season is built around creating space for that.

Listeners are also encouraged to read the entire book of Ruth before the series begins, and to read the passage for each week ahead of the episode. Pastor Stacey described her own practice of reading a passage first, writing her own thoughts, and only then turning to other resources - a rhythm that keeps her open to what God wants to say through his word before anyone else's voice enters the room.

Each pastor shared what drew them to this book, and the answers pointed in the same direction.

Pastor Zach was drawn to the way the story traces what he described as almost the entirety of the spiritual life - from devastation to provision, from being far from God to being caught up in his plan. He noted that the story covers real circumstances that mirror the kinds of things people actually walk through, which makes it unusually relatable for an ancient text.

Pastor Chris Reed framed his anticipation around the theological foundation the book provides. Ruth, he said, gives a clear picture of who God is in the Old Testament and what his posture is toward his people - and toward the world beyond his people. The book is ultimately about redemption, about God taking what looked like destruction and producing life from it.

Pastor Stacey brought a perspective that she acknowledged is a little different when the main character shares your gender. There are many incredible figures in scripture, but female main characters are rare. What makes Ruth even more striking is that she is not just a woman - she is a foreigner, a Moabite, someone entirely outside the covenant people of God. And yet she ends up in the genealogical line of King David and of Jesus. As Pastor Stacey put it, that is a constant reminder that the gospel is for everyone.

The authorship of Ruth is genuinely unknown. Jewish tradition has sometimes attributed it to Samuel, but there is no way to confirm that with certainty. The story itself is set during the time of the judges, though it may have been written - or reached its final written form - sometime later, potentially after the exile.

Pastor Chris addressed the question directly and honestly: knowing the author matters, and it also does not matter. Knowing who wrote a book gives historical context, helps identify a literary voice, and can add a layer of authority to the text. But not knowing does not diminish the book's standing. Ruth is one of the most universally accepted books in the entire biblical canon - there has never been serious dispute about whether it belongs. Its authority comes not from a named author but from the consistent recognition by the community of faith across thousands of years that this is part of God's word to his people.

Before the pastors moved into historical background, Pastor Chris took time to explain the difference between literary context and historical context - and why both matter for reading Ruth well.

Historical context tells us what was happening in the world at the time the story takes place: who was in power, what the social structures looked like, what a famine in Israel would have meant for a family trying to survive. Literary context is about the text itself - its genre, its structure, the way the narrator moves the story forward, the way speeches by characters are shaped to communicate meaning.

Ruth is what scholars call histography - history shaped for a theological and moral purpose. It is not simply a record of events. It is history told in a way that wants to teach something. The same is true of the gospels, Pastor Chris noted. The four gospel accounts exist not because the writers disagreed about what happened, but because each one is highlighting different truths from the life of Jesus. Ruth works the same way - it is telling a true story, but it is telling it with intention.

The story of Ruth is set during the period of the judges - one of the most turbulent stretches in all of Israel's history. Pastor Stacey described it plainly: this was a dark and difficult 400-year period defined by the repeated failure of God's people to walk in obedience. The famine that opens the book of Ruth was not random. It was a consequence of that disobedience - God holding the land back until his people returned to him.

Pastor Chris filled in the broader picture. The book of Joshua sets up the problem. Israel was called to clear the land of Canaanite idol worship, but they failed to do it completely. That failure became the engine of the entire judges period - a recurring cycle of falling back into the worship of other gods, experiencing the consequences, crying out to God, and being rescued by a judge, only to fall again.

The placement of Ruth in the biblical canon - between Judges and Samuel in most Christian Old Testaments - is not accidental. The book opens in the time of the judges and closes with the beginning of the genealogy of King David. It bridges the gap between the chaos of the judges and the arrival of the monarchy. And it does so through the story of a foreign woman who had no reason to expect that God had anything planned for her at all.

As the episode drew toward its close, the pastors identified the threads that will run through the entire study.

God's sovereignty and provision are present throughout the book, even though God is named only a handful of times. His involvement is implied rather than announced - which, as Pastor Chris noted, may be one of the most honest things about the book. That is often how God works. His faithfulness and kindness - the Hebrew word hesed - show up through the actions of the characters themselves, particularly through Ruth.

Redemption is central. The book turns on the concept of a kinsman-redeemer, a figure from Old Testament law who had the responsibility to restore what had been lost to a family member. That role will carry enormous weight as the story unfolds, pointing both to Boaz and, beyond him, to God himself.

And then there is the theme that may be the most surprising: God's consistent use of people who do not fit the expected mold. Boaz's own mother was Rahab - a Canaanite woman from Jericho who had helped the Israelite spies. Ruth is a Moabite. These are outsiders. And yet they are the ones through whom God's most significant plan is carried forward. As Pastor Zach put it, that gives hope - the reminder that God can use broken and unexpected things to accomplish his will.

The series ahead promises to be rich. Four chapters. Twelve episodes. And a story that, as the pastors made clear, has a great deal to say about the God who is faithful even in the most devastating of circumstances.