JUDGES & RUTH
JUDGES & RUTH
21 Lessons by Pearl Hamilton
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6
Judges takes place after the death of the great and godly leader, Joshua. Israel was just getting settled into their inheritance in the Promised Land. It should have been a hopeful time, but it became a sad, repetitious cycle of sin, discipline by God, crying out to God, and deliverance. It is a story of man’s failure and God’s faithfulness.
The little book of Ruth, on the other hand, gives another picture of life during this time and is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Ruth, a young Moabite woman and widow of a man of Israel, clings to her mother-in-law and God rather than her homeland and its idols. These are her faithful and touching words to Naomi, Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.