a female Job

Total Loss, Heartache, Suffering and Pain: one man typically comes to mind when people scan the Bible for these themes - Job. There are 42 chapters dedicated to his story and his suffering. In comparison, Ruth is a fleeting book with only 4 chapters, but what people don't stop to recognize is that the amount of suffering and heartache she and Naomi encounter could fill a book much larger than Job.

To explain this drastic statement, there is really one point to make and it is so easily overlooked: the book of Ruth is written from a woman's point of view (Naomi). By reading, we are actually getting the chance to view God through a woman's eyes. This view point is unusual as we study the Word but when it is recognized, the story is seen in a new light and our ability to understand what Naomi and Ruth encountered vastly improves.

So, what is different about the suffering of Ruth and Naomi? In Ruth we have a woman, Naomi, who is living in a land which is not her own and because she is a woman who has no husband and no heirs, she is left without any earthly possessions. She has no friends or family except for her two daughters-in-law who are both barren. In biblical times, a woman's status was decided by her relationship to men - a husband, father, or even her male children - so a woman left with none of these relationships in a foreign land was one of the lowliest people in the social chain. I'm not saying Ruth is a greater story that Job,  impossible circumstances were overcome in both books because the characters were able to regain faith in God, but the viewpoint of Ruth (once society is taken into perspective) is a more interesting and dynamic view of suffering.

It is rare to get a women's point of view in the Bible, so we should take a chance to appreciate Ruth. Sometimes seeing something through a new "set of eyes" lends to a much greater understanding of a well known and beloved story.

READ RUTH, it's worth it!!