I am beginning a new series this Sunday on Ruth, which will take our congregation all the way until the Advent Season in late November. One brief observation to make is that Ruth is the eighth book in Scriptures, and though the table of contents are not inspired, yet it reveals that Ruth is indeed a new book for a new world. The eighth day is a new creation and Ruth offers a new hope to the kinglessness and Yahwehlessness of Israel in Judges. Whereas Judges 21 concludes with: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” Ruth concludes with “…and Jesse fathered David.” David, the new King will be Israel’s great hope.