We have more in common with ancient people than we may realise at first. In our study of Ruth and Samuel we
will see that certain human longings and joys transcend time. Barren women long for children. Corrupt leaders
abuse power. Kindness changes lives. Jealousy drives people to madness. And even godly people wilfully sin
and go to appalling lengths to cover it up. We will meet people who lived when Israel’s leadership moved from
a series of judges to its first kings. Men like Samuel, Saul, David, and Absalom. And women like Ruth, Naomi,
Hannah, and Bathsheba. These people were not so different from us. And God was sovereign in their lives, as
He is in ours.
Ruth and 1 Samuel both open with the stories of heartsick women. In the book of Ruth, it is a widow and her
two widowed daughters-in-law. These widows, particularly Ruth, had a key role in God’s great plan for Israel.
And Ruth’s inclusion as a foreigner among the Israelites signals God’s great plan for the whole world. In 1
Samuel, the heartsick woman is Hannah. Tormented by her barrenness, Hannah cried out to the Lord for a child.
The son who arrived in answer to her prayer became the prophet God used to establish Israel’s monarchy.