Ruth For You: Revealing God's Kindness and Care

God's Word for You

by Tony Merida

The book of Ruth is a love story. Like all love stories it has twists and turns, tension and resolution, and a happy ending.

But it's far more than that because it reveals to us a God who is deeply committed to caring for his people. In Boaz, God provides Ruth with a loving husband to free and provide for her, pointing us to the Bible's grand story of redemption and David’s greatest son, Jesus.

Tony Merida's compelling story-telling and Christ-centered insights make this both an accessible and absorbing expository guide to the book of Ruth. It can be used for personal devotions, or for leading small-group studies, or for sermon preparation.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction

169 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Tony Merida is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, NC. Tony is the author of Faithful Preaching, co-author of Orphanology, and serves as a general editor and as contributor to the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series (B&H Publishing Group) along with David Platt and Danny Akin. He is married to Kimberly, with whom he has five adopted children.

Reviews

[Walter Shaw - · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re new to reading the Bible, Ruth is a good place to start. The book of Ruth is a short story with a beginning, middle, and end with interesting characters and a beautiful story of redemption. Ruth For You by Tony Merida is a great companion to a devotional reading of the book!

Merida breaks up the four-chapter book of Ruth into eight sections consisting of a section of exposition followed by some questions for application.

One thing I really appreciated about Merida’s handling of the text was the Christ-centered nature of his exposition. When @tonymerida the Old Testament, it can be tempting to force in some kind of allegory or foreshadowing of Christ where there may not be one. I would put this commentary as an example of good Christ-centered application, drawing out Christ where He is genuinely found in the text. If you struggle to find Jesus in the Old Testament, you will do well to see the connections that Merida makes and put them into practice yourself!

The God’s Word For You series from @thegoodbookcompany is one of my favorites to recommend to a broad audience, and the entry on Ruth by Tony Merida is no exception. If you’re looking for Hebrew word studies or grammatical analysis, this probably isn’t the commentary you’re looking for. Merida very helpfully cites the commentaries you’re going to want to look over if you’re preaching the book or desiring a deeper study. If you’re looking for Biblical exposition written in a devotional style, I’d highly recommend it! A bonus if you’re really new to Bible reading is that there is a short glossary at the end of the book to explain some of the words and characters you may not immediately be familiar with. The inclusion of a feature like that speaks volumes about the international that went into making this commentary accessible to people from a variety of backgrounds!

I would recommend this person who would like to take some time and devotionally work through the book of Ruth!

This book was graciously provided by @thegoodbookcompanyusa

[Alison (readinginazaleawoods) · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the past month, my women’s small group has been studying the book of Ruth, loosely following the S.O.A.P. method. As the leader, I wanted to go a little deeper and draw from solid expository teaching, and Tony Merida’s Ruth for You provided exactly what I was looking for.

This is an excellent resource for anyone studying Ruth, whether individually or in a group setting (and yes, there’s even a guide available for group leaders!). I especially appreciated the way Merida unpacks the culture and context of Ruth, bringing fresh insight to passages I had read before but still had so much to glean from. His teaching gave me a fuller understanding of this beautiful love story—one that not only highlights Boaz and Ruth but ultimately points us to God’s covenant kindness, sovereignty, and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

✨ I highly recommend this book and look forward to exploring more of the God’s Word For You series from @thegoodbookcompanyusa in future studies.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, pastor and author Tony Merida explores the book of Ruth through expository teaching. He goes through the biblical book from beginning to end, and also includes context from elsewhere in the Bible, helping readers understand the Old Testament context to Ruth and the ways that this story foreshadows redemptive themes and connects to the genealogy of Christ. At the beginning, Merida writes about how much people tend to love Ruth, because it is both a moving love story and and a triumph over the odds. He gives his readers deeper insight into the story through his understanding of the culture, and gracefully addresses themes of immigration and women’s rights without overemphasizing social elements of the story or making political points that are outside of the scriptural framework.

This book works as a devotional book, a reference for sermon-planning, a group study guide, or a book to read straight through. I read it straight through, and even though this meant that I was more aware of the parts that were somewhat repetitive and restated things, I enjoyed the book and appreciated the extra insight into this familiar story. Throughout Ruth for You, Merida emphasizes the sovereignty of God, explaining that even though the author often introduced new turns in the plot by saying, “it just so happened,” this was a device to underscore God’s providential hand. Merida encourages his readers to consider the ways that God may be working behind the scenes in their everyday lives, just as he brought healing and hope to Ruth and Naomi through ordinary means.

Even though I am very familiar with the book of Ruth and have done a Bible study on it before, I still learned new things from this guide. I really enjoyed it, and since this Bible study includes discussion questions at the end of each section without including the kind of time-consuming activities and requirements that many more traditional Bible studies do, this can be a great option for small groups to study together without having homework requirements that will put people out of sync with each other. This book is great for both men and women, and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a faithful and practical resource on this book of the Bible.

[Anne-Marie Laberge · Rating 5 out of 5]

C'est mon troisième de cette série ! Je recommande à la fois la série et celui-ci précisément.
L'auteur parvient à nous faire réfléchir, nous permet de mieux adorer l'Éternel Souverain dans cette histoire, nous aide à saisir des détails et nous enseigne comment les personnages illustrent des vérités éternelles.

Christ est le rédempteur par excellence ! il avait le désir de racheter et en avait les moyens !
Merci à l'auteur, le traducteur et les maisons d'éditions !

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent commentary on the short story of Ruth. I used it as devotional reading, and found it very helpful in understanding the book of Ruth, particularly the way it points forward to my great Redeemer, Jesus Christ (the descendant of Ruth and Boaz)! This review (for the paperback edition) was incorrectly linked to the Kindle edition, which I've not read!

[Billy Glosson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My familiarity with Merida's work has mostly been through the Christ-Centered Exposition series, but I enjoyed him even more in this format. This was a very helpful read. At times, it felt a bit redundant when read alongside other commentaries, but Merida does what he often does—he shines as a stellar preacher. A great resource overall.

[Phil Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good addition to the "God's Word For You" series . Ruth being a smaller book, means there is room to unpack it more fully than some of the others in this series.

[Carl J Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully Explained

A great insight into the character of God through each of the persons in this book of the bible and how they each point forward to Christ.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #19 in 2023
5 Stars

This book was very helpful in my recently teaching through the Book of Ruth. I appreciated how the author tied this story into the story of Jesus.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful application.

[Ryan Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best commentary I read on Ruth.

[Trenton Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource for sermon prep. Not a comprehensive commentary but a good introductory commentary that is useful for sermon prep.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn’t say anything I haven’t already read somewhere else.

[Ruth Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

En general, me encantan los libros de esta serie y suelo usarlos como devocional. Es la primera vez que leo uno en francés y me alegra mucho que estén traduciendo esta colección a otros idiomas, porque realmente es de mucha calidad.

Me ha gustado el estilo de Tony Merida: es fácil de seguir, interesante y claro. Sin meterse en temas súper complejos, pero tampoco quedándose en lo básico, ha conseguido captar mi atención y hacerme disfrutar de una nueva lectura del libro de Rut. Sus ilustraciones al principio del capítulo son relevantes y llamativas y aprecio en gran manera la forma en la que aplica las enseñanzas a nuestra propia vida.

[Jonathan Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très utile pour mieux comprendre le livre de Ruth. Les remarques sont pertinentes et tout à fait fidèles au texte. Bon équilibre dans l'application entre "je peux suivre l'exemple des personnages" et "cette histoire pointe vers Jésus".

Je recommande en particulier pour une lecture quotidienne ou un survol du livre!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent commentary on the short story of Ruth. I used it as devotional reading, and found it very helpful in understanding the book of Ruth, particularly the way it points forward to my great Redeemer, Jesus Christ (the descendant of Ruth and Boaz)!

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book so much about the book of Ruth points us to the ultimate redeemer Jesus and this book helped draw that out.

[Ricky Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good starter introduction to the book of Ruth.

[Clavesaint Ralphie]

Derrière l'histoire de Ruth se cache le plan rédempteur de Dieu et ce livre nous aide à mieux le réaliser.