Ruth is the story of the grace and redemption of our God with skin on.  God is spoken from the lips of the characters in this story, but never by the narrator and story teller.  It shows us that God is intensely involved in the circumstances of both the mundane and the messy... even though we may FEEL like he is distant.

Judges 21:25 "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes."  This statement describes our own culture of moral relativism.  How are God's chosen people to walk in such a culture?  Well for one, know and avoid the D CYCLE!

The Israelites had won the war for the promised land, but there were still battles to fight and win.  There was still some clean up to do.  But instead of pursuing and obeying their call to their uniqueness and their unique God, the Israelites were drawn to the worldview and ways of the people and the nations they had conquered.  Their temptations are immensely relevant to the church of Jesus Christ today!

Whose side is God on?  That is what Joshua asked the Angel of the Lord.  The Angel's answer astounds us and makes us think.  The question is not really whose side God is on... but whose side we are on.