A foreign widow gleans in the field of a kinsman. A midnight scene on a threshing floor. A redemption at the city gate. A baby in the arms of a grandmother who had renamed herself Bitter.

In this letter

- Walking the four chapters of Ruth

- Davaq (H1692) — Ruth's clinging, the same Hebrew word as Genesis 2:24

- Bethlehem as house of bread, the irony of the famine

- The gleaning law (Lev 19:9-10, Deut 24:19)

- Boaz's hesed toward Ruth in the field

- Under your wing — Boaz's prayer becomes Ruth's request

- The threshing floor scene, slow

- The redemption at the city gate

- Obed, Jesse, David

Scripture

- Ruth 1-4 (full)

- Genesis 2:24 (the davaq parallel)

- Leviticus 19:9-10 (gleaning law, referenced)

Hebrew word studies

- davaq (דָּבַק, Strong's H1692) — to cling, to be joined. The marriage word.

- hesed (חֶסֶד, H2617) — covenant lovingkindness. Carried from Week 4.

Coming tomorrow | The Address. The crossroads.

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Tradition says Samuel wrote it. The text doesn't name an author. But someone decided a Moabite widow's story needed to be preserved — and the genealogy at the end shows you why.

In this letter

- The mystery of authorship — Samuel and the Talmudic tradition

- The period of the judges as historical setting

- Why Moabites were forbidden from the assembly of the Lord (Deut 23:3)

- Ruth in the Hebrew Ketuvim (Writings) and the Megillot (festival scrolls)

- Why Ruth is read at Shavuot / Pentecost

- Matthew 1 and the women in the line of Christ

- The family tree of the Messiah, built from outsiders

Scripture

- Ruth 1:1 (the historical setting)

- Deuteronomy 23:3 (the Moabite exclusion)

- Judges 21:25 (the world Ruth was set in)

- Matthew 1:1-17 (referenced)

Coming tomorrow | The Story. Four chapters, walked slow.

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A short book about a foreign widow. Three deaths. A dirt road. A vow no one expected. Where you go, I will go. And the family line of Christ grew out of it.

In this letter

- Setting the book of Ruth — four chapters, the period of the judges

- A slow read of Ruth 1 (NKJV)

- The setup — famine in Bethlehem, the move to Moab, the three deaths

- The dirt road and the kiss goodbye

- The famous vow — Entreat me not to leave you

- Naomi renaming herself Mara (bitter)

Scripture

- Ruth 1

Coming tomorrow | The Sender. The outsider in the family tree of David.

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One Greek verb in verse 14 ties the whole prologue back to a tent in the wilderness. The Word became flesh and pitched a tent. Today we hear the whole letter.

In this letter

- Logos — the Greek and Hebrew heritage of the Word

- The full walk-through of the prologue

- Verse 14 as the hinge

- Skēnoō — to pitch a tent, to tabernacle (G4637)

- The Hebrew shakhan and Shekinah — the dwelling presence of God

- Doxa — glory (G1391)

- Charis and alētheia — grace and truth

- Charin anti charitos — grace upon grace, grace replacing grace

- Moses, Jesus, law, grace, truth

- Exēgēsato — Jesus as the exegesis of the Father (G1834)

- A direct pastoral landing for those who do not yet see, those who feel distant, and those waiting to receive

Scripture

- John 1:1-18 (full)

- Exodus 33:18-23 (Moses and the glory, referenced)

- John 14:9 (referenced)

Greek word studies

- Logos (λόγος, Strong's G3056) — Word, divine principle, creative utterance

- skēnoō (σκηνόω, G4637) — to pitch a tent, to tabernacle (carried from Wednesday)

- doxa (δόξα, G1391) — glory, visible presence

- charis (χάρις, G5485) — grace

- alētheia (ἀλήθεια, G225) — truth

- monogenēs (μονογενής, G3439) — only begotten, unique

- exēgēsato / exēgeomai (ἐξηγέομαι, G1834) — to explain, to declare, to narrate. The root of the English word exegesis. Jesus as the explanation of the Father.

Next week's letter | The book of Ruth — Where You Go.

> That's this week's letter. We'll see you Monday with another.

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Letters from Home is a daily Bible teaching podcast with host Hank Garner.

Mail for people still on the road. New letters every weekday.

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Most of us have reduced Jesus to an idea. The prologue insists on the body. The Word became flesh — what difference does that make to how we live?

In this letter

- The temptation to keep Jesus a concept

- Why the body is what makes Him present

- John's old-man witness — we beheld His glory

- The world that did not know Him, and His own who did not receive Him

- Where in our lives we are still keeping Him at arm's length

- The grace of verse 12 — as many as received Him

Scripture

- John 1:10-14

The question to sit with

Where are you keeping the Word at arm's length? Where is He right in front of you, and you are still seeing past Him?

Coming tomorrow | The Whole Letter.

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The eternal Word who made the cosmos pitched a tent in our streets. Eighteen verses that walk from cosmic geometry to a body you could have touched.

In this letter

- The three statements of verse 1 — was, was with God, was God

- Greek pros — face-to-face relationship

- The grammar question of the Word was God

- The double heritage of Logos — Greek philosophy and Hebrew utterance

- Katalambanō — comprehend or overcome (G2638)

- John the Baptist as witness, not light

- The maker rejected by the made

- Verse 14 as the hinge — the Word became flesh

- Skēnoō (G4637) — to pitch a tent, to tabernacle

- The Old Testament tabernacle and the New Testament incarnation

- Doxa — the glory that filled the tabernacle, now in a face

Scripture

- John 1:1-14

- Genesis 1:3 (referenced)

- Exodus 25:8-9 (the tabernacle, referenced)

Greek word studies

- Logos (λόγος, Strong's G3056) — Word, the divine principle, the creative utterance

- skēnoō (σκηνόω, G4637) — to pitch a tent, to tabernacle

- doxa (δόξα, G1391) — glory, visible presence

- monogenēs (μονογενής, G3439) — only begotten, unique, one of a kind

Coming tomorrow | The Address. Do you let Him be flesh?

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John was a fisherman from Galilee. By the time he wrote his Gospel, he was the last apostle alive. And he decided to tell the story one more time.

In this letter

- John the apostle — son of Zebedee, the beloved disciple

- John at the foot of the cross, given care of Mary

- When and where John wrote — Ephesus, late first century

- Why John wrote a fourth Gospel after Matthew, Mark, and Luke

- The Gnostic context — Jesus only seemed to be human

- The Greek philosophical context of Logos (Stoics, Heraclitus)

- The Hebrew dabar — the creative word of God in Genesis 1

- John 20:30-31 — John's stated purpose for writing

Scripture

- John 19:25-27

- John 20:30-31

- Mark 1:19-20 (the call of John, referenced)

Coming tomorrow | The Story. Walking the prologue, slow.

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The most cosmic passage in the New Testament. It starts before the world existed and lands in a manger. Eighteen verses that walk from eternity to flesh.

In this letter

- How John opens his Gospel differently than Matthew, Mark, and Luke

- Why in the beginning echoes Genesis 1

- A slow read of John 1:1-18 (NKJV)

- Verse 14 as the hinge — the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

- The light-and-darkness motif that runs through John's whole Gospel

Scripture

- John 1:1-18

- Genesis 1:1 (referenced)

Coming tomorrow | The Sender. The fisherman who outlived all the other apostles.

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