The Romance of Redemption by M. R. DeHaan
This is a wonderful study of the Biblical book of Ruth. This is a small book of the Bible with only 4 chapters but it's a wonderful story. Naomi and Elimelech and their 2 sons, Mahlon and Chilion, lived in Bethelehem. During a famine they sell out and move to Moab where the two sons marry Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion died leaving the 3 women widows. Naomi hears that things are better back in her hometown and she decides to move back there. Both daughters-in-law want to go with her but she insists they stay. Orpah leaves her and goes back home but Ruth refuses to leave her mother-in-law. So the 2 women move back to Bethlehem but they are poor and destitute. Ruth goes about finding a job and eventually marries the big man in the village. Sounds like a million romance movies doesn't it?
Why is this story in the Bible? Because Ruth and her 2nd husband, Boaz, are ancestors of King David and, eventually, Jesus Christ.
But DeHaan takes us much deeper than the initial story. In short, easy-to-read chapters, he beautifully explains some of the most basic foundational truths about redemption. Have you ever wondered why it took Jesus' blood and death to save us? Why couldn't he have just sneezed our sins away and not have to go through torture and death? What does the word redemption mean? Why do Christians focus on the body and blood of Jesus, isn't that morbid? The Romans thought early Christians were practising canibalism when they participated in the Lord's Supper (Communion). I felt that DeHaan explained these things very easily.
This book is not complicated, hard, or dry. It would make a wonderful study for a Sunday School class or Bible study but it's perfect for a personal study too. Sometimes I think I can't love Jesus any more and then I come across a book like this and it makes my love even deeper ergo the name of the book.
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