The way home

I’ve always been impressed in how Tessa Afshar can take you into the world of the Old Testament, she always describes it in so many details, it feels very real. To be honest, that’s why I picked up this study, to see if her studies are like that, too. And I can say that, yes, they are. There are a lot of fun little facts about the Biblical culture thrown in, and you can see how much research went into this. A LOT of research. This study is very thorough and after a bumpy but necessary first chapters I came to love it and I can say it has enriched my life and really made me think. There are many hidden gems in Ruth and Naomi’s story!

However, the first week is quite heavy! I get it is necessary to explain exactly where the book of Ruth is taking place, so we delve deep into the Judges. For me it was really hard to keep going because it didn’t really click with me, if you feel the same just keep pushing because it gets a lot better!

Another thing that has put me off a bit is that you need to look up so many verses all around the Bible. As it often was just for a verse or 2 I really wish those would have been printed inside the book as it made my concentration waver a lot, those were the moments I would put the study down. That might also be because my Dutch translation is of course a bit different so words mentioned I needed to translate in my head (you do find out how different the Bible can be in different languages, that was kinda cool).

But all in all, the good outweighs the bad by far, because this is a rich and very solid study that makes you think about your own choices and I really loved it! I’m normally not into studies, but this one has really had a positive impact on my faith and I can really recommend it.

I received a free copy from Netgalley but it hasn’t influenced my opinions.