This week we will finish Judges - that dark, dark record of Israel's history as a very young nation - and then, the book of Ruth.

I've always wondered a little about the book of Ruth. After spending so much time viewing Israel's history from a bird's-eye view, it has always seemed a little strange to suddenly zero in on one small and seemingly irrelevant family - especially when I've just left the cliffhanger that is the end of Judges, which leaves me wondering if there is any hope for Israel at all.