Through the Bible - Ruth

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons... And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab... And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. (Ruth 1)

A short Old Testament treasure that turns famine and bitterness into the romance of redemption — and points us straight to Christ.

A Name in David's Family Tree

Matthew chapter 1 opens the New Testament by telling us that Jesus Christ is the Son of David. And there in David's family tree is the name Ruth — which is actually not even a Hebrew name, as we'll see. So we turn back to the Old Testament, to the book of Ruth.

Four chapters is a little easier than Deuteronomy. But this book is a treasure. It's one of those books you can easily read over quickly and not take for what it really is. It's considered a literary gem — not just from the Bible, but in literature itself. Even secular students of literature study the book of Ruth, because it is a beautiful short story.

The Setting: Famine in the Days of the Judges

The setting is given in the first five verses. "Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled." We just finished Judges last week — that period of some 350-plus years before the monarchy, when the nation was ruled by judges. The whole setting of that book is summarized in its last verse: "In those days there was no king in Israel. And everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

In the midst of that, "there was a famine in the land." Remember from Deuteronomy that famines came as a result of judgment. When the children of Israel departed from the Lord, these curses would come upon the land — including the land ceasing to give its fruitfulness (Deuteronomy 27 and 28). So a famine is a good indication that Ruth takes place when Israel was departing from following the Lord.

The famine strikes in Bethlehem-judah. Bethlehem is the city of David — David came from this region and was of the tribe of Judah. The name Bethlehem means "house of bread." Yet in the house of bread, there is a famine. So Elimelech takes his family into Moab, east of Israel — a nation closely related to Israel through Abraham's nephew Lot, but never a place where God wanted His people to dwell. Remember in Numbers how the Moabite women brought their gods into Israel's households and caused them to sin, bringing God's judgment.

What the Names Mean: "My God Is King"

In the Old Testament, names and their meanings carry great weight. The starting point of our story is Elimelech, whose name means "my God is king."

First, notice "God is." Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, "for he that cometh to God must believe that he is." That's the foundation. The Bible begins, "In the beginning God." It doesn't argue for or defend God's existence — it simply starts with God. Those who conclude there is no God have been educated beyond their intelligence. As the Psalms say twice over, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." His existence is clearly seen in creation. David says, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth shows forth his handiwork."

Second, notice "my God." He is a personal God who desires fellowship with man. That's the theme we've been seeing all through these books — man fallen away from God in Genesis, dead in a coffin in Egypt, and God reaching out in Exodus to redeem man so He could dwell among His people. Hebrews 11:6 also says He "is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him." If a person concludes there is no God, it only means he has not sought Him, for Jesus said, "Seek, and ye shall find."

By contrast, consider King Saul next week in 1 Samuel — the people's choice, a head taller than everyone. Yet when Samuel confronts his disobedience, three times Saul says "the LORD thy God." Saul never claimed Him as his own God.

Third, notice "King." God desires to be the Lord, the master, the King of our lives. If God is not King, you will not experience the abundant life He desires for you. "The thief cometh… to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). That abundant life is only experienced as He is both my God and my King. We must come to the place of submission to Him as Lord.

Pleasure That Turns to Death

Elimelech — "my God is king" — marries Naomi, whose name means pleasure. He chooses pleasure as his thing, and look what it produces. His first son is Mahlon, which means "sickly." His second is Chilion, which means "pining" — to wither away and die. He marries pleasure and gives birth to sickness and death, and experiences famine in the land.

This will always be the case. When we lay hold of the things and pleasures of this world, it ends in famine. And when famine comes, if our heart is not given to the Lord, we begin to turn away and end up in Moab.

You saw the same pattern with Abraham in Genesis 12. God called him to Canaan, and Abraham built an altar and named the place Bethel — "house of God." But the very next verse says he pitched his tent toward the east of Bethel, between Bethel and Ai, and Ai means "heap of ruin." When you place your life between the house of God and the heap of ruin of the world, you'll end up going down to Egypt. The name Moab means "wash basin" or "wash pot" — a dirty pot. That's exactly where Elimelech went, and there he died. The wages of sin is death. Genesis ends with a man in a coffin in Egypt; here is another man who should have had God as King, dead in Moab. His two sons, "sickly" and "pining," marry Moabite women, and after about ten years they die too. Naomi — pleasure — is left in Moab with her two daughters-in-law.

The Return Toward the House of Bread

Then Naomi hears that "the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread" — back in Bethlehem, the house of bread. (How fitting, for the Bread of Life was Himself birthed in Bethlehem.) So she sets out to return to the land of Judah, whose name means praise — back to the house of bread, because God had visited His people.

Naomi urges her daughters-in-law to go back: "The LORD grant you that ye may find rest." But the fact is, you will never find rest in Moab. Rest is only found in Jesus Christ. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

She reminds them she has no more sons in her womb — pointing back to the law of the kinsman redeemer in Deuteronomy 25, where a brother would take the wife of a deceased man to carry on his name. "I am too old to have a husband… it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me." Here is Naomi's whole mindset in hard times: "The hand of the LORD is against me." Have you ever felt that way — that everything you touch turns to nothing?

Two Daughters-in-Law, Two Commitments

In these two Moabite women we see the two commitments people often make to God. Both first said, "Surely we will return with thee." But as the difficulty ahead becomes real, Orpah kisses Naomi and goes back — back to her people and, the text says, "unto her gods." Ruth, however, "clave unto her." And Ruth gives this beautiful declaration:

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. (Ruth 1:16–17)

The name Ruth means "friendship" or "beauty," and we see that beautiful friendship in her.

The Bitterness of Death

The first chapter forms the first division of the book — the bitterness of death. When the two arrive in Bethlehem, the whole city is moved. "Is this Naomi?" And she answers, "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara." Naomi means pleasure; Mara means bitterness. Pleasure turns to bitterness when pleasure is what you seek. Remember Moses, who chose to suffer with God's people rather than enjoy "the pleasures of sin for a season" (Hebrews 11) — sin is a passing pleasure that always results in bitterness.

"The Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty." Many people end the later years of their lives bitter and angry — upset at God because He didn't do what they expected.

Have you noticed yet that God does not live up to your expectations? Nor did He ever promise He would. Consider John the Baptist — a man dedicated to God like no other, wearing camel's hair, eating locusts and wild honey, faithfully preparing the way of the Lord. Yet from prison he sends disciples to Jesus: "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" I believe John had the common Jewish expectation that Messiah would come as a conquering king to overthrow Rome and Herod. Jesus didn't fit that expectation. So Jesus answers, "Tell John… the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached," and then adds, "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." Sometimes people become offended with God because He doesn't meet their expectations. That's where Naomi was.

The Wooing of Grace

But this book is the romance of redemption. They arrive "in the beginning of barley harvest" — a little "to be continued" hook. And Naomi has a kinsman of her husband, a mighty man of wealth named Boaz. The plot thickens.

Ruth goes out to glean: "Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace." She goes to seek grace, and He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Somewhere on the road from Moab, Naomi must have shared the law with her — God's welfare plan in Deuteronomy 24:19. The poor, the fatherless, and the widow could glean the edges and whatever the reapers dropped. They had to go out and work for it, gathering what was left behind. God knows better than any government.

"And her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz." Underline that — her hap was. There are no coincidences with God. It didn't just so happen that you're here tonight. He is the one directing our lives, with a plan and a purpose.

Boaz arrives and notices her: "Whose damsel is this?" He learns she is the Moabitess who came back with Naomi. Then the love story begins. He tells Ruth to glean in no other field, to stay close to his maidens, to drink the water his young men have drawn, and he charges the young men not to touch her. He gives her provision and protection.

She falls on her face: "Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" Boaz, who follows the law (God repeatedly told Israel to care for the stranger, remembering they were strangers in Egypt), answers:

It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law… The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. (Ruth 2:11–12)

He invites her to eat with the reapers and commands his men to let her glean even among the sheaves and to drop handfuls on purpose for her. She gleans about an ephah of barley. Out there she's probably thinking, "These are the worst reapers I've ever seen — they keep dropping everything!" She comes home with a great amount, and Naomi asks where she gleaned. When Ruth says, "Boaz," Naomi's eyes light up: "Blessed be he of the LORD… The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen." The word is goel — the kinsman redeemer, the one able to purchase back the field and raise up an heir in Elimelech's name.

Notice how quickly Naomi's mind changes. A moment ago, "the LORD hath dealt bitterly with me"; now, "Blessed be he of the LORD." Circumstances changed and her mindset changed with them. Ruth keeps gleaning through the barley harvest (April) and the wheat harvest (June), and Boaz keeps an eye on her. That is the second division — the wooing of grace.

The Clearing of the Debt

Chapter 3 is the clearing of the debt. Naomi says, "My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee?" Boaz is winnowing barley at the threshing floor — breaking the grain from the husks on a hard surface and tossing it so the chaff blows away. She tells Ruth to wash, anoint herself, put on her clothing, and go down, but stay hidden until Boaz has eaten and lain down. Then she is to uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell her what to do.

Some read this and think something strange is going on, but it isn't. Harvest was a joyful feast time — Isaiah even speaks of Messiah bringing joy "as men rejoice in harvest." The workers would feast, then sleep in the fields to guard the harvest. Lying at the feet was the position of a servant — the head servant lay at his master's feet, ready to do whatever he asked. Just as Mary sat at Jesus' feet while Martha was busy with much serving, the feet are the place of submission, recognizing him as authority and ready to do his will.

So Ruth lies at Boaz's feet. At midnight he startles awake: "Who art thou?" She answers, "I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman." She offers him the opportunity to redeem all that was Elimelech's. Boaz replies, "Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter… all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman." Circle that — verse 11. He and the whole city had taken note. (Read Proverbs 31 and consider what that means.)

But — "however" — there is a problem. "There is a kinsman nearer than I." Boaz promises that in the morning he will resolve it: if the nearer kinsman will redeem, good; if not, Boaz will. He sends her home with six measures of barley so she won't return empty. Naomi says, "Sit still, my daughter… for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day."

The Removal of the Debt

Chapter 4 is the removal of the debt. Boaz goes up to the gate — where the elders and judges assembled — and gathers ten elders and the nearer kinsman. Every family in Israel had received a parcel of land as inheritance, passed down through the family. Elimelech's land must stay in the family. Naomi, with nothing, must sell it. Boaz tells the nearer kinsman, "If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it." The kinsman says, "I will redeem it."

I picture Naomi and Ruth standing off to the side, and the nearer kinsman as some feeble old man saying, "Yeah, I'll buy it." Ruth's heart sinks. But Boaz has a card up his sleeve. With this field comes not just a right but an obligation: to provide an heir for Elimelech's family — which means marrying Ruth.

So Boaz plays the Ruth card: "What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance." Suddenly the kinsman says, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself." He likely had a wife and family who would not be happy.

To confirm the transaction in those days, a man would pluck off his shoe and give it to his neighbor. (Culturally the foot was the dirtiest, most shameful part — think of how the people in Iraq struck the fallen statues of Saddam with their sandals. In Deuteronomy, a man refusing to raise up his brother's heir would have his shoe removed and be spit upon.) So the kinsman gives Boaz his shoe and says, "Buy it for thee."

Then Boaz declares before the elders and all the people:

Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's… Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. (Ruth 4:9–10)

Notice — Orpah, the wife of Chilion, would have received an inheritance too, had she held on. But she went back to Moab and received nothing. The half-hearted commitment goes back to the old life; the commitment of Ruth presses on and receives an inheritance.

The people bless the union, and Boaz takes Ruth as his wife. The LORD gives her conception, and she bears a son, Obed. Naomi takes the child to her bosom and becomes his nurse — a good grandmother. And the women say, "There is a son born to Naomi." Obed is the father of Jesse, the father of David. The genealogy closes: Perez… Boaz begat Obed, Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

What It All Means: The Kinsman Redeemer

What does it all mean? "All these things… were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Many Old Testament stories are pictures illustrating New Testament principles. Here we have the kinsman redeemer — our Lord Jesus Christ — who came to redeem us. But there was a nearer kinsman who could not redeem. Who was that?

Turn to Romans 8:3: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh… condemned sin in the flesh." We were under a former covenant, the law of God. But the law cannot save or redeem — just as the nearer kinsman could not redeem Elimelech's land and Ruth. So this type of Christ, Boaz — whose name means strength — comes in and does what the law was too weak to do. He purchases back the field and receives a bride.

The beautiful thing is that this Moabitess, a Gentile, is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus and of David (Matthew 1). And she's not alone. Just before her in the genealogy is Tamar, a harlot, found there by the grace of God. Then there is Rahab, a Gentile harlot of Jericho, also in the genealogy by grace. And then Ruth from Moab, who went out faithfully saying, "Whither thou goest, I will go… thy God shall be my God," giving up her old life to follow the one true God.

So we have the four divisions: the bitterness of death, the wooing of grace, the clearing of the debt, and the removal of the debt. Only Jesus can remove that debt — the law cannot, and the kinsman ahead of Boaz wasn't strong enough. But Boaz, strength, redeems — just as Christ redeemed us, purchasing the field, which is this earth, so that He could receive and redeem a bride.

It is considered one of the most beautiful love stories ever told. When Benjamin Franklin was ambassador to France, he attended a literary club called the Infidels Club, where they despised the Bible. Franklin took the book of Ruth, copied it out in his own hand, and changed all the names so it wouldn't be recognized as Israelite or biblical, then read it to them. They were astounded and asked where he found such a beautiful story. He told them it was in the Bible they so contemned and hated — and they were blown away. A beautiful story indeed, about the redemption God desires to bring into our lives: God became a man so that He could die, and from His side bring forth a bride. We are the bride of Christ.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we do thank You for the truth of Your word. I ask, Lord, that You would help us make these connections and correlations as we read through Your word, and understand just what it is You're trying to reveal to us — that these aren't archaic stories or folklore, but historical records of Your people, written down for us that we might learn from them. Many of them have application and typical understanding for us, that we might see how the principles of the New Testament apply. So help us read Your word with that in mind, and take it to heart. We thank You that You, Jesus, became a man and died for us, that we could be Your bride, that You could redeem us out of the death of the world, remove us from the bitterness of death, and bring us into the gracious joy of the Holy Spirit. Continue to strengthen us in Your word, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.