Ruth And Naomi Series

You can’t make this story up. The story of Ruth is way too far-fetched to be manmade. The likely author of the book of Ruth is Samuel, who was a contemporary with Ruth as both lived in the days when judges ruled. There is just no way Samuel would come up with the idea on his own to include Ruth the Moabite as the hero of Jewish history.

Matthew underscores the importance of Ruth. The story of Ruth practically opens the New Testament when Matthew 1:3-6 cover the genealogy from Ruth’s story and mention Ruth by name.

Samuel’s own sons who were set up to be the likely heroes for Israel, failed and Ruth was shining like the brightest star. No way would Samuel or any other Jewish writer “write in” a Moabite woman like Ruth to be King David’s great grandmother, when Moabites were cursed to the tenth generation.

Samuel would not have come up with the idea that Ruth the Moabite woman would become the great grandmother to king David, the greatest and most important king in the history of Israel. He would not have been able to “win friends and influenced people” by writing that Ruth would become in the linage of the awaited Messiah. Ruth is the heritage for all the cursed of the earth to be redeemed by Jesus Christ. This story and all these events are all orchestrated by the hand of God.

This book of the Bible, Ruth underscores the providence of God. Ruth stands alongside, Tamar, Rehab and Bathsheba as unlikely ancestors of Jesus. The book of Ruth is a redemption story of Ruth and, her mother-in-law Naomi. Even beyond that the story of Ruth is an account of the redemption of ultimately our entire human race.

The setting of the book of Ruth is the period of the Judges. There was a famine and that is why this landowner Elimelek of Bethlehem traveled to Moab with his family.

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. (Ruth 1:1-2)

The book of Ruth begins by introducing Elimelek from Bethlehem. His name means the Lord is my king. Elimelek was married to Naomi. Her name means pleasant. This couple are referred to as Ephrathites. This term for distinguishing Bethlehem was used by Micah in foretelling where the Messiah would be born. It was from Bethlehem-Ephrata that the Messiah was to come (see Micah 5:2) Ephrath (Bethlehem) is mentioned in Genesis as the place they were on the way to from Bethel when Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.

Elimelek and Naomi left Bethlehem for Moab with their two sons because there was a famine in the land. They went to Moab east of the Dead Sea to escape the famine.

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. (Ruth 1:4-5)

Tragedy struck for Naomi in Moab. First of all, her husband Elimelek died. Both of her sons married Moabite women. That is where Ruth comes into the story of salvation history.

Then after the death of Elimelek both of her sons died. She became a destitute widow in a foreign land. By that time Naomi had been in Moab for ten years and the famine was over in Bethlehem. Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem.

It is important to know that Ruth was a Moabite, and that Moabites were a cursed people to the Israelites and Naomi’s people in Bethlehem. Why were the Moabites cursed? They descended from Moab who was the son of Lot (Abraham’s cousin). Moab was born after Lot escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and his daughters got him drunk to have a union of Lot and his daughter. (Genesis 19:30-37) The descendants of Moab lived east of the dead sea.

In Numbers 22-25 there is an account of how the king of Moab, Balak, paid Balam to curse Israel then seduced the Israelites to marry Moabite women and worship Moabite gods. The Moabites were not to enter the assembly of the Lord to the tenth generation. (Deuteronomy 23:3-6)

We see the sovereignty of God in difficulties. The reason we see the Lord at work in Naomi’s difficult situation that made her a broken woman in despair is because we are looking back on them. We know the whole story of how this was the hand of God working beautifully in the life of Naomi. Think of Naomi in her situation leaving Moab to return home and you could understand that at the time Naomi could only see the bitter circumstances.