A Study in Ruth Part I: From Bitter to Better

The book of Ruth is a ray of light during a time of darkness and godlessness. It is a story of God’s sovereignty, kindness, and redemption.

 

Date & Place of Writing

- The account of Ruth occurs during the time of the judges (death of Joshua - rise of Samuel) 1335-1050BC

- The inclusion of David’s genealogy at the end of the book puts the writing sometime after his anointing as king; possibly during his reign.

- Dates somewhere between 1050 BC and 500 BC

- Jewish tradition holds that the prophet Samuel wrote the book of Ruth

- The book of Ruth is told from the perspective of Naomi

 

Themes

- God’s sovereignty

- God’s goodness/kindness

- God’s redemption

 

Let’s begin reading:

 

Ruth 1:1-2

“1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.”

 

Elimelech = “God is my king"

Naomi = “Pleasant; Kind”

Mahlon = “Sick”

Chilion = “Wasting away; suffering; tiresome”

 

Elimelech and Naomi’s names were a picture of who God is and who He was throughout the book of Ruth. He is both king (sovereign) and He is pleasant/ kind.

 

Mahlon and Chilion’s names were a picture of the situation their parents found themselves in.

 

• “In the days when the judges ruled…” - these were dark days they were living in

Judges 21:25 - “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

 

• There was a famine in the land of Judah

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• Elimelech moves his family to the land of Moab 

- The Moabites were descendants of Lot, who was the father of Moab

- Moab was born out of an incestuous union with his oldest daughter (Gen 19:37)

- The Moabites were hostile toward the Israelites

- They were wicked; sacrificed their children to pagan gods

- Therefore, the Israelites were forbidden to live among the Moabites

• However, Elimelech and Naomi move to Moab anyway and stay for 10 years. Elimelech probably was trying to do what he thought was best in the midst of his situation. However, He stepped outside the will of God. When times got tough, Elimelech went to the land of Moab.

When times get tough, what do you do? Where do you go? Do you trust God in the midst of your situation? Or do you go to Moab? Do you lean on doing what is right in your own eyes?

When times get difficult financially, in our marriage, at work, let us not go to “Moab” and simply do what is right in our own eyes. Instead, let us trust God in the midst of our troubles. God has a plan.

Tragedy Strikes

3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

 

• Things go from bad to worse

• Naomi loses her husband in Moab

• Naomi then loses her two sons in Moab

• Naomi was living in a wicked and perverse place while surviving the loss of her husband and two sons

• As a childless widow, Naomi had socially become one of the least in that day. She had no one to support her. She probably knew at this point that her life was going to be reliant on the generosity of others.

• Naomi was at the lowest point in her life. She imagined that God’s hand was against her. She imagined she was deserving of the “punishment” that she had received from God. She had become bitter at life due to the circumstances that had been handed to her. She would even go as far as identifying with her troubles by changing her name to “bitter.”

However, God was not trying to punish Naomi for her past decisions. Instead, God was looking ahead to remedy the situation. 

• At times we may think God has His hand against us and is punishing us for our past mistakes. However, that is not who God is. God does not punish us for our past mistakes; He provides us with grace for our future.

Do not allow your circumstances to define who you are. Instead, trust that God has a plan. If things are still bad, then God is not finished.

 

Ray of Hope in the Land of Moab

“6 Then she rose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.”

 

• In the midst of the darkest moment in her life, outside the will of God, God spoke to Naomi in the land of Moab. The Way-Maker was making a way for her to return back home to the land of promise.

Naomi had lived in Moab for 10 years. Bethlehem, her hometown, was only about a day’s walk, she could have returned home at any time. However, her sons had married Moabite women. A part of her life was stuck in Moab. Although God was her sovereign king who was good to her, there was a part of her life where she was still doing what was right in her own eyes. Therefore she stayed in Moab all those years. 

We must ask ourselves, are there areas of our life where we are still doing what is right in our own eyes? In order for us to leave Moab, we have to trust God’s leading. God’s leading will always bring us back to His promises.

The Way-maker was making a way toward a future filled with hope. Like Naomi, all we have to do is start walking.

• Ultimately, God provides Naomi with new beginnings; whether she realized it or not. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in Naomi’s life. This marked the beginning of the story of Ruth.

 

Takeaways:

 

1. When things get tough, trust in the Lord.

2. If things are still bad, God is not finished.

3. One decision can change the trajectory of your life

- Naomi trusted the words she heard in Moab and began walking home. That act of faith began a new day in her life.

- We too can make one decision that would change the trajectory of our life. What is that decision for you?