From Hunger to Hope, A Message for Us from the Book of Ruth

Some Background

Last summer, I read the book of Ruth, and God spoke to me through it in such a profound way, I couldn’t really even put it into words.  I didn’t find the time or words to write about it until now. I can’t tell you why. It’s literally been 11 months since I started this draft. I’m not sure if I’m doing justice to what I felt in my heart and spirit last August, but I finally decided to give it a go. Hopefully, you’ll glean at least a little of what I hope to share.

If you’ve never read the book of Ruth, I highly encourage you to. It’s short and sweet and just such a good story. It’s a love story. It’s a story of redemption. I’ll do my best to tell the gist of it as we go.

A Rundown

A man from Bethlehem, Elimelek, went with his wife, Naomi, and their two sons to live in Moab to escape a famine. 

Elimelek died and left Naomi widowed in a foreign land with two sons who married Moabite women, one of which was named Orpah and the other Ruth. 

About 10 years later, the two sons died. Naomi and her daughters-in-law were all left widowed in a time when women were destitute on their own. 

Naomi heard that the famine ended in Bethlehem, so she planned to return home. She told her daughters-in-law to go back to their mother’s home since she had nothing to offer them. Neither of them wanted to leave her, but in the end Orpah did. Ruth, however, clung to Naomi and told her, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16), which is a rather famous verse today.

A Moabite??

In case you missed it before, Ruth was a Moabite woman. Deuteronomy 23:3-6 states, “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation. For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.” The fact that Ruth was a Moabite is often overlooked. She seems like just a sweet, caring daughter-in-law. But it is important to realize where she came from. When she chose to follow Naomi, she left all of that behind, not just her family, but her pagan traditions and gods as well.

It’s also important to recognize that Elimelek and his sons were probably not “living right” as we’d say today. Elimelek took his family to a land of spiritual famine to escape a physical one, and while there, his sons intermarried with Moabite women. This just goes to show, as you’ll see as we continue, God can and will even use us in our messes and through our mistakes. 

The Story Continues

So, Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem, right as the barley harvest was beginning. The whole town was stirred when they returned. I’m sure Naomi returning after so long was shocking, but I have a feeling bringing home a Moabite daughter-in-law was part of the gossip. Naomi, which means pleasant, wanted to be called “Mara” which means bitter because of all the bitterness she’d experienced in life.

Naomi owned land so they had a place to go when they returned, but they had little else, so Ruth went into to a field to gather the leftover grain.  This custom was mentioned in Leviticus 19:9-10 “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.” This particular field happened to belong to a man named Boaz. When Boaz found out who she was, he told her to stay in his field and with the women who work for him. He told the men to not lay a hand on her and told her to get water anytime she was thirsty. At mealtime, he even asked her to join him and the other harvesters. She ate until she was full and had some leftover. Boaz even told the harvesters to leave a little extra for her when they were harvesting. So, when she left, she had an ephah of grain which is equal to about 30lbs and leftovers from lunch for Naomi. Naomi asked who was so kind to take notice of her and when she found out it was Boaz, she told Ruth he was one of their guardian-redeemers, a relative on her husband’s side. 

Ruth continued to glean in Boaz’s field until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. Naomi wanted to find a husband and provision for Ruth, so she came up with a plan for Ruth to meet Boaz at the threshing floor to see if he’d redeem her. He informed her that there was actually a closer relative that should be her guardian-redeemer. He had to check with him first, but if he didn’t want to do it, Boaz promised he would. Before sending her home, he gave her barley to take home so she wouldn’t leave empty-handed.

Boaz found the other guardian-redeemer, along with 10 town elders. He offered for the man to redeem Naomi’s piece of land. Of course he wanted the land. But then Boaz brought up Ruth as part of the deal. At this, the man said he couldn’t do it because it might endanger his own estate. So, in front of the elders, Boaz redeemed the land from Naomi and acquired Ruth as his wife, and the elders blessed Boaz and Ruth to have offspring and to “be famous in Bethlehem.” Oh, the foreshadowing.

So, Boaz goes on to take Ruth as his wife and she had a son and they named him Obed.  With the birth of her grandson, Naomi whose life was full of bitterness was now full of renewed hope. Even though they escaped the famine, Naomi had returned emptier and hungrier than when they left.  But now, she was full again.  

Metaphors: From Famine to Feast

The entire plot and setting of the Book of Ruth revolves around famine and bread, and I personally think these are metaphors for so much more. At the beginning of the book of Ruth, there was a famine but by the end, there was bread in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is actually known as the “House of Bread.” From Bethlehem and from the lineage of Ruth, would come the Bread of Life. If you didn’t know already, Obed became the father of Jesse who was the father of David, making Ruth the great-grandmother of King David from whom eventually came Jesus.

In our own ways, we are all dealing with spiritual famine and hunger, just as Naomi was, but there is hope and his name is Jesus.  He is the Bread of Life. In Him, we can leave behind that life of sin, of spiritual famine, of emptiness, loneliness, bitterness.  In Him, we can instead experience a spiritual feast; we can be filled, sustained, and truly satisfied.

The Unlikely

Now if you really want to be blown away, read the lineage outlined in Ruth 4:18-22. It starts with Perez, whose mother was Tamar. If you don’t know that story, you definitely need to look it up and be shocked at how Perez came to be. Hers is a story of deception that would fit right along the storyline of a Lifetime movie.  Also, Boaz’s own mother was Rahab, the prostitute who saved the spies in Jericho and in turned saved her family!! Then Boaz goes on to marry a Moabite. Most likely, he saw a bit of his own mother’s situation in Ruth, as a fellow foreigner with a tainted history. 

Another pretty profound moment occurred earlier in the story at the threshing floor when Boaz called Ruth “a woman of noble character” which is a reference to Proverbs 31:10, part of a famous chapter about a “Wife of Noble Character.” Ruth wasn’t even Jewish and yet she was the star of a book in the original Hebrew Bible and described in the same way as the highly famous verses from Proverbs 31. According to the sidebar reference in The Jesus Bible, “God chose an unlikely person to show his love and mercy to his people. In the same way, God has chosen to show his love to his people through what Jesus has done, choosing them in him before the foundation of the world, thus enabling them to choose a new life with him despite their sin and rebellion.” The stories of these women, Tamar, Rahab, Naomi, and Ruth are far from perfect.  Knowing their stories and their backgrounds, most would probably consider them unlikely to be used by God.  Thankfully, 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us that "the Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  

Though these women might seem unlikely to us, their lives and stories are interwoven in miraculous and redemptive ways to ultimately lead to the greatest miracle and our Great Redeemer. The Bread of Life. The One who removes us from a life of famine and gives us unparalleled sustenance and provision.  This is a beautiful reminder that God works all things for good. I’m sure Naomi couldn’t see how good could come from her situation, finding herself alone in a foreign country, not only losing her husband but also her two sons. But God took it all and turned it for good.  Naomi got to see part of the story in the birth of her grandson, but she didn't have a clue what God still had in store for her lineage, as His plan wouldn't come to fruition until about 30 generations later (Matthew 1:1-16).  She had no clue that the Savior of the world would come from her lineage that she thought ended with the deaths of her sons in Moab. Praise God that He sees us in our hunger, our spiritual famine, and He gives us the Bread of Life; He uses the unlikely to further His Kingdom; He works ALL things for our good, even famines and loss and loneliness and bitterness.  His plan is bigger than we could ever imagine.  It might take 30 generations to come to fruition, but we can trust that He is working in it all.

Are you ready to experience hope after so many years of hunger?  The Bread of Life is waiting.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬