Naomi and her family were Jews. There was a famine in Israel, so Naomi, her husband, and her two sons left Israel and moved to Moab to find food (Ruth 1:1).
Moab was a bad place. It was full of idolatry and compromise.
The Moabites were descendants of Lot. Lot once chose to dwell in the evil city Sodom so he could have material blessings. Lot represents Christians who compromise with the world in order to get material gain. The Moabites were a wicked nation.
Moab is not a good place for God’s people.
No matter how hard things are in Israel, Moab is not a solution. We need to stay in Israel because that’s where God is. Running somewhere else will not help us. There may be a famine in Israel, but that famine is only temporary. God will always come through for his people. He will speak to them and give them bread from heaven.
Naomi and her family moved to Moab because they were afraid they would starve to death in Israel.
But there was no sustenance in Moab.
In Moab, Naomi’s husband and her two sons died.
Moab is a place of destruction. We might go to Moab in hopes of finding life, but we will actually find death there.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
When we face problems as Christians, the solution is not to compromise and run out into the world. Instead, we need to go deeper into God. As we go deeper into God, we will find help. As we stay in God’s will, we will be blessed.
Return to Bethlehem
After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi decided she had to go back to Israel.
Naomi was originally from Bethlehem. Bethlehem means a “fruitful house of bread.”
Bethlehem was not always full of bread, for there was once a famine there, and that’s why Naomi had left years ago. But God was in Bethlehem, even in the midst of the famine. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
Naomi’s hard circumstances in Moab were bringing her back into the center of God’s will. She headed back to Bethlehem under the loving hand of God.
In this process Naomi murmured against God. She said that God had sent out his hand against her (Ruth 1:13). She became bitter. She said that God had dealt bitterly with her (Ruth 1:20). She said God had caused her to be empty, and he had afflicted her (Ruth 1:21).The reason Naomi faced these problems is because she went to Moab and left the land of Israel. She shouldn’t have blamed God for these problems. They weren’t God’s fault.
Ruth
Ruth was a Moabite girl who had married one of Naomi’s sons. That son was now dead.
Ruth didn’t want to stay in Moab. She loved the God of Israel, and she wanted to be with God’s people. She wanted to leave the idolatry and evil of Moab.Whereas Naomi had once left Israel to find natural provision in Moab, Ruth wanted to leave Moab to find spiritual provision among God’s people.
So Ruth accompanied Naomi back to Bethlehem.
When Naomi and Ruth reached Bethlehem, it was harvest time.
Redemption
There will always be a harvest among God’s people. We just need patience to wait for it. Seeds don’t produce fruit overnight. It takes many months for seeds to grow up and produce fruit. Sometimes the spiritual seeds of God’s word take even longer. Just because there appears to be a famine among God’s people doesn’t mean it will always be so. The harvest is coming. We need to be faithful to tend to the seeds that God has planted among us so that we can see the harvest. Don’t give up before the harvest comes.
Ruth went out into the field to pick up some grain that was lying on the ground. This field belonged to Boaz.
Boaz was a relative of Naomi’s dead husband, Elimelech.
Unlike Elimelech, Boaz had not run to Moab during the previous famine. He was a man of faith. He stayed in Israel. Over the years of walking with God he became a blessed and strong man.
Boaz came and met Ruth in his field. He told Ruth to drink as much water as she needed. He told her to listen to him and follow his instructions. He told her not to go into any other field but to stick close to him and his workers. He said he would keep her safe. He made sure that she was given more than enough grain for herself and Naomi. He gave her bread.
Boaz is a type of Christ. Ruth is a type of the church. We need to stick close to Jesus. As we do, he will provide all that we need. We have been adopted into his family, and he now takes care of us. As we listen to him and follow his instructions, we will be blessed.Through Boaz, the life of Ruth and Naomi became more blessed than they could ever imagine. Ruth became great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus Christ.
Through Ruth, Naomi’s life turned around.
God is merciful. He can turn bad things around in our life for good. Even when we make terrible decisions, God can bring something good out of them.God was merciful to Naomi. He was working amazing things into her life, even when she didn’t understand.
Let us learn from this:
Don’t run out into the world,even when there appears to be a lack among God’s people. Press deeper into God and find the solution. The answers are only found in God. Compromise with the world is never the answer.
Be willing to wait for the harvest. Jesus will provide for all that we need.
Don’t blame God for problems that he didn’t cause.
Recognize that God is able to cover over mistakes and turn them around for good.
Always know that as you stay faithful to God, he will work amazing things out in your life, things that are beyond what you can even ask or think.
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