AM Bible Study Group; December 8, 2010

Ruth 1:1-5

Theme: In this chapter, we’re shown the sad tragedy of Naomi’s life in the land of the Gentiles and of the need for a kinsman-redeemer.

The story of Ruth reads like a play. The 18th-century literary giant Samuel Johnson once made a copy of the book of Ruth and read it before a London literary club—as if it had been a production that he recently read. They all thought it was a wonderful new composition—and then, he shocked them all by telling them it was from the Bible they had rejected.¹

This isn’t merely a play, however. It’s the report of something that actually happened—and that tells us something of the greatness of God our Redeemer. The opening portion of this book sets the stage for this great love story of redemption—showing us the need for a redeemer.

I. THE SETTING OF THE STORY (v. 1).

A. The time of the story was “in the days when the judges ruled”. Because it describes a famine, some scholars consider it to be describing the events of Judges 6:3-4. Others say it describes the events of Judges 10:6-18. In both cases, it would be a famine brought about by the oppression of the enemies of God’s people; and in both cases, the cause would be their unfaithfulness to God.

B. The main characters in the story, because of the famine, left Bethlehem to live in Moab. Moab was the nation that came about because of the incestuous act of Lot toward his daughters (see Genesis 19:30-38). They represented the enemies of the Lord’s people (see Deuteronomy 23:3-4). Bethlehem-Judah means “House of Bread and Praise”. They left this place of “bread and praise” to dwell among the enemies of the Lord.

II. THE MAIN CHARACTERS (v. 2).

A. Elimelech’s name means “God is King”; but he didn’t trust his King in that he moved out to dwelt among the enemies of the Lord.

B. Naomi means “Pleasant”; but later on, she declared her name to be “Bitter” (vv. 20-21).

C. Their two sons also had significant names: Mahlon means “Sickly”; and Chilion means “Pining”. They died in the land of Moab. Their wives also had significant names: Orpah means “Strong-necked”, and she was the daughter who returned to Moab; Ruth means “Friend”, and she stayed true to Naomi.

D. Elimelech’s family moved to Moab and dwelt there. Perhaps it was that they only intended to stay for a short while; but sadly, it was there that some of them were buried.

III. THE SORROWS THAT CAME (vv. 3-5).

A. First, Elimelech died; leaving Naomi a widow with her two sons. Afterward, those two sons took wives of the foreign women—which was forbidden for them to do (see Ezra 9:1-2; Nehemiah 13:23).

B. Altogether, they lived in Moab ten years. Then, tragedy struck again as the two sons died; leaving the poor widow Naomi to take care of her two foreign daughters-in-law. Thomas Fuller wrote; “Of the two sexes the woman is the weaker; of women, old women are most feeble; of old women, widows most [woeful]; of widows, those that are poor, their plight most pitiful; of poor widows, those who want children, their case most doleful; of widows that want children, those that once had them, and after lost them, their estate most desolate; of widows that have had children, those that are strangers in a foreign country, their condition most comfortless. Yet all these met together in Naomi, as in the [center] of sorrow, to make the measure of her misery ‘pressed down, shaken together, running over.’ I conclude, therefore, many men have had affliction—none like Job; many women have had tribulation—none like Naomi.”² It must be that Naomi thought of these tragic events as a punishment from God (see vv. 13, 20-21).

* * * * * * * * * *

This story shows us something of our need for a Redeemer—lost as we are in sin, and suffering the consequences! As it says in Ephesians 2:11-13; “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

¹J. Vernon McGee, Ruth: The Romance of Redemption (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), p. 11.

²Thomas Fuller, A Comment on Ruth and Notes upon Jonah (London: William Tegg, 1968), page 80.