Explore the Bible: August 23

Faithfulness • Ruth 1:11-18; 2:5-12

By Roland L. McMillan

The opening of the book of Ruth summarizes years of life and struggle in a few lines. Those lines show the tragic events in Naomi’s life, events that left her empty. In the days of the judges of Israel, the people suffered from a famine. Naomi’s husband Elimelech took his family to live in the land of Moab where there was food. During their time in Moab, Naomi lost her husband and her two adult sons. She had entered a foreign land as a refugee from famine. In time, she found herself a widow in a male–dominated world without any living children. 

When Naomi heard that the famine in Israel was over, she started down the road to her homeland with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. On the road, Naomi began to urge her daughters-in-law to return to their homeland, to go back to their mothers. Naomi made the case that a good future with her was impossible. They all had to face reality. In an emotion-filled moment, Orpah left to look for security in the land of her birth. 

In verse 15, Naomi pleads with Ruth to leave. At this point, Ruth has heard Naomi ask her to leave repeatedly. She could look back and see her sister-in-law walking away from them. Ruth found herself in one of those moments that changes everything. Her answer, recorded in 1:16–17, is beautiful, poetic, and revealing. She will not leave her mother-in-law. She will not walk away from her family, even in the face of a most uncertain future. She will remain dedicated for life. She knew she was accountable to God. She will follow the one true God. Ruth’s loyalty set the course for the rest of her life. 

Naomi had prayed when she was on the road with her daughters-in-law, one of several short prayers in the book of Ruth. In verses 8 and 9, she asked God to bless her daughters-in-law. The prayer reveals that Naomi knew God as faithful and loving. At the same time, her comments in verse 13 show the kinds of conflicted thoughts and feelings that everyone experiences in grief. Her jumbled-up emotions about God reappear in verse 20, but God was honoring her prayer. The rest of the book shows how God answered Naomi’s prayer.

Naomi returned home to Bethlehem, and Ruth came home to a place she had never seen. Was it a mere coincidence that they arrived as the barley harvest was starting? The focus of the story shifts from Naomi to Ruth in Bethlehem. Ruth went out to glean in a field that she did not own. Gleaners worked behind the regular harvesters. This was a provision for widows and others in the Old Testament law (Leviticus 19:9; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19). Was it a coincidence that Ruth found the field of Boaz, a relative of her late father-in-law? 

Later, when Boaz arrived, he asked the man in charge of his workers about Ruth. Then, he issued instructions to protect her, asking her to stay in his field. When she asked him why he was being so gracious, he answered that he knew her story. The gossip grapevine in Bethlehem was working well. He already knew all about her faithfulness to her mother-in-law. Boaz asked God’s blessing on Ruth. Later, he invited her to share the midday meal with his workers, and he served her himself. Then he went beyond what the Old Testament law required to provide for her. Was it a coincidence that Boaz was so gracious?

When the workday was over, Ruth returned home to Naomi. She carried an unusually large amount of grain from one day’s worth of gleaning. As the story from the day unfolded, Naomi realized something that Ruth did not know. Boaz was a relative of her late husband, the kind of relative that the Old Testament law provided to help in a desperate situation. The story will continue in the lesson for next week, but at this point, God is beginning to answer the prayer in 1:8–9. 

Providence means that God works through the events of everyday life. God always is taking care of his world, always working his plan. So, during the days of the judges of Israel, a pair of desperate widows were surprised by a string of apparent coincidences. Then, the truth became obvious. These were not coincidences. This was providence.

McMillan is senior pastor of Roseland Park Baptist Church, Picayune.