With relief we move from the rigorous account of the Judges to the delightful little story of Ruth.
Here’s a simple outline of the book of Ruth: Chapter 1, Returning; Chapter 2, Reaping; Chapter 3, Resting; Chapter 4, Redeeming. The book begins “in the days when the Judges ruled” (Ruth 1:1) and tells us there is a famine in the land. That isn’t surprising, considering the rampant disobedience of the people, and God’s word: “‘I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord” (Amos 4:6). Lack of bread in Bethlehem, “the house of bread”? The question is: What will the family featured in the story do? Since they lived in the days when “there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg 17:6), how interesting that the man of the house has the name Elimelech, which means “God is my king”! Yet in spite of his name, rather than submitting to the discipline of God, he, with “his wife…Naomi, and…his two sons…Mahlon and Chilion…went to the country of Moab and remained there” (Ruth 1:2). You will recall the sorry state of affairs when the Israelites were coming into the land, and Balak’s efforts to seduce Jewish men with Moabite women. But after Elimelech’s death in Moab, their two sons chose Moabite wives, Orpah and Ruth. Then, after another ten years, tragedy struck again: “both Mahlon and Chilion also died” (v 5). Verse 6 is the pivot point. Ten times in the rest of the chapter, we read about returning. It begins with Naomi’s resolve, “for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread” (v 6). Our hearts thrill to think that it would not be the last time that God would visit Bethlehem in giving His Bread—and that Naomi’s choice would change the course of history.