Ruth 1

The Explanation

There is famine in Israel. No bread, dry fields, empty stomachs. A man named Elimelech lives in Bethlehem, which strangely enough means "house of bread." But there is no bread in the house of bread. So he takes his wife Naomi and their two sons and leaves. They travel to Moab, a country on the other side of the Dead Sea. Moab is not just any country. The Moabites do not worship the God of Israel, and there has been bad blood between the two peoples for a long time.

In Moab things seem to go well at first. The sons grow up and marry two Moabite women: Orpah and Ruth. But then, one after the other, the three men die. Elimelech first. Then, ten years later, both sons. Naomi is left behind with two foreign daughters-in-law and no one to take care of them. In those days, a woman without a husband or son had almost nothing. No income, no protection, no future.

Naomi hears that there is bread again in Israel and decides to go back. Her daughters-in-law want to come with her. But Naomi says: go home, to your own mothers. May the LORD deal kindly with you. She kisses them, and they all cry. Orpah eventually turns around and leaves. Ruth does not. She clings to Naomi and says something that has been remembered for three thousand years: "Where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God."

Together they walk back to Bethlehem. When they arrive, the whole town is stirred up. "Is that Naomi?" the women ask. But Naomi says: don't call me Naomi anymore. Naomi means "pleasant." Call me Mara, which means "bitter." Because, she says, the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full and the LORD has brought me home again empty.

The chapter ends with a single hopeful line: they arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

What Does This Mean?

This is a chapter full of grief. Naomi lost her husband and both her sons. She feels that God Himself is against her. And she says so out loud. She doesn't pretend to be brave. That is honest, and the Bible lets it stand. You are allowed to be sad with God, even angry.

At the same time, something surprising happens. Ruth, a foreigner from a people that didn't even belong, chooses the God of Israel. Not because life with Naomi looks so attractive, because it doesn't, but because she wants to belong to this God. That is faith while everything is dark.

The Common Thread

Ruth is a great-grandmother. Not just of anyone, but of King David. And in the very first chapter of the New Testament, when the family tree of Jesus is written down, her name is there. Ruth the Moabite. A foreigner in Jesus' family.

That says something huge. God does not just work through the "right" families and the "right" people. He brings someone from outside, from a country that seemed to be enemy territory, right into the line of the Savior. And Bethlehem, the house of bread that stood empty at the beginning of this chapter, is the same Bethlehem where centuries later Jesus, the bread of life, would be born.

God writes long stories. What looks like the end of everything for Naomi turns out to be the beginning of something she cannot yet see.

For You

Maybe you know someone who has lost a lot. A grandpa who died, parents who split up, a friend who moved away. Naomi teaches you that you don't have to hide your sadness for God. Say it plainly, like she did.

And Ruth teaches you something else. Sometimes choosing God is not easy or logical. Ruth had every reason to go back to Moab, to what was familiar. She chose the harder road. You can do that too, in small things. Being honest when lying is easier. Sticking with a friend nobody else likes. Believing when you don't feel much.

Talk About It

Naomi says God has dealt bitterly with her. Do you think she is allowed to say that? Why or why not?

What do you think made Ruth choose Naomi's God, even though she had never lived in Israel?

Praying Together

Lord, thank You that we may be honest with You, even when we are sad or angry. Thank You that You wrote Ruth into Your story, and that You see us too. Help us to keep choosing You, also when it is hard. Amen.