The people of Israel were ruled by judges — rescuers sent by God — for about 340 years. The nation was in a time of moral and spiritual darkness brought on by idolatry, oppression, and slavery. Israel was trapped in a vicious cycle of their own making.
God would send these judges — leaders who would deliver the people from their oppressors — to restore freedom and stability. But this freedom only lasted for a season. This cycle of slavery and freedom continued for more than 300 years.
Typically, other nations or tribal groups would subdue the people of Israel into servitude to plunder their crops and livestock. This created economic hardship and oppression and was one way God dealt with Israel’s rebellion towards Him.
When a severe famine came, one family chose to escape the hardship by moving to a neighboring country — Moab (now part of present-day Jordan).
Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. (Ruth 1:1)
The Escape
A father and mother—Elimelek and Naomi—set out from the region of Judah with their two sons—Mahlon and Kilion—to establish a home in Moab. But things did not go well for them in this foreign land. Naomi’s husband died, leaving her widowed with two sons. The sons married Moabite women, but both sons died as well.
Now, Naomi was stuck in a foreign land as a widow saddled with responsibility for her son’s widows. In those days, women had little to no status or resources for support on their own—especially a widow with two dependent women in a country far from her homeland.
And then, things began to change for the better. After ten years away, Naomi heard of the Lord’s plentiful provision in her homeland of Judah and decided to return home with her two daughters-in-law.
At the beginning of the story of the Book of Ruth, we see their move to Moab as a flawed and failed attempt to escape God’s judgment of Israel. Why would Elimelek leave his homeland during the famine? He feared what might happen to his family if they stayed—hunger and possible death from starvation or worse.
But Israel’s real problem was one of trust. Ancient Israel chose not to trust the Lord who had made them to be a people different from other nations. A people who trusted in a living God (Deuteronomy 7:6) rather than many gods.
When Israel chose not to trust the Lord and the Covenant Law between Him and them, they looked to other gods. Lesser gods formed into images they could see and touch. The gods of a foreign people who didn’t know or trust in the Lord—Yahweh, the Living God.
Our common struggle
We all struggle to trust in God, who is invisible and spirit (John 4:24), even though He made Himself known in human form through His Son, Jesus.
It’s easier to trust in what we can see, feel, and relate to as individual humans. Our gods or idols—though we don’t see them as such—are in the form of people, possessions, wealth, status, and whatever else we might put confidence in and value.
But our trust in such things or in our efforts to please God is futile. It’s a misplaced trust. This simple illustration and life application can be drawn from this introduction to the Book of Ruth.
The family set out to Moab to escape the famine and its consequences, but the man and his two sons died. Their escape was short-lived. This left the man’s widow and extended family in a worse situation than when they left their homeland.
We all have a choice
Naomi’s options were to stay where she was with little to no hope for the future or return to her homeland, her people, and her God. The home she left ten years before was where the promised provision was now.
In a sense, she went back to square one, but without the husband and sons she went out with. Even in this, we can see God’s mercy. Naomi went away from her home and her people to seek better provision for a better life instead of trusting in God.
Although she and her husband made their choice, God remembered her and had a much greater plan to unfold in her life. There’s far more to this story in the Book of Ruth. But for now, ask yourself—Who or what do you trust?
If whatever, or whoever, you put trust in isn’t as reliable and trustworthy as the One True and Living God—why do that? Faith in God requires trust—a personal and childlike trust in God’s faithfulness and goodness (Hebrews 11:6).
When you find yourself trusting in other things or someone else, including yourself, remember there is One who is ever-faithful and trustworthy no matter what. He is faithful even when we fail.
Even when you can’t see how it will help—seek the Lord’s guidance and wisdom and trust in His grace and goodness.
