When: During the time of the judges (Before there was any king in Israel)
Who: 1. A man from Bethlehem (v.1), They were of the clan of Ephrath from Bethlehem in Judah (v.2). Does the name Behtlehem, Ephrath, Judah ring a bell? We heard that during Christmas. King David was from the exact same place. Jesus, as the descendant of David was born there . (The book of Micah also prophesied that the Messiah was born there). Ruth eventually gave birth to a baby who is the ancestor of David (4:22) and the ancestor of Jesus. The book of Ruth traced the beginning of all that in the time of Judges, the worst time of the history of Israel (read the last chapter Judges).
2. Ruth and Orpah. Ruth was a foreigner and she became the ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1). How? A famine drove the family to Moab and from there, one of the son married Ruth. God is sovereign and He is amazing to put all people together!
What happened? All 3 men died v.3, 15. Twice the Scriptures mentioned that Naomi was left alone v.3 ,v.5. Other than the emotional loss, men provided the main source of income to the family. Naomi was desperate and stressed out!
Who else? God is not mentioned until v.6. "The LORD had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops." This is the only good news from the first 6 verses.
When Namoi was stressed out God concerned about her (and His people). Not only that, we will see that God changed the whole nation and brings them king David. Eventually, God changed the whole world by bringing us the Messiah.
Sometimes, we focused on temporary hardship of life (Worst time in Israel history, famine, all men died), and we needed to look at things with a longer period of time and see God's amazing plan. He did not forget about us when we suffer. He never abandons us. Can we trust God Who is in control and bear with the temporary sufferings? Naomi was reminded about God when she heard about the abundant crops, but actually God gave us a lot more, He gave us a Savior! Trust God today!
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