Famine, Death, and Deliverance

The story begins with famine and the death of three men. Naomi claims that the Lord is against her, has dealt very bitterly with her, and has afflicted her (Ruth 1:13, 20, 21 NKJV).

There are so many wonderful truths to learn from the four-chapter book of Ruth. However, Naomi's perspective on the nature of God in the midst of her circumstances is not one of them. How you view Naomi's words can prevent sound understanding of the whole story.

Naomi's circumstances were not caused by God and were not according to His will. The famine was the result of sin. The Lord had previously warned His people that the land would turn against them if they continued in their disobedience (Deut. 28:23, 24, 38-40). In addition, it was Elimelech's choice to move his family away from the Promised Land to the country of Moab.

In an historical account that is over half conversation, Naomi's words make it very clear that she did believe and trust in God. But she became vulnerable in terrible circumstances to blame God. Looking at scripture as a whole, we can see that bad events are brought on by sin and are the result of the efforts of our enemy. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy but God gives us life (John 10:10).

It can be tempting to claim that God is causing something bad in our lives to teach us a lesson, give us patience, or some other unknown reason. But as followers of Christ, we are under a new and better covenant (Heb. 7:22). Jesus took away the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). And we can rest knowing that God is not our opponent but our deliverer.

The account of Ruth shows the grace and mercy of our Redeemer. Through Ruth we see it does not matter what family you were born into, or what you have or have not done. God's grace and mercy is sufficient for everyone (1 John 2:2). Ruth made a commitment to follow God no matter the consequence and blessing and favor guided her way.

Praise God that He has taken away the curse, given us even better promises, and turns bad situations to work for our good!