Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.—Ruth 1:16.

Ioan Hosu

It appears that the Book of Ruth was written by Samuel, the prophet, between 1046 and 1035 B.C. It is an impressive story of the way a Gentile woman came to be numbered among the ancestors of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). Though the book follows the book titled “Judges,” the narrative actually occurred early in the period of Judges, for Boaz, who would marry Ruth, was the son of Rahab who lived at the time of Israel’s conquest of Canaan.

Due to a great famine that came over the country, a family from Bethlehem in Judah decided to leave the land of Israel and live for a while in the land of Moab. The man was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi, and their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion (Ruth 1:2).

Naomi’s husband died and the two sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. Shortly after that, Naomi’s two sons died also. Soon she heard that “The LORD had visited his people” and now there was food in the land. Naomi decided to return home, and her two daughters-in-law did not want to leave her. Then Naomi said to them: “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house! May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband” (Ruth 1:8,9, NASV).

At Naomi’s supplication, Orpah returned to her people. But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16,17, NASV). Hence they traveled together to Bethlehem. After reaching the city, Naomi did not want to be called “the pleasant one” any longer, since as she declared, “the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). Then she said, “call me Mara,” which means bitter.

Ruth in Israel

One day Ruth asked her mother-in-law for permission to go to the field and “glean among the ears of grain,” and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, a rich man who was of the family of Elimelech. When Boaz saw Ruth, he asked his servants, “Whose young woman is this?” A servant replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.” Boaz, the master of the field, encouraged Ruth to continue to stay close to his servants during the entire harvest time, to work in his field, and to drink water out of his jars. When Ruth saw Boaz’ care toward her, she fell on her face before him and was very amazed, not understanding why he should take such notice of her. Boaz replied, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge” (Ruth 2:11,12, NASV).

Upon returning home, Ruth told her mother-in-law all that happened to her and how she had found favor in the eyes of Boaz. Naomi counseled Ruth on what to do to become Boaz’ wife, for he was a close relative and he had the right to redeem her. When Boaz saw her, he said, “May you be blessed of the LORD, my daughter. You have shown your last kindness to be better than the first by not going after young men, whether poor or rich. Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. Now, it is true I am a close relative, however there is a relative closer than I” (Ruth 3:10-12).

The very next morning, Boaz took men of the elders of the city and called upon the relative that had the right to redeem Ruth. And Boaz said to him, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of the deceased, in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance” (Ruth 4:5, NASV). But that man, the closest relative, did not want to redeem Ruth, for fear of jeopardizing his own inheritance. Thus, Boaz redeemed Naomi and Ruth, the young Moabite woman, and everything that belonged to the family of Elimelech. According to a well-established custom of the time, the two men exchanged their sandals before the elders of the city. So, Ruth became the wife of Boaz and she gave him a son. They named him Obed. Obed was the grandfather of David.

Spiritual Lessons

We notice that Ruth, the young Moabite woman, was blessed by God for she was an honest woman, humble and faithful, who loved her mother-in-law very much. Out of this story, we learn more significant lessons yet. In Israel, names had deep significance. The name Ruth means “friend, the one that gets close, friendship, beauty.” Further, we know that the name Naomi means “the pleasant one.” Boaz means “the one with power, through Him [God] I am strong.” Obed means slave, servant of God, worshipper. Ruth, according to the meaning of her name and according to her attributes of character, represents the bride of Christ. She became the wife of Boaz (a type of Christ) because she listened to her mother-in-law, which typifies the prophets of the Old Testament.

In the same manner, the Church of God will become the bride of the heavenly Bridegroom, for she looks up to and listens to the advice left by the prophets of old (Psalm 45:10,11). As Naomi, at the beginning of their ministry the prophets were full of happiness and zeal for the name of the LORD, but this ministry brought them much sadness, bitterness, and suffering, as was the case of Jeremiah, Micah, Elijah, John the Baptist, and many others.

Ruth was by birth a Moabite, a Gentile, but she adhered to the faith of Israel and gleaned what she could during the time of barley harvest. Barley is associated with Christ; for example, the firstfruits of the barley harvest represent the raising of Christ from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20; Leviticus 23:10). Gideon, who represents Christ, was also pictured by barley (Judges 7:13,14). Thus Ruth represents the Gentiles who humbly sought the blessings of Christ by seeking the Messiah of Israel during the harvest which opened the Gospel age.

The Bible account also tells of an individual whose name is not given (Ruth 4:1), who was the closest relative of Naomi. This man did not want to redeem Ruth, only the family of Elimelech. This person appears to represent the Law, which was given to the people of Israel. This law did not provide any promises or provisions to anyone except to the people of Israel.

From the word of God we see that Jesus Christ, represented in Boaz, did not redeem Israel and the Gentiles until he brought the ceremonial Law to an end (Ephesians 2:11-18; Romans 10:4).

We believe the child born to Boaz and Ruth, raised by Naomi, represents the human race during the times of restitution. The Lord Jesus with the church will bring forth from death the entire human family, which, during the Millennial age, will receive instructions from the Old Testament prophets. As Naomi was very happy because her beloved daughter-in-law gave birth to a son, the same prophets will be very happy at the sight of the entire human race coming out of their graves.