barren

1) What time period is “the judges” and why does that detail matter? (verse 1)
Historical dates feel cumbersome to many, but they play an important role when studying Scripture as they help provide context and cultural norms based on the timing. For this book, we don’t get a specific date, but a general time period. The time of the Judges lasted 400 years and was post Joshua (who succeeded Moses who led Israel across the wilderness and out of Egypt), and pre king. The prophet Samuel was the transitionary figure between judges and the kings, so Ruth’s story happened before him. We also have another clue to determine the timing. Boaz! Boaz was the grandson of Rahab the prostitute who married the Israelite, Salmon, after Joshua led Israel to victory against Jericho and the city walls collapsed. (Joshua 6) When we read the book of Judges (which is extremely fascinating! We even wrote a Journey Theme for it!), Othniel is the first judge who dies after 40 years as judge, so we are getting close to the approximate age of Boaz. The best guesses for Ruth’s timeline fit within the period when King Eglon ruled Moab, which is after Othniel’s death. (Ah! Moab is Ruth’s native homeland and the location Naomi and Elimelech moved during the famine in Israel. (Verse 1)) In reading Judges 3:12-14, we discover how the Lord handed Israel over to King Eglon of Moab for eighteen long years as a result of their rebellion against God. It’s somewhere in these nearly two decades, we find our characters living out their “Once Upon A Time”.

2) Why would we care about the detail of this family being “Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah”? (verse 2)
When God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He promised to lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of great abundance and prosperity. As long as they walked in the ways of the Lord, Yahweh promised to bless them; if they rebelled against Him, He would remove their prosperity and bring consequences upon them as a reminder to return to the Lord who loved them. (Joshua 1:8, Deuteronomy 31:29) The Promised Land was inhabited by the Canaanites, but when Israel finally arrived, the Lord handed over Canaanite cities one by one as Israel followed the Lord into battle. (Deuteronomy 7:22) Often, but not always, Israel would rename Canaanite cities as they overtook them. During this time period, names carried weighty significance. For example, Naomi means “good and pleasant”, but when Naomi returned empty-handed to Bethlehem, she told everyone to call her Mara, which means “bitter”. (Ruth 1:20) Scholars believe a renaming of cities is what happened with Bethlehem. In Scripture, every time Ephrath, the Canaanite name, is mentioned, it is in conjunction with Bethlehem, the Israeli renaming. By calling out Naomi and Elimelech as Ephrathites, which means “fruitful”, and Bethlehem, which means “house of bread”, it was a blatant reminder of judgement from the Lord. The Promised Land, meant to flow with milk and honey, even in Bethlehem, the city of “bread” and “fruitfulness”, was now barren without food because of willful disobedience by its inhabitants.

3) Why would the Lord allow such hardship for Naomi if He truly loved her? (verses 4-5)
No one would blame Naomi for how she felt towards God. Later in chapter 1, she voices, “I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” When troubles wash over our lives, leaving us feeling swamped and broken, it’s easy to blame God, but we do have two heart responses available to our choosing. Naomi chose to cut herself off, resigning her heart to being empty and broken the rest of her days. Job, on the other hand, chose to bless the Lord, even after he lost his children, his livelihood, his wealth, his friends, and his health. (Job 1:20-22) When extreme suffering hit them, both Job and Naomi did share one similarity between them, they both gave themselves permission to grieve. Worshipping the Lord in the midst of tragedy does not negate our need to process our grief, but it does the critically important work of shifting our hearts off ourselves and onto the Author of life. This shift made all the difference between Job and Naomi. Naomi’s grief grew steadily into cold bitterness. Because he responded first, and over again, with worship, Job’s grief, though deep, eventually gave way for Job to lift his head, and realize how God’s character was vastly wiser than his own. In response to this humble act of worship, the Lord graciously ushered in a sweet, intangible peace. (Job 42:4-3) We may never know the answers to all of our “whys”, but we can always grow deeper in knowing the God who does indeed love us!