How the Book of Ruth Points Us to Christ

God’s Provision

Bethlehem means “house of bread.” But, when the book of Ruth opens, there is no bread in the house of bread; there is famine. We know from Deuteronomy 28 that famine in the “land of milk and honey” is a sign that God is at work disciplining his people, seeking to draw them back to himself. We read that this story takes place “when the judges ruled,” a time when everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes (Judg. 21:25). That is what the leader of the family we meet in this book seems to be doing. Instead of responding to the famine in repentance and waiting for God to work to relieve their suffering, as God did again and again in the days of the judges, Elimelech takes his family away from the one place on earth where God had promised to bless and dwell with his people, to a pagan land, the country of Moab. The family’s pursuit of satisfaction and security away from the land of blessing is a failure inscribed on the gravestones of Elimelech and his two sons in Moab.

Naomi is left with two foreign daughters-in-law. But then she hears some news: The Lord has provided bread in the house of bread (Ruth 1:6). Naomi’s daughter-in-law Orpah is not interested in forsaking her family and her family’s gods to go with Naomi. But Ruth believes in the promises that Yahweh has made to her late husband’s family, and she wants in on them. When she says to Naomi, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16), we are hearing a confession of personal conversion. Ruth, a foreigner to the people of God, a stranger to the promises of God, has taken hold of them and made them her own. She rejects the idols of Moab and clings to the one true God.

Beholding Christ

Nancy Guthrie

Daily Bible reading introductions by Nancy Guthrie provide background, context, and perspective to guide readers into greater understanding of each day’s text as well as insight on how the passage uniquely reveals the person and work of Christ.

When Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem, they are destitute. But evidently Ruth knows about the provision God made for the poor in his law. Harvesters were not to reap up to the edges of their fields but were to “leave them for the poor and for the sojourner” (Lev. 19:10). So Ruth heads out to glean on the edges. When we read that Ruth “happened” to glean in the field of Boaz (Ruth 2:3), the writer is having a bit of fun with us. This has not just “happened.” God is working out his plan for his people. He is bringing a foreigner into the family who will have a role to play in dealing with the leadership crisis in Israel that has marked the time of the judges.

When she goes out the door, Ruth expects to find “favor” (Ruth 2:2), which is exactly what she finds in the fields and in the kindness of Boaz. He is an uncommon man in this day, in which everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes. Just by his greeting Boaz shows that he is a man walking in the covenant promises that God made to his people (Ruth 2:4).

A Redeemer

When Naomi says that the man who has shown great kindness to Ruth is “one of our redeemers” (Ruth 2:20), she means that, since Boaz is a close relative, he can fulfill the role of kinsman-redeemer as provided for in the Mosaic law (Lev. 25:23–28). A redeemer would defend or avenge members of his family in times of need. When a family member falls into poverty and has to sell his land, the kinsman-redeemer can buy it back and restore it to the family so that it stays within the family. The law of levirate marriage is also being applied here, under which a childless widow could marry the brother of her late husband with the aim of producing a son to inherit the late husband’s name (Deut. 25:5–6). When Naomi hears about the close relative, Boaz, who has been kind to Ruth, she wonders whether Boaz might be willing to serve as kinsman-redeemer to provide an heir to inherit the land that once belonged to Elimelech so that his name will endure. Of course, Naomi is too old to have children, but Ruth is not.

God is working out his plan for his people.

When Ruth goes to the threshing floor and says to Boaz, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer,” she is asking Boaz to be the answer to his own prayer for her (Ruth 2:12), his prayer for blessing on this one who has taken refuge under the wings of God of Israel. In this request she is essentially asking Boaz to marry her and sire an heir for Elimelech, her dead father-in-law, so that his name will survive in Israel, and to buy back his land so that he and his descendants will continue to have a place in the promised land.

Boaz assures Ruth that he will do all that is necessary to redeem, and he sends her home with a load of barley to confirm his intention to take care of their needs. First, he must go to the city gate and offer the first rights of redemption to a man who is a closer relative to Elimelech. This potential redeemer is interested in owning the land, but not in marrying Ruth or providing an heir for Elimelech. So Boaz purchases the land and marries Ruth, and they have a son. We might think this is the happy ending to the story, but the author of Ruth does not end the story with the birth of Obed. Instead the book ends with a genealogy that demonstrates God’s purposes in these events. The book of Judges ended by stating the crisis in Israel: There is no king. The book of Ruth shows us how God is working behind the scenes, in the worst of circumstances and with the most unlikely people, to bring into the world a king for his people. The genealogy that begins at the end of Ruth will continue in Matthew 1, showing us the greater Son of Ruth and the greater kinsman-redeemer: Jesus Christ.

As You Read Ruth

See how Boaz is drawn down into need, and find comfort in knowing that Jesus is drawn down into your need. Believe that he wants to spread his wings over you to provide and care for you.
Find confidence and security in hearing Jesus saying to you, “As the Lord lives, I will redeem you.”
See how Naomi went from defining herself by her emptiness to being restored and redeemed. Ask God to give you perspective about your emptiness and confidence that he is at work in it.

This article is adapted from Beholding Christ: A Daily Guide to Seeing Jesus in All of Scripture by Nancy Guthrie.

Nancy Guthrie (MATS Reformed Theological Seminary) teaches the Bible at her home church, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee, as well as at conferences around the country and internationally, including her Biblical Theology Workshop for Women. She is the author of numerous books and the host of the Help Me Teach the Bible podcast with the Gospel Coalition. She and her husband founded Respite Retreats for couples who have faced the death of a child, and they are cohosts of the GriefShare video series.

Why Did Ruth Enter Boaz’s Tent in the Middle of the Night? (Ruth 3)

Mary Willson Hannah

June 22, 2023

Naomi’s plan initiates this scene’s events. After Boaz has eaten and gone to bed, Ruth is to enter his tent, lift the blanket at his feet and lie down, and wait for him to wake. Why does she do this?