This awesome story begins with a famine is Israel a sign of disobedience and apostasy. {Duet. 28-30}. An Israelite named Elimelech in a desperate act moves from Bethlehem to Moab. who out of pure disobedience ran from Israel due to a famine that had been placed on the land of Israel because of their disobedience to God and their allowance of apostasy. The complete story of this can be found in {Duet. 28-30}. Elimelech had made the decision to take his wife and sons to the country of Moab. This was his next grave mistake. The Jew's had been forbidden to mix with the Moabites (Deuteronomy 23:3).

Of course nothing good came from this disobedience. Naomi and her daughter in laws Orpah {which means stubbornness) and Ruth {which means friendship} were left as widows. So, here we find Naomi in a land not of her own, her husband and son's now dead, left with only her daughter in laws who were Moabite women. How she must have grieved for her homeland, her family and her God.

Here we find a back-slidden,out of the will of God Naomi who has made the decision to return home, she has heard that the Lord has visited the land. However, she is not wise enough to invite her daughter-in-laws along with her, This tells us to beware of the advice of a carnal Christian. Naomi tells her daughter in laws to stay in Moab since there was no security for an unmarried woman in those days. Naomi thought that (like her) their only interest were fleshly, but Ruth had higher desires than just bread and marriage. Both women started on this journey with their mother-in -law.

As they continued in their journey it came to a point when Naomi stopped and again encouraged these young women to return to their own land, and to their heathen God's. We can only imagine the stories and truth's Naomi may have shared of her homeland, her God and her people with her daughter in laws. Orpah made the decision to return to Moab, to what was familiar, to what she knew, she returned to her comfort zone. However Ruth stood her ground with Naomi and spoke these beautiful words: Ruth 1:16 And Ruth said, 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:

So we see in spite of Naomi's unscriptural advice to these women Ruth stood her ground. She desired to follow the one true God, and to abandon her old heathen life. We all come to that fork in the road at some point in our lives. Do we continue as Ruth did to persevere and take the challenge of something new and different, or do we do as Orpah and return to what was familiar, comfortable and well known to her.

As they travel back to Bethlehem Naomi seems to blame God for her misfortunes, she begins to think that He is her enemy but He has plans she does not yet know. As they enter into the city scripture tells us the following Ruth 1:19-22. 19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? 20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Do we detect a bitter Spirit here toward the Lord? Is SHE BLAMING God for all the sorrow she has endured? If anything these verses should yield warning to the backslider that there is no peace out of the will of God.

Naomi's misfortune leads her to think that God is her enemy, but He has plans she does not yet know. If we get the mind set that God is our enemy, we must cast this down and remember that He in control!!! He has a plan for each and every one of our lives. {Jeremiah 29:11}

Barley harvest came in April and as we have read Ruth and Naomi arrive during harvest time. In her plight, she must let Ruth glean at the edge of the fields Gleaning was a humiliating and dangerous task because of the character of many of the reapers as well gleaning was known as one of the "welfare" programs in Israel. Farmers were not to completely harvest their fields, so the poor and needy could come and glean the remains for themselves. (Leviticus 24:19-22) So Ruth sets out to glean fields to support her and her mother-in-law Naomi. This shows a wonderfully hard-working spirit in Ruth, and spiritual also - she would not have been more spiritual to sit back at home and pray for food. She happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz {which means strength} Ruth happened to come to that place? Certainly, that is how it seemed to her. But it was not how it actually happened. Ruth came to that field because God was guiding her! . Oh, the wonderful way the invisible hand of God works! This just confirms to us that there are No coincidences with God.

God's providential care brought her to Boaz's field, Naomi's kinsmen. Boaz takes Ruth under his wing, telling the servants to leave more behind for her to pick up, begins to love, protect and provide for her. Thus we see the kindness and the heartwarming feelings between the two of them begin to unfold. After sharing a meal with Boaz Ruth held back some to take to Naomi her mother in law, that evening as Ruth returned home with her days gleanings she gave Naomi what she had held back for her. Ruth 2:19 And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz. 2:20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

Is this the same women who came into town saying, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me (Ruth 1:20)? Is this the same woman who said, the Almighty has afflicted me (Ruth 1:21)? Of course it is! Now she sees more of God's plan unfolding, so she can see better how all things are working together for good for those who love God. God is going to use the Gentile Ruth to restore Naomi's blessing again, just as God is saving Gentiles today and will one day restore Israel to her place of blessing.

A kinsman: This introduces an important word in the book of Ruth - the word goel. To say that Boaz was a goel (a kinsman) was more than saying he was a relative; it was saying that he was a special family representative. He was a "chieftain" in the family. In the Old Testament the law provided that a kinsmen-redeemer could buy back an estate which had been lost through poverty {Duet 25:23-55}. This kept the land in the possession of the proper family. The kinsman of course had to be willing to redeem.

Since Boaz takes no further steps toward marriage Naomi follows the accepted customs of that day and request that Boaz exercise his rights as kinsman-redeemer. In 3:10-13 Boaz gives his reasons why he has not taken any action, he is older than Ruth, and is not the nearest kinsmen.

In those days the nearest kinsman was to marry the widow of his dead relative and raise up the name of his inheritance. {Carry on the deads name through children} In this case however, the nearest kinsman did not want to marry Ruth, remember Ruth was a Moabite and if he married her he would loose his own inheritance.

Boaz took Ruth as his wife and she became with child {Obed} who is the grandfather of King David thus blessing Ruth in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Ladies let us look at Ruth as an example! See the blessing of her obedience and desire to follow after God? Let us put the same perseverance into action. Let's not be afraid to move from our comfort zone and to follow the path God has set before us. As mentioned this love story imitates the love between Christ and the Believer. It all comes back to the idea of Jesus as our kinsman-redeemer; this is why He became a man. God might have sent an angel to save us, but the angel would not have been our kinsman. Jesus, in His eternal glory, without the addition of humanity to His divine nature might have saved us, but He would not have been our kinsman. A great prophet or priest would be our kinsman, but his own sin would have disqualified him as our redeemer. Only Jesus, the eternal God who added humanity to His eternal deity, can be both the kinsman and the redeemer for mankind!