"I went out full, and the Lord bath brought me home again empty." The first chapter of the book of Ruth is a very important one. Every preacher knows, or should know, he has to begin by awakening a sense of need in his hearers. He cannot plunge in too quickly with the positive side of his message. He must first convince the people that they are in just that state of need which requires the provision he proposes to speak about. So it is, before we are introduced to the subject of redemption in the book of Ruth, we have brought before us a story of trouble and loss which occasions the need for one who can redeem. And that is what the first chapter is all about. Although the title of the book is Ruth, the central character of the first chapter is Naomi, whom I think we can describe as the prodigal daughter of the Old Testament. As we pursue the story we cannot but notice certain marks of similarity between her and the prodigal son in our Lord's parable in the New Testament. That son, as he returned, could well have used the same words that Naomi did, `I went out full, and the Lord bath brought me home again empty.' True, he did not remain empty and neither did Naomi; and that is what the remaining chapters of the book of Ruth unfold.." (Hession, Roy: Ruth)

NOW IT CAME ABOUT IN THE DAYS WHEN THE JUDGES GOVERNED: (Judges 2:16; Judges 12:8)

Literally the Hebrew reads "it was the days of the judging of the judges".

Observe that this we can immediately establish the historical context. What do we know about "the days when the judges governed"?

The book of Judges sums up these "days" as "dark days" because

"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes" (see notes Judges 17:6, cf Judges 18:1, Judges 19:1, Judges 21:25)

The phrase "there was no king in Israel" occurs in each of these preceding verses and helps one understand the self-centered, self-seeking mindset that controlled the children of Israel during this 350+ year period which accounts for almost 25% of Israel's history in the Old Testament (see the abbreviated timeline above)!

The days when the Judges governed marked a time of apostasy, apathy, and anarchy, associated with idolatry, immorality, and war. It is interesting to contrast Judges with Ruth (adapted and modified from Wilkinson, B, & Boa, K. (1983). Talk thru the Bible. Nashville: T. Nelson)

Ruth is the story of one individual's faithfulness, in the face of national faithlessness and provides testimony to the truth that God graciously preserves a godly remnant who do what is right in the sight of the Lord even when the ungodly majority do what is right in their own eyes. Ruth is far more than a beautiful "love story" and in fact the word "love" actually is not used.

Alexander Maclaren comments that...

The lovely idyl (means "a short poem") of Ruth is in sharp contrast with the bloody and turbulent annals of Judges. It completes, but does not contradict, these, and happily reminds us of what we are apt to forget in reading such pages, that no times are so wild but that in them are quiet corners, green oases, all the greener for their surroundings, where life glides on in peaceful isolation from the tumult. Men and women love and work and weep and laugh, the gossips of Bethlehem talk over Naomi's return ('they said,' in Ruth 1:19, is feminine), Boaz stands among his corn, and no sounds of war disturb them. Thank God! the blackest times were not so dismal in reality as they look in history. There are clefts in the grim rock, and flowers blooming, sheltered in the clefts. The peaceful pictures of this little book, multiplied many thousand times, have to be set as a background to the lurid pictures of the Book of Judges. (Ruth Exposition)

How important is an understanding of the "days when the Judges governed"?

Paul comments that

"these things happened to them as an example and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come...that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved." (1Cor 10:11, 10:6)

The Greek word for "instruction" (nouthesia from nous = mind + tithemi = place - click for discussion of related word noutheteo) literally means to place in one's mind and refers to training of one's mind (nous) and conveys the ideas of encouraging, warning and advising and is a comprehensive term for counseling.

A T Robertson says the word nouthesia  describes

"Putting sense into the heads of people. A thankless, but a necessary, task."

So it behooves us to be knowledgeable of those days so that we might not repeat their mistakes and also that we might not become discouraged and lose hope at the darkness that seems so prevalent and so powerful in America in the 21st Century, for that

"whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction (didaskalia--shaping of our will of the one instructed & doing so by Word), that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (see note Romans 15:4)

Apparently it was Augustine who in explaining the interwoven nature of the Old and New Testaments declared that..

The New is in the Old concealed
and
The Old is the New revealed

C. I. Scofield parallels the 4 chapters of Ruth with the general pattern of the Christian experience:  

The book of Ruth is nothing short of a literary masterpiece as every careful reader will attest. In the 18th century Dr. Samuel Johnson, a Christian, read a copy of Ruth before a prestigious London book review club and did so as if it were a recently written work. The club was vocal and unanimous in its praise of this new work. It was only after their acclaim abated that Dr. Johnson inform them that the masterpiece they had so unreservedly endorsed was to be found in a book they all rejected—the Bible! Thus we see that Ruth’s literary genius is recognized even by those with no Christian allegiance. 

A very similar story is told of Benjamin Franklin who while serving at the French court heard some aristocrats denigrating Holy Bible as not worth reading, lacking style, etc. Although Franklin was not a born again believer (as best can be discerned from written descriptions of his beliefs), he had been sufficiently exposed to the merits of Scripture as literature that he foisted the following ruse on the French skeptics.  Franklin proceeded to copy Ruth in longhand, changing all the names to French names. He then read the manuscript to the aristocratic elitists who to a man praised the elegance and simple style of the touching story. One then queried Franklin

“But where did you find this gem of literature, Monsieur Franklin?”

Franklin quipped

"It comes from that Book you so despise, la sainte Bible!”

Who wrote Ruth and When?

Ruth was written by an anonymous author, but in its final form must date from the time of David because of the facts noted in  (Ru4:7,18 19 20 21 22). Jewish tradition says that Samuel is the author of Ruth. Since the book ends with David, the final manuscript cannot have written before his time. Samuel did anoint David king and may well have provided the book to show the monarch-to-be's pedigree. Alternatively it is possible that David was the author but we will have to wait until glory to find out for sure.

THAT THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND: (Ge 12:10; 26:1; 43:1; Lv 26:19; Dt 28:23,24,38; 2Sa 21:1; 1Ki 17:1-12; 18:2; 2Ki 8:1,2; Ps 105:16; 107:34; Jer 14:1; Ezra 14:13,21; Joel 1:10,11,16-20; Am 4:6) (See Torrey's topic on "Famine", ISBE article)

Famine (7458) (ra'ab) is the standard word for hunger or famine occurring 101 times in the NAS, the first occurrences in Genesis...

Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. (Genesis 12:10)

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. (Genesis 26:1 )

What irony...famine in Bethlehem, a place whose very name meaning the "house of bread"!

Missionary Application: God's intention was that Israel should be blessed and then be a blessing to the nations. Instead, Israel scorned her Maker, and God's subsequent affliction of people and land drove many Israelites to seek sustenance from other nations. When God's people refuse to use the resources God has given them to bless the families of the earth, God may withdraw those blessings from them and bring them by force to face both their own poverty of soul and the needs of the peoples of the earth.

Elimelech's family left "the house of bread" and went into Moab, losing essentially everything and not seeing it restored until Naomi returned to the "the house of bread." It appears that Elimelech seems to have forgotten the eternal truth about God's faithfulness to His covenant promises for as David wrote years later

"Trust in Jehovah and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness." (NKJV) (Ps 37:4)

However, lest we be too critical of Elimelech, we need to remember that there is a little of "Elimelech" in all of us and looking into the face of famine (in whatever form that takes in our life) can be quite fearful and overwhelming!

Although the name "God" (Elohim) or "LORD" (Jehovah) occurs less than 20x in the book of Ruth, God is clearly in control from the beginning (famine in land) to end (fertility of Ruth). God is sovereign, (what word do you see in "sovereign"?) which in simple terms means that He is in complete control over ALL the affairs of nature and history and has the absolute right to act according to His perfect will and His good pleasure. The Bible in general and Ruth in particular is the story (history = "His-Story") of God working out His sovereign plan of redemption for the world toward a conclusion which is so certain that we can stake our very life on it. So don't think that the paucity of the mention of God's name in Ruth suggests that He is absentee (as Deism teaches) or that He is not actively involved. It follows that no "famine" just "happens" in the land, but that God sovereignly controls every famine.

Moses had warned Israel that one of the consequences of disobedience would be famine writing that...

"if you will not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you...And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed." (Deuteronomy 28:15, 23-24)

Roy Hession comments that...

The rains, it would seem, had ceased to come at their usual seasons, and that probably not for one year, but for several years. As a result, crops had failed and there was a terrible famine in the area. Could it be, famine in the `house of bread'? Surely not; but so it was. It was the very opposite of what one would have expected, a virtual denial of the very name of Bethlehem. Had God not also said about the Promised Land that it was to be a land of milk and honey, where His people would eat bread without scarceness? Indeed, He had; but He had also said in various places that if His people who were called by His name should turn away from Him, worshipping other gods, transgressing His laws, and not be willing to repent, He might well find it necessary to shut up heaven that there should be no rain, and even to command the locusts to devour the land and, further, to send pestilence among His people. 2Chronicles 7:13-14

Sadly, this too is pictorial of what sometimes happens in the life of a Christian. Yes, it is a land of milk and honey for him, but if he turns away from the Lord his God in this matter or that, and will not heed the word of correction that God is sure to give him, He sometimes finds it necessary for the restoration of that saint to shut up heaven over his head that there be no rain. The refreshing movings of the Spirit are no longer known in his heart, the Bible becomes dead, prayer is empty, personal witness and Christian service are chores and he ceases to have a joyous testimony. What a terrible possibility that there can be such a famine in our souls ! Amos talks about a famine, not `of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.' Amos 8:11 That is a famine indeed when we cease to hear from heaven, and who of us has not known such times? And all this can take place, if you please, m the `house of bread.' (Hession, Roy: Ruth).

The Psalmist adds that God

"called for a famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food and he sent a man before them -- Joseph, sold as a slave." (Ps 105:16 17 NIV).

As God's sovereign plan unfolded in Joseph's life he said to his deceitful brothers

"as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Ge 50:20) And in order to "preserve many people alive" God used "famine on the land."

If you don't believe that God is in control of "famines" than you will also have difficulty believing the NT counterpart of Genesis 50:20 that

"God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (see note Romans 8:28)

GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY AND SURETY

Meditate and meander slowly through the book of Ruth and you will be encouraged as you come to the understanding that God's sovereignty is also His surety (ground of confidence and security). Lay hold of this great attribute of God (see "Attributes of God" for an encouraging study: see also "Sovereignty"), so that you won't faint during times of "famine", but instead firmly grounded in this truth about God, you will continue steadfast in the confidence that

"He Who began a good work in you will complete in the day of Christ Jesus." (see note Philippians 1:6)

So what began with "a famine in the land" was but opening of the "Director's" master script for Ruth to be brought into the nation of Israel through her kinsman-redeemer Boaz, thereby becoming a link in the line of the Messiah, our Kinsman-Redeemer.

There are some other facets to famine worth noting. A famine brings hunger and hunger tests a man (Ge 12:10; 26:1; 43:1) for as Moses reminded Israel God

"humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD." (Dt 8:3 cf Mt 4:4 Lu 4:4).

The lesson for each of us to learn is that pressures and trials wrought by the ''famines'' in our life are not sovereignly sent (or allowed) by God to destroy us but to humble us (D t8:3) and to teach us to

"trust in Jehovah with all (our) heart and...not (to) lean on (our) own understanding" but "in all (our) ways (to) acknowledge Him", fully confident that "He will make (our) paths straight." (Pr 3:5, 3:6)

May we all grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Sav