Things were very dark for Israel. It was the dark days of the judges, and there was a terrible famine in Israel. No rain! No food! So Elimelech, and his wife Naomi and their two sons, left Bethlehem and settled in Moab outside the promised land. Their two sons married Moabites, women outside God’s family. It usually wasn’t a good thing to marry a Moabite (see Num. 25:1–2; Deut. 23:3–4). But that’s what these boys did. It was the time of the judges, after all. The wives were named Orpah and Ruth. But not long after they married, something terrible happened. All the men died. Naomi’s husband, Orpah’s husband, and Ruth’s husband. How sad.

Shortly after, Naomi heard there was food again in Israel, so she told Orpah and Ruth that she was returning to Bethlehem. Orpah stayed in Moab; but Ruth clung to Naomi and said, “Where you go I will go” and “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). When they arrived in Bethlehem, Naomi’s friends said, “Is this Naomi?” They couldn’t believe she was back! But she said, “Don’t call me Naomi [which means “pleasant”], but Mara [which means “bitter”], for the Lord has brought disaster upon me” (see vv. 20–21).

Naomi’s life was bitter, but God had a plan to turn it into something sweet. God’s plan involved a generous Israelite named Boaz. Boaz had a field where Ruth went daily to gather barley to eat. Boaz heard good things about Ruth—how she cared for Naomi and vowed to follow the Lord. One day he said to Ruth: “The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” (2:12). And God did reward her in a surprising way. One night, Ruth came to Boaz, laid at his feet, and said to him, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (3:9). It was Ruth’s way of saying that she wanted to marry him, her way of saying to Boaz, “You can be the answer to your own prayers.”

Boaz was happy to be such a blessing. He bought her family’s land and made her his wife. He redeemed her! God rewarded Ruth by giving her kind Boaz as a husband. God also gave them a son. As Naomi cradled her grandson, the women said to once-bitter Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer” (4:14). God had brought foreign Ruth into his family through faith. God had turned Naomi’s bitterness into sweetness. And that was just the tip of the iceberg! Even in the dark time of the judges, God was using these people of faith to bring about an even bigger blessing.