“Naomi, though personally loved and cared for by God, has been a stand in for all of his people this entire time! Though we deserve his judgment as much as anyone else, God is faithful to his covenant promises.  Just as he relented in his judgment upon Elimelech’s family, turned and ensured their good and their future, so he also relented in his judgment upon all of Israel, preserving a remnant among them and establishing an eternal dynasty for his people despite their faithlessness. And, even now, God is transforming a people, making us faithful, by revealing his faithfulness in his word.”

“The 3rd act ends once again with the words of Naomi.  The narrator opens and closes all the other acts, but here, again, Naomi has the first and last words. Her first words are the the first expression of ḥeseḏ which come from Naomi.  We get to watch God restore her in more ways than one.  Naomi’s outlook changes radically from self-absorption to concern for her daughter-in-law’s well-being. The bitter old woman has started to care for the needs of others.  God is truly gracious in the restoration of his people. And he is using his people to bring about this change. This restoration comes as a result of the ḥeseḏ of God expressed to her in the ḥeseḏ of faithful Boaz and loyal Ruth. It was God who first provided her, out of all the unfaithful Israelite, and Moabite women, a daughter-in-law worth more than ten sons; a woman of valor who would devote herself to Naomi’s cause.”

“The Book of Ruth demonstrates that peace and well-being — the shalom of God — is possible in the midst of personal catastrophes and amid societal degeneration as in the days of the judges, not unlike as it is today. When God is at work, however and bitterly hopeless the beginning, it can result in surprising good.  When we are in similar desperate straits, we might see in simple food at the table, and loyal friends, the very work of God, His ḥesed love, his covenant faithful love, sustaining and guiding us until the day he dispels the darkness. We also see that this sovereign control, the meticulous provision of God, is on display in the obedience of his people…”

“So what should we learn from the first act in Ruth?   Your hardship — even your tragedy — may not be a judgment for your sin. But we dare not quickly come to that conclusion.  Like Naomi and Elimelech, none of us is receiving worse from God than we deserve.  This is a lie I have told myself many times: ‘I don’t deserve this. I’ve been good…We dare not come to the conclusion that we are receiving worse from God than we deserve…A good, holy, loving God is not in the business of glibly using the death of family members as pawns in a game to get us to know him better. He is in the business of judging people, for that is his prerogative.”