Bible Characters: From Ruth to Christ

It’s a plot fit for a Hallmark Christmas movie. A young widow follows her mother-in-law to a small town where she is considered an outcast. She catches the eye of a kind and wealthy bachelor, who makes a grand gesture to redeem her as his wife and gives her an inheritance and a son. Yet the well-loved romance of Ruth and Boaz is not just a story of God bringing together two people, it points to an even greater story—one of how the Lord God brings the far off into His family, gives them an inheritance, and builds a kingdom through them.

Death is Mara

The book of Ruth is full of foreshadowing, irony, and typology. The names and settings in Ruth are worth paying attention to fully understand the story.

The scene is set in a lawless land ruled by judges. A man, his wife, and two sons leave the city of Bethlehem (“house of bread”) because, ironically, there is a famine. Elimelech, whose name means “my God is king,” leaves the land in search of provision in Moab. Alongside him are his sweet wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon (“man of sickness”) and Chilion (“man of finality”). It’s no surprise that with names like these, Elimelech and his sickly sons die, leaving three widows in a foreign land with no inheritance– a death sentence to women in those early times.

Naomi hears that the Lord has ended the famine in Bethlehem and decides to return home. She urges her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab, as she has nothing for them, no one who can redeem them, but Ruth makes a famous display of loyalty and faith: “Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.”

Upon their arrival in Bethlehem (which occurs at the beginning of the barley harvest) Naomi tells the curious townspeople to no longer call her “Naomi” (sweet) but to call her “Mara,” meaning “bitter” because of the harsh providence God has given her. While she recognizes that her sorrows were an act of God, she has not yet begun to see His hand still at work in her life.

Ruth begins to look for food and happens to begin gleaning in the fields of Boaz, who Naomi is delighted to reveal is a close relative of Elimelech and one of their redeemers. In keeping with the Levirate marriage law, the redeemer would ensure the deceased name and inheritance would live on— a sacrificial act on the part of the redeemer because the inheritance would be in the deceased’s name rather than his own.

Redemption is Naomi

Boaz takes notice of Ruth and commends her faithfulness to Naomi and God’s hand on her life, saying, “The Lord has spread His wings of refuge over you.” He also makes efforts to protect her and provide for her, perhaps remembering the faith of his own mother, the believing foreigner Rahab. Later, at Naomi’s encouragement, Ruth asks Boaz to spread his wings over her, a symbolic request for redemption and protection. Boaz, as a kinsman-redeemer, willingly accepts this role, securing Ruth and Naomi’s future.

A Kingdom through Obed (servant of God)

This act of redemption culminates in the birth of Ruth and Boaz’s son, Obed (one who serves), who brings joy not only to Naomi but also to the whole town who observe that the birth of this baby has turned Naomi’s bitterness into sweetness. This happy couple’s love story closes with the revelation of a critical fact for redemptive history: “Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.”

The Old Testament readers would have recognized God’s providential hand in bringing about King David. For readers today, we can follow the ripples of God’s provide even further down Obed’s lineage. Centuries later, this bloodline leads us once more to that little town of Bethlehem, where the descendent of Ruth welcomed our Kinsman Redeemer, Christ, who took the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6) to redeem strangers and aliens and make them the family of God (Eph. 2:12-13).

As much as the story of Ruth and Boaz sounds like a fairy tale, it is our story too. God’s redemption is for the far-off, the marginalized, and the outsider. He spreads His wings over us, at great cost to Himself purchases us, and gives us a kingdom and an inheritance. Like Ruth, we are given a place in God’s family through the servant Son born in Bethlehem who turns the bitterness of death into the sweetness of new life.

Megan K. Taylor earned her MA in Theological Studies from Westminster Theological Seminary. She and her family lives in Sanford, Fl where she works for Ligonier Ministries and is a member of Saint Paul’s PCA.