The Book of Ruth tells of a Gentile woman who forsook her nation and gods to accept her mother-in-law and her God. She is an example of faithfulness when Israel had descended into apostasy.
The book is a beam of sunshine in the 350-year dark era of the Judges. It reveals God in a tender and providential way unlike any other in the Old Testament. It is the bright light of the gospel pointing us as clearly to Jesus as the star which led a group of middle eastern wisemen to the place where they could find and worship Jesus.

I. A Description (Ruth 1:1-2). In the ancient world, children were often named years after birth. We name our children, hoping they grow into a name’s meaning, but the ancients usually named their children after monitoring the child’s character.
Elimelech (whose name means my God is King), his wife Naomi (pleasant) and their two sons Mahlon (sickly) and Chilion (puny) left Bethlehem (the House of Bread) in the land of Judah (praise) because of a famine.
Famines were common in ancient times; there are 13 recorded in the Bible (Gen 12:10; 26:1; 45:6-7; 2 Sam 21:1; 1 Ki 18:1-2; 2 Ki 4:38; 6:25-29; Neh 5:3; Lam 5:10; Acts 11:28). God said famine was His doing; a judgment on sin, specifically for Israel’s failure to obey the Mosaic Law, and Judges unveils that truth (Gen 3:17-19; Lev 26:18-20; Deut 28:15-18, 38-40; Judg 2:16; 6:1-6; 2 Sam 21:1-14).

II. A Detour (Ruth 1:1-2). Elimelech fled the House of Bread and praise where God commanded Israel to dwell, and went to Moab, which Iain Duguid called “the unpromised land”. Moab was about 50 miles from Bethlehem on the eastern side of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The Moabites were descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot by drunken incest with his daughter (Gen 19:30-38). Though related, Israel and Moab had a long history of animosity (Num 22-25; Judg 3:15-30).
Early in the time of the judges, Edom was ruled for 18 years by a ruthless king (Judg 3:14). They worshiped a savage warrior god named Chemosh and practiced human sacrifice.
Elimelech believed his family could blend in with the enemy of Israel and Israel’s God. A little compromise seemed reasonable for economic benefit. He didn’t look at his situation with a Biblical mindset, but with worldly wisdom and insight. He sinned, leaving God’s promised land for what seemed like greener pastures in his eyes, settling in a land of his enemies.

III. A Disaster (Ruth 1:3-5). The family sojourned (a temporary visit) in Moab, and soon Elimelech died. Moab was a dead end in the road for a family wanting security. Living away from God was a detour into disaster.
The two sons added to their father’s sin by marrying Moabite wives contrary to the Law of Moses (Deut 7:3-4; 28:32). Dad’s compromise got the family into trouble; and upon Elimelech’s death, Naomi and her sons continued his sin. Ten years after arriving in Moab for a short stay, Mahlon and Chilion died, leaving their wives Orpah (meaning neck) and Ruth (friendly) childless. Barrenness in marriage was often culturally considered a judgment of God upon sin (Deut 28:18).
Three of the four family members who left God’s provision in the land of God’s promise to avoid death, died in Moab. We remember that our lives and times are in the hand of the Lord (Ps 31:15). Not one of us sets the date of our birth, nor do we hasten death. Everything from beginning to end has been ordained in the eternal plan of God (Ps 90:12; 139:14-16). God’s slow work in our lives may leave us feeling abandoned or alone so we seek out what we think are greener pastures, but God has promised not to leave.