“There Was A Famine … And Death” - 1/1/25

When we read Ruth 1, we may overlook two significant events that made the rest of the book possible. The Bible tells us that a famine occurred in the land of Bethlehem-Judah. This forced Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to move to Moab. The Bible says that a decade later, a widowed Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, returned to Bethlehem after the famine had ceased (1:6).

Famines were utilized by God on numerous occasions. In Genesis 42, God reunited Joseph with the rest of his family during the seven years of famine. I Kings 18 describes a famine that came upon the land because Elijah prayed that no rain might fall due to Ahab’s wickedness (I Kings 17:1; Lk. 4:25; Jas. 5:17-18). Jesus spoke of a famine that caused the prodigal to reevaluate his decisions and finally return to his father (Lk. 15:14-15).

While these are not the only instances of famine in Scripture, these illustrate the point that God used natural events to accomplish His purpose. In simple terms, the famine served as a tool of His providence. In each of the examples above, we saw that if it were not for the famine, the things God intended to happen might not have occurred. In our reading of Ruth, we see that without the famine, Elimelech would not have been motivated to flee to Moab for sustenance. If Elimelech does not go there, then Mahlon cannot meet and marry Ruth, the heroine of this book (Ruth 4:10).

In addition to the famine, we see that these women suffered the death of their husbands. I am not suggesting that God killed the men; however, had those men not died (1:3-4), would Naomi have been interested in returning to Bethlehem when she did (1:6)? I do not have the “cut-and-dry” answer, but I ask this as food for thought when we think of God’s providence. Had there been no famine or death of those men, there very well might not have been Obed, Jesse, or David (4:22)!

Can God accomplish His will by using positive things such as unique opportunities, meeting certain people, blessings, etc.? (To ask this is to answer it!) Notice the terminology used in Ruth 1:6 when describing the end of the famine. Who was given the credit for the plenty the people now enjoyed? At the same time, let us not be so blind as to think God cannot use the famines, the storms, wicked people, and death in His providence to accomplish His will as well (Gen. 45:7-8, 50:20).

Are you going through a “storm” or “famine” right now? Have you just come out of one? Are you experiencing sorrow from losing a loved one? What have you learned from these events? Can you see God’s providence in any of it? Just because we do not always see His providence doesn’t mean it is not there. Naomi seemed to not recognize these events as anything but hardship placed on her by God (1:20-21). Yet she would soon change her attitude about God when Ruth worked on Boaz’s field (2:19-20)! While we can often point to positive events as evidence of God’s providence, let us also recognize that the book of Ruth shows us that sometimes the hardships we endure can be just as valid evidence of God’s providence.

- Jarrod M. Jacobs