At the end of the Feast of Week’s instruction in Leviticus 23, a verse is added that points to the Book of Ruth, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am YHWH your God” (Lev. 23:22). Traditionally recounted on Pentecost, the Book of Ruth’s setting is the seven Sabbath count during the spring grain harvest.

During the latter days of the Judges’ rule, a famine devastated Israel for over ten years. In those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Jdg. 21:25). Elimelech, meaning “God is King,” exiled himself and his family from Bethlehem to foreign Moab, descendants of Lot. The names of his two sons, Mahlon, “great infirmity,” and Chilion, “pining,” depicted his own life of unbelief. Elimelech’s Moabite daughters-in-law’s ten-year marriage to Mahlon and Chilion produced no offspring, telling the fruitlessness of life without God. In Moab, Elimelech and his sons succumb to the death of exile, leaving only elderly Naomi as a remnant.

Hearing that God blessed Bethlehem with bread, Naomi returned to the land of her inheritance. Orpha turned back to her people and their gods, but Ruth clung to Naomi and her God. Ruth, not detoured by Naomi’s perspective that Israel’s all-powerful God of bounty (Shaddai) was fighting against her like an enemy and afflicting her with empty-handedness, remained steadfast. In the spirit of Abraham, the friend of God, Ruth forsook her homeland and bound herself to YHWH and the people of Israel for life and in death. Considering Israel’s apostasy in serving other gods and God’s judgment of famine upon them, Ruth embraced Israel’s YHWH with the breathtaking devotion of covenant love (chesed, Strong’s H2616).

Left as the remnant of Elimelech’s family, Naomi saw YHWH’s presence in Israel by His guiding hand over Ruth and thus over her. Similar to how God guided the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sin (manna) and Dophkah, YHWH moved the situation forward along the right direction, revealing His covenant love. Ruth goes to glean the firstfruit barley harvest, and by what seems to be chance, she ends up in Boaz’s field. Boaz, recognizing Ruth’s acceptance of the God of Israel just like his mother Rahab had, treats her with respect and helps her integrate into Israelite society. As a symbol of the Redeemer, Boaz takes Ruth under his protection, allowing her to glean only in his fields. Ruth, a woman of virtue, sought refuge under the wings of Israel’s YHWH Elohim (Ruth 2:12). She accepts and eats parched grain from Boaz’s hand and drinks his water. And when Ruth has eaten and is satisfied, she saves the leftover bread for Naomi, so they both have enough (Exo. 16:18, 2Ki. 4:43–44, Jhn. 6:13, 2Co. 8:15). The Hebrew word for “leftover” is yathar (Strong’s H3498), which is rooted in yabam (Strong’s H2992), meaning to assume the responsibility of the law of levirate marriage. By giving Naomi leftovers through Ruth, Boaz signaled that he would raise up an heir for her.

Our Redeemer fed the four- and five thousand and had bread left over, seven large baskets and twelve small baskets, respectively, pointing to Israel’s restoration through the Branch (Mat. 16:5–12, Mar. 8:14–21). He filled six empty water pots, providing wine for the wedding at Cana. Likewise, Boaz fed Ruth enough for leftovers for Naomi and endowed her with six measures of barley for their sustenance as a promise of redemption (Rth. 3:15) that not one family of Israel be lost or be empty-handed (Rth. 3:17). Since Ruth was a virtuous woman, her value to Boaz was a priceless treasure, greatly desired (Pro. 31:10, Mat. 13:44–46). By their marriage, Elimelech’s dead house was raised up, restoring a male heir, Obed, and the poor, those hungering and thirsting after righteousness, were filled with the good news (Mat. 11:5, Luk. 4:18). YHWH precisely orchestrated the entire story of Ruth. He also tenderly and abundantly provides all His people need to be a part of His family.

Obed, genetically three-fourths Gentile, means “serving God” and represented the first harvest’s yield, like the outcome of pouring out the Holy Spirit after the wave-loaves acceptance, the imbuing with power to do God’s will after the finishing of seven Sabbaths (Lev. 15:1, Act. 2). Through Obed, Elimelech’s family name, “God is King,” remained in Israel’s Book of the Living. From him descended the greatest king of Israel, King David, and from King David came the Branch, Yeshua, the King of Israel. Our kinsman Redeemer came that all humanity might be harvested to life and live abundantly forever, that every name may be written in His Book of Life. He came as the great Servant of humankind (Isa. 50, 53), forming Israel out of Gentiles and Hebrews to serve Him.

The Book of Ruth recounts the captivating narrative of a noblewoman and her prevailing daughter-in-law. Naomi was God’s delight, bearing the costs of exile, tasting the empty-handed fruitlessness of Israel’s idolatry selflessly. She won the heart of her daughter-in-law, Ruth, who cleaved to her, acquiring her deep respect, love, and obedience to Israel’s YHWH. Even though Elimelech’s family had all hope cut off, Naomi returned with Ruth to Bethlehem, nobly bearing the bitter fruit of YHWH’s judgment against doing what is right in one’s own eyes. Naomi and Ruth’s clinging to YHWH and returning to the land produced fruit, even while they were overwhelmed by a tragedy they did not understand. The Book of Ruth underscores that through all their heartbreaking experiences, God carved a legacy, an enduring image of His redemption for all humanity.

Ruth, a poor foreigner, followed Israel’s gleaning/levirate law, as mentioned in Leviticus 23:22, in order to carry on a deceased family’s lineage. Due to their experiences of suffering, YHWH shaped and created both Ruth and Israel. Israel, once exiled from God and life, was reminded to recall their time as slaves in Egypt and how YHWH remembered them and brought them into a land of plenty. While in that land, they were instructed to look after those who were disadvantaged and without inheritance and to incorporate them into their family’s blessings as a part of belonging to the name of YHWH.

Takeaway:
The story of Ruth, set against the backdrop of the Book of Judges, forever tells of the deliverance of a loving God. Living outside of YHWH’s covenant, Israel forgot their King, His holy mountain, and its nourishing sustenance, the Tree of Life. The Book of Ruth captures God’s faithfulness, enduring love, and His great desire for all humanity to journey with Him, to dwell and feast in His House for eternity. As the people of Israel, ruled by King YHWH, we are called to raise up lost families, provide spiritual nourishment to the hungry, and offer righteousness to those who thirst for it (Isa. 32:6–8). The story of Ruth demonstrates that Israel’s King is the loving YHWH who saves, guides, and timely fulfills His purposes for all humans.

Fun Factors:
The Book of Ruth has 4947 letters (3 × 17 × 97) in 1294 words (2 x 647), totaling 364845, 13 × 15 × 1871; the square root of Genesis 15:1’s letter sum, the command to walk before YHWH and be perfect is 71 and 18 is chi, life. The 286^th prime (13 × 22; T₁ + … + T₁₁ ) is 1871. The number of letters, 4947, points to the seven Sabbaths (7²) under YHWH’s hand (47) and factored tells us of His certain (3) victory (17) multiplied by His justice in all the earth (97, 9² + 4²), by the perfect Human’s hand, 6-47.

The generations, toledot, of Obed in Ruth 4:18-22 has 154 letters (7 × 22) in 39 words (3 × 13), totaling 9919, 7 × 13 × 109, YHWH’s shaping and perfecting (7) through suffering (13) in a completed 19-year time cycle (109).