Practical Discipleship

Ep 36: From Famine To Harvest: How Ruth Reveals God’s Redemption For Outsiders

• Austen and Cheyenne • Episode 36

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A famine forces a family to leave Bethlehem, a widow renames herself, and a Moabite chooses loyalty over comfort—then the harvest begins. We walk through Ruth’s four short chapters to uncover a sweeping portrait of redemption that reaches from ordinary fields to a royal genealogy. Along the way, we unpack why the book is set during the chaotic era of the Judges, how Naomi’s loss frames the story’s hope, and why Ruth’s pledge to Yahweh signals that God’s promise was always meant to welcome outsiders.

We explore Ruth’s courage to glean as a vulnerable foreigner and Boaz’s blend of justice and compassion that protects her dignity. The threshing floor scene becomes an act of bold humility, not scandal, as Ruth appeals for covering and Boaz answers with integrity. When the nearer kinsman refuses the cost of redemption, Boaz steps forward publicly, embracing responsibility that restores Naomi’s line. This is redemption you can see: legal faithfulness, sacrificial love, and patient trust that refuses shortcuts.

We also connect crucial dots: Boaz’s empathy shaped by Rahab, Ruth’s inclusion in Israel’s story, and the line that runs from Ruth and Boaz to David and ultimately to Jesus. The takeaway is deeply practical. Real discipleship looks like loyal love, courage in the face of loss, and obedience that carries a cost. Listen for insights you can live: honoring the vulnerable, trusting God’s timing, and choosing faithfulness that outlasts feelings. If this conversation encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so others can discover Practical Discipleship.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to another episode of Practical Discipleship. I'm Austin.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm Cheyenne, and here we discover what it means to follow God by engaging with Scripture and igniting our faith.

SPEAKER_00:

So others may know. Let's do it. All right, back with another episode. If uh that last episode that I put out of the just reading the scripture, if you guys like more of that, just hit us up at practicaldiscipleship7 at gmail.com. That's the number seven. Don't spell out seven. Practicaldiscipleship seven at gmail.com. And then shout out to the podcast network that we're in, uh Hungry for Wisdom Network. So you can go check that out online. There's five other podcasts on there, all the different shows, all that good stuff. So diving into this episode, we're actually gonna jump to the book of Ruth. I know we're like in the middle of Romans right now, but Cheyenne has been doing a Bible study on the book of Ruth, and you've just been loving it, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was actually really good. So my church had started a they launched like a new women's ministry for this year, and you know, kind of kind of typical women's Bible study book to choose from was Ruth. And I was kind of, you know, I kind of rolled my eyes at it at first. Always Ruth. Like, okay, yeah, we're gonna choose the one book of the Bible that's named after a woman or besides Esther, and you know, go with that. It's like, okay, fine. But really, as we were diving into it, even after studying the book in school, there was so much of it that I missed. And so I'm glad that God allowed me to go back through the book of Ruth because I was able to actually read it again with fresh lens and allow him to kind of reveal a lot of things to me that I had missed the first time I read it. And so when we had started with a Bible study and my Bible study, my Bible study leader was like, okay, we're gonna start off and we're gonna read the book of Ruth just from beginning to the end, which I think is a really good tool to use when you're starting Bible study over a specific book, is just to read the book from start to finish, no matter how long or short it is, because you want that full context. And of course, like if you're doing a Bible study on the book of Genesis, that's gonna take maybe two or three hours to read.

SPEAKER_00:

But it's I think it was actually like a four-hour read, right? Yeah, a four-hour out loud read, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

Or even with Jeremiah, you know, that's that one took a long. I think I think we read that one in the car for like four and a half hours. It took a long time, but all that to say, when you read a book all together from start to finish, you get the full context, and so that's what really helped. But when like the first night of the Bible study, when they're like, okay, we're gonna read the whole book of Ruth. It took me like two or three times flipping back through my Bible to find where the Ruth was because I'm like, it's so small, and it kind of seems like an insignificant book, but there was so much to unpack in it. Um, so we'll just go ahead and dive in. We're just gonna break down the book of Ruth, kind of do a good overview of it. So um, book of the book of Ruth takes place during kind of the time period of Judges, right before the nation of Israel had declared their first king, which was King Saul. And so it was kind of in that in-between period where they had made it into the promised land, they're going through the different judges, and during this time there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem named Elimelech and his wife Naomi and their two sons sojourned to the country of Moab. And then when they got there, their two sons took Moab women to be their wives, and one of them was named Ruth, and the other one was named Orpah. And during this time, Naomi, she lost her husband Elimelech, and then she also lost her two sons. So she had absolutely nothing. She was basically, in this time period, as a widowed and no sons to take on her husband's name, she was basically nothing. And so she was gonna go back to Bethlehem, and she told her two daughter-in-laws, Naomi and Orpah, like, you guys go, there's no need to stay with me. And then we, of course, have that really powerful uh verse that Ruth says to Naomi that says, Where you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. So Ruth is already declaring this faith and this allegiance to Yahweh that Naomi had being a non-Israelite. And what's interesting to know is that Ruth was a Moabite. She was a non-Israelite, and this book in the Bible is named after her. We have a book of the Bible named after a non-Israelite, named after someone who, in a sense, was not part of God's people, but in a sense, it kind of shows that whole picture of this promise that God made to Abraham was always about everybody. Right. People being grafted. Yeah, but we'll definitely unpack that more as we keep going.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, just real quick, do you mind explaining? Because you mentioned how this was right after the period of Judges, and just in case anyone listening who's not familiar with the overall story of the Bible or specifically the book of Judges, what kind of just unpack the difference between like the judge and the kings?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so when the Israelites got into the promised land after um from Joshua, who was Moses' successor, Joshua was one of two people who were able to make it into the promised land that came from the original generation that was um from the Exodus that was delivered out of Egypt. Just him and Caleb went into the promised land. And while they were there, God told them to go into these, go into these nations, the promised land, and defeat, take out, totally overtake the land that God has given them. And so the judges were, in a sense, these military type leaders that would help lead the Israelites to victory, to help them conquer different parts of the land that God had promised them. So when you're when you have these millions of people all in one place, you need someone to give some sort of structure, some sort of instruction. Or I mean it's just gonna be chaotic. But the period of the judges was actually like a really, really dark time. It's a very, very dark book. Even the last verse of the book says everyone did what was right in their own eyes. That's Judges 21, verse verses 24.

SPEAKER_00:

Forgetting all about God's law.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so it says in those days there was no king in Israel, but everyone did what was right in their own eyes. So even though God had allowed these military leaders to come about, you've probably heard of some like Gideon, Deborah, Samson, you know, the story of Samson and Delilah, that was all during the period of judges.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think uh one important thing to mention about the judges, the way that I've always kind of explained it, is that the Israelites have completely missed the fact that God Himself is supposed to be their king. And so, as like you mentioned, how they're going into these different nations to to go and conquer and everything, which I explain, um, I explain all that in my Bible overview, so I'm not gonna get into all that right now. But if there's someone who's struggling with the fact of God telling them to go in and take over these other nations and and kill people off, go back and listen to that episode. Um, it's the the Bible overview episode. Um because I kind of I I unpack that a little bit more. But anyways, um, like how God has to raise up this judge, which is kind of like a temporary king uh for for the time being to kind of free them, and then they just get in this cycle of sin. The whole book of judges is this um they actually refer to it as the judge's cycle. They're doing okay, they sin, they get enslaved, and then it's just this whole repetitive thing. Fast forward to the book of Kings, where they're actually asking God, they're like, We want a king like the other nations, and that's exactly what God gives them, completely missing the fact that God himself was supposed to be their king. So yeah, anyways, just yeah, I just wanted to say that one the the key thing is uh the judges kind of look at it as like a temporary king where God would rescue his people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And um, a lot of people look at the book of Ruth, um, they look at it as kind of like an empowerment for women, you know, because Ruth was a very strong, virtuous woman. Um, and then they also try to kind of take it as a love story between Ruth and Boaz. They think like, oh, this is what a godly marriage is supposed to look like, or you know, a godly relationship. But in and if you zone in on the book of Ruth and focus on the relationship between Ruth and Boaz, you have totally missed the point because it has really nothing to do with Ruth and Boaz, but more so about God and his people. Right. That is the main focus point of the book of Ruth. It's not necessarily how Boaz redeemed Ruth, it's about how God has redeemed his people through Ruth.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And through Boaz. And so it's uh there's so much more than just the relationship aspect between Ruth and Boaz. It's so much deeper and has so much more significance.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I don't I don't like it when people look at the book of Ruth as like just this love story, this random love story in the middle of the Bible. I totally agree. It's way more than that. And I would actually even say that Boaz, though, it's a it's a story of how he's being faithful to God because he's actually fallen the law through Leviticus of picking up that that lineage. Anyways, we'll we'll we'll unpack that when once we get to it.

SPEAKER_01:

But there's a lot about Boaz's character that I think is missed too in regards to submitting to God's will, submitting your own wants and desires to bring about God's plans for you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Because of everything that Boaz had to give to give up in order to redeem Ruth. But yeah, we'll break that in.

SPEAKER_00:

This tiny book in the Old Testament is so significant to the fulfillment of Christ foreshadowing in in the New Testament.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That Jesus actually comes from this line.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So continuing on, so after um Ruth declares to Naomi, do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God will be my God. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. So they go back together, they leave Moab and go back to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the woman said, Is this Naomi? She said to them, Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, which Naomi, that name meant pleasant. So she was happy, she was fulfilled when she was married. Uh, after she left, you know, she had her husband, she had her kids, she was pleasant. And then when she comes back after losing her husband, losing her kids, she comes back, she says, Call me Mara, which means bitter. So she's just wanting to be identified by you know how she's how she's feeling in her in her life at the moment. And she even says, like, I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. So she's kind of declaring, you know, she's just lost everything.

SPEAKER_00:

She's there's kind of there's she sees no hope.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

She had pretty much lost all so they're they were in Moab, they they went there because of the famine, and then now they're traveling back to Bethlehem.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And Ruth is with her. Yeah. Which is crazy. I can't like just imagine how faithful that she was to Naomi, her mother-in-law, after her husband died, instead of going like with her family, she actually still sticks with Naomi.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So Naomi and Ruth end up returning back to Bethlehem. And this is what's interesting because Naomi, like I said, she changed, she wanted to be called Mara, which means bitter, because she's focusing on the fact that she left empty and she feels like she's coming back empty because she lost her husband and her kids. But actually, what we see here, uh, right at the end of chapter one, it says, and they came back to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. So there is a harvest going on. There, she left when there was a famine, and she came back, and there's harvest. So there is something there for her to come back to.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, that's that's really cool. That's I it's like coming from death to life, the transformation. Same thing of like the Israelites, you know, enslaved in in Egypt. Then they come, you know, of course, the whole party of the Red Sea and everything, they come to Mount Sinai, is like they were enslaved and now they're free.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

There was a famine, now there's a harvest. That's cool. Yeah. So just a real short summary of chapter one. So it starts out in the famine, right? They're in Bethlehem, there's a famine, so they sojourn to Moab, go into a different country, and Naomi's husband and her two sons die, but Ruth is still faithful and wants to to stick next to Naomi. And so then they go back to Bethlehem, and now there's actually a harvest, which is cool. So they left when there's a famine. Now that now they're returning and there's a harvest. Ruth is with Naomi, who is her mother-in-law. And now we come into chapter two.

SPEAKER_01:

So picking up in chapter two, now that Naomi and Ruth are back in Bethlehem and they have the harvest, they meet another relative of Naomi named Boaz. And he had a great field where people could go and they could uh take part in the harvest. So Ruth, she tells Naomi, let me go to the field and glean among the ears of the grain, after in whom sight I shall find favor. And she also said to her, Naomi said to her, Go, my daughter. So Ruth went out and she started working. And this shows a lot of strength on Ruth's part because now, as a she just lost her husband and she just moved to a new land. This would be would turn anyone into a spiral of just, you know, what do I do? Maybe she got depressed. You know, a lot of women would probably, after they lose their husbands, go into a state of depression, you know, not wanting to have the energy to go out and work. You know, you want to mope around, you want to grieve. Not Ruth. We see her not wasting any time. She immediately goes out and she starts working. She just she gets business done.

SPEAKER_00:

Not to mention it's different, you know, like you said, it's different countries. Whole new place, different culture, different people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. She's away from her family, she's away from everything that she's ever known, what she's felt comfortable for, and she's just ready to go at it, to do whatever she can to help Naomi, to build something for her to be, you know, useful in God's in God's plan.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so she goes out and she starts gleaning in this field, and Boaz finds out who she is. She knows that she's he finds out that she's related to Naomi. She's a widow. And so Boaz basically tells everyone, do not mess with this girl. Because if Ruth was going out as a widow, basically not having anything, and in these where this harvest was where she was going and working and plucking all this stuff, it was probably like really tall blades of grass almost, like if you're in a cornfield, if you can picture it that way. And so with her being very vulnerable, probably she could be a really easy target for assault for all these other men working out in the field. So that's why Boaz basically declared kind of a shelter around her. Like, do not anyone mess with her. And Naomi kind of advised Ruth, like, don't go and glean in any other field. Here you will be safe. Okay. And so Boaz was able to keep kind of a close eye on her, and she served Boaz working in her field and being able to get food for her and Naomi. And I also like what Boaz said. Um, or Ruth asks Boaz, Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should take notice of me? Because I'm a foreigner. But Boaz answered her, All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been told to me. And how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before, the Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. So Boaz is recognizing the sacrifice that Ruth has been making in her life, and Boaz is just kind of encouraging her, like you've come to the right place. You have come to a place where the God that we worship is overshadowing you. You can take refuge in him.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Because the the Moabites definitely don't worship Yahweh.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, so then we get into chapter three, which from just reading it, it's kind of a weird story, at least what it seems at like firsthand. So, what the heck is going on with the whole Ruth and Boaz threshing floor thing?

SPEAKER_01:

So Ruth had come and she lays down at Boaz's feet as kind of a sign of humility and submission, and she's basically coming to him in need and boldly asking for a redemption in the same way that we come to Christ in our need for redemption. So, since Naomi didn't necessarily have any more sons for Ruth, she would have felt the weight of responsibility for like the welfare of Ruth because Ruth left her homeland, she came with Naomi, and now Ruth is kind of in need of a redeemer. And so Naomi was compelled to find rest or a home for Ruth. And um even though marriage and home are a beautiful concept that we see here on earth, uh, we have to remember that our true home and rest come from God alone. But Naomi knew that, especially in this culture, marriage would have made life a lot easier for Ruth. But it would have been culturally unacceptable for Naomi to approach Boaz because she was probably much older. So for her to kind of come to Boaz, and it probably wouldn't not have been right.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, that'd be weird.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so she comes up with another plan instead. And the plan may seem odd to us, but it was actually filled with like a lot of significance.

SPEAKER_00:

Um it was risky, and so you think Ruth is doing this to be faithful to Naomi?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know if she's trying to do this in like out of obedience for Naomi, but she Ruth also probably recognizes that she needs a redeemer too. But also, I I'm curious because she wouldn't have necessarily known all the laws and rules and stuff that the Israelite people knew.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

So Ruth kind of like trusted Boaz's character of what she had known from him so far, in the same way that we can come boldly with confidence to the Lord because we know his character, and so we can come before God and ask him to cover us and his unending grace and mercy, which is kind of what Ruth is doing in this moment when she approaches Boaz. And then so Boaz recognizes Ruth's need for a redeemer, and this kind of leads us into chapter four. So he gathers, even though he, even though Ruth was coming to him asking for redemption, Boaz knew that there was a relative closer that would have been kind of first pick. So Boaz goes and gathers them, or gathers another kind of Mr. So-and-so we'll call him, and tells him, Hey, they have this land that you can take, you can buy it, but with this land, um, if you want to redeem this land, it's yours. And the guy's like, Yeah, I'll take it. And then Boaz informs him, well, if you redeem this land, it also comes with Ruth and Naomi. And then he says, Well, I can't redeem it for myself lest I impair my own inheritance. And so after this guy basically rejected this opportunity to redeem Ruth and Naomi, that's when Boaz steps in and says, Okay, since no one else will, I will do it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so just real quick before we move on, because I have this question, and just in case if anyone listening has the same question, so why would Boaz even care to even go and and do this if Ruth is a Moabite?

SPEAKER_01:

That's a good question. And what I think is cool about Boaz is that he actually speaks directly to Ruth and doesn't identify her as like being a foreigner. He speaks to her as a person, honest her dignity, and even calls her like my daughter. He doesn't identify her with her past, but I think he wants to play a part in this and recognizes the significance of who Ruth is because who was Boaz's mom? Rahab. And perhaps Boaz had a special sympathy for Ruth, who was a foreigner woman who had placed her faith in God because Boaz's mom did the same thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

So, like in this unfolding story, we start to see that Boaz is a picture or in the sense like a type of Jesus. We have the types that are in the Old Testament and are fulfilled in Jesus. And so we see this picture of Jesus right from our first interaction. Jesus makes outcasts, being Rahab and Ruth, foreigners. He makes them his daughters, he crafts them into his family, and he doesn't identify us by our past, but he gives us a new identity by himself, like he did with Rahab and like he did with Ruth. And so I think Boaz wants to take part in the story, being a beautiful example of Jesus. Not only was he a product of you know a foreigner being submissive and putting her faith in the Lord, but then he also plays that out in his own life of being that redeemer for for Ruth. So um, I yeah, I think that that's really cool. So Boaz's treatment of Ruth is a beautiful picture of who Jesus is to us, and so I think that's why he had the heart for it.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

So tying in together chapter four, we see that Boaz, out of humility and submission to the Lord's plan, wanting to be used by God, he takes Ruth, redeems her, marries her. And because of this, God has used Boaz and Ruth to now continue the story, the overall redemption story that he has set in place from the very beginning to bring about a Messiah that was going to come and save his people. And this story, this genealogy, this bloodline is restored through Boaz and Ruth because of Ruth's obedience and submission to the Lord, not being an Israelite, but recognizing, you know, I'm going to follow the Lord and Boaz's submission and sacrifice, which Boaz is a beautiful representation of Christ in the story about how Jesus gave up everything for us to redeem us. Boaz gave up everything he had to redeem Ruth. So we see at the end of chapter four that this promise, this redemption has led to the beginning of this new kingship that's going to come into Israel, um, bringing about King David. And we see that Ruth and Boaz are King David's great-grandparents. And that is so significant because they got to play a part in this redemption story that God had set in place from the very beginning. And they are two significant characters, Ruth, even being a non-Israelite, being mentioned in Matthew chapter one of Jesus' genealogy. And like we mentioned before, how it's just a beautiful picture of how Gentiles, non-Israelites, were meant to be crafted in. Right. It was never about a specific bloodline, it was all about the heart, the submission, the belief, the faith, in which Ruth here seemed had had demonstrated beautifully, left everything she knew, submitted herself to the Lord, obeyed, and then she got to play a part in his redemptive plan. And is mentioned in the genealogy. She gets to be related to Jesus. She gets to be related to God in that sense of like bringing about his entrance into the world, coming as Jesus.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, talking about a redemption story, huh?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So, Ruth, even though it's a really small book, it's a really significant book because it shows the story of God's redemptive plan through his people, through the obedience of submission, and what we can take apart and how we can practically apply to our lives is when we come into full submission to God, when we live self-sacrificially, laying down our wants, our desires, what we think we deserve out of this life, and recognize that what God's plans could be in our lives if we set aside what we want, like what Boaz did. He set aside his inheritance, he sacrificed everything that he had to redeem Ruth. When we have that same mindset of being self-sacrificial, being obedient, staying humble, God can use us for amazing, amazing things.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well said. If you guys have any other questions about the book of Ruth, feel free to email us at the practical discipleship7 at gmail.com. Um, and if we don't know, I'll try my best to ask someone who does know or find the information. Because I'm not trying to act like we know everything. Obviously, uh we don't, and I need to learn a lot just like anybody else. Also, feel free to like, comment, share, all that good stuff. Uh, if you're interested in supporting the show, you can click on the link that's down below on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or like I've mentioned before on the previous episodes, you can go to HFW.network, which is our network website of the five different shows on there. If you support there, we'll just disperse it amongst all the different uh shows.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for listening to another episode of Practical Discipleship. Follow, subscribe, and make sure you tune in next week.