Economic crisis is the setting of the story of Ruth in the Old Testament.  A famine in Israel, during the difficult, dark days of the Judges, prompted a Jewish family to leave their home in Bethlehem and move to the land of Moab.

Ironically, Bethlehem means “house of bread”.

These were  extreme times. To make matters worse, the three men of the family died. Even when the famine in Israel came to an end, and when the widowed mother, Naomi, and her widowed daughter-in-law, Ruth, returned to Bethlehem, they were poor and in need of food.  In addition, Naomi was spiritually disillusioned, embittered, and quite sure that God had turned against her.

Only in retrospect can we see that, through times of economic and family distress:

1. Though  “unseen”,  the Protector and Provider of Israel, was with Naomi and Ruth in their trouble.
2. The famine  in Israel, and the deaths of three “human providers”, were what God used to bring Ruth (the outsider) into the covenant family of God, and ultimately into the royal line of Israel’s Messiah.
3. What seemed like random circumstance, misfortune, and need, slowly transitioned into the appearance of  “good luck”… and then more accurately…  God’s grace, faithfulness, and joy.

It’s amazing isn’t it that such an ancient story (over 3000 years old) can speak to our needs today. Reminds us, as many have observed,  “A crisis is a bad thing to waste…”

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