There is a piece of land in many families that nobody quite knows what to do with. It belonged to a grandfather, or an uncle who died young. The house on it fell in years ago. The boundary marks have been lost in the bush. Somewhere there is a title, or part of one. Every so often, at a funeral or a Christmas dinner, somebody mentions it, and the conversation goes quiet. It is a reminder of loss, and of how much the family has scattered since.
The book of Ruth begins with a family who lost almost everything, including their place on their own land.
Leaving Bethlehem, coming back empty
During a famine, a man named Elimelech took his wife Naomi and their two sons from Bethlehem to Moab to survive. They were economic migrants, in modern terms, looking for bread somewhere else. In Moab, Elimelech died. The sons married local women, Orpah and Ruth, and then the sons died too. Naomi was left a widow in a foreign land with two daughters-in-law and nothing else.
When she heard that the Lord had given His people bread again, she decided to go home. Ruth refused to leave her. When the two women arrived in Bethlehem, the town stirred, and the women asked, “Is this Naomi?” Her answer is one of the most honest lines in Scripture: “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty” (Ruth 1:20-21, NKJV).
Anyone who has returned home after years away with less than they left with will recognise that feeling. So will anyone who has buried a spouse and come back to a house that suddenly feels too big and too quiet.
The field nobody could work
Later in the story we learn that Elimelech had a piece of land near Bethlehem (Ruth 4:3). In Israel, land was meant to stay within families, as a lasting inheritance. But a widow with no sons, just back from abroad, could not farm it. She was at risk of having to sell it, and with it the family’s place in the town.
The law made provision for this. A close relative, a kinsman-redeemer, could step in and buy back the land so it stayed in the family (Leviticus 25:25). Boaz, a relative of Elimelech who had already shown great kindness to Ruth, took on that role. He went to the town gate, gathered the elders, and publicly settled the matter of the field. He also married Ruth, so that the family line would continue.
Restoration, not just rescue
The story ends with a scene that is almost the mirror of Naomi’s bitter homecoming. Ruth gives birth to a son, Obed. The women of Bethlehem gather around Naomi and say, “Naomi has a son!” (Ruth 4:17). They praise the Lord, who has not left her without a redeemer, and say the child will be a restorer of her life and a nourisher in her old age (Ruth 4:14-15).
The woman who said “the LORD has brought me home again empty” is now holding a grandchild on her lap, in her own town, with her family’s land secured. And the book closes with a family tree: Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. Out of that restored household would come Israel’s greatest king, and, as Matthew’s Gospel later traces, Jesus Himself.
What this says to families with land and loss
- Honest grief is allowed. Naomi’s bitterness was not the end of her story, and God did not rebuke her for it. Families can admit how much they have lost.
- Restoration often comes through people. God worked through Ruth’s loyalty and Boaz’s integrity. In our families, restoration may come through a cousin willing to lead the survey, a sibling who pays the back taxes, or an attorney who helps sort the title.
- Do it in the open. Boaz settled the land at the town gate, in front of witnesses. Family land matters are best handled transparently, with everyone who has an interest informed and the agreement written down.
- Think of the generations. Boaz was not only fixing a problem for Naomi. He was securing a future for children not yet born.
Our ultimate Redeemer is Christ, who restores far more than land. But the book of Ruth reminds us that His restoring work often shows up in very practical, earthy ways: food on the table, a field kept in the family, a grandmother with a baby in her arms.
To reflect on
- Is there a loss in your family, a house, a piece of land, a relationship, that feels beyond repair?
- Could God be asking you to play the part of Boaz, or Ruth, for someone else?
A prayer
Lord, You saw Naomi when she came home empty, and You did not leave her without a redeemer. Look on our family’s losses too. Bring healing where there is bitterness, wisdom where there is confusion over land and houses, and people of integrity to help restore what has been broken. Thank You for Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen.
This article is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Please speak to a qualified professional about your own circumstances.
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