Naomi returns to the land in bitterness. She says that God has humiliated and wronged her, just as the Jewish people have been set aside by God and have suffered greatly among the nations. She returns to the land, but still without a redeemer. Although the first chapter of the book of Ruth begins on a somber note, it ends with a sign of hope.
Ruth 1
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, who had come with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
across the Jordan
To travel from Moab to Bethlehem, one had to cross the Jordan. The name of this river means to descend, and in the Bible, the Jordan is a symbol of death. Passing through, or over, the Jordan is a picture of death and resurrection. That is why John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan (Matt. 3:5), and why the waters of the Jordan receded (Joshua 3; 2 Kings 2:8,14) so that they could pass through. The Jewish family crossing the Jordan into the promised land is a picture of the death and resurrection of the nation of Israel (Hosea 6:2).
You could argue that the shortest route from Moab to Bethlehem was across the Dead Sea, but that sea was rarely sailed. And that wouldn’t diminish the significance: even those who cross the Dead Sea symbolically pass through death.
Beginning of the Barley Harvest
Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Leviticus 23 describes the feasts of Yahweh, which God gave to His people. Nisan 14 was Passover (Lev. 23:5), the day the Passover lamb was slaughtered. This Passover lamb foreshadowed the true Passover: Christ (1 Cor. 5:7). He died centuries later on Nisan 14, in fulfillment of this feast.
The Day of the Sheaf of Firstfruits
But the day of Christ’s resurrection was also a feast day. After Passover, the priest would offer the sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest to God by waving it before God (Leviticus 23:10-11). No date was set for this festival, but a weekday: the day after the Sabbath. It was the day on which Christ, the Firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20), rose from the dead, leaving the tomb empty. It was during this time that Naomi and Ruth arrived in the land!