All scripture [including the first five verses of Ruth] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in0 righteousness (II Tim. More tears are shed. 1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, WHEN YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF MOAB - At The Crossroads We cry out in frustration and desperation, "Who will free the people of God from this vicious cycle of failure and death? This time it is Orpah who kisses Naomi goodbye. Who was Elimelech in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25), Ruth: A Story of Redemption -- A Study of the Book of Ruth. Naomi seems to be encouraging Ruth to accompany Orpah as she returns home. The only time the land was dry was during times of curse. Obviously, Naomi had changed. Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia, Missions, Sister Churches, Christian Schools. The reader is required to peel back these layers of irony so as to deepen his appreciation of God's grace and mercy to the needy. during the time of the judges in Israel. Those who place too much emphasis on marriage and child bearing should listen well to these words of Scripture: 6 He bends down to look at the sky and the earth. The wonder is that God remained faithful to those who so easily abandoned Him. When we met, I had no idea who he was, but he introduced himself something like this, Hi, Bob, Im Nate Mirza. The geological marvels, millennia in the making, drew more than 1. Following the death of her husband, Elimelech, and her two sons, Naomi decided to leave Moab, where her family had fled to escape famine. I can imagine how it alarmed and frightened Naomi when Elimelech died while they were sojourning in Moab. This means that irony becomes the most important device for deepening our meditation on Ruth's story. People who want to stay in Moab. God had given Israel the land as a place of rest and blessing. Thankfully, she later confessed and returned to Israel.Elimelechs sin is condemned inBelgic Confession28: We believe, since this holy congregation is an assembly of those who are saved, and out of it there is no salvation, that no person, of whatsoever state or condition he may be, ought to withdraw himself to live in a separate state from it; but that all men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with it, maintaining the unity of the church; submitting themselves to the doctrine and discipline thereof; bowing their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ; and as mutual members of the same body, serving to the edification of the brethren, according to the talents God has given them. Ruth opens with some dramatic flair, which heightens the irony. Judah (through whom the messianic line would be traced) kept his third son from a Levirate marriage with the first sons widow, and then had sex with a woman he thought was a cult prostitute.31 God not only preserved the messianic line, He was faithful to fulfill His (Abrahamic) covenant32 with Abraham. has Naomi sold. The two women, now forever bound together by Ruths covenant, continued on their way until they reached Bethlehem. As Orpah kisses Naomi goodbye and turns back toward home, Ruth clings all the more tightly to her mother-in-law. He says "a certain man" of Bethlehem went to sojourn away from the land. Look with me at these words from Genesis 19, taking up just after the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lots escape, along with his daughters: 30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Why do you call me Naomi, seeing that the Lord has opposed me, and the Sovereign One has caused me to suffer? 22 So Naomi returned, accompanied by her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who came back with her from the region of Moab. Boaz informed her that there was another relative who, according to custom, had prerogative to redeem Elimelech's field and marry her. Do you have pictures of Gracie Thompson from the movie Gracie's choice. If you have time this week, my suggestion is to go to the book of Ruth and read it. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; In her second effort, Naomi insists that her daughters-in-law must not return with her because it would only cause them to endure some of her affliction (verse 13). (9) What we know (and Naomi does not) is that God is about to do a wonderful thing for her, solely on the basis of His grace. After Mahlon died and Ruth had Just being Jewish and knowing the Law of Moses isnt enough; one must also live by the law. 3:15), and the fellowship of the saints, which is ultimately fellowship with the Triune God (I John 1:3)!Third, Elimelechs family left Gods office-bearers. 3), he was What begins as a tragedy of death and sorrow ends in the birth of new life and the resurrection of hope for the family of David. 34 So in the morning the older daughter said to the younger, Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, lets make him drunk again tonight. We read in Deuteronomy 23:3-4. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. As a relative of Boaz ( ib. So the woman was left all alone bereaved of her two children as well as her husband! It would do us well to review where the Moabites came from and how they related to Israel in the past. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. Ruth would have none of this foolish talk, and she made this abundantly clear to her mother-in-law. It certainly would be safer for the two women to travel together, but it is Orpah who will travel alone, not Ruth. Bethlehem forsaken for Moab. in 1971. In her third attempt, she orders Ruth to follow her sister-in-law back home. Lot was turned to salt because she looked back at the city. ii. Naomi, seeking a husband for the young Ruth, sent her to Boaz's threshing-floor when he would be there, in the hope that he would want to marry her. And there is another difficult part of leaving Moab. When I realized this, I blurted out, What a witch!, much to the surprise of the rest of the class. A few years later, king Saul will offer the sacrifices, even though he was instructed to wait for Samuel, all because Saul felt this was a crisis that justified setting aside obedience in faith to Gods Word.27. This takes risk, obedience, and movement in a totally different direction. There is yet another irony in Elimelech's choice of Moab. In spite of the fact that Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his two sons (Mahlon and Kilion) are living according to the spirit of their day (doing what is right in their own eyes), two people (Ruth and Boaz) stand out as examples of those who live by faith in the God of Israel, and whose lives exemplify living in accordance with Gods Word. In the book of Ruth 1:1 we are told that there was famine in the 1. Return to Bethlehem (Ruth 1) | Bible.org Why As I was studying our text for this message, it occurred to me that the text which describes the origin of the Moabites in Genesis 19 is a key to understanding the story of Ruth, and especially Naomis role in this account. Because they had neither food nor money, Naomi chose to return to her homeland, Bethlehem, in Judah. In Job and in Ruth, this term seems to underscore Gods power, but in the context of suffering and adversity. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; This means that we can find redemptive theology or theological concepts not only taught explicitly, but also reinforced as the theology is embedded in the very structure of the text. This is leaving Almighty God out of a big issue, whether or not to stay in the church!Third, the very first verse of Ruth states, Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled Certainly, this is a temporal indicator, telling us when these events took place. They emigrated from famine-stricken Ruth 1 RSV;NIV - Elimelechs Family Goes to Moab - BibleGateway Be honest with yourself and recognizethat staying there is not good for you. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! The stage is set, and the setting is loaded with redemptive meaning. To her, Gods blessings should appear now, in the form of bread, an eligible bachelor (marriage), and babies. They struggled to find employment or they never really settled in their new environment or they experienced tragedy in their families (though few had it as hard as Naomi). And with Gods help and the support of others who love you and are moving in the same direction, make the decision to get out of Moab today. moved to Bethlehem with her mother in law, Naomi, she met and From Ruth 4:13, one might infer that God prevented both Orpah and Ruth from bearing children to their husbands. To do it any other way was to disobey God. In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. It was a good number of years ago that I sat in on an excellent elective class taught by my friend, Tom Wright. In Judges 19-21, we find a similar situation. Elimelech chose to leave the land and to seek food from other fields. Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, 13 surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry! In an effort to escape the famine, a man named Elimelech took his family to Moab, where he intended for his family to sojourn until the famine ended.10 How could he have imagined how long his family would stay? Why did Elimelech go to live in Moab with his family? | Bible Trivia While they were in Moab, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi and her two sons. Who even remembers her name? We should never have taken that one step in the direction of sin. Design by Social Village. Many in Israel were wicked and unbelieving, and even the elect were not perfect, but the latter were the redeemed, called and believing people of God. 1, iv. But here is where the similarity ends. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; This is exactly what Boaz commended Ruth for doing: 10 Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him, Why are you so kind and so attentive to me, even though I am a foreigner? 11 Boaz replied to her, I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband how you left your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Why did Elimelech take his family to Moab?, Why was it wrong for Elimelech to take Ruth, the eighth book in the Bible, is relatively short, consisting of just four chapters. No, of course not, my daughters! The contrast between Ruth and Naomi. And what communion has light with darkness? What a marvelous woman of faith Ruth was. This means, says the rabbi, that Elimelech was only on a temporary journey. 6 So she decided to return home from the region of Moab, accompanied by her daughters-in-law, because while she was living in Moab she had heard that the Lord had shown concern for his people, reversing the famine by providing abundant crops. 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. Blessings to you and your ministry as well. She has no husband to father sons, and she is too old to bear children anyway. However, even if the date does not match exactly with the conclusion of Judges, the author is definitely pointing us back to Judges and to something that occurred in that time. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. Ruth 4:3 Commentaries: Then he said to the closest But Ruth refuses to abandon Naomi and clings to her tightly. Moab was a land of rich soil and adequate rainfall so this man traveled to a place where his crops wouldnt fail. The contrast between Ruth and Orpah. When a famine came to the area around Bethlehem, Elimelech and Naomi moved to Moab (Moab was the name of Lot's elder daughter's son and the people and land Named after a female character, Ruth could be described as a romantic book, for it begins with several tragedies and it contains a courtship (of a sort) which issues in a marriage (between Ruth and Boaz) and the birth of their son (Obed). They lived in the town of Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah in the land of Israel, in the days of the judges (1), that is, after the deaths of the elders who outlived Joshua and before the reign of King Saul.But famine struck the promised land, including Judah and Bethlehem (1). The word of God required him to hold fast to the promises and thus to seek the restoration of the land. 36 In this way both of Lots daughters became pregnant by their father. Ruth 1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her Ruth is very significant as regards church membership, departing from the church and joining the church. The genealogy provided in chapter 4 would incline us to believe that the events of Ruth took place later rather than sooner in the period of the judges, because Ruth is the great grandmother of David.17 But other than this, there do not appear to be any direct links to events or persons in the Book of Judges. She had given up all hope. And he mentions Naomis return out of the country of Moab, to intimate that her poverty constrained her to sell her estate which her husband left her. We certainly are reminded of the sovereignty of God by our text, but unfortunately most of the emphasis on Gods sovereignty in chapter 1 comes from Naomi, and she is not seeing things as she should. She gave them very pragmatic counsel, based upon what could be seen, rather than on Gods Word and the principle of faith. 11 The thought occurred to me that Naomis journey back to her homeland traced the steps of the Israelites when they first entered the Promised Land. The chapter begins, In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. It led to a hopeless fatalism: It doesnt really matter what I say or do; God is against me, and there is nothing I can do about it.. Your Moab. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons. We find Ruth contrasted with Orpah, and then with Naomi. He is faithful and always right on time! Why were naomi and elimelech forced to flee Bethlehem and journey to moab? This forces our first character, Elimelech into a very important choice. WebYet, you guessed it; Moab is the very place that Elimelech chose as his destination for bread. Even professing Christians can fall victim to the tyranny of the urgent. She would have been very much at home in our Postmodern world. WebWhy did Elimelech and his family go to Moab? (2) There is no indication that other Israelites from Bethlehem (or elsewhere in Israel) accompanied Elimelech and his family to Moab. He sought wives for his sons from the worst place in the world that a faithful Israelite could imagine, from Moab. The story of Ruth and Boaz (yes, and even Naomi) should encourage us to live godly lives in dark days, days of unbelief, disobedience, and disregard for the Word of God. This would have been Send me a private message so I can pray and come alongside you as you turn in a new direction. RecentlyI spoke on MEETING AT THE CROSSROADS and used the story of Ruth and Naomi to talk about what it takes to connect withothers and walk in the right direction. Bearing children was to be done Gods way. How will this family survive without a faithful husband? She was married first to Serving the god(s) of Moab (or any others) was an abomination to God: You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). She believes in a God who is all powerful, but who is not merciful and compassionate. And they continued to live there about ten years. But what she fails to see is that God is only increasing her problems to the level of human impossibility, so that He can demonstrate His power and grace through her weakness. Thus, we know that in these kinds of redemptive narratives famines are not random. The present tense of the English Version seems to suggest that the sale is Elimelech felt his family was at a crossroadsand made a decision to leave. They would be (or so it may have seemed to Naomi) a liability to her when she returned. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; [] Source: WHEN YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF MOAB [], Your email address will not be published. It appears from redemptive history that the Moabites had deliberately schemed to intermarry with the Israelites in order to conquer them. But sadly for his sons, then never comes, and they die in Moab. Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, moved to Moab during a famine. Lenten Focus: Sacrifice As we head into our final, Lenten Focus: Worship This week we have done a de, Lenten Focus: Worship As we focus on worship this, Lenten Focus: Worship We began our Lenten series, Lenten Focus: Service "For even the Son of Man ca, Lenten Focus: Service She who does not serve God, Lenten Focus: Service We began our Lenten series, Lenten Focus: Silence & Solitude This week we hav, Lenten Focus: Silence & Solitude On Monday, I cha. The oldest daughter went first, bearing a son whom she named Moab. document.getElementById('cloak6abc068fa8d6d6e3ed55f5c6ed881e19').innerHTML = ''; She was full when she had a husband and two sons; now she was empty, for all she had was Ruth. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Is Brooke shields related to willow shields? Start for FREE. How much is a biblical shekel of silver worth in us dollars? And she was honored to be a part of the messianic line.34. var addya1ecccfd0b401858a2877dcb45f7be68 = 'billlangerak' + '@'; Subscribe today for access to my Free Faith Resource Library! The danger of practicing pragmatism above principle. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. Indeed, Ruth begins with a stark opening sentence that is intended to alarm the reader. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.'. Classis EastThis email address is being protected from spambots. The unnamed man is certainly one who doesn't acknowledge that God is King. Reformed Witness Hour Newsletter - January 2023, The Punishment of Rebellious Children (2). She had to leave her family, her homeland, and her gods and go to the place of Gods blessing. She makes this insightful observation about Naomis decision to leave Moab: In the same way and for the same reason, you and I need to leave the Moabs of our own making. This family would have journeyed north to Jerusalem and then crossed the Jordan River by Jericho. Just as God had told the Israelites to remain in the land, He had also warned them about intermarriage with foreigners who may turn them to false gods. The Hebrew term Elohim is plural, but some render it god here, and others gods. Chemosh appears to be the primary Moabite god, but there may well have been others. WebMany resident aliens (especially Jews) may have been placed in this kind of agricultural occupation by the Moabite government. I think I understand generally what Paul is saying here, based upon the promise in Jeremiah: 33 But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land, says the Lord. Disagreement with his town leaders Famine in his home town Distant relatives invited him Earthquake in his home town Sara Rachel Mara Elizabeth 2: What were the names of Elimelech's two sons? Without a doubt, this is the most amazing and distressing thing Naomi has said so far. But according to Rab (B. On account of famine Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem-Judah for the land of Moab. If God has it in for Naomi, what woman in her right mind would want to be closely associated with her? So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the We dont have a very good reputation in the Bible.. Note Judges 21:25. Orpah chose differently than Ruth and Naomi. 12 May the LORD reward your efforts!