Now it came to pass in the days when the judges
ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah
went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And
the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name
of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they
came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi's
husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of
the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other
Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also
both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
(Ruth 1:1-5)
It is puzzling to us that God’s people simply cannot seem to ‘stay put’ where
God has told them to stay. Abraham could not seem to remain at Bethel but kept
going down into Egypt and other places where God had not told him to go. In
every case, he experienced troubles and shortcomings. The same is true of Isaac
and Jacob. Now we see that Elimelech opts for the temporal pleasures of Moab
over the blessings of a famine-stricken Bethlehem. His experience will teach us
that it is far better to suffer the famine-chastening of the Lord in the right
place and among God’s own people than to enjoy opulence among the heathen and
cursed races of people.
Elimelech took his wife, Naomi, and two sons – Mahlon and Chilion – out of
Bethlehem-Judah (House of Bread and Praise) into a land that God had
cursed for its disdain for the Children of Israel while they struggled in the
Wilderness. It was a place of dying, and the place where Moses is buried beside
the slopes and streams of Mount Nebo in an unmarked grave. Moab and Ammon were
the two lands founded by the sons of Lot after an incestuous relationship with
his two daughters outside the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Elimelech was not a poor man. He was a man of means
who owned lands and property; yet, he left these to go to a place that offered,
in his mind, a better opportunity to increase his wealth rather than suffer the
mundane cessation of crops in his hometown of Bethlehem which was stricken by
famine sent by God. We all have acted as foolishly as Elimelech, haven’t
we? Always believing the grass to be greener on the other hillside, we cross
bog and marsh to get to that ‘greener’ grass and find that it is loco-weed or
sagebrush.
The Prodigal Son of his father did the same. He would take his inheritance and
live ‘high on the hog’ in a far country; but instead of living high on the hog,
he wound up living amongst the hogs and desiring to eat their slop. This is the
poison of materialism over spiritual character. Opting for the glitter of Las
Vegas, we take our treasures there and, if we return at all, we come back
empty-handed and in want of bread.
What happens when a man, or woman, journeys out of the will of God where He has
called them? What happened to Abraham in Egypt? What happened to the Prodigal
Son in a far country? What happened to Elimelech in Moab? Let us see about that
in the account given in the Book of Ruth.
The Book of Ruth is the eighth book of the Bible. Biblically speaking, the
number eight symbolizes “New Beginnings.” It is a Lone Mountain of Grace
emerging from the swamps and wilderness of the law and judgment of the Old
Testament period from Eden to Judges. It follows immediately on the last verse
of Judges which reads: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every
man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges
21:25) Actually,
there truly was a King in Israel – the Lord God Almighty, but the people
rejected Him and desired a king like all of the other nations round about. “Men
did that which was right in their own eyes.” Lawlessness is
godlessness! Godlessness always begats famine. And so the Book of Ruth opens
with a famine in the land. Many will happily endure the years of plenty in God’s
blessing, but they want to forego the famine that God sends for their lack of
fidelity to Him and their lawlessness. But, as Jonah learned, the man of God
cannot go far enough to be beyond the reach of God. When we go from the place
God has appointed, trouble ensues.
The man, Elimelech, not only took himself, but his wife and sons into the
accursed land of Moab – not out of necessity, but perhaps out of greed or
contempt for the place God placed him. “Now it came to pass in the days
when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man
of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and
his two sons.” It is dangerous enough for a man to carry himself
out of the will of God, but to carry his family into such danger-ridden terrain
is sheer foolishness. What happened to Elimelech in Moab? “And they came
into the country of Moab, and continued there.” Elimelech was
tempted by the better conditions that seemed to exist in Moab. He went to
sojourn there (temporary visit) but what happened. He forgot his sojourn and
made it a permanent stay – he ‘continued there.’ We often feel
that we can touch the hot stove briefly enough not to be burned, but our
scorched fingers testify against our assumptions. Lot “pitched his tent
TOWARD Sodom” and wound up a judge in the gate of the city. A righteous
man does not even take a step toward the wretched tree of Eden. “Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” (Psalms
1:1) The righteous
man does not go with the crowd of the ungodly; he does not stand with them in
their discourses; and he does not sit down with them and make himself at home
in their misery.
“And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.”
Poor Naomi would now mourn the loss of her husband in this dark land of Moab.
But she yet had her two sons. She would be well-advised to leave this accursed
land while she still had them. But God will work His will even when we are in
an accursed land. The two sons no doubt had grown to like the new land of Moab.
They were at home in this strange land. They may have not listened to their
mother even if she insisted on leaving. She was left with her two sons in this
unblessed land. So all three remained there. “And they took them wives of
the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other
Ruth.”
The whole sordid affair would have been a disgraceful
failure except for the last name mentioned in this verse – RUTH! To know Ruth
is to love Ruth! Now that her sons were married to Moabite women, it would take
a team of wild horses to drag them out of Moab – or death! “ . . . and they
dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them.”
The sad truth is that there is never any gain in going out from the will of the
Lord. After her husband died, Naomi was left with her two sons. Now that the
two sons have died, she is left with only her two daughters-in-law. But
one of them is a golden treasure. “ . . . and the woman was left of
her two sons and her husband.” Naomi had come to Moab with an Israelite
husband, and two Israelite sons; now all she has remaining are two Moabitish
daughters-in-law.
Just as the Prodigal Son “came to himself” in
a far country and resolved to return to his father, so Naomi awakens to her
depravity in Moab and resolves to return to the place of Bread and Praise. “Then
she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of
Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited
his people in giving them bread.” (Ruth 1:6) Yes, the chastening of the
Lord can be very hard. It may remind us of what favor we have left in the House
of Bread and Praise to the Lord. Jonah suffered being thrown into the depths of
the sea, swallowed by a whale, and being vomited up on dry land before he
realized that he could not outrun the Lord.
We, too, often must learn that lesson the hard way. It would
be far easier to submit to the Lord and obey His calling rather than kicking
against the prods. Paul asked, “Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to
kick against the pricks.” (Acts 9:5) Many good men have tried to
escape the Lord’s call to no avail. God has been compared to the Hound of
Heaven who never loses the trail, the scent of his object, or expires in his
dogged pursuit. Sooner or later, the rabbit-like man must stop in exhaustion
and do as the Lord commands.
Has God called you to a place of service? Have you decided
to sojourn elsewhere believing that the Lord will not notice? Have you found
the way hard and the going rough? Did you awaken to memories of the House of
Bread and Praise as did Naomi, and begin your return to that favored place in
the Heart of God?
