1In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. 3Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. 5Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 6Then 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 Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread. 7She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
This family story happens in the days when the Judges ruled in Israel. The condition of the nation is summed up Judges 21:25 “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” When famine struck Elimelek forgot that God had fed his ancestors in the wilderness for 40 years. The man, whose name means God is my king did not trust God to supply his family’s needs. Instead, he packed up his stuff and took the family 40 miles away to Moab. He left the land of covenant blessing to go to a place outside of God’s blessing. When the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, the Moabites refused to give them bread. Elimelek turned to a former enemy for help.
Naomi is left desolate in a strange land with no one to care for her. Even then there is no turning to God for help. Naomi blames God. By the end of chapter, she doesn’t want people to call her Sweet One, she wants to be known as Mara (the Lord has made me bitter). Can I ask a really serious question? When you have walked away from God where do you go when death comes? Who can you turn to?
What do we learn from Ruth Chapter 1?
Parents have some really difficult decisions to make. Decisions that affect every member of the family. This family moved from God, but God did not move from them. God was waiting for Naomi to return.
He also longs to wrap his arms around some of the bad choices we have made and turn them out for good. We get a hint of that in V22. Naomi arrived in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.