Barb has been getting weaker by the day for a week or so. Sunday afternoon I called the ambulance and they took her to the Greenfield hospital, She has fluid on her lungs, possibly from an infection. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota sent their airplane to fly her up there. I am headed that way this morning. Pray for her health and a speedy recovery. Pray for her strength to return as well. Thanks.
Now for today's Bible Insight. In an article entitled, When God Is Out to Get Us, W. Gary Phillips tells this story: "There was once a lady who came from one of the older established families in town. Old money. Social status. Her family went to the “first church.” She and her husband had two sons. He decided to relocate the family to greener pastures in a different town, where he thought life would be more pleasant. But he died of a sudden heart attack at age forty-eight. The business venture into which he had put all their money went bankrupt, and the family was left penniless. The two boys had to quit high school and go to work. In order to make ends meet the boys took a second job at a factory, late shift. They also married girls outside their race and religion, which was hard for their mother to adjust to. One night returning home at 2:00 a.m., the older brother fell asleep at the wheel and ran off the road. Both sons were killed. The woman who had previously had it all, now had nothing! She felt that God was against her. She told the girls to go home to their parents. One did, one did not." (W. Gary Phillips, Holman Old Testament Commentary: Judges, Ruth, [Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2004], 301)
Sound familiar? This is a fictional story, yet it is found in the first chapter of Ruth; just change a few details and transport the family back in time about three thousand years. As you see in Ruth chapter one, God’s people suffer greatly at times. When bad things happen to good people, how do we hold on to our faith in a loving God? Naomi became embittered against God, yet she still believed! She gave up on God’s goodness for a while, but she never gave up on God.
The Book of Ruth may have originally been written as part of the Book of Judges. (The Jewish Talmud refers to them as one book.) The last two stories of Judges (chapters 17-21) and the story of Ruth, all occur around the small village of Bethlehem. That is why these three stories are often referred to as the Bethlehem trilogy. The difference in the stories is one of demeanor. The last two stories in Judges are negative, pointing out man’s basic problem: sin. Ruth, however, is positive and speaks of redemption; the redemption of a family which points to the future redemption of mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Going back to the story I began with, how would you react to such a tragedy in your life? Perhaps you have experienced something similar. If so, how did you react? How do you maintain your faith in God when bad things happen to good people? Do you become embittered against God and give up on Him? Or do you continue to have faith, and trust that God will take care of you and make you all the better as a result?
I am reminded of Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." As we will see here in chapter one, Naomi had a hard time, but she never let go of her faith and trust in God. When confronted with difficult circumstances in life, she knew that God is always there.
The problems Naomi faced came about because of her husband’s decision well over ten years before. Yet that decision was made in response to circumstances that were quite outside his control. The famine of verse 1, may have been an act of God’s judgment through drought, or because of marauding invaders, like the Midianites in Gideon’s day as recorded in Judges 6. It is likely that this story occurred around the time of Gideon. Whatever the cause, the fact remains that at Bethlehem (which means "the house of bread") the supply had stopped and a man whose name means "my God is King," made the difficult decision to take his wife and two sons off to live as resident aliens in the land of Moab, about fifty miles southeast of Bethlehem.
Was he right or wrong? The biblical text does not encourage us to be dogmatic, but certainly the decision was questionable. Why go off to a country and people whose god Chemosh demanded human sacrifice? Why join a nation whose king Eglon had pressed Israel into servitude for eighteen years (Judg. 3:14)? At the time Elimelech chose to go to Moab, it seems that Israel and Moab must have been on friendly terms, and clearly Elimelech had no intention of staying there forever. It was just "for a while," during the famine.
Although they would not be Moabite citizens, they would be able to make a living, food would be more plentiful, and no one would stop them from practicing their religion because all religions were allowed. It seemed like a good deal. But decisions like this can have life-changing effects for generations.
Was Elimelech turning his back on the Lord? There is certainly no record in the text that he consulted God about it. Was it lack of faith on his part? The fact that he was an Ephrathite (v. 2) probably means that he belonged to a well-established, even wealthy family, and certainly Naomi’s remark in verse 21 would seem to support this: "I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty." She not only contrasts the conditions in which she left and returned ("full" and "empty") but also the different reasons behind her experiences: "I went out full," but "the LORD has brought me home again empty."
Were material comforts and prosperity too high on Elimelech’s agenda? Certainly the purpose of the move, to escape discomfort and death, was not fulfilled (vs. 3, 5). First the father and then Mahlon ("sickly") and Chilion ("failing") died. It is clear that the names were intended to be significant. They were Canaanite names frequently in use, which may again imply a detachment from the worship of the Lord God.
Whatever the reasons for Elimelech’s decision, Naomi is left, widowed and childless, without sons or grandsons to continue the family line, which is a situation of great deprivation and despair. All this has happened in a foreign land, far away from the support of those who speak her language or worship her God. Yet, equally clear, Naomi is a believer in the Lord. Ruth’s subsequent confession of faith in God (v. 16) confirms that: "But Ruth said: 'Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.'"
Still Naomi is at the end of her rope. That is seen in the changing of her name in verse 20 from Naomi ("pleasant") to Mara ("bitter"). Can the God she believed in really be at the other end of the rope? Clearly that is the message here. When you come to the end of your rope, God is there. When things happen and you find yourself asking "where did I go wrong?" or "why did God let this happen to me?" remember, God is there. When you need Him most, He is there. Look to Him in faith and He will see you through even the toughest of circumstances. Amen.
The problems Naomi faced came about because of her husband’s decision well over ten years before. Yet that decision was made in response to circumstances that were quite outside his control. The famine of verse 1, may have been an act of God’s judgment through drought, or because of marauding invaders, like the Midianites in Gideon’s day as recorded in Judges 6. It is likely that this story occurred around the time of Gideon. Whatever the cause, the fact remains that at Bethlehem (which means "the house of bread") the supply had stopped and a man whose name means "my God is King," made the difficult decision to take his wife and two sons off to live as resident aliens in the land of Moab, about fifty miles southeast of Bethlehem.
Was he right or wrong? The biblical text does not encourage us to be dogmatic, but certainly the decision was questionable. Why go off to a country and people whose god Chemosh demanded human sacrifice? Why join a nation whose king Eglon had pressed Israel into servitude for eighteen years (Judg. 3:14)? At the time Elimelech chose to go to Moab, it seems that Israel and Moab must have been on friendly terms, and clearly Elimelech had no intention of staying there forever. It was just "for a while," during the famine.
Although they would not be Moabite citizens, they would be able to make a living, food would be more plentiful, and no one would stop them from practicing their religion because all religions were allowed. It seemed like a good deal. But decisions like this can have life-changing effects for generations.
Was Elimelech turning his back on the Lord? There is certainly no record in the text that he consulted God about it. Was it lack of faith on his part? The fact that he was an Ephrathite (v. 2) probably means that he belonged to a well-established, even wealthy family, and certainly Naomi’s remark in verse 21 would seem to support this: "I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty." She not only contrasts the conditions in which she left and returned ("full" and "empty") but also the different reasons behind her experiences: "I went out full," but "the LORD has brought me home again empty."
Were material comforts and prosperity too high on Elimelech’s agenda? Certainly the purpose of the move, to escape discomfort and death, was not fulfilled (vs. 3, 5). First the father and then Mahlon ("sickly") and Chilion ("failing") died. It is clear that the names were intended to be significant. They were Canaanite names frequently in use, which may again imply a detachment from the worship of the Lord God.
Whatever the reasons for Elimelech’s decision, Naomi is left, widowed and childless, without sons or grandsons to continue the family line, which is a situation of great deprivation and despair. All this has happened in a foreign land, far away from the support of those who speak her language or worship her God. Yet, equally clear, Naomi is a believer in the Lord. Ruth’s subsequent confession of faith in God (v. 16) confirms that: "But Ruth said: 'Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.'"
Still Naomi is at the end of her rope. That is seen in the changing of her name in verse 20 from Naomi ("pleasant") to Mara ("bitter"). Can the God she believed in really be at the other end of the rope? Clearly that is the message here. When you come to the end of your rope, God is there. When things happen and you find yourself asking "where did I go wrong?" or "why did God let this happen to me?" remember, God is there. When you need Him most, He is there. Look to Him in faith and He will see you through even the toughest of circumstances. Amen.
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