The World of Ease: A Land of Loss

Here are a few simple thoughts from Ruth 1. Since I basically never post, I thought I'd copy and paste my notes from my reading today in this chapter. The thoughts are an attempt to be fairly fresh.

Ruth 1:1:

"certain_man" - the word for man here implies that Elimelech was a man of importance. It is the Hebrew word "ish"

"ruled" - judged

"judges ruled" - This was the time when Israel was erratic in its following of the Lord. When a judge ruled, they would be brought back from the Lord. Other times, after a judge had died, the people would turn away from the Lord.

"famine in the land." - This famine is no doubt referring to a physical famine where food was scarce (v6), however this was likely more than just a physical famine. For the house of Elimelech, and likely the rest of Israel, it was a spiritual famine. They were leaving their Promised Land, that God had given to them, and left to a place of curse, Moab. Even when the resources or wealth is appealing and our house of bread is in famine, let us never leave the will of God and leave our place where God feeds. Not only so, but Elimilech took his family away form the place where God would have him when his faith grew dim with the rest of Israel.

"Beth" - House

"lehem" - Bread

"Judah" - Praise or Prayer.

To see how things are going in Bethlehem, examine the story of the Levite in Judges 17. There evidently was no place to occupy the Levite so he leave. He decides to be the priest of Micah who offered him the position. This is all contrary to the will of God, but as Judges 17 repeats twice, "every man did what was right in his own eyes."

"country" - fields

"Moab" - Moabites were from the line of Lot. They were a result of the sin of Lot's daughters and conceiving with him when they realized that their line would pass away because their husbands, and perhaps families, perished in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Moab can be considered the "world of ease." Jeremiah 48:11 identifies that Moab had been at ease since his youth.

Moab was only about 20 miles from Bethlehem. The world of ease is so near at hand to those in the house of bread. May we strive to keep ourselves from such a tempting place, as it will end in disaster.

"sojourn" - only to sojourn. Is this my attitude? "The assembly, teaching sunday school or other spiritual responsibilities are weighing down upon me, I will take my ease." Not such an easy life to get out of once you're into it. Elimelech had intentions of sojourning, but he continued (v2) there and dwelled there for 10 years (v4). Beware the world of ease, Moab. Only Naomi escaped it only after being dealt with bitterly by Jehovah.

Ruth 1:2:

Elimelech - "my God is King"

Naomi - "pleasant one"

Mahlon - "sick"

Chilion - "pining"

They lived in the field of Moab. Gleaning from the "world of ease." This mistake would seem even more tragic since the one whose name would indicate that his God is king, his wife would be pleasant, and his two sons who would be weak were sick and pining.

Ruth 1:3:

Perhaps Elimelech, the great man whose God is King wasn't affected, but once he died, where was his family? Even if he thought he wasn't affected, his decision to dwell in Moab showed otherwise. May our actions not stumble others. He left a pleasant wife to become bitter (v20), and his two sons sick and pining to pass away sickly and pining where a world of ease could never heal them. Only at the house of bread and prayer would they have potential to find relief.

Ruth 1:6:

For those faithful in staying, they would receive bread without such heartache. God puts us in situations that make us puzzled as to why we are there. Perhaps it's a lesson and a test to build our strength. Elimelech moved his family away from the place where he should have patiently waited on the Lord to give them bread again. Where better to wait for bread than at the house of bread and prayer?

Ruth 1:8:

deal - long tense "keep dealing"

Ruth 1:11:

Deut 25:5 - Ruth, with the law in mind, recommends that these two girls remain in their own land. According to the law, a widow was to be taken by her brother-in-law. Their offspring would take her the name of the widow's deceased husband to carry on the family name. Naomi reasons that it's inconceivable that she would yet have a son to carry on the family names.

Ruth 1:13:

"it grieveth me much" - it_is_bitter to me exceedingly

Naomi recognizes that the hand of the Lord is against her, or so it seems. Notice that her sorrow at this point is for the sake of her daughter-in-laws since they have been brought into this mess. It no doubt was a mistake to move into the fields of Moab, but more so now it would appear to have caused problems for these Moabites seeing Mahlon and Chilion both disobeyed the Lord by marrying women from another country. At this point, she is not self-indulged and bathing in her own bitterness.

Ruth 1:16:

goest, lodgest, diest are all in the long tense, implying a sense of continuation.

Ruth 1:19:

"The whole city was moved" - May we welcome those who return in repentance

Ruth 1:20:

Mara - bitter

The reason for this name was that the Lord had dealt bitterly with her. There may be a positive and negative reason why Naomi chose this name:

1. negative - that she herself was bitter, though this doesn't seem to me to be the case.

2. positive - that when people call her "bitter," they wouldn't think of her as bitter, but rather as an example of bitter things that the Lord had done to her due to her families disobedience. She meant it to be an example so that others wouldn't fall to the same mistake.

Naomi recognizes the Lord as Shaddai, the All Sufficient and All Powerful. Her confession that the Lord is Shaddai would indicate that it wasn't God's failure that has placed her in the state of destitute that she found herself, but rather her failure for disobedience to God.

Ruth 1:22:

Naomi returned home in time for the barley harvest. Her timing was of the Lord. A bitter blow that God did not deal her was to bring her home when food was scarce. Naomi and Ruth would obtain His favour in the present harvest.

Perhaps this was why David in the beginning of the barley harvest sought the Lord's council in famine and dealt with past sins of Israel in order to obtain favour from the Lord. (2 Sam 21:9)