Q. He lived in Bethlehem during the time of the judges. 1When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. This was the land in which God had already killed the men of Israel for the very same action. The incarnate Son of God redeems His elect people through His cross for He is our blood relative who makes us flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone spiritually. I pray that you, like Ruth, have forsaken all confidence in yourself and have cast yourself upon the one true God for salvation. May the Lord show you the same kind of devotion that you have shown to your deceased husbands and to me! 20 It could well be that Orpah had much to say, but the author did not wish to focus on her as she is not the heroine of this story. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Lot was turned to salt because she looked back at the city. Just being Jewish and knowing the Law of Moses isnt enough; one must also live by the law. There we read of the Sodom-like immorality of some of the Benjamites in the city of Gibeah, which resulted in the near extinction of their tribe. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; addya1ecccfd0b401858a2877dcb45f7be68 = addya1ecccfd0b401858a2877dcb45f7be68 + 'sbcglobal' + '.' + 'net'; WebMany resident aliens (especially Jews) may have been placed in this kind of agricultural occupation by the Moabite government. 2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Sin has a way of making progress in our lives even if we start in rather small ways. Follow your sister-in-law back home! (Ruth 1:15). 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. She had had a long stretch of time during which she observed Naomi's righteousness, and she (Ruth) became convinced that she must serve the One God and abandon her former idolatry. . But it is not the essence of what our life in Christ is about. Ruth became acquainted with the Jewish family and with their religion. People who want to stay in Moab. Moab was a pagan land that worshipped many false gods and practiced human sacrifices. Elimelech was of the tribe of Judah. That is ominous. And what accord has Christ with Belial? A godly Israelite would not only trust in the one true God, Yahweh, they would also know that there are no other gods. Naomi not only disregards the Abrahamic Covenant, she also urges Ruth (and Orpah) to do likewise. He was not a faithful husband. He is faithful and always right on time! In moving to Moab, Naomi left the Lord to some extent and for some years. But in Old Testament redemptive narrative, famines often come to the land as God curses his people or tests them regarding their faithfulness. And she was honored to be a part of the messianic line.34. Ill attempt to support my conclusions as we proceed in our study of this book. He keeps loyal love; that is, He is a God who perseveres in His love, and thus He is a covenant-keeping God. Her boys ended up choosing Moabite women to marry and these women became part of Naomis family. What a great story. Naomi tended to focus only on herself, on her lack of sons to give in marriage, and on her lack of a child to carry on the family line. They produced offspring for the Benjamites by orchestrating the kidnapping and rape of 200 virgins.26 The Israelites were like Moabs mother in that they were thinking and acting like Moabites. It was my friend Dave Austin who reminded me of the danger of pragmatism from this text. Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i More. Many of the commentaries on Ruth argue that the initial setting provides a mere backdrop to the story and nothing more. Is God judging here? Rather, he searched for other places of blessing; he left the land of promise. Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father. 35 So they made their father drunk that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. The sons married Moabite women and later died, and Elimelech also died.Naomi decided to return to Israel, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth the Moabitess, accompanied her with the intention of converting to Judaism. A.Stewart, Pastorates: Covenant Protestant Reformed Church of Ballymena, Northern Ireland - 2001. To walk in the steps of Abraham, one like Ruth would need to: (1) leave her relatives; (2) leave her homeland; and, (3) trust God to bless her as she sought to bless her mother-in-law. 19 So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. It took two attempts to convince Orpah to turn back and three attempts to convince Naomi that her efforts to turn Ruth away were futile. Of course as we will see in a moment, this becomes even more ironic because the story is set in Bethlehem. When Naomi returns to Bethlehem, she finds most of the residents of the city still living there, and judging by what we are told about Boaz, they appear to have done fairly well. She would be buried where Naomi was buried. 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, But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. Take note of the fact that Ruths covenant is not a short-term commitment; it is a lifetime commitment. The all-powerful God was making Naomis life miserable, so she thought and said. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. Access 50+ premium resources. For my intense suffering is too much for you to bear. Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia, Missions, Sister Churches, Christian Schools. As you will recall, Mrs. I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. Is Brooke shields related to willow shields? We, too, live in very pragmatic times, and those who live by principle especially the principles of Gods Word are few and far between. Do Eric benet and Lisa bonet have a child together? Fifth, what about remembering Gods day and keeping the fourth commandment in Moab? Ruth was the great grandmother of King David. This means that irony becomes the most important device for deepening our meditation on Ruth's story. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. For the connection between Ephrath and Bethlehem, see Gen. xxxv. 91a), Elimelech, Salmon (the father of Boaz), Peloni-Almoni, and the father of Naomi were the sons of Nahshon ben Aminadab. It is as though she has forgotten Gods description of Himself in Exodus 34: 6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. The lot of widows was especially hard in those days, but for a widow in a foreign land, like Naomi, it was even more difficult.We are not altogether unfamiliar with stories like this. We answer this question with a reminder that Israel was under God's command to remain in the land as part of their call to be faithful. Naomi and her two daughters-in-law had already set out for Israel11 when Naomi began to have second thoughts not about her return, but about having two Moabite daughters-in-law in tow when she arrived at her home town of Bethlehem. To her, Gods blessings should appear now, in the form of bread, an eligible bachelor (marriage), and babies. 3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel. They werent just turning their backs on their hometown of Bethlehem and its people: they were turning their backs on God. The Lord continue to prosper your ministry. The Hebrew word for return is shubh (sounds like shove) and in this context it means: turn again, go on, go back, brought back, turn back. It would seem to be significant that Naomi told Ruth that Orpah had returned to her god. People who are not traveling in the same direction. var addy79beab5da96ef5c7e556d8524343f19c = 'jdengelsma' + '@'; Elimelech felt his family was at a crossroadsand made a decision to leave. NLT Teen Life Application Study Bible, Softcover, My First Hands-on Bible--soft leather-look, bold blue, NLT Thinline Reference Bible, Filament Enabled Edition--soft leather-look, rustic brown, NLT Spiritual Growth Bible--soft leather-look, cream floral, NLT Large-Print Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition--genuine leather, brown (indexed). Is Brooke shields related to willow shields? Lot and his two daughters are now living in a cave. But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. It is four short chapters and will only take you a few minutes. A Christian wife is having difficulties in her relationship with her husband, and she shares this with a Christian friend. She decided it was time to get out of Moab. This email address is being protected from spambots. 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. 17 Wherever you die, I will die and there I will be buried. from Bethlehem of Judah. There is no doubt that this is a great honor and privilege for a woman. Conversely, one who is not a Jew and isnt instructed by the Law may have the law written on his (her) heart, and thus do the things the law requires. They arrived, in fact, just in time for the barley harvest. Others fail to see this teaching on church membership in Ruth because they have not fully grasped the robust biblical and Reformed doctrine of the church, as summarized, for example, 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. Elimelech had a wife named Naomi and two sons, Mahlon and Kilion. We know that this backfired because Balaam could not curse those whom God had blessed.5 When this approach did not work, Balaam counseled Balak how to harm Israel in a very different way by having the Moabite women seduce the Israelite men.6 One might easily infer from this that the Moabites, like the Canaanites, were a sexually immoral people (in a way that tempted the Israelites). In our text (as in Judges and everywhere else in Scripture), man looks bad, very bad, and God looks good, very good. 1100. Both women initially refused to heed Naomis exhortation to leave her and return to Moab. document.getElementById('cloak79beab5da96ef5c7e556d8524343f19c').innerHTML = '';

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