Ruth, out of love and loyalty to her mother-in-law, accompanied Naomi back to Bethlehem, while Orpah stayed in Moab. 3 0 obj In our text (as in Judges and everywhere else in Scripture), man looks bad, very bad, and God looks good, very good. Ruth becomes a true Israelite in spite of Naomis persistent encouragement to return to her Moabite roots. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit. Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023, Ruth: A Story of Redemption -- A Study of the Book of Ruth. The all-powerful God was making Naomis life miserable, so she thought and said. (4) While the author does not make a point of it, it seems reasonable to assume that the famine (as well as the deaths of Elimelech and his two sons) was a manifestation of divine discipline. She has been convinced and turns back to her own country. Ruths words are her covenant with Naomi, with Israel, and with God, patterned after Gods covenant with Abraham and his descendants: Only death will be able to separate me from you! (Ruth 1:16-17). Ruth was determined to serve and care for her mother-in-law; Orpah chose to look out for herself. We, who are not certain of our genealogies, derive names from our forefathers. The best thing for Orpah and Ruth to do was to return to their people and their gods, Naomi concluded. than the children of the married woman, says the Lord. Web1290 BC Elimelech dies, likely stricken by God for abandoning his inheritance, allowing his two sons to marry Moabites and not joining the battle against Benjamin in Judges 20. They would be a reminder that Naomis sons their husbands had not married Israelite wives. 37 The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. How could any faithful Israelite encourage someone to return to their (false) god(s)? Lot and his family were spared, but his wife died (turned to salt) because she looked back. The usual pattern is the reverse; first, we are told a mans name and familial antecedents and only then are his actions described. She had to leave her family, her homeland, and her gods and go to the place of Gods blessing. Finally, the description of Elimelech departure is frugal and bereft of detail. We read of the origin of the Moabites in Genesis 19,3 just after the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. In her thinking, God had stripped her of all hope by taking her husband and her sons in death, and by preventing their wives from bearing children. Who would want a Moabite wife, especially a widow? 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to dissuade her. Neither does she mention the mistreatment they would likely receive because Moab is Israels enemy, but they could probably read between the lines. - As part of a small team, I organized a five-day congress (90 participants, budget 17,000), the largest yearly event of the association. You, leaders, did not stand among the ruins like Moses did. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 4 The LORD said to Moses, Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the LORD in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor (Numbers 25:1-5). In Judges 3, we read that the Israelites were subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for 18 years.8 Since the Moabites were not Canaanites, marriage to a Moabite was not strictly forbidden.9 Nevertheless, Moabites were not only regarded as aliens or foreigners, but also as second class citizens. Marriage to a Moabite was not something one did to gain status in Israel. In an effort to escape the famine, a man named Elimelech took his family to Moab, where he intended for his family to sojourn until the famine ended.10 How could he have imagined how long his family would stay? They need new or different husbands to marry and to bear children. Both had married Israelite husbands, had borne no children, and were now widows. Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. We dont have a very good reputation in the Bible.. Ruth and Naomi are very different people. Ruth would have none of this foolish talk, and she made this abundantly clear to her mother-in-law. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/elimelech. I will be their God and they will be my people (Jeremiah 31:33). In Judges 19-21, we find a similar situation. <> Their ultimate blessing would have been to leave their land, their people, their false religion, and to identify with the Israelites and with their God. She then kissed both of them, a very clear signal of dismissal. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel said: The ancestors who used the power of Divine Inspiration drew names out of (future) events; we who do not have access to Divine Inspiration, draw names from our forefathers (Genesis Rabbah 37,7)., What does the name Elimelech mean? I pray that you, like Ruth, have forsaken all confidence in yourself and have cast yourself upon the one true God for salvation. ), matriarch of Israel, wife of *Jacob and the mother of *Joseph and Benjamin. That is precisely what Naomi did with Orpah and Ruth. 15 The translations differ here. WebWhen a severe famine struck Israel, Elimelech took his wife Naomi and their two sons across the Jordan and south to the land of Moab, in the hope of finding a living there. A famine plagued Israel in the days of the judges. 5 Then Naomis two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, also died. I can imagine how it alarmed and frightened Naomi when Elimelech died while they were sojourning in Moab. And so they did. Who even remembers her name? Instead of trusting God to preserve her husbands line (indeed, the Messianic line), she at least passively (if not actively) approves of their marriage to non-Israelites. She does not acknowledge sin on her part (and Elimelechs), and she does not seek to repent. Due to the famine in Israel during the time of the Judges, Elimelech crossed over to Moab, where he and his two sons died. Following their deaths, his wife Naomi returned to Beth-Lehem together with her daughter-in-law *Ruth (Ruth 1:13; 2:1, 3; 4:3, 9). There Ruth married *Boaz, one of Elimelech's relatives. You can't run away. And Gideon said to them: I shall not rule over you and my son shall not rule over you, Hashem shall rule over you (Judges 8, 22). Ordinarily it would be translated as, My God is King. Ruth 4:9 In Esther, the people of God were supposed to return to the Promised Land, but they chose instead to dwell in the apparent peace and safety of Persia. This is exactly what Boaz commended Ruth for doing: 10 Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him, Why are you so kind and so attentive to me, even though I am a foreigner? 11 Boaz replied to her, I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband how you left your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously. Apr. But she concluded that God was using His power against her, rather than for her. We are not told how wide-spread it was, but we do know that it affected Bethlehem (which ironically means house of bread). . RACHEL (Heb. 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. As the years have gone by, I may have mellowed in the terms I would use to portray Naomi, but my opinion of her has not really changed. Would man who truly believes that His God is King abandon his people at the time of famine? 12 May the LORD reward your efforts! And so they, like Lots daughters (the oldest one in particular), devised a scheme whereby the line would be preserved, albeit apart from faith and obedience to Gods Word. His name was Nate Mirza. He lived during the period of the Judges, had a hereditary possession near Bethlehem, and is chiefly known as the husband of Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ru and ancestress of David the king. 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. I would be very reluctant to conclude that Ruths husband or his parents taught her the law. Encyclopedia.com. There were no state registries or social security numbers and names served a much more fluid purpose than they do today. Perhaps one reason why the author does not make a major point out of the theme of divine judgment is because his purpose is to emphasize divine mercy, not only as God provided food for His people, but also in His providential provision of a family and a posterity for Naomi and Elimelech. Beth-lehem-judahso called to distinguish it from a town of the same name in Zebulun. There is no reason for you to return to Judah with me! It purposefully draws our attention to it, for it first tells us that a man went out and then tells us that the name of the man was Elimelech. What a mighty, magnificent, merciful, awesome God we serve! The contrast between Naomi and Ruth is very clear when the two womens words and actions are viewed from the vantage point of the Abrahamic Covenant. Surely it fell short of what Ruths experience will be. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. The Sages, however, read it with a slight difference in pronunciation as Elai Melech For he said: Kingship is due to me (Ruth Rabba 2,5). (Ruth 1:1-22)2. He was right in that Kingship was destined to come from his progeny; yet he was also grievously wrong for he himself was not fitting to become king of Israel. While they were in Moab, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi and her two sons. JETHRO (Heb. Other than weeping, Orpah remains silent;20 Ruths words and actions are what the author has chosen to report. My sense is that most of the residents of Bethlehem stayed in Bethlehem, rather than leaving to sojourn in a foreign country during the days of the famine. 36 In this way both of Lots daughters became pregnant by their father. Ezekiel (10, 3) castigates the leaders of Israel as being foxes in the ruins. Amen (Romans 11:33-36). Naomi and her sons lived in Moab for ten years and then both Mahlon and Kilion died as well, childless. Her commitment is not just to Naomi; it is a lifetime commitment to Israel and to her God. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities (Isaiah 54:1-3). Ill attempt to support my conclusions as we proceed in our study of this book. It is also true (as God Himself says above) that God also punishes the guilty, but that is not the totality of who God is. Leaving His land, His people, His office-bearers, His worship and His day is leaving God. Lot fled with his daughters and was living in a cave. Then she firmly stated her commitment to Naomi, to Israel, and to Israels God as a covenant. Encyclopedia.com. And the woman was left of her two children and of her husband. The Path of Despair and the Path of Return. How could Naomi encourage Ruth (and, by inference, Orpah) to return to their god(s), when doing so would condemn them eternally? Cholim Prayers for Those in Need, Make a Donation Religion. xkOF;GBYH6=3fn=3_]o{09j?]YNvflo'N_~iv4:8N.N";>5"!2M*bNH$!E/EA@e|h9!MSrj:3Y^&!:Xqw-8O?n#-"XY+;-ZN$ayCp}k _F+w +g du]yB2 (0#`2BYfeu(pV,!g\A:>ffY)Yr,gl}*>3|5g-a>F#oE|v0m7G;o}\B,=y"Z|GMogbAD[ J6tW8!jm4GIt\ul4yg2b>x|YH&-B(k7zk4%>5z$@Q8nK+ja4aAqTND&QqM @%(g]v/mnn-vTY2^JrxVNgl/'u:K-cdw>-xs_X0$%.$f#X2l| @n:c 0/#S=>k"ey4=^Gy^tb^ e Hebrews 12:6,10,11 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, Elimelech -- 'God is king', the husband of Naomi, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular, Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular, Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular, Elimelech, driven by famine into Moab, dies there, Mahlon and Chilion, having married wives of Moab, die also, dissuades her two daughters-in-law from going with her, Orpah leaves her, but Ruth with great constancy accompanies her, The two come to Bethlehem, where they are gladly received, OT History: Ruth 1:3 Elimelech Naomi's husband died (Ru Rut. His faithfulness to His people and to His covenant is at a time when His people are not faithful to Him and when they are living in disregard for His law. God had just destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their great sin. Who would want Naomi for a mother-in-law? The New Covenant promises that God will write the law on the hearts of those He has chosen for salvation, whether Jew or Gentile. The only hope Naomi sees for Orpah and Ruth is the hope of finding a Moabite husband and bearing children. God is always at his work. And Naomi was now ready to arrange for a marriage and offspring in an unconventional way, just as Tamar, the mother of Moab, and the Israelites (more recently) did. In our text, Naomis conversation with her daughters-in-law is couched in language that gives the appearance that she is encouraging them to return to their families and their land because this would be in their best interest. A teacher walks into the Classroom and says If only Yesterday was Tomorrow Today would have been a Saturday Which Day did the Teacher make this Statement? Bearing children was to be done Gods way. Having started off on a rather negative note, let me hasten to say that the Book of Ruth is a breath of fresh air for those of us who have just come from the Book of Judges. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Look with me at these words from Genesis 19, taking up just after the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lots escape, along with his daughters: 30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Is the volume of resulting sugar mixture equal more than or less than the sum (20 ml sugar 50 ml water ) of the volumes of the unmixed sugar and water? You, leaders, did not stand at the opening like Moses. Elamtu), region on the edge of the southwestern part of the Iranian plateau, modern Khuzistan, Sidon 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. Encyclopaedia Judaica. T -6d$zA ^C(D`Ed8 BR. Somehow God wrote His law on Ruths heart, not unlike Tamar and Rahab, her predecessors. In her mind, this was the normal, the customary, way to produce offspring. Both were traveling with Naomi as she made her way toward Israel. In Job and in Ruth, this term seems to underscore Gods power, but in the context of suffering and adversity. Humans cannot see beyond these two alternatives but God has another choice. ." Even if I thought that there was hope that I could get married tonight and conceive sons, 13 surely you would not want to wait until they were old enough to marry! 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how did elimelech die