Bible Women: Ruth - Part 1

Ruth - Part 1

In our study of Naomi, we learned that when the Lord brought a famine to the land of Bethlehem-Judah, Naomi went with her husband Elimelech, when he chose to leave his home there  and to travel to the country of Moab,  rather than to stay and trust the Lord to provide for his family.  Elimelech went to "sojourn" which is a temporary journey.  He did not know that he would not return to Bethlehem-Judah. Proverbs 3:5-6 "trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." Moab was a  pagan land with pagan gods, and that fact alone should have kept Elimelech in his own land, with his own people, trusting the Lord to provide for them.

But, "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". (Romans 8:28) and as the story of Ruth progresses we will see how the Lord used this famine to bring a Gentile woman into the line of the Lord Jesus Christ.

V2 says that when they came to the country of Moab they "continued" there, now more than a "sojourn".  After a time Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons Mahlon and Chileon.  Instead of returning to Bethelem-Judah, they made their own decision to stay in Moab and Mahlon and Chilion married wives of the women of Moab, one named Orpah, the other named Ruth.  Ruth means "beauty". V4 "and they dwelled there about ten years."  then Mahlon and Chileon also died.  The timing of their deaths is an example of God's perfect timing, for it is now that Naomi heard that "the LORD has visited his people in giving them bread." (Ruth 1:6)  We can see from this that Naomi recognizes that it is the LORD who has ended the famine.