To Go or Not to Go

To Moab and Back

Verse-by-verse study of Ruth 1

A Bethlehemite family faced a dilemma. There was a famine in Judah. All the ..inhabitants of the land had to decide whether to stay, endure the hardships, and trust in God, or whether to move to the nearby land of Moab where food was plentiful. The family of Elimelech decided to move. The book of Ruth chronicles their experiences.

Elimelech’s Decision—Ruth 1:1-5

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

According to the Jerusalem Targum, this was one of ten famines (or calamities) from God to chastise his people: “God has decreed ten grievous famines to take place in the world, to punish the inhabitants of the earth, before the coming of Messiah the king. The first in the days of Adam; the second in the days of Lamech; the third in the days of Abraham; the fourth in the days of Isaac; the fifth in the days of Jacob; the sixth in the days of Boaz, who is called Abstan (Ibzan) the just, of Bethlehem-judah; the seventh in the days of David, king of Israel; the eighth in the days of Elijah the prophet; the ninth in the days of Elisha, in Samaria; the tenth is yet to come, and it is not a famine of bread or of water but of hearing the word of prophecy from the mouth of the Lord; and even now this famine is grievous in the land of Israel.”

The fact that Elimelech died shortly after the move to Moab as well as the names of their two children—Mahlon, meaning sickly, and Chilion, meaning pining—imply that poor health may have been part of the motivation for their decision. However, as Matthew Henry has so well said, “Changing our place seldom is mending it.” The move was disastrous and all three males of the family died in Moab.

It had never been their intent to move permanently to Moab, but to “sojourn” there until the food shortage in Bethlehem was over. Ironically, Elimelech, whose name means “God is my king,” was the one who voluntarily left Israel’s God-given country for that of a frequent enemy and oppressor of Judah. He failed to live up to the promise to God which spouses make to each other at their nuptials with the words “for better or for worse.”

Similar decisions face God’s people even today. Hardships come upon Christians, and are even predicted for them. These test their faith in the pledge of God to “never leave nor forsake” them (Hebrews 13:5). If he will never leave us, why are we prone to leave him when the going gets rough? He never promised “days without rain,” but merely the assurance to be with us in our spiritual droughts as well as in times of prosperity.

Then again, it may be out of concern for the temporal welfare of our children that we are tempted to remove them for a time, to “sojourn” so to speak, from where God’s promises are centered. We never intend such separations to be permanent, but now often, as was the case with Mahlon and Chilion, they die in that foreign land of estrangement from God.

After the three male members of the family die, Naomi is left alone with two foreign daughters-in-law and she has a difficult decision: remain in Moab with the only two members of her immediate family whom she dearly loves, or return to her homeland she left so long ago.

Naomi’s Decision—Ruth 1:6,7

Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

Since the famine in Judah had ended, there appears to be little hesitation in Naomi’s determination to return. Both Orpah and Ruth, the Moabite girls who had married her two sons, apparently accompanied her as far as the border, the river Jordan just south of Jericho.

A Suggestion to Return to Moab—Ruth 1:8-10

And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.

Great unselfish love is shown here. The bond between Naomi and her two daughters-in-law was apparently very strong. The Moabitish girls had evidently been faithful and loving wives to Mahlon and Chilion, as well as a comfort to Naomi herself. This strong love between women of such diverse cultures and religions speaks volumes of the tact and wisdom of an ideal mother-in-law. She would have kept a kosher kitchen; they would not have been so naturally inclined. She never stopped worshipping Jehovah; they would have been more used to their god, Chemish. Yet, their differences did not appear to weaken their relationship. In fact, Naomi’s conduct was so admirable, that both girls greatly desired to go to Judah with her.

Unselfishness is also shown in the suggestion that the girls remarry and find “rest” in the home of new husbands. The word rest is a translation of the Hebrew menuchah. Commenting on this word in his Notes, John Meggison writes: “There is great beauty in the Hebrew word rendered ‘rest’ here. The position of a single woman in those days was an unhappy one. The youthful widow married again. There she found an asylum of protection, safety and honor. That is the idea of the word menuchah, resting place, which Naomi urged them to find in their own land, in the house of another husband which Jehovah would grant them. It is a beautiful expression. Deuteronomy 12:9 [reads], Hitherto ye have not come into the rest and inheritance which Jehovah your God giveth you.”

Thus the contrast is shown in the difficult decision the two young women had to make: whether to find their rest, their menuchah of protection, in new husbands from their native land or in an unknown God and a strange land with an uncertain future.

Both of them initially demur from the suggestion to return to Moab and assure Naomi of their desire to accompany her to Judea. It appears that the life Naomi lived proved to be a good witness to her daughters-in-law. While they did not make a commitment to convert to the God of Israel, they did show a willingness to live according to the customs of the Hebrews.

The Suggestion Reiterated—Ruth 1:11-13

And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me.

Naomi persists in her suggestion they not accompany her to Judea. She recognizes that they would have little prospect for marriage in Israel since the Mosaic law forbad such unions. This indicates that although they loved Naomi, they had not yet converted to Judaism. Their only hopes for a remarriage would be if Naomi had more sons, highly improbable because of her age and the time it would take for them to grow to adulthood.

Naomi’s answer also implies that while she had remained faithful to her religion for the ten years she had been in Moab, her love for her daughters-in-law was so strong that she would not object to any future children marrying these foreign wives.

Ruth and Orpah’s Decisions—Ruth 1:14-18

And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

There is a strong contrast in the decision of the two women. Orpah, though loving her mother-in-law, reluctantly departs and returns to Moab. Ruth determines to go onward and to accept the implied conditions as well. She will adapt, not only to the new customs of a strange land, but to convert to its God as well. She resolves to never look back, to keep her new people and new God as long as she shall live.

Well has Ruth’s beautiful response been repeated in countless weddings. There exist few more beautiful statements of the nuptial commitment than this. By making such a promise, Ruth was unconditionally embracing her new land and its God.

While Orpah can hardly be faulted for her decision, Ruth chose the better part. And such is the decision often faced by the Christian. Whether to return to the customs of one’s native home of planet earth or to proceed to a spiritual Canaan with all that implies of whole-hearted acceptance of its terms and conditions is the big question. If like Orpah one does not cross the Jordan, one’s life goes on as before, but the heart has not been affected by such a decision. If like Ruth the Jordan is crossed, there will be an entirely new relationship with both God and man and the heart finds its peace in such a determined choice.

Seeing such a resolute desire in Ruth, Naomi desists in further discouraging it but, we can be sure, it was with a heart full of joy that she proceeds onward with her beloved Ruth.

Back to Bethlehem—Ruth 1:19-22

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Calling herself Mara, meaning bitterness, shows not only an attitude of sadness, but also connotes repentance for the bad decision she and her husband had made a decade earlier. Perhaps she was not only bitter over the loss of her husband and two sons, but also remorseful for the family’s manifest lack of faith for forsaking Judah for the greener pastures of Moab.

How often a Christian is tempted in times of trial, like Elimelech, to seek a situation promising greater prosperity. Or perhaps as Lot had earlier chosen the fertility of the Sodom valley, a Christian looks for that which brings the most temporal gain. Whatever the reason, placing the transitory things of this earth above the permanent riches of a brighter tomorrow based on the promises of God is always a poor decision: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

The women returned at the beginning of the barley harvest. That harvest was celebrated with the waving of the first barley sheaf two days after the Passover. As the Passover marked the onset of the Jewish religious year, so a Christian’s return to his promised inheritance marks a new beginning. May we each make those decisions to return from our wayward paths to a closer walk with God and thus experience a new beginning in our Christian lives.