Interesting How Ruth Became Involved

In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. [Ruth 1.1]

A severe famine came upon the land and Elimelech took his family and left.

Based on all that I have learned to this point, I cannot say the famine in Israel was random. The famine in Israel, by nature that famine is a curse upon disobedience, would have been the result of only one thing - sin.

Elimelech was part of Israel - a member of the tribe of Judah living in Bethlehem. But instead of suffering the famine along with the others of his tribe, Elimelech got out of the region and went to the country of Moab. It could be argued here that instead of stating and repenting with his fellow Israelites (for whatever brought on the famine), Elimelech betrayed his own in their punishment and fled.

As it would turn out, instead of escaping the famine in Israel and living happily ever after in Moab, Elimelech met an even worse fate, death. And, what's more, both his sons died too. 

So, running from the famine in Judah did not exempt Elimelech from the curse. If we glean anything from Elimelech's flight, we learn it only made the effect of the curse upon his sin as an Israelite worse. It would be easy to conclude that had Elimelech stayed in Israel and suffered the famine (and perhaps repented for the cause) along with his fellow Israelites, his story could possibly have been quite different. It might have been better had Eleimelech stayed and repented instead of running away and dying.

Now, switching gears, God makes everything work out for good for those who love and obey Him. He is capable of taking a terrible circumstance, like Elimelech's, and bringing about good from it. Such is the story of his daughter-in-law, Ruth.

Mind you, Ruth was a Moabite and no Jew at all. And yet, as the story unfolds, God took this outsider (a Gentile, if you will) and made her part of His story. By being brought into the tribe of Judah through marriage, Ruth became an integral link in the lineage of King David, and eventually of the Messiah, Jesus.

What's more, Ruth's story would, for the extent of time following her existence, prophesy that God would graft non-Jews into His plan for the redemption of mankind! How cool is that?

Father, thank You for all Ruth's story reveals about You, about sin and its curse, and about Redemption in Christ.