Ruth 1:1 It Came To Pass

 ”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 Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.“ ‭‭Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. In the days when the Judges ruled: This account begins in the closing days of the Judges, a 400-year period of general anarchy and oppression when the Israelites were not ruled by kings, but by periodic deliverers whom God raised up when the nation sought Him again.

i. Notable among the Judges were Gideon, Samson, and Deborah. Each of these were raised up by God, not to rule as kings, but to lead Israel during a specific challenge, and then to go back to obscurity.

ii. The days when the Judges ruled were actually dark days for Israel; the period was characterized by the phrase everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, and 21:25).

b. A certain man of Bethlehem: In these days, a man from Bethlehem left the land of Israel to sojourn in the country of Moab, because of famine. Bethlehem was a rich agricultural area (the city name means “House of Bread”), but times were tough, so he went to the pagan land of Moab.

i. To do so, he had to hike through the desolate Jericho pass, through the Judean wilderness near the Dead Sea, going across the Jordan River, into the land of Moab. This was a definite departure from the Promised Land of Israel, and a return towards the wilderness from which God had delivered Israel hundreds of years before. These were clearly steps in the wrong direction.

c. A famine in the land: God specifically promised there would always be plenty in the land if Israel was obedient. Therefore, a famine in the land meant that Israel, as a nation, was not obedient unto the LORD (Deuteronomy 11:13-17).

d. Went to sojourn: This means to leave with the intention to return. The next verse tells us the name of the man was Elimelech and his intention of a short visit turned into ten, tragedy-filled years - and Elimelech never returned to Israel. The name Elimelech means “God is king” - but he didn’t really live as if God was his king. (Guzik)

As we can see from Guzik’s commentary there’s a lot to take in and absorb from this single verse.  The book of Ruth is a twofold love story of loyalty and redemption in the Old Testament. It’s about a Moabite woman named Ruth who came to love and trust the one true God. It begins with a tragedy but because she stood by and supported her mother-in-law Naomi, the Lord blessed her another husband. 

God selected Ruth to be a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ.

If Elimelech lived as if God was his king, would he have left the promised land?

Is Jesus your king?

Blessings