Naomi's Husband and Sons

Living in Covenant

A Personal Perspective

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

A Mother-Daughter Covenant

Ruth 1:1-5 New International Version

Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons

1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

For Reflection

The Judges in those days were not particularly inclined toward God-centered judgment. "After the death of their father, the two sons married Moabite women. This [marriages between Jews and outsiders] was a violation of the Mosaic law (De 7:3; 23:3; Ezr 9:2; Ne 13:23); and Jewish writers say that the early deaths of both the young men were divine judgments inflicted on them for those unlawful connections."*

How many times have you read that the ancient people connected bad judgment and natural disasters with the wrath of God? Is our God the god of both good and evil? Or was seeing such events as punishment? Was this a way of enforcing the Law without compassion? Could it be that God sent his son to show us the folly of unjust legalistic enforcement of the Law is not the way of God? Didn't the life of Jesus show us that compassion could trump the law? 

Perhaps because we suffer, we are awakened to the error of our ways, and then God can correct our understanding of God's will and God's desire that even though we are imperfect humans, we can live joy-filled lives and accept our restoration in Christ.

Isn't the story of Ruth one of death to old life and resurrection into a new way of living?
*Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Pray
Pray often about all things and listen for the course corrections whispered from the Christ who resides in you.


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