The Book Of Ruth (2 Of 4)

Look at verse 1 again, we read, “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.”

Look at the words “Bethlehemjudah” and “Moab.”

• Bethlehem means “House of bread”.

• Judah means “Praise the Lord.”

• The word “Moab” means “Washbasin”.

So this family is leaving the land of BREAD and PRAISE, to live in a “WASHBASIN”. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

Verse 1 might shed some light on why they made the foolish decision to move to Moab. Notice in verse 1, the Bible makes a point of telling us that the bad decision they made took place during the days when the JUDGES RULED over Israel.

Why does God’s word tell us that it was during THE DAYS OF THE JUDGES when they made this decision? Because during the DAYS OF THE JUDGES, it was a time of SIN and DEBAUCHERY in the land.

It is a dangerous thing to live an evil society. WHY? BECAUSE IT CAN AFFECT US!

Today, America is known world wide for many things. One of the things that America is known for is the SIN and the DEBAUCHERY IN THE LAND.

And make no mistake about it, when people live in a country that is surrounded by evil, it will affect the people who live there.

• We see adults doing things in America that shock us. Why? Because they are affected by the evils of this land.

• We see young people doing things that shock us. Why? Because they are affected by the evils of this land.

• We see children going to grammar school with guns, shooting their classmates. Why? Because they are affected by the evils of this land, where they see killings on the television every day of their lives.

I want to say again, it is a dangerous thing to live in an evil society like Moab, or America. Both the young and the old are affected by the evil that surrounds them.

One of the concerns we all should have is about the evils of our land. But that is something that is very seldom even addressed!

• It certainly is not being addressed by the average citizen. All they seem to want to talk about is sports and entertainment.

• We do not hear many of the politicians addressing this problem. All they are concerned about is getting re-elected.

• We do not even hear preachers address this problem from the pulpits across America. All they seem to care about is drawing a crowd, whatever it takes!

People are concerned about a lot of other things.

Illus: For example, we have people in our society that are classified as environmentalists. They are constantly making the news because of their protest for CLEAN WATER, and CLEAN AIR TO BREATHE.

But there are very few today that are concerned about the sin pollution in which we live. It is a dangerous thing to live in a society that is sinful. If we do not live close to the Lord, we are going to get contaminated with the filth of this world.

Naomi lived during the evil days of the judges, and no doubt the evil in the land in which she lived affected her, moving her to make the decision that she and her family made to leave Bethlehem and go and live in wicked Moab.

Let’s get a better look at this family.

• The Dad was Elimelech, his name meant “My God is my king.”

• The Wife was Naomi, her name meant “Pleasantness”

What wonderful names for a couple.

But notice the name of the two children:

• Mahlon’s name meant “Unhealthy”.

• Chilion’s name meant “Puny”

What we have here is a couple with beautiful names, who had two children, one is SICKLY and the other one is PUNY!

How the Jewish ladies must have talked when they saw Naomi coming down the street.

Illus: They probably said, “Here comes Mrs. Sunshine now, and can you believe that she and her husband are going to move to Moab with those puny children of theirs?”

Evidently Naomi felt justified leaving the land of Bethlehem because of the famine that came to Israel.

But what they should have done was to look to God, and try to find out why God allowed the famine to come.

Generally, when you had a famine among God’s people, it was due to their disobedience to God. God would send a famine, and they would repent, and God would allow the blessings to flow again.

But there were times when God sent the famines and the people of God still did not repent of their sins.