They Settled There

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. The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there. Ruth 1:1-2

THE BOOK OF RUTH tells the story of one ordinary Israelite family living in the town of Bethlehem during the period of the judges —a time when there was no king in Israel and all the people did what was right in their own eyes. We discover in the book’s first verse that there was no bread in this little town, whose name means “house of bread.” This was supposed to be the land flowing with milk and honey. God had promised his people that they would never hunger if they obeyed him. The report of famine reveals that God’s people had not obeyed, so God sent the famine to lead them to cry out to him.

That’s what Elimelech should have done. But instead of repenting and waiting for God to meet his family’s needs, Elimelech decided he himself would save his family. He took them away from the one place on earth where God had promised to bless his people to a pagan land, Moab. Perhaps Elimelech left thinking it would be only temporary, but the writer says they “settled there.” And then tragedy struck. The family’s pursuit of satisfaction and security apart from God’s place of blessing was a failure that would be inscribed on gravestones in Moab.

Peter warns us “as ‘temporary residents and foreigners’ to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against [our] very souls” (1 Peter 2:11). His warning encourages us, as parents, to ask if our family is living in this world with the mind-set of being temporary residents, or if we have “settled” here, adopting this world as our home, putting down roots, and storing up our treasure here.

Lord, this world is all we have known. It is all we can see with our eyes and experience with our senses. So we need eyes of faith to set our sights on the home that you are preparing for us. Protect us from putting our roots down too deep in this alien land. Show us what it will mean to lead our family in a pilgrim lifestyle during our days on this earth.