Ruth 1: 1-7

Although this book is short and small in nature, the commentary that I am using is deep and long in history and background. So this study will be a  little more in depth, rather than a quick study...


The story of Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges, when there was no king or specific ruler that took charge of the nation. Judah was to the south and was west of Israel while Moab was on the opposite side of the Dead Sea and was a separate pagan nation. Despite Bethelem being a large city, it was going through a severe famine and thus according to the commentary: Elimelech and his family wanted security. They left home to look for food elsewhere. They came to a country where the people did not worship God. Elimelech was from Ephrath. This probably meant that he belonged to one of the chief families in Bethlehem. (‘Ephrath’ is an old name for Bethlehem – see Micah 5:2.) He took his wife Naomi and his two sons Mahlon and Kilion. They planned to stay in Moab only for a short time. Names back then mattered Elimelech's name meant "my God is King" and Naomi's name meant "pleasant". I'm sure that they lived their names for a time until Elimelech died and their two sons Mahlon and Kilion met similar fates at a young age. Thus the stage is set for Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah to decide their next phase in life. The Bible doesn't say what the ages of the men or how they died but the fact still remains that they have come to the proverbial "fork in the road". Naomi was now a widow in a foreign land and with two foreign d-i-ls she knew that she couldn't stay. She heard that the Lord was now providing for his people and so she made the decision that she would trek back to Judah. Ruth and Orpah did love Naomi and wanted to stay with her because of how Naomi treated them and the bond they established over the past ten years.

What a weekend... I got home pretty easily perhaps because of the lack of people on the road due to the lack of gas and the hassles in getting it as well as the aftermath of Sandy. Nevertheless, it was good to be back home. After a group dinner out on Friday night, Saturday was for assessing the damage that the tree in the back had done and making a pork shoulder in the slow cooker as well as spending the afternoon at Gateway in SI helping their efforts with the Sandy relief. It was good reconnecting with the people there and since we found out how useless our home owner's policy was in solving our problem, one of my golf buddies there has a son that will look to see what he can do to take away the fallen tree. Praise God for him! Long day Saturday and with the extra hour of sleep, my back is slowly getting better after doing all that lifting. Great service on Sunday with Pastor Mercaldo giving a timely and splendid message about "Storms".  After lunch, I headed down to Delly and got down here with minimum time and issues. Gas down here, although higher than where I would normally tank up at, was lower than most of the stations were hawking their gas for and with no lines or rationing dates.

Not looking forward to the storm that is heading for us on Wed and Thursday but according to the weather forecasts, the weekend looks decent. Praising God for the people that we know and love whose homes have been spared or have minimal damage. Also prayers for GG as he sorts this stuff out from a distance as I was as well. Glad to see he has found a fellowship and is getting hooked up.

Praise for today: For the Lord is righteous,  he loves justice; upright men will see his face. Psalm 11: 7