We just started a new series at church about learning to go into the fields of our community, studying the book of Ruth. A key phrase was about coming home*. Elimelech and his family lived in Bethlehem, at the time of the judges. There was famine, due to drought, or possibly, war, and for Elimelech, to survive meant that his family had to flee their home. They didn’t just run to any place. Ironically, they ran to the place that was considered cursed; Moab. Born of an incestuous union, lorded by false, pagan gods; to look to Moab as a hope for fruit may seem fruitless. However, for ten years, Elimelech, Naomi (his wife), and their sons lived. During this time, his sons married Moabite women. Perhaps, there was hope for a future. However, by the end of ten years, all three of the men died, leaving three widows to fend for themselves. Naomi felt called to go home. And as for her daughters-in-law, they were foreigners…outcasts. Part of a cursed people. Would they come? Part of the message shared was that for some people, they may feel a tug to come home. Believers who left Jesus and/or the church, but now are realizing that it’s time to return. For others, Ruth and Orpah were more relatable. Outcasts, not sure if they have a place at this home called “the church”, there was the encouragement that God seeks out the foreigners in order to bring them into His family. To be honest, I didn’t feel like Naomi or like Ruth/Orpah. As I listened to the message, I felt more like Elimelech, and here’s why: Elimelech left his home, and it was in his leaving that opened for the door of the outcast to come to know the true God. Yes, Elimelech left Israel out of the desolation found in their home (rightly so, because of the famine), but he left for Moab with the anticipation and hope to be fed. My pastor explained that immigrating to Moab wasn’t meant to be a forever thing. Elimelech anticipated returning. Nevertheless, he left, made his home in a foreign and cursed place, and built up his family. I do wonder if Elimelech, whose name means, “The Lord is king”, planned on his Hebrew heritage having to be part of the conversation. After all, his daughters-in-law had to have known they worshiped differently. They had to have known there were different customs. Was there contentions? And yet, even in the desire for survival, Elimelech’s leaving Israel allowed for a Moabite woman to be introduced to the one, true God, and even give her life to Him (see Ruth 1:16). I felt like Elimelech was given the air of a man who lost all hope. (The evangelism bent of bringing outcasts home was more so hinted at with Naomi, as she will be the one to bring Ruth to Bethlehem with her.) Analogous to someone who is struggling with their faith, leaving the safeguard of the one Thing that gives us life and hope. However, in the context of the story of Ruth, Israel was a dead place. Ashes were all that was left, and to live meant to move. Could Elimelech and his family have moved elsewhere in Israel? Maybe. But they didn’t. And even if Elimelech’s hope is just conjecture; just optimistic thinking, what is amazing is that God still had the bigger picture. Even if Elimelech was hopeless and pessimistic, running from Bethlehem was not in vain. Even when all three men died, it was not in vain. Elimelech left, hoping to return home. And God knew that by having an Israelite family in Moab, their presence would invite outcasts and foreigners to know the true God. If Elimelech and his family returned to Bethlehem, as a unit, others would have come with him. If Elimelech hadn’t left Bethlehem, would Ruth have been able to come “home”? And what a beautiful point that God chose a woman from a cursed tribe to be a part of the blessing of salvation! In my personal application, I wonder how often we think of doing God’s work equating to doing everything the same as other believers in the church. Not that I desire to abandon my immediate family, but I wonder if God is tugging on my heart to actually be going. Not leaving, for the sake of my own survival, but more so, with the perspective that I know there are others who need to come home. In a way, their eternal survival is at stake. If I remain home all the time, how are the outcasts and foreigners supposed to know where to call “home” and be saved? I am convinced…that in order for salvation to come, sometimes we have to leave what is comfortable and familiar.
*Historical and biblical notes came from: “Ruth: Coming Home.” Jon Meek II. August 4, 2024.
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