A graphic picture of backsliding and its consequent
sorrows is presented in the first chapter of the Book of Ruth.
There was a famine in the land and a certain man with his
family went down to sojourn in the land of Moab. Again and
again the Old Testament retells how God tested his people by
subjecting them to privation, famine, and pestilence, to
determine whether, under stress, they would turn to him or
whether they would seek other sources of help. Of course, God
knew beforehand that the outcome of these tests would be
negative in most cases; yet he tested them just the same and
saw to it that the results were recorded in his Word. The
purpose of this testing and the recording of it was to deprive
the following generations of God's people of any excuse when
they failed a similar test; for having before them the warning
examples of previous generations should keep them from
making the same mistakes.
When the famine came upon the land, Elimelech took
his family into Moab. Elimelech's name means My God is King,
but his actions said My God is a Bum!. Before we censure
Elimelech too severely, however, we should give some
consideration to the many times our own lives and actions have
been inconsistent with the name of Christian which we wear
with such pride. Elimelech is a good picture of those who seem
to love and serve the Lord when all is well, but who turn to the
world, the flesh and the devil when placed under stress. In this
time of famine, Elimelech went out from Bethlehem Judah.
Bethlehem means house of bread
and Judah means praise. So
Elimelech, whose name asserted. My God is King, went out from
the very house of bread and praise in his time of need. So it
ever is, when we turn away from God and look to the Moabites
of this world for help, that we are leaving behind us the house
of bread and praise. Another name for Bethlehem was Ephratah
(fruitfulness) which reemphasizes the folly of forsaking the place
of blessing. It is stated that Elimelech went into Moab to
sojourn but adds that they continued there. Every backslider
consoles himself with the thought that he will soon get
straightened out and come back to the house of bread and praise;
but what he does not realize is that before he gets straightened
out spiritually, God may straighten him out physically - in a
satin-lined casket! This was precisely what happened to
Elimelech and to his two sons. Of the four who went down into
Moab, only Naomi, the wife and mother, was left.
continued at top of next column
While this family was in Moab, no mention is made of
their building an altar or worshipping God. There was no
witnessing to the greatness of Israel's God. How, indeed, could
they witness to One in whom they, themselves, had such feeble
faith? Thus a place of physical famine was given up for one of
religious famine.
After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi heard
that the Lord had visited His people and had given them bread.
What a blessed note this is! God had not forgotten his people
- he had merely tested them.
"The fire will not harm thee, I only design thy dross to
consume and thy gold to refine".
Old Hymn.
No wholesale exodus from the land had been necessary. Only
the faint of heart and the feeble of faith had thought it
necessary to depart. Having tested their faith. God then
supplied his people with the bread of life, through a personal
visitation! Now that the famine was ended, Naomi purposed to
return to Israel; whereupon her daughter-in-law, Ruth,
announced her intention of returning with her. Here we catch
a glimpse of God's purpose in permitting backsliding. The
back-slider, though piling up chastisement for himself, is
unwittingly helping to work out God's purpose. This Moabitess,
Ruth, was destined to be an ancestress of David, and therefore
of the Messiah, himself. So then it was necessary to get her
out of Moab and into the city of Bethlehem in order that she
could marry into the family from which David would be born.
God, who could have used many other means to do so, used
Ruth's love for her backslidden mother-in-law to get her into
the city of Bethlehem. And through this same daughter-in-law,
Ruth, God would bless Naomi beyond her fondest desires.
John H Mattox