Sadly, whether it be people fleeing natural disasters like the cyclone in Burma or the chaos and economic breakdown of places like Zimbabwe, we are all too familiar with the sight of refugees. And because of that, we can easily identify with the opening scene of the book of Ruth. A man, leaving the difficulties of his homeland behind him, fleeing to another land, to build a better life for himself and his family.

The book of Ruth is tucked away in the OT Scriptures, squeezed between two better known books and you could easily miss it, as you turn from the action of Judges to the continuing drama of 1 Samuel. But despite its size, the book of Ruth has a lot to say and we are going to explore its depths together.

1. Road to Nowhere⤒🔗

As we turn to these opening verses, there are three basic lessons that we need to learn. Firstly, the road to nowhere is paved with promises. In the years immediately following WWII, many left Britain with its rationing and war damage, and emigrated to the dominions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in the hope of something better. And as chapter one opens, we find Elimelech doing something similar.

Understandable reasons←↰⤒🔗

Now it is important that we realize that he is leaving for understandable reasons. This is the time of the Judges and there is a “famine in the land”. (1:1 ESV) The period of the Judges is best summed up by the phrase that “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jud. 21:25 ESV) There was this repeated cycle of rebellion, judgement, repentance and deliverance. This is Elimelech’s world and the fact that there is a famine, indicates that this is a period of judgement. So he decides to leave Bethlehem, which means house of bread, because there is no bread to be found there.

You can understanding Elimelech’s reasoning can’t you? Especially, when you bear in mind where he is going to. He is going to the “country Moab” (v 1), literally the fields of Moab. Conjures up a picture of fertility and prosperity doesn’t it?

Not quite as simple←↰⤒🔗

But whilst we might be able to identify with his choices, we must also realize that things are not quite as simple as they seem. Think about the country he is leaving. For all its difficulties, this is the Promised Land. Even with the famine, it is still the one corner of this world that Yahweh claims to be peculiarly his own, but Elimelech is leaving! Think also about the country he is going to. Yes, Moab is green and fertile, but it is a pagan land. A land of vile fertility cults. A cruel land that had sought, to dominate Israel, but this is where Elimelech is going! This is where he is hoping to raise his young family!

There is something wrong here. Yes, Moab has a lot going for it. It promises much, but it is a road to nowhere, because Elimelech is taking his family out of the sphere of blessing. In this regard he is a warning to us. As we traverse the narrow and difficult path of the Christian life (Matt 7:13-14), the green and fertile fields of the world are often in view, and they hold out the promise of a better, easier life and we are tempted by what we see. Rather ironically, the name Elimelech means something like God is my King, but the Lord isn’t King of Elimelech’s life as he makes his decision to leave. What about us? Is the Lord King of our lives, directing the choices that we make in life or are we more influenced by the green and fertile fields of the world?

2. Life’s Knocks←⤒🔗

So the road to nowhere is paved with promises. Secondly, there are lessons to be learned from life’s knocks. There are always consequences to our actions, whether for good or ill. Not so long ago a 67 year old man, decided to take a shortcut across a tidal estuary in Devon. But he got into trouble and began to sink into the quicksand. By the time the coastguard reached him, he had sunk up to his waist!

Permanent stay←↰⤒🔗

And there are consequences to Elimelech’s choices. One being that a temporary stay becomes permanent. In v 1 we are told that he “Went to sojourn in the country of Moab”, which may imply that initially at least, Elimelech only intended to stay temporarily, perhaps until the famine passed. But in the next verse we read, “They went into the country of Moab and remained there.” Now Elimelech may not have made a conscious decision to stay permanently, but you can understand how it happened. They move to Moab and begin to put down roots and before they know it, the years have just drifted by.

Missed opportunity←↰⤒🔗

Now Elimelech’s reason for moving was to escape disaster, but sadly disaster catches up with him in the green and fertile fields of Moab. Having left a land of want, he dies in a land of plenty (v 3). We can imagine the devastating impact his death must have had upon his family, but in another sense this is a heaven sent opportunity. It is an opportunity for them asking some very important questions, about why their plans for a better life have been frustrated? It provides them with an opportunity to make better choices and to return home. But Elimelech’s loved ones don’t seem to ask those kind of questions. In fact they put down even deeper roots, because his sons take wives from amongst the Moabites (v 4).

But this sad rerun of Elimelech’s bad choices has great motivating potential. Which one of us wants to see our children making bad choices? Bad choices that they have learned from us. Well, the answer is not to make those bad choices in the first place. The answer is to set our children a good example by only making biblically informed choices. We also need to show them how to learn from life’s knocks. That doesn’t mean that whenever something goes seriously wrong, it is an indication that we have made a bad choice and that the Lord is dealing with us. But it is an opportunity to sit down and to ask ourselves some important questions, and where necessary to acknowledge our mistakes and to correct them by making Christ honouring choices.

3. End of the Road←⤒🔗

So we need to learn from lives knocks. Our final lesson is that the end of the road is sometimes the beginning of hope. Sometimes things really do go from bad to worse and that was the case with Elimelech’s wife Naomi. Having lost her husband, she now loses her sons (v 5).

Its one thing after another. What a bitter moment this is in Naomi’s life. Having lost everything, she is now far from home, with only her two Moabite daughters-in-law for company. But in actual fact this is a turning point in her life. Hope is beginning to dawn and the Lord is on the move. Shortly, she will receive news that will encourage her to make the right choice and to return to the land of blessing.

Now we might ask why this couldn’t have happened earlier? Couldn’t the Lord have brought Naomi to her senses before this? Well, the Lord is the best physician of our souls and he knows when the timing is right. Sometimes he allows us to run with our sinful choices for a while and to suffer the consequences. Sometimes he allows us to go a long way-away before he reels us back in, and sometimes it has to be that way, because it is only when we have gone to the extremities, that we are then ready to be brought back. Think of the prodigal. It was only when the money had run out and he was eating the pigs’ leftovers, that he was ready to return home. (Luke 15:16-17). The same is true for Naomi. Only now, when she has reached the end of the road, is she ready to set out on the road home. And even though she doesn’t realize it, the Lord is already at work in her life and there is hope at the end of the road.

We can all find the green and fertile fields of Moab attractive. We are all tempted by the prospect of an easier and more comfortable life. We can all make bad choices and stray into a foreign land, but the wonderful thing is that our Lord Jesus Christ once went into a self-imposed exile. He once went a long, long way-away from home into a foreign and hostile land, and he did so in order to give us hope at the end of the road and to bring us back home. Amen ...