In this message we will consider Ruth 1, a chapter that covers Elimelech’s swerving, Naomi’s returning, and Ruth’s choosing.
In verses 1 and 2 we see that Elimelech swerved from the rest in God’s economy. He was in the good land and had a portion of it, and he should have remained there. Remaining in the good land that God has promised and given is the real rest. Elimelech foolishly swerved from this wonderful rest.
Israel, as God’s elect, was living in the God-promised land for the carrying out of God’s economy. This means that staying in the good land is not just for us to earn a living but for us to participate in the carrying out of God’s economy.
Israel’s rest, their prosperity for their enjoyment and their contentment, was related to their situation with God in His economy. For an Israelite to leave the good land meant that he was cutting himself off from God’s eternal economy.
The book of Ruth speaks of Christ being brought into mankind through incarnation. This is the real rest. Ruth is thus a book of rest. As we will see, after Ruth married Boaz, they brought forth a child, Obed, and Ruth enjoyed a rest with an absolute satisfaction and full expectation for her descendants. The following generations enjoyed rest under David. Then after one thousand years, they enjoyed the real rest with the Lord Jesus. Two thousand years later, this rest will be enjoyed in a fuller way in the millennial kingdom with Christ as the King. After the millennium, the enjoyment of this rest will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. This matter of rest is the key to the book of Ruth.
Elimelech’s mistake was to swerve from the ground, the standing, which gave him the opportunity to enjoy the rest in the good land. He swerved from Bethlehem in Judah.
Bethlehem, the city of David, was designated as the birthplace of the coming Christ (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-7). In the eyes of God, Bethlehem was a very special place, for it was the place where He, through incarnation, would be born to be a man.
Judah was the land of the royal tribe among Israel (Gen. 49:8-10). Of all the tribes, no tribe had a higher allotment of the land than Judah. It was the top part of the God-promised land (Exo. 3:8b), the top part of the good land (Deut. 8:7-10), and the top part of the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8). How mistaken Elimelech was in swerving from this land!
Elimelech swerved from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab, a place of incest rejected and condemned by God. Moab was a country of the descendants of Lot through his incest (Gen. 19:30-38). It was also a country of the people who were not allowed to enter into the assembly of Jehovah because of the incest of their forefathers (Deut. 23:2-3) and because of their mistreatment of Israel (v. 4). Furthermore, Moab was a country of people whose peace and prosperity God would not allow Israel to seek all their days forever (v. 6). Finally, Moab was a country of idolatry (Judg. 10:6).