(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Ruth 1:1–5, “Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.”
The events described in this book happened during the days of the Judges. We have just been considering some of the things that happened when no one really cared about the Lord’s Law and how it should be applied among the Lord’s people. This is really a parenthetical piece of history giving a practical example of how the Law worked concerning the responsibilities of a relative when a widow was in need. There was a man called Elimelech, meaning “God id my King”. How interesting to notice that even in the most lawless days of Israel’s history there were still people who were faithful to the Lord and to the Law. During the lawless period of Israel’s history there were droughts and other difficult times, as agreed to by Israel. In one of those drought periods a family from Bethlehem in Judah went over the Jordan River to Moab. (There was more than one town called Bethlehem in Israel so we are given extra information to let us know which Bethlehem is being described.) We should also note that the mountains on the eastern side of the Jordan River are higher than those on the western side so it was likely that there would be more rain on that side. The family that went to Moab are named as Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. Both the sons married in Moab; the two wives were called Orpah and Ruth. As time went by, Elimelech and both his sons died in Moab, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah as widows.
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