Ruth 1:

1.In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab

2. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of the two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were from Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there

Man is a migrant.

Man is always seeking a better option for himself. Cabot, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus…. were bitten by the bug of adventurism. Of course, they’re doughty and strong men. But their epochal voyages were actually propelled by search for a better condition of life, to acquire wealth or gold. In their adventures, they were known for ruthlessness and greed. They were typifying what man is; man is ever grubbing the earth looking for means of satisfaction in what the earth can throw up, to make life worth living. Whenever there’ a threat of extermination through famine or lack of the means of keeping life going, there will be an exodus or migration. In Nigeria, the newest term is japa (migration)  to a foreign nation. The word connotes a sudden and violent rush to flee a land to another. It’s the new trend in the country. The foreign nations to which one flees are termed greener pastures.

In the days of the judges famine rages hard in the God-forgotten land of Israel; the days of the judges were the age when the citizens behaved in the way they wanted; their lifestyle was borne on the carnal impetus not on the exigence of righteousness. Elimelech and family members were caught in the modern Ife of living for self and the rejection of the rights of the true God in the believers in Him. The family ostensibly moved to Moab because of the threatening famine.

 

Moab

Was the country of Moab the right place to flee to for green pastures? A brief incursion into history will help to know. Abraham and Lot were members of the same family, the latter being a nephew to the former. The one was helped to get wealth because of God’s covenant on the other. Both were rich in cattle and therefore the need to separate in order for their wealth of sheep to separately have enough green pastures. Lot, the nephew chose the land of Sodom to dwell in for the sake of his sheep while Abraham moved further afield. The former chose a pasture away from the immediate vicinity of the righteousness of God (Genesis 13:8-11). Lot’s choice was borne out of the reasonings of the sight and carnal desire; his choice was a space where righteousness of God was under constant smothering! Apostle Peter was to write later in the era of the rapid spread of the gospel concerning Lot’s barely escaping destruction rained down over the people of Sodom: and (If) he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) (2 Peter2:7-8).

I know it is not a good thing to miss out on God like Lot did. But I’m comforted and glad to know that this Book of Ruth tells of the order of eternal life that cannot be defeated or overcome – even when I have flouted some rules. Wherever I’m today or whatever mire I’m in today is as a result of my choice. But my joy is that in the aftermath of this choice, God is still with me, though I suffer the consequences of my choice

Lord, if you allow me to still be here in this world till now, it’s so clear to me that death and sin cannot overcome me; I’m ordained to this Life of God from all eternity!

Thank You, Lord.