Decisions driven by uncertainty.
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“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.”
Decisions driven by uncertainty.
I can relate to that. A little over 50 years ago, “in the
days when the Castros ruled, there was political oppression in the land, and a
man from Havana, Cuba, together with his wife and three daughters, went to live
for a while in the country of U.S.”
Like my father, the intention of the man from Bethlehem was
never to stay forever, but to return home to his land and his family. Except
that neither of them made it back. Verse 2 goes on to say that Elimelek and
both his sons died while in Moab.
Was Elimelek right in taking his family out to a pagan
country, leaving his homeland, their customs, culture, worship style,
community, and extended family behind? Was he leaving God himself behind in the
process?
Bethlehem means “house of bread”. So, spiritually, it
represents the place where God provides for our souls, our place of contentment
and security, our church, our church family. Moab, on the other hand, is the
symbol of sin and godlessness.
They say the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
When Elimelek left, he left behind all that was familiar to him. For the sake
of the abundance of Moab, he left the protection provided by being a part of
the community he had been born into. He went out chasing a better life, a life
of abundance. I suppose that as a father and provider, he thought he needed to
make such a decision. We don’t know if they had lost everything, or if it was
just a matter of feeding his family.
Whatever the case, he stayed there long enough for the boys
to grow up and marry. We don’t know if Elimelek succumbed to the Moabite
lifestyle, but by allowing his sons to marry outside his faith and culture, and
into the Moabite way, he somehow neglected the Israelite traditions. Elimelek
paid the price. He died there, and so did his sons. He never had the
opportunity to return to his homeland.
Have you ever had to leave behind something you love, hoping
to be back? Was it out of need or intentional? Have you ever felt that you have
left God and the church behind to pursue interests that the world has presented
to you?
Where are you now? Moab? Bethlehem? #getittogethergirl Wherever
it is, meditate on it and think how you can either return, or rescue others.
Father, you have provided me with a spiritual family, a
family called church, a breadbasket from which I can draw the daily bread of
grace for my sustenance. I know that sometimes there is famine in my life.
Please let me live in such a way that I don’t want to look at the world when I
am hungry, but only to you, and let me share the manna that you give us and not
run away, tempted by the world’s abundance of meat. In Jesus’ name, amen.
My reflections:
“I
will arise and go to my father.”
Luke
15:18
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