Ruth 1:1-13 Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me?

 Ruth 1:1-13

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 

No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!

Give this story a modern headline, and we quickly feel the impact of the chilling facts spelt out in these verses. Approaching starvation drives this family of refugees from their homeland. Far from home, the man of the house and his two sons all die-leaving three widows unsupported. It is an appalling situation, especially for Naomi.

New comes that the famine is over. Naomi's daughter-in-law sees her on her way. Then the time comes to say goodbye. Orpah, sorrowfully, yields to Naomi's pressure to go home and hopefully marry again.

Why?

Man's way sometimes doesn't come true as they expected or planned. Naomi with two daughter-in-law and lives in a foreign country. They were hopeless, but Naomi has mercy that asked her two daughters-in-law to leave her and find a future of their own.

Naomi is a good mother-in-law with love and good consideration.

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背景在士師時期。

伯利恒的地名是麵包屋，即糧倉之地，在應許之地有飢荒！

以利米勤： 名字是我神是我王的意思。我的神是王，卻完全沒有活出來。

拿俄米： 甜的

他們移居摩押士生活沒有比較好，人的謀算不如，那裏有吃的就往那裏去，那裏薪水好我就往那公司去，那個教會比較容易發揮，就往那個教會去，機會多。「瑪倫」名字的意思就是「弱者，患病」的意思，而「基連」的意思是「憔悴」，飢荒做孩子也養不好。

飢荒不是該地方不好，而是當地的人沒有尊主為大。飢荒不是因為這塊地，神用飢荒提醒人，但是人卻自己找出路，離開應許之地，似乎可以解決眼前問題，時間久了，容易發生大問題。

兄終弟及，但是拿俄米已經老了，即使今晚有丈夫，有兒子，可以和兩位同房，為兄長留後代呢?兩個媳婦能等嗎？俄珥巴選擇的原則是生活，也是一般人的選擇。自己找出路！

我們要考慮的是生命，不能只考慮生活！我們是要短暫的生活，還是尋求神的心意！

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How?

To be a good elder in-home should have mercy to the member of home such as Naomi.