R1-6: The Divine Reason Why Naomi Lost Her Husband And Two Sons

“Elimelekh, Na‘omi’s husband, died; and she was left, she and her two sons.  They took wives for themselves from the women of Mo’av; the name of the one was ‘Orpah; and the name of the other was Rut. They lived there for about ten years. Then Machlon and Kilyon died, both of them; and the woman was left with neither her two sons nor her husband.”-Ruth 1:3-5

Although verse 1 says that Elimelech took his family to “live” in the territory of Moab.

He didn’t plan to stay there indefinitely.

How do we know this?

Well, as usual, all we gotta do is look at the original Hebrew which is the word GUR.

GUR means “to sojourn” and not to stay in any one place for the long term.

So Elimelech’s plan was just to chill in Moab until the situation in the homeland stabilized…

And then he would return home.

He was NOT immigrating or planning to change his nationality.

It was to only be a long-term visit.

But unfortunately, his plans were derailed.

We’re not told the cause but we’re told he died…

And then after his two sons married, they too also died.

So the big question that arises from all of this is WHY?

Think about it folks.

Naomi lost not only her husband but also her two sons.

Such bad luck could only have been viewed as some kind of curse from the Almighty Himself.

But if it was a curse, that leads to the question of WHAT SIN did Elimelech and his family commit?

For the answer to that question, let’s turn to the Jewish Sages.

Read this quick excerpt from the Midrash Rabbah:

“Our rabbis taught that it is not permitted to go forth from the land of Israel to a foreign country unless one seah is sold for two seahs.  Rabbi Shimshon said, this is permitted only when one cannot find anything to buy. But when one is able to find something to buy, even if one seah costs a selah, one must not depart. And so said Rabbi Shimon Bar Yofai: Elimelech, Machlon and Chilion were among the notables of their generation and they were leaders of their generation. Why then were they punished? Because they left the land of Israel for a foreign country.”-Genesis Rabbah 28

Okay, so you’re probably wondering what the heck is a SEAH?

A SEAH is unit of measurement for dry goods that would come to about 2 gallons.

So basically what the Rabbi is saying is unless the price of food (probably grain) doubles, then you’re not to leave the Holy Land.

The Rabbi goes on to say EVEN IF the price of one SEAH (2 gallons) increases to a SELAH, you still must not leave.

So now you’re scratching your head about the word SELAH, right?

Again, forget about asking your average Christian scholar the real meaning of this word.

In this context, he won’t have any idea and will probably tell you it means “to lift up” or “exalt” or other such nonsense.

But to be fair, this is kind of a hard word to explain.

In this context (and remember it’s a Rabbi speaking here), it’s referring to a rare and highly valued Torah teaching or religious instruction for which one pays a big sacrifice to get.

In other words, the point being made is unless things get so bad in the Holy Land that it literally becomes impossible to buy food, then and only then is one permitted to leave the land God set aside for His people and seek relief elsewhere.

This dovetails nicely with what we discovered about Elimelech and his family yesterday.

We learned he was was considered an “EFRATIM from BEIT-LEMECH”.

In other words, he was such a rich farmer that he was considered part of the “abundant clan” or EFRAT in Hebrew.

So the conclusion of the Rabbis is that Elimelech’s family came under the curse of God because he left the land too easily.

It wasn’t that there wasn’t any food available at all.

It was just difficult to obtain…

And Elimelech being a rich farmer with an abundance of crops would have lost the most when the marauding Midianites came to town to steal and destroy his food supply (assuming this was when Gideon was a judge).

But here’s the thing.

While he would have lost the most, he wouldn’t have suffered the most.

If you have a hundred thousand dollars in your bank account and lose twenty thousand of it, you’ve still got quite a chunk left.

But if you have twenty thousand in your account and lose the same amount, in that case, your money has just dropped to zero.

My point is Elimelech decided to leave the land under difficult but not unbearable conditions.

He chose to disobey God because it became INCONVENIENT for him to do so.

And as a result, he and his sons lost their lives.

There’s a huge lesson here folks, especially if you’re a Hebrew.

The Hebrews BELONG IN THE LAND THAT GOD HAS SET ASIDE FOR THEM!

The cost to bring His people into the land was too great to be treated lightly.

Millions of Egyptians and Canaanites AND thousands of Israelites lost their lives in the process.

And Elimelech decides to just pick up and leave when things get difficult.

That didn’t sit well with the Lord who decided to punish him and his family severely for leaving.

The Rabbis hit the bullseye!

And soon we’re going to see Naomi reach the same conclusion.

See ya all next time.