20-In The Days When The Judges Judged

AUDIO TEACHING

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FULL RECORDED MEETING WITH MIDRASH. The Midrash has a lot of good information contributed by the audience.

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NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

The Book of Ruth is the story of YHVH choosing King David’s, and ultimately, Yeshua’s ancestor from His righteous remnant.

This teaching will encompass only the first 5 verses of the Book of Ruth to cover the story of Elimelech. Elimelech’s story needs to be unpack through study since there is no explanation of who he is and why he is so important in the account Ruth and Boaz. But know this: He is important and even pivotal to the account of Ruth and Boaz.

You already know Samuel wrote the Book of Judges after anointing Israel’s first King, Saul. He likely wrote it to document and explain Israel’s downward spiral from serving YHVH under Joshua to rejecting YHVH wholesale in the time of Saul. The phrase “there was no king in Israel” appears 4 times in Judges 17:6, Judges 18:1, Judges 19:1 and Judges 21:25 indicating that Samuel was explaining the change from YHVH’s government system of national judges to the worldly system of kings.  

Now we come to the Book of Ruth where Samuel must explain another problem: A King of Israel, King David, with a Moabite in his lineage! Oy vey! So, Samuel probably wrote the Book of Ruth after he anointed David. Judges after Saul; Ruth after David, just to give you some perspective.

Ruth and Boaz’s story probably happened between the time after Othniel had died, the Israelites return to serving Canaanite gods and the conquest of Israel by the Moabite King, Eglon, after which Eglon oppressed Israel for 18 years (Judges 3:14).

The Book of Ruth focuses not only on Ruth, but on Boaz who was the son of Salmon and Rahab. Salmon was one of the 2 spies sent by Joshua to spy out Jericho, and Rahab was the woman who helped them. Refer back to my teaching called, New Beginnings – Part 2. We will see, by the time we finish the Book of Ruth, that this account tells the story of Elimelech as much as Boaz, i.e. who is chosen and who is not for the genealogy of Yeshua. This is why I will go into so much detail about Elimelech and his sons.

Ruth 1:1  In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 

“In the days when the judges judged” is how we know the Book of Ruth’s setting was during the period of the Judges.

Famine In The Land

Now, we come to the famine in the land. Famine in the land was one of the first punishments listed in Leviticus 26 for Israel continuing to rebel against YHVH a second time. Let’s look at the list of punishments to see how King Eglon fulfilled them.

First, here are YHVH’s requirements for citizens of His Kingdom.

Lev 26:1  “‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God. 
Lev 26:2  “‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh. 
Lev 26:3  “‘If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 
Lev 26:4  then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 

It is surely the case that the Israelites had adopted the idols of the Canaanites as their gods over YHVH Elohim and they were not keeping the Sabbath. No one keeps the Sabbath of YHVH who is not also serving YHVH.

Now I will show how King Eglon’s invasion and the famine were fulfilled in the first list of punishments in the time of Ruth.

Lev 26:14  “‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments; 
Lev 26:15  and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant; 
Lev 26:16  I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you [that’s King Eglon sitting in his palace in the city of palms inside Israel’s border (Judges 3:13)], even consumption and fever [possibly related to Elimelech’s son, Machlon (more on that later), that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away [related to Elimelech’s son, Kilyon]. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it [the Moabites who came and conquered them in the first ever foreign invasion of Israel]. 

The Moabites were not experiencing famine. Ruth 1:1 says there was famine in the land. The land is Israel and such a famine in Israel would have weakened Israel’s army so that it became easy for King Eglon to conquer Israel and the famine did not extend outside Israel’s borders. As proof that Moab was not prone to famine, I present Jeremiah who stated how easily the Moabites lived.

Jeremiah 48:11  “Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.

It is not difficult to see from the time of the judges to Jeremiah’s time that Moab had an enduring reputation of being an easy place to live.

YHVH further said in His instructions to the first generation in the wilderness:

Lev 26:17  I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies [again, King Eglon and the Moabites]. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you [we do not have details of what happened during Moab’s invasion of Israel but Israel was conquered so it is likely the Israelites were weak and scared to death when the invasion took place].

Lev 26:18  “‘If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. 
Lev 26:19  I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like brass. 

Verse 19 expressly states that the after first round of disobedience, in the next round of “7 times more” during which the people continue to rebel after having been warned, there will be famine. Famine can only be viewed as from YHVH especially when only Israel experiences it and not the neighbors next door.

They had not listened to YHVH when He appeared to them en masse at the “bochim” weeping incident. It wasn’t long before they returned like dogs to their vomit to rebel against YHVH with the Canaanite gods so YHVH sent King Eglon and famine.

The famine was of unspecified length. The scripture says King Eglon ruled over Israel for 18 years but it gives no specified length of time for the famine. There would have been famine in the land for a long enough period to weaken all Israel before King Eglon conquered Israel.

King Eglon was the King of the first foreign nation used by YHVH to punish Israel. The Israelites were now the tail instead of the head (Deuteronomy 28:13 and 44) and they would have been required to pay tribute to Eglon. So in addition to oppression and famine, there was this annual expense of every family paying tribute money to the conquering king. These two situations set up the problem faced by Elimelech to take care of his family which, in turn, brought him to the bad decision of leaving Israel.

King Eglon, living in his headquarters in the city of palm trees (Judges 3:13), led a luxurious life in view of all Israel while all Israel suffered. This went on for 18 years. It was during this 18 year period when Elimelech moved his family to greener pastures in Moab against YHVH’s will.

The Story Of Elimelech

Ruth 1:2  The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab, and lived there. 

We will look in detail at the names of the 3 men and the town of Ephrath AKA Bethlehem Judah.

Naomi’s name is simple enough. It means ‘pleasant’.

H5281
נעמי
no‛ŏmı̂y
no-om-ee’

From H5278; pleasant; Noomi, an Israelitess: – Naomi.

A whole sermon could be preached about Naomi, her name and how her actions fulfilled her name but that is for another time.

Elimelech’s name is only mentioned in the Book of Ruth and nowhere else in scripture. His name means “God is my king” (Strong’s H458).

Who named Elimelech? Who wanted “God is my King” imprinted on their son? Parents name children. It is not only possible but probable that Salmon and Rahab were also Elimelech’s parents. Not only that, it is probable that Elimelech was there first son. Elimelech was named as Boaz’s brother in Ruth 4:3.

Ruth 2:1 and 3 says that Elimelech and Boaz were in the same family. Why would this now be called “the family of Elimelech”? Because Elimelech was the firstborn. The family is always called by the name of the current firstborn. Jacob’s family is supposed to be called by the name of Joseph, the firstborn. Sin and circumstances brought about by sin prevented all Israel from being called by Joseph’s name but the scripture still refers to the House of Joseph for the northern tribes of Israel. Samuel writing this way is to tell us that the family is now called by Elimelech’s name because Salman has died and the double portion of the firstborn has gone to Elimelech.

Then there is the spoiler alert to come in Ruth 4:3.

Ruth 4:3  He said to the near kinsman, “Naomi, who has come back out of the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s. 

This verifies Ruth 2 verses 1 and 3 which is written so we will know Elimelech was Salman’s firstborn. There are rabbinic texts that say Elimelech was Boaz’s cousin and some say they were brothers. Those who say they were brothers gets it right.

It now makes sense that Salmon would name his firstborn son “God is my King”. This name reflects the faith of both Salmon and Rahab that YHVH Elohim was also the rightful King of Israel, then and in the far future. Salmon installed his faith in his firstborn son because Salmon was a righteous man of the remnant of Israel which YHVH always had. His righteous remnant knew, as we do today, to look forward to the day when God would be King on earth. The remnant always understands YHVH’s plan because of the Holy spirit in them.

With a heritage and name like that, we would expect Elimelech to be a man of integrity and good character. We will see in a minute, though, that this might not have been the case. Just because the parents are righteous and part of the remnant (and yes, Rahab the Israelite convert was part of YHVH’s remnant), does not mean the children will necessarily be. Adam’s son, Cain; Isaac’s son Esau; King David’s 2 sons, Absalom and Adonijah turned out to be wicked men. The examples are many.

Elimelech And Naomi’s Sons

Elimelech’s sons’ names portray the poverty, problems and famine of both the family and Israel. Their names fit with the Leviticus 26 punishments for Israel having served other gods and not keeping the Sabbath. In this, we see how Elimelech understood what was happening in Israel. He did have some sense of YHVH and may have had a relationship with YHVH because of Salmon and Rahab teaching him.

Machlon’s (not Mahlon’s) name means “sick”. This is one of the Leviticus 26:16 punishments Israel received from YHVH for their treachery against Him. Machlon’s name has a ‘chet’ in it, not a ‘hey’. The ‘chet’ makes a harder sound than the ‘hey’. His name is found in Strong’s number:

H4248
מחלון
machlôn
makh-lone’

From H2470; sick; Machlon, an Israelite: – Mahlon.

Machlon’s name comes from the Hebrew word ‘machsor’ (Strong’s H4270) which also means deficiency, impoverishment, lack, need, penury, poor, poverty, want.

H4270
מחסר    מחסו
machsôr  machsôr
makh-sore’, makh-sore’

From H2637; deficiency; hence impoverishment: – lack, need, penury, poor, poverty, want.

Now we come to Chilion which is actually Kilyon.

H3630
כּליון
kilyôn
kil-yone’

A form of H3631; Kiljon, an Israelite: – Chilion.

H3631
כּלּיון
killâyôn
kil-law-yone’

From H3615; pining, destruction: – consumption, failing.

Kilyon, not Chilion, because his name starts with the kaph, not the chet, means destruction and pining because of that destruction. We find this in Lev 26:16, too. It also means failure. The failure of the Israelites was their return to the Canaanite gods after having an in person “come to Jesus meeting” at bochim. The hard heartedness of a people who can meet YHVH Elohim face to face like Moses and Joshua and yet still return to the Canaanite gods is incomprehensible to me.

Nonetheless, their parents, Elimelech and Naomi, named them according to the conditions of their lives and those in all Israel. These names indicate that Elimelech and Naomi understood the relationship between the famine suffered by the nation of Israel to serving Canaanite idols. This also means Elimelech was trained by Salman in the Torah and he had at least a modicum of understanding even though he sinned and it caused his own death.

Now, let’s talk about the place where they were from – Bethlehem Judah AKA Ephrath.

Elimelech, Naomi and their sons, Machlon and Kilyon, were from the same place that Samuel, King David and Yeshua would be (Micah 5:2). Bethlehem Judah’s other name was “Ephrath”, which means “fruitful”. It was a city in Judah’s tribal territory. This one city having two different names causes confusion because of the relationship between the Hebrew words “Ephrath” and “Ephraim”.

It has the same Hebrew root as the name “Ephraim” which also means fruitful, fertile and productive. The name Ephraim is where we get the epithet “Ephraimite”. Ephraim was the grandson of Rachel, Jacob’s second wife, who birthed Joseph. Ephraim was Joseph’s son. Rachel had died on the way from Syria to Shechem in Genesis 36 and was buried near Ephrath, otherwise known as Bethlehem Judah.

Genesis 35:19  Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).

People from Ephrath were called “Ephrathite” but this did not mean they were also Ephraimite because many Levites lived there. Bethlehem Judah AKA Ephrath was not a Levitical city but Levites lived there. We will read about this further into the Book of Judges.

There is also a northern city called Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun’s territory, as well. It is located near Nazareth. This is why the city in our story is called “Bethlehem Judah”. The addition of “Judah” behind the name identifies it as different from the northern Bethlehem.

The Death Of Elimelech

Ruth 1:3  Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 

Elimelech’s death was not simply providential as in “it just happened”. It was likely that YHVH put him to his early grave. There are no scriptural details of Elimelech’s life in Bethlehem Judah. We must construct information based on scripture.

We know nothing of his character through scripture but we have already determined he was probably Salmon and Rahab’s firstborn son. This means he had Biblical and cultural responsibilities.

We know he and his family suffered from not enough food because of famine. This means he struggled to survive so much that he may have sold his portion of the land inheritance (more on this in the future). The money from the sale must have run out so Elimelech left Israel and migrated to Moab where there was no famine and where he could get work to support his family.

If Elimelech was the family firstborn, his leaving Israel was a sin against his father, Salman or Salman’s memory, and his brothers and any sisters he may have had.

Furthermore, the question of why the Moabites would even allow this particular Israelite family to migrate must be raised? And why just this one family? Why not others? Why was there not a mass migration of Israelites to Moab? How did Elimelech manage to do for his family what other Israelites apparently and seemingly either could not or did not do for theirs? These questions raise concerns about Elimelech’s character even though it appears he had some Torah understanding.

Rabbinic texts state that other families did migrate to Moab but not in a mass migration. Lots of Israelite families moving to Moab because of the oppression, the famine and the requirement of a tribute to King Eglon would be expected since Moab was right next door. But it is likely King Eglon stopped such mass migration. Moab was not traditionally friendly to Israel. YHVH said of Moab:

Deu 23:3  An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly; even to the tenth generation shall no one belonging to them enter into Yahweh’s assembly forever; 
Deu 23:4  because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 

YHVH punished Moab by not allowing them in His assembly to the 10^th generation because they did nothing about helping Israel in the wilderness. It was the King of Moab, Balak, who brought Balaam to curse Israel and then they caused Israel to worship Baal Peor. These Baal Peor worshiping people were now in control of YHVH’s Israel!

Those kinds of prejudices don’t just die out. They remain. Furthermore, the memory of the death of Cozbi, the Moabite princess of King Balak, at the hands of Phineas probably had not been forgotten. So, it is likely that King Eglon refused to let the Israelites mass migrate to the greener pastures of Moab in large numbers. Such migration might have needed a special dispensation or permission.  

Imagine if you were a Moabite how you would not want Israelites coming to Moab in large numbers where they would quickly use up the resources. We have this problem in the United States, in Europe and elsewhere with the current mass migrations from South America, Mexico and the Middle East.

But Elimelech seems to have had the favor and protection of Eglon in moving from Israel to Moab to find work. Did he receive a special permission from King Eglon? If so, why? Or did he just sneak into Moab, and since there were not a lot of other Israelites, the Moabites just looked the other way? Maybe there was some Moabite who was willing to have Elimelech and his 2 sons as servants.

But there is more. Rabbinic texts claim that Orpah and Ruth were King Eglon’s daughters. According to the same text, Ruth Rabbah, Eglon was the son of Balak who tried to curse Israel.

How did Elimelech get this kind of favor with King Eglon to marry 2 of the King’s daughters? Why would he even want that given how Balak had treated Israel? It is one thing to sneak into Moab but quite another to have your 2 sons marry 2 of the King’s daughters. Did he have some kind of unsavory connection to Eglon that other Israelites did not have? How would he have obtained that? Was he possibly a servant, willing or unwilling, of King Eglon? Or did Elimelech know someone who knew Eglon personally who could be his patron before King Eglon to ask for favor to move to Moab? You see, there is more to this one family’s migration than meets the eye which brings into question Elimelech’s character. And since integrity and a Kingdom kind of character are required to be part of YHVH’s remnant, there should not be these kinds of questions.

In the very least, it is a sin for anyone to desert his post in YHVH’s Kingdom. Elimelech deserted his post by moving to Moab and leaving his immediate brethren and his nation to suffer. This is a selfish act. He was an Israelite whose position in the Kingdom required him to stay and suffer or possibly even to die for the sins of Israel.

YHVH even requires his angels to keep their post.

Jude 1:5  Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe. 
Jude 1:6  Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. 

Acts 15:38 is a passage about Paul’s rejection of John Mark who had deserted the mission spoken of in Acts 13:13.

Hosea chapter 8 is about how Israel deserted YHVH.

Hos 8:14  For Israel has forgotten his Maker…

If YHVH will punish angels for desertion, how much more His own people when they desert their post? Desertion is not allowed in YHVH’s Kingdom! Paul being deserted by John Mark was such a big problem that he and Barnabas split up because of it. YHVH exiled the northern tribes for their desertion. Desertion is not even allowed today in any military or civilian service in any government on earth. The act of desertion is that of a coward and self-centered individual.

It is not only scriptural for YHVH to punish people for being selfish, leaving their land and brethren behind in order to take care of their own self-interests, but we will in our own future see how YHVH deals with those who try to escape his chastisement by desertion starting with His chastisement of Gog, who deserted his own tribe of Reuben.

The famine was for the purpose of causing the Israelites to cry out to Him and return to His Law. It was not for the purpose of inducing them to leave the land. No. He wants His people in His land but He wants them there doing His will. Desertion is the sin of Elimelech that disqualified him from being Yeshua’s preordained ancestor, and desertion causes people to view one as a traitor.

This is a lesson to YHVH’s people. We are required to be faithful to our people and keep everyone else’s interests in mind and not leave our brethren to suffer because of our own self-interests.

Elimelech had another way out of his poverty problem. He may not have needed to leave Bethlehem Judah. YHVH has a way to deal with poverty situations in His instruction regarding male Hebrew servants in Exodus 21. Was there no one who could take Elimelech in as a servant? There may or may not have been someone able to take Elimelech as a servant or perhaps there were but they were not willing. Could it be that Elimelech was too proud, as the firstborn of his father’s family, to submit to another master until the next Shmittah?

We simply do not know. Perhaps Elimelech had approached King Eglon to become his servant and that is how he gained Eglon’s favor, or perhaps he did sneak into Moab and a Moabite made him and his sons into servants. This we do not know. It is enough, though, to understand now that Elimelech leaving Israel was a grave and serious sin against YHVH, his brothers and his Israelite nation and one for which YHVH took his life.

The Moabite Wives

Ruth 1:4  They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. 

They would have married in the same year, possibly in the same ceremony (which makes sense if they were, indeed, marrying sisters) and they would have died in the same year possibly at the same time and most likely from illnesses which their names imply.

Orpah’s name means “mane” as in a lot of hair.

H6204
ערפּה
‛orpâh
or-paw’

Feminine of H6203; mane; Orpah, a Moabitess: – Orpah.

She was probably born with a lot of hair like a mane, but her name comes from:

H6203
ערף
‛ôreph
o-ref’

From H6202; the nape or back of the neck (as declining); hence the back generally (whether literally or figuratively): – back ([stiff-]) neck ([-ed]).

We will see that her name reflects her character. Interestingly, Ruth’s name is associated with shepherding but she is also a friend.

H7327
רוּת
rûth
rooth

Probably for H7468; friend; Ruth, a Moabitess: – Ruth.

H7468
רעוּת
re‛ûth
reh-ooth’

From H7462 in the sense of H7453; a female associate; generally an additional one: –  + another, mate, neighbour.

H7462
רעה
râ‛âh
raw-aw’

A primitive root; to tend a flock, that is, pasture it; intransitively to graze (literally or figuratively); generally to rule; by extension to associate with (as a friend): –  X break, companion, keep company with, devour, eat up, evil entreat, feed, use as a friend, make friendship with, herdman, keep [sheep] (-er), pastor, + shearing house, shepherd, wander, waste.

Finally…

Ruth 1:5  Machlon and Kilyon both died, and the woman [Naomi] was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 

Their deaths are attributed by rabbinic texts as punishment for marrying non-Israelite women. This fits with YHVH’s instructions from Deuteronomy 23:3-4 about no Moabite is to be in YHVH’s assembly up to the 10^th generation. Ruth and Orpah were not past the 10^th generation at this point. They were probably part of the 2^nd to 4^th generation from the 2^nd wilderness generation of Israel who received this instruction.

Now, Samuel will continue to explain Ruth’s presence in David’s line in the teaching for next week and we will find out why that is OK.