From the Ground Up
From the Ground Up
Ruth 1:1
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
The closing line of Judges 21 and the opening line of Ruth 1 are the exact same pronouncement just written in different ways. The two phrases, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” and “There was a famine in the land,” are synonymous, because they’re both descriptions of the emptiness and fruitlessness of a life devoid of God’s benevolent rule.
Almighty God, through His prophet Moses, made the choice abundantly clear to His commonwealth in Leviticus 26:3-5: “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 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. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.” Oh, but the people chose idolatry and debauchery and self-sufficiency instead, didn’t they? At times we saw an oasis in the desert, through the spiritually enriching ministries of Othniel and Deborah and even Jephthah, but for the most part this commonwealth has devolved into a place of parched earth and parched souls and parched ceremonies. Rainclouds have been as sparse during these days as fires on Shiloh’s altar, and the former has been the consequence of the latter. Yet, notice that instead of holding up the scroll of Leviticus 26:3-5 to Heaven, signing their names to it, and pleading with one unified voice, “LORD, rain down on us again! We’ve become thirsty and empty without Your presence; forgive us our trespasses and lead us by streams of water for Your Name’s sake, for Yours is the kingdom and Yours is the power and Yours is the glory forever and ever, amen!”, men like Elimelech are packing their bags and moving their families to greener pastures.
Friend, if you look around today and see signs of famine in your city or your church or your home, don’t take it as an invitation to hit the road. Take it as an invitation to hit the ground.