Today we meet the first of the men and women in the Book of Ruth that will tell their story during Epiphany. We meet Elimelech in the first two verses of the book. The image from CreationWiki.org is one artist’s interpretation of how the family might have looked on their way to Moab.
Here’s his story:
I grew up on the stories of how wonderful it would be to return to our ancestral home. My father was proud of being descended from the son of a son of a son of a son… you get the picture. It was a family story handed down from father to son ever since the sons of Jacob left the Promised Land during the long-ago famine.
My father always said, “when we return to Ephrath, we will be rich.” He recited the story of our family leaving the hill country in a sing-song monotone that too often lulled me to sleep. My mother made the story more interesting, by telling me that Ephrath was where the great patriarch Jacob, father of our people, had buried his beloved wife Rachel after she gave birth to Benjamin. It was because of her other son, Joseph, that we (all the sons of Jacob and their families) had been able to settle in Egypt all those generations ago.
I never knew Egypt. All I knew as a boy was endless travel in the desert. We followed our flocks around from grazing area to grazing area. Always we would return to Sinai, the ‘mountain of God’ where our leader, Moses, would visit with the Holy One. None of the rest of the men were allowed on the mountain. Even Moses’ brother Aaron was not to set foot there, even though he was our spiritual leader.
Before I was born, Moses the great leader, confronted Pharaoh in Egypt and defeated the Egyptian gods. It was another of the stories told around the campfires. One that enthralled me was the tale of Moses dividing the sea so that the people crossed on dry land. It was much more interesting because I knew Moses and had seen his staff. I was a bit disappointed that it really didn’t look any different than the staffs used by most of the men for walking and guiding the sheep back to the right path.
Moses also gave us rules from God so that we would not sin. Not obeying the Holy One of Israel had caused punishment during the years of wandering. Fire had consumed some who built a golden calf not long after the group left Egypt. Another time, poisonous snakes crawled into the camp and were only stopped by a bronze snake on a pole. That object both attracted and appalled me when it was displayed during the telling and re-telling of that cautionary tale.
For forty years we followed Moses. Eventually he sent men into Canaan to see what resistance there would be. They came back with a mixed report. All agreed that the land was rich and fruitful. However, the inhabitants were said to be ‘giants’. However much I wanted to believe Joshua’s assurance that God would be with us, I didn’t want to risk fighting against giants. I had a wife to think about.
Naomi and I were married not too long before Moses died, and Joshua assumed command. He was set on entering the ‘land promised to Abraham and his children forever’. We passed through the country of Moab and camped by the Jordan River. Only when the waters of that swift flowing river parted, did we dare to believe that God was with Joshua as with Moses. Then we followed him across into the plain between the River and the fortified city of Jericho.
The destruction of that strong town will be told around fires for generations. By the help of a woman, who some whispered was a prostitute, our spies returned safely. The armies of Israel marched around the city for six days, then on the seventh, we attacked. The resistance melted like the walls had been flattened.
We were free to settle in the land. Of course, there were still skirmishes as the locals resisted our return. The people of Canaan had renamed Ephrath as Beyt-Lehem in honor of one of their gods. We called it Beth-lehem Ephrath to combine the old and new names. Indeed it was a rich land-a House of Bread.
Then came the seasons with no rain. It went on for so long that the crops were destroyed. There was hunger and talk of famine. I had my family to think of. Two sons had been born. I remembered that Moab was a rich land, watered by the Jordan River. We set out from Ephrath and settled in Moab.
We have a good life in Moab. My sons grew into men and found wives. They are Moabite women, but what else could we do? The news from Ephrath said that there are still poor crops even though the rain cycle had resumed.
I tried to keep faith in the One God of Israel. It was hard in the midst of all the Moabite festivals to all their gods. Naomi was better at staying true to the Holy One. I thought that perhaps it didn’t really matter what the name of the god was, just as long as that god provided food and safety. I don’t know if I am wrong or right. I know that those who remained in the Promised Land will say I have lost my faith, and my part in the life of the Children of Israel. I have a good life, here in Moab. It is enough.
©Cynthia Davis 2020
What resonates from Elimelech’s story to your life?
When have you been separated from your faith community? How did you keep your faith?
