Keep in mind that Ruth was not converted yet; consequently, the marriage of Naomi's sons to these two Moabite women was in direct disobedience to God; God had forbidden His people to intermarry with unbelievers. Naomi's family had lived in Moab for ten years, then the unbelievable thing happened - look at verse five: "Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband." This was a terrible crisis, one of hopelessness and despair.
At this time, Naomi and her two daughters-in-law are mourning the deaths of their husbands. But this was not the only grief these three widows were suffering. They lived in a male-dominated society. How could they earn a living, provide for themselves? Remember, the Law of Moses stated in Duet 25:5-6: "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. Deut 25:5-6 Both of Naomi’s sons were deceased. She was too old to remarry and have more sons. A deep sense of hopelessness and despair undoubtedly gripped all three widows, but in particular Naomi.
Then Naomi hears a word of hope - we will look at this in our next post...
My friend, if you are experiencing deep grief as Naomi and her daughters in-law, know that there is hope in the Lord. Until our next post, have a blessed day knowing God is with you even when all else seems to be crashing down on you, God will see you through it.
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