Skip to content
  • DONATE
Me
  • The Book of Ruth

Day Three – Tragedy Strikes

share

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on whatsapp
Share on email

Welcome to your daily Bible 2020 reflection. Over this series we’ll be taking time to read, speak, pray and share God’s word.

The best way to access the daily readings is through the Bible 2020 app. Open it now for today’s reading, or download it via Apple or Google App stores.

Open BIble 2020
  • Download on the app store
  • get it on google play

Ruth 1:3-5 (NIVUK)

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Yesterday, we noted the book of Ruth began in difficult times, both for the nation of Israel and for Elimelek and his family. Now, tragedy hits the family:

 

First with the death of Elimelek, and then the death of Naomi’s two sons. Ominously, the Hebrew names Mahlon and Kilion are related to the words for “sickness” and “destruction”.

The text is stark, “Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband”, a vulnerable widow, in a foreign land. The new beginning in Moab for Elimelek and his family has ended in disaster.

And where is God? He’s here in the story, in Elimelek, whose name means, “The LORD is King”. But that truth must have been very hard to believe for Naomi.

When tragedy strikes, when death enters our life, when disaster comes, it can be hard for us to believe that “the LORD is king”. These things are reminders that the world is not as it should be. Yet in Ruth’s story, and in ours, God is at work to put things right.

PrevPreviousDay Two – Difficult days
NextDay Four – Turning to GodNext

BIBLE 2020

The Book of Ruth

download the app

  • Download on the app store
  • get it on google play

subscribe to the podcast

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • RSS Feed


Copyright © 2022 The Scottish Bible Society
Scottish Charity No. SC010767
Registered Office: 7 Hampton Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5XU, United Kingdom
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Contact Us
Scottish Bible Society
CloseMenu

We have compiled resources which can help you and your loved ones stay in close relationship with God. These resources also equip all who are engaging in virtual community to stay close to one another.

Stay connected with us

Read God's Word

  • JOSEPH AND THE TRIUMPH OF GRACE
  • EQUIP
  • BEYOND DISASTER

SHARE GOD's WORD

  • EASTER
  • BIBLE 2020
  • The Outspoken Bible
  • Gospel of Mark

children & families

  • Grace Gatherings
  • Bible World Books
  • bible 2020 family resources