Hello, we're Scott and Marring Proctor and welcome to Meridian Magazine's Come Follow

We are going to talk about the book of Ruth and for Samuel chapters 1-2-3. We have special

thanks today to Diana Webb, who is the author of Biblical Lannises, Protector of the Covenant,

and Forgotten Women of God, who has provided notes and research to make this podcast possible

today.

Now, Ruth is a happy interlude in these chapters. It's not a story of a prophet, a war, or

a dramatic intervention by the Lord, but it's a family story, a private story in some

ways, but it's the family story of the family of the Savior. And we love it because we

have seen really good people who are living the covenant at work. So this is a book that

brings us joy.

We see at the outset something that people all through the Scriptures are faced with, and

we are faced with it in our time as well, and that's battling the climate. And this interaction

with the Lord in receiving rain for the lands that the people are in, this is critical

for them to be able to survive.

So in this story, due to a famine, Alemulek sells his land, and he leaves Bethlehem, and

he goes to Moab. Now, I think in order to understand this, you have to understand the lands

that are east of Judah, the lands that are on the other side of the Dead Sea, the other

side of the River Jordan. There are three lands in a row, and one of them on the north

is Ammon, and then in the middle is Moab, and at the south is Edom. Now, the land of Ammon

is for the people who had descended from Ben-Ami, who is the son of Lot by his younger

daughter, and then the land of Moab are the descendants of Moab, who is the son of Lot

through his older daughter. And Edom is the land of Issa, who is the twin brother of Jacob.

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