The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife's name was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there.

Ruth 1:2 CSB

Ephrathites. 

From Bethlehem.

The writer wants us to know something of their whakapapa. 

The place, the land that they come from, and the people who they belong to. 

Genesis 35 includes the account of Jacob and his whanau in this area when Rachel dies and is buried there. That chapter includes the generations that would follow. 

At the very end of Ruth is the whakapapa of David, the line of Jesus, and we can see the connection of these people, Elimilech, Naomi, Mahlon & Chilion, and how their story is intertwined with God's Big Story, his redemptive plan.

Our God works in and through the most unlikely of people and circumstances, in this case a family without the resources to weather a famine, on the move in tough circumstances. 

Maybe that resonates with you in some way. 

It's only at the end of the book that the story all clicks into place. 

Today's circumstances don't tell the whole story.

#bookofRuth

#whakapapa

#todayscircumstancesdonottellthewholestory