CRISIS

Now it happened in the days when the judges judged, that there was a famine in the land.  Ruth 1:1a

Things were bad in Judah. Politically, everyone was doing whatever he wanted (Judges 21:25). Economically there was a famine. Maybe news of a famine doesn’t scare you as much as it would have back in those days. But remember these people were completely dependent on their crops. If it didn’t rain it meant no food. No food meant disease, malnutrition, starvation, and ultimately death.

That there was a famine also indicates something about the spiritual condition of the nation. God had told His people that “But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: … And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed” (Deut. 28:15, 23-24). God used famines as wakeup calls for Israel to repent. The rain hadn’t stopped because there were no clouds. The rain had stopped because Israel was disobedient to God!

Could it be that difficulty has recently happened in your life because God is trying to get your attention? James 5:15 indicates that this is possible. If so, James also provides the solution. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed” (v. 16). God is always ready to forgive.

Philip Moeller