A Place of Rest in Moab

“The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” V. 9.

Naomi was skillful in eliciting the temptations from them. Think to find a place of rest each in the house of her husband. That was even worse than the previous temptation when they were tempted to return to their mother’s house. The desire of the woman is toward the man, and the prospect of getting married again was greater among the Gentiles in Moab than for a Gentile woman to be married to a Jewish man in Judah.

This was another battle they had to fight on the way. When Naomi said, “The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband,” it sounded as if it was God’s will that they should return.

We can ask ourselves: Is there rest in Moab? Is there peace in the world? The answer to these questions is: Yes, there is a peace that the world gives, and with that as a foundation, there is rest in Moab. Being dead in trespasses and sins gives a person a certain kind of rest in his conscience. This rest is interrupted when the judges in Israel begin to speak about God’s rest, and this peace is disturbed when they speak about the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

If the desire for the world is buried at the bottom of the heart, then the peace that the world gives will accompany this desire and offer a certain kind of rest in death, away from the face of the Lord. Perhaps it seems strange that the Lord can give such a false peace, but it is actually quite natural when you think about how a person with a desire for the world hates the judgments of the light. When God withdraws with His Spirit, the peace that the world gives appears immediately. The person finds a place of rest in Moab for as long as it lasts, but this place of rest turns into hell on the day he awakens.