Godly Believers (v. 1). In the ancient Near East, marriages were arranged primarily by the parents, but the stories of Jacob (Gen. 28–30) and Ruth indicate that love was not entirely lacking in these marriages. Here we have a Jewish couple who truly feared the Lord and wanted to establish a home that Jehovah could bless. To fear the Lord means to reverence Him and seek to please Him by obeying His Word. In the background is the covenant God made with Israel (Lev. 26; Deut. 28-30). If they obeyed, God would meet their needs; if they disobeyed, He would chasten them. This is the Old Testament version of Matthew 6:33. It takes three to form a happy marriage: a man and woman who love the Lord and each other, and the Lord who performed the first wedding back in the garden of Eden.