Ruth Part 2

Ruth – From Bitterness to Hope

The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has pronounced judgment on me, and the Almighty has afflicted me? So Naomi came back from the land of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth 1:18-22

Ruth and Naomi made the long journey together from their home in Moab to Naomi’s home in Bethlehem. We are not sure how many miles they walked, but it is probably around 50. That may seem like a short distance today, (less than an hours drive), but we need to imagine two women, alone, probably with donkeys or some pack animal(s) to carry their supplies and possessions, walking that same 50 miles. It is made up of rugged steep terrain and desert lands and would have taken them at least a week to make the journey. When they arrived, the whole town, around 150-200 people, came to greet them. Naomi had returned! Everyone was excited. The first questions on their minds must have been, but where is Elimelech? Where are the boys? And who is this girl with Naomi? When Naomi is able to speak she explains everything with one statement: “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.”

The name Naomi is from the Hebrew root naom, which means delight, suitableness, splendor or grace, beauty and pleasant. She describes herself as having gone from naom to mara – from pleasant to bitter, from full to empty, from delight to grief. She has returned from Moab without husband, without sons and without hope. She only has Ruth who is described as the Moabitess – not necessarily a positive in the eyes of her clan. Remember, Moab is considered a hostile nation to Israel. There is a lot of history there, and most of it is negative. So what made Naomi go from pleasant to bitter? Poor decisions and circumstances that have led to hopelessness. Let’s look at these for a moment.

Elimelech’s poor decision to leave his clan, his bet-ab, to go to a hostile world contributed to Naomi’s bitterness. Proverbs 3:13-18 says: Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding, and her revenue is better than gold. She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left, riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy. One of the ways we can avoid bitterness is to seek out the wisdom of the Lord. It is described as more precious than gold or jewels. When we follow wisdom’s path, we find peace, life everlasting, and joy. This does not mean that life is going to be without difficulties or struggles. What it means is, we will navigate them wisely. We will not fall into the potholes of despair because we wisely know God is with us, guiding our path with His light. We can stand on the promises of God – He will provide for our needs, He will never forsake us, and when we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us. “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind,” James 1:5-6. The decision to go to a land alone without support led to the downfall of this family. So Naomi has returned home to Bethlehem feeling all the bitterness life has to offer.

Also, Naomi’s circumstances have led her to a state of hopelessness. It is indeed pretty direr. Without a husband or sons and because of her age, she is going to have to rely on the goodness of others. She will need to trust that the clan will take her back and take care of her. She can only see the bitter path at the moment. The cloud of depression and grief has blinded her to any other possibilities. When she looks around, all she sees is the rugged hills and deserts she must cross. Even when she returns to Bethlehem and receives a warm welcome, she cannot see any hope. Do not call me Naomi, she says, call me Mara, because the Almighty has made me bitter. This is a telling statement. She feels that even God has forsaken her and so there is no hope. She has been brought back empty.

In this day and age I believe these are the real issues we face. We live in a world without wisdom and so we make decisions based on what social media tells us and “follow” after whoever is popular or whatever voice is the loudest. What our “friends” think is more important than truth and consensus eclipses wise thinking. We looks for help everywhere but where does help really comes from? “I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth,” Psalm 121:1-2. If we want to know more about wisdom, look no further than the book of Proverbs. Here is the opening of the book: “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning what wisdom and discipline are; for understanding insightful sayings; for receiving wise instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity; for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man a wise man will listen and increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline,” Proverbs 1:1-7. If we want to follow someone – follow God. If we want to friend someone, friend Jesus. To follow God is the beginning of a wise path indeed.

Lastly, in researching the word mara I found a really wonderful thing. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt and began their travels to the Promised Land they were met with a lot of struggles. One such struggle came right when they left the Red Sea and started walking through the Wilderness of Shur. Here is what it says: “Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.” Exodus 15:22-25. The word translated drinkable here is way·yim·tə·qū which means to be made or to become mathoq – sweet or pleasant. So the water was bitter but became pleasant. Why? Because of a tree branch? No! Because Moses had faith in God who can turn bitterness into sweetness. Another example we find is in the Passover Seder. It is a meal eaten with bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness the Israelites lives were as captives in Egypt. There are two bitter herbs. One is parsley that you dip in salt, and the other is horseradish. You dip the matzah into the horseradish and eat it letting the bitterness fill your senses – and open up your sinuses!! But then, you do it again, this time covering the horseradish with a sweet concoction of apples, honey, nuts and wine called charoset. That bitterness is covered with sweetness to remind us that God can take even the most bitter situation and redeem it. And this is what we will find as we read through this wonderful book: Redemption. How Naomi will go from Mara back to Naomi once again. How God can take the bitterness we face and redeem it.

But for now, we have Naomi returning to Bethlehem without husband, without sons in despair and bitter. With her is Ruth, the Moabitess, a woman from a hostile land. Just calling her a Moabitess shows the distrust that is already there from the people of Bethlehem. All seems lost and hopeless. But I want us to concentrate on the last sentence of chapter one – “They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.” The tiny light of hope still glimmers and redemption is on the way.