I was drawn right in as part of me identified with Naomi right away in chapter one. I haven't had to flee a severe famine just to stay alive, but I have faced hunger with a serious inability to get food so I know a bit of that type of desperation and confusion. I've never found myself in Moab with my entire nuclear family dead, but I have lived in foreign lands occasionally on my own so I've had a taste of the feelings of loneliness and fear. Feelings of abandonment can be paralyzing.
I don't want to put my experiences on the same plane as those of Naomi. Yet I do understand and appreciate the circumstances of her life. I can easily see myself making the comment she makes in verses 20 and 21. "Don't call me Naomi, " she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."
My mind began to grapple with the content of that pain-driven statement. Many would say, as I have in the past, that Naomi was filled with bitterness when she asked that she be addressed as Mara which means bitter. She certainly had due cause to make the request, considering that she'd gone out a happy and hopeful wife and mother and was returning a destitute and hopeless widow with the added responsibility of a loyal but alien daughter-in-law.
Naomi's plight reminded me of the devastation Job experienced. I considered the comparison and was drawn to Job's response to his first round of testing in 1:21. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Job lost his family and everything he owned. He tore his robe and shaved his head, the outward signs of deep mourning, before he made this statement. He sure sounds bitter to me.
Yet people don't describe Job that way. They tend to see him as a model servant of God who was ultimately faithful in the midst of horrific circumstances. Perhaps that's because Job's words are taken in the context of his entire life. From that perspective we see his statement as an affirmation of the truth he holds dear. God is sovereign and no matter what unfolds around me yet will I submit to His will and recognize His right to do with me as He sees fit.
What if we apply the same contextual test to Naomi's bitter statement?
The setting of Naomi's statement is a place to begin. As she was approaching Bethlehem, her 'old home town', the women didn't know who she was. Her physical appearance had changed so dramatically that she was unrecognizable to her former friends and neighbors. It's important to notice that twice in Naomi's explanation of her request for a more accurate name she addresses God as "the Almighty". Even in her grief Naomi confirms the sovereignty of God.
No, Naomi didn't put on a plastic smile and act as if everything was rosy. It's interesting to ponder the reaction to her honest description as compared to Job's. Job didn't sugar coat any of his experiences either and yet he's seen as long-suffering. Naomi, like Job, didn't castigate God for the dreadful events she'd undergone. She affirmed the same truths; God is sovereign and no matter what unfolds around me yet will I submit to His will and recognize His right to do with me as He sees fit.
Naomi does state that she is "afflicted" by God and that He is the One who has brought "misfortune" on her. However, we should try to understand these words as she might have intended them. As a Jewess raised in a worshipping household and married to a godly husband, she would have seen affliction more as it's found in Psalm 119:75, "I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me." The concept in Proverbs 3:11,12 would probably have been part of her view of God, "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."
What follows this critical statement is quite revealing. God does not record any discipline for careless words nor for a bad attitude. Rather, we find an account of godly character being displayed under great pressure. Through chapters 2 and 3 Naomi does her best to carry on in the face of hard times. She applies herself to help Ruth settle into a new culture and to make a home for the two of them. She carefully trains Ruth in the dictates of Jewish customs as she guides her through the kinsman-redeemer process. Naomi could have followed any number of manipulative and heinous pathways. Instead she remained faithful to the One to whom she gave her allegiance.
Perhaps the closing verses of the final chapter toll the loudest death nell to the idea that Naomi was nothing but a bitter old woman. God silenced Job's friends and critics and re-affirmed His confident and loving hand by restoring his family and wealth. In the same way, God surrounded Naomi with His rich and tender blessings. In Ruth 4:16 we find Naomi with a precious grandson on her lap. The name and property of her husband and sons have been retained in the historical record. She is now part of an extended family where she will never face want the rest of her life.
Though she would have been unaware of it, the future of Naomi's line is laid out for us in this treasured account. Her first grandson whom she was blessed to tend is named Obed. Obed's son is Jesse, the father of David. God chose to weave the heartache of Moab into the bloodline of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
My mind raced to a verse I'd been contemplating lately, Isaiah 30:19. "O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer." God's Word declares that as soon as Naomi cried out in Moab He heard and had an answer in place. She just needed to continue to live in submissive obedience with her heart and mind set on His truth while He worked out the perfect details and timing - for His own glory.
That's just what she did in the face of desperation, confusion, loneliness, fear, feelings of abandonment, etc.
To us Naomi's drama takes only four short chapters. We might be tempted to take the depth of her character much too lightly. Like us, she would have been facing the unknown with only her faith in her hands. We see her life moving from bitter circumstances to joy and peace and bounty as a brief overview. She had to slog through every miserable minute of it. Every woman can probably identify with her at one time in our lives or another.
The fresh glimpse I've been given of Naomi's life causes me to consider her a model of faith in action, right up there with Job. She wasn't afraid to 'tell it like it is', but she refused to try to pull the Almighty down from His rightful position.
I want to follow her in living the truth that no matter the circumstances God expects obedience to His commands and precepts.
I want to learn from her life that He rewards those who display faith, courage, hope, loyalty, confidence, perseverance, trust, diligence, . . . under His leadership.
I want to recognize from this biblical account that rough times are not necessarily the result of sin, but are always the refining work of the Reigning Sovereign.
I want to be dredged in the truth that the Father has heard my cry and has already planned out the perfect solution, but is just unveiling the details in the best way to show forth His glory.
Let us join with the women of Bethlehem who spoke similar words to Naomi, "Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left us without a kinsman-redeemer, even Jesus the Christ. May His Name be hallowed in all the earth!" Amen
