by Maggie White
Chapter One: Empty
The Bible is not full of superheroes and D-Day events. Neither is the book of Ruth. The opening scene is desolate: there is a famine in the Promised Land, a couple with two sons leaves to resettle in the pagan land of Moab. The husband dies, the sons marry Moabite women, the women are barren, and then the sons die. The one Israelite left is Naomi – a widowed wife and bereaved mother – in a foreign land.
In an ideal world, she really shouldn't have been there.
Famine in Israel was a sign of God’s judgment (Deuteronomy 28:38-40). Repentance and obedience were the hope of Israel and Naomi's family, not fleeing the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 28:1-6). Israel had been commanded not to mix with the nations around them, not to go after their gods or share in their evil. Descendants of Lot and his oldest daughter, the Moabite people were the offspring of incest. After the Moabites sent Balaam to prophesy judgment on Israel, the Lord declared “no…Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23). Judges 3 records that the Moabites had enslaved the Israelites for eighteen years. Jeremiah prophesied the utter destruction of Moab for their sins: “Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord” (Jeremiah 48). The god of Moab, Chemosh, would be metaphorically “exiled” (verse 7), and “Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh” (verse 13). To marry a Moabite was more than a temptation to follow the shameful god of Moab; it brought unclean blood into the Israelite offspring, the line of the promised Redeemer and Messiah.
Why did a pagan land seem better than the Promised Land of Israel? Why did Naomi’s family forsake their inheritance with the people of God and wander?
Sin runs deep in this story, together with desperation. Now, with sadness running deeper still, in verse 6 Naomi hears that "the Lord had visited His people and given them food" and she prepares to return to Bethlehem, her hometown known as "the city of bread". Her daughters-in-law, women of Moab named Orpah and Ruth, want to go with her. She says don't, stay back, it's not worth it.
Several phrases in this section reveal the heart of Naomi. Several phrases reveal the tendency of our own hearts when we're being pushed off of beaches instead of attacking them.
First, she urges the Moabite girls to stay, and asks the Lord to “deal kindly” with them as they had dealt kindly with her dead family and with herself (verse 8). Evidently, Naomi believes the Lord is able to deal kindly with people, even people who don’t belong to Him. But in verse 20, we find a different belief about the Lord's dealings with herself: "the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me." She believes He has dealt with her in a different way than He could deal with them. She feels that her end of the stick is short, her cup does not overflow.
Second, she remembers the provision of God’s law for widowed women, which states that if a woman is widowed, the dead man’s brother could marry her to continue the bloodline and provide protection for her (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). In this situation, she believes God doesn’t have a provision, explaining in verses 12 and 13: “If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? … No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”
Third, she is changed by the tragedy in her life. Instead of reflecting on the famine in Israel and the reason her family left, she reflects on the losses she encountered in Moab. Her description of life is in verse 21: “I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” Her name, Naomi, meant pleasant. She asks to be called Mara, which means bitter.
Several phrases in the section tell a parallel but different story:
When Naomi urges the Moabite women to return, Orpah goes back “to her people and to her gods” (verse 15). Ruth doesn’t. Something has happened to her, something that changed her identity.
She says she’s going to live in Israel, is joining the people of Israel, and intends to follow the God of Israel. Further, she plans to die in Israel: “May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me and you” (verse 17).
Despite the fact she is an outcast and foreigner, despite the fact that there is no hope of marriage, family, or offspring for her, and despite the fact that all she has heard of the God of Israel seems to be skewed by Naomi’s burnt-out and bereaved perspective, she sets herself to follow Him.
Despite their different stories and perspectives, this chapter highlights what both women believe about God.
Despite her sorrow, Naomi still believes that God is on the throne, and sovereign over the blessings and curses of her life.
Despite great personal cost, Ruth believes that God is worthy of her trust, devotion and life.
These women are not walking away from God, but both turn their feet and hearts towards Him even as they re-cross Jordan and enter Bethlehem, the geographic epicenter of hope and coming redemption.
The stage for God’s merciful providence in their lives is uniquely set in the final verse: “They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest (verse 22).”
To be continued! Read the next part in July!
Maggie (Ford) White recently relocated to Fort Bragg, NC with her husband, Joshua, a growing baby, her dog, Kevin, and the joy that God is still the same. She has worked alternately as a Spanish translator, political activist, videographer, registered nurse, and writer over the years. More than anything, she wants to live for eternity, encourage girls and women in the Word of God, and make the Gospel known. She enjoys distance running and cooking three meals a day, but she spends her best hours studying Scripture.
Please submit any questions or comments for Maggie in the contact form below.
Comments