04262019 Naomi Was Wrong

Dear Missionary Lady,

I read through the book of Ruth yesterday, and I saw a wonderful truth that I am excited to share with you.

Naomi really suffered, poor lady. In the midst of a famine, in which she was struggling to feed her family, her husband decided to move from their home in Bethlehem to Moab, outside the confines of the nation of Israel. Bethlehem is about 20 miles west of the northern end of the Dead Sea, and Moab is on the eastern side of the Dead Sea about halfway down. My estimates make that about an 80 to 90 mile trip.

While Naomi was living in that foreign land, her husband died. Now she had to care for her two sons alone. The two sons sadly married foreign women, and then her two sons died also. All Naomi's family was gone. Her nearest relatives and all the people she knew were far away, and she hadn't seen them for ten years. Left alone, she decided to return to Bethlehem, where she may have been hoping for some support, but her given reason is that she heard there was now food available back home.

Her daughters-in-law thought to return with her, though only Ruth did so; in Naomi's conversations with Ruth and Orpah and then again with the people of Bethlehem, Naomi uttered some difficult words. "It grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me" (1:13). "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?" (1:20-21).

Naomi was struggling. She was so overcome with her grief that she wanted to change her name. The essence of her agony runs in a unified theme: God was against her. If we would put her anguished words in modern terms, she would be saying something like this: "God has turned His back on me. He has done some really harsh things to me. He has taken everything away from me. He has gone on record as being against me, and He is treating me with multiplied trials."

Not in the least little bit did Naomi sense that God was for her, that He was helping her, or that He cared for her. She may have wished that God had merely abandoned her or had remained neutral, but He hadn't. In her estimation, God actually stood against her and deliberately treated her poorly.

When life isn't going well, when it is filled with trials, it is so easy to let our thoughts run in those directions. All we see is the negative, and we see it in droves. And it's all God's fault. He has abandoned us. He doesn't care. He doesn't love us. Life is hopeless and full of hurt. We are defeated and despondent.

Naomi was wrong. God had not forsaken her nor turned against her. That was her hurt and discouragement talking.

There is debate about whether Naomi and her family should have left Bethlehem. There is the question of whether they were facing God's judgment. The truth is that the text does not tell us. Nowhere does the text speak negatively about their sojourn in Moab; it merely reports it. Perhaps Naomi's husband was just doing what he needed to do to care for his family. The text also does not outwardly condone the trip, and it does seem that God generally wanted His people to trust Him and remain in the land. It is concerning that they lived abroad for ten years.

Whether the decision was wrong or not, we can't definitively say. Whether the deaths of her husband and children were judgment or merely providential guidance, we don't know. What we do know is that the decision to move to Moab was not Naomi's to make. Her husband had decided, and she had followed his leadership.

Even in the difficulties, though, God was not against Naomi. He gave her two daughters-in-law who had loved her sons and treated them well (1:8). One of them was fiercely loyal to her, was committed to caring for her, and had converted to Judaism. God somehow got word to Naomi that there was food again in Bethlehem. It was like He was calling her home. The entire city of Bethlehem came to greet her. Things were not as bleak for Naomi as she thought, but it took a special act of God's love to open her eyes.

Ruth went to seek food and was amazingly cared for by Boaz. He welcomed her and offered her protection. He purposefully increased her gathering capacity. He gave her food to eat, water to drink, and a place to rest. He assured her of ongoing provision in his fields.

Naomi didn't know all those details right away, but she saw some of the results. She had supper from Ruth's leftovers. She saw so much grain that it seemed impossible Ruth could have gathered so much in one day. It was obvious to Naomi that Ruth had been shown particular and extraordinary favor from the man in whose fields she had worked (2:19). And when Ruth identified her benefactor, everything fell into place for Naomi. When she realized that this special provision had come through a chance encounter with a near relative, Naomi saw the light. "Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead" (2:20).

Naomi's eyes were opened to God's provision, God's love, God's care. She realized that God had not forsaken her, but had led her to the exact person who was truly able to help her and who had already shown himself willing to do so. God's kindness remained.

Dear ladies, when life is turned upside down and all we seem to see is God's frown, we can be assured that His love has not changed. He will never leave us nor forsake us. As with Naomi, God is taking care of us in ways that we do not see, and it is only a matter of time before our eyes will be opened to see His hand of love, if we will only keep the faith and keep our gaze on Him. Are things dark right now? Don't despair. God loves you very much, and He will take care of you. Someday your eyes that struggle to see His provision will be opened, and your heart will again be full and blessed.

Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com