Now we come to the part of the story that nearly everyone is
familiar with. We meet Ruth, the Moabite woman, whose unconditional love helps
bring God’s right-ness and righteousness into the broken situation. Naomi is a
bereft widow in a foreign country 4000 years ago. She has no reason for hope
and decides to return to her old home in Bethlehem.
In the first chapter of the Book of Ruth we hear, “she started to return with her daughters-in-law
from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord
had had consideration for his people and given them food. So she set out from the
place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went
on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you,
as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security,
each of you in the house of your husband.’ Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.”
(Ruth 1:5-9)
At first the women resist her suggestion, “They said to her, ‘No, we will return with you
to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with
me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back,
my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought
there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would
you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my
daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of
the Lord has turned against me.’ Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
but Ruth clung to her.” (Ruth 1:10-14)
Even though her friend Orpah returns to her home, Ruth
refuses Naomi’s continued urging. “So she
said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return
after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn
back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there
will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death
parts me from you!’ When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said
no more to her.” (Ruth 1:15-18)
I would suspect that Naomi is glad of the company. She is
returning to the place that was her home, but her circumstances have changed
dramatically. She really doesn’t know what sort of welcome awaits her. The Law
of Moses provides for the care of widows and orphans, but Naomi doesn’t know if
that will be true for someone who left the tribe.
Naomi’s bitterness is obvious when she comes to Bethlehem. “…the whole town was stirred because of them; and
the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ She said to them, ‘Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly
with me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call
me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity
upon me?’ So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law,
who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning
of the barley harvest.” (Ruth 1:5-22)
Naomi is being showered with friendship by Ruth, and
welcomed back to her hometown by her neighbors. However, she cannot find joy in
the friendship or welcome. Sometimes, when life just seems too hard, it can
seem easier to simply close out the world and pull the covers over your head. I
think Naomi was feeling so battered and grief stricken after the deaths of all
her family in a foreign country, that she just couldn’t summon any joy.
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt so angry
and upset at the world in general that you couldn’t accept a simple offer of
friendship or welcome?
What has helped you find happiness?
The last line of the chapter might not seem terribly
important, just an afterthought or a notation of the season of the year.
However, as we’ll see, the fact that it is harvest time is very important!
