hotcoffee
New Member
Ruth 1:19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara,[c] because the Almighty[d] has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted[e] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara,[c] because the Almighty[d] has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted[e] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
b.Ruth 1:20 Naomi means pleasant.
c.Ruth 1:20 Mara means bitter.
d.Ruth 1:20 Hebrew Shaddai; also in verse 21
e.Ruth 1:21 Or has testified against
When Naomi left Bethlehem with her husband and sons, she probably took a wagon or pack animals with her to carry her belongings. The famine that was taking Bethlehem must have been bad but not so severe that people couldn't make it through. Not everyone left. Had everyone left, then we would have no reason to question the intentions of those who left.
I left my first husband. It's probably at the seat of why my daughter-in-law doesn't talk to me. When we moved to Florida, my ex-husband and I had a new car and we took lots of possessions with us in a U-Haul. We weren't well to do but we would have made it just fine had we stayed. We left for a "fresh start" and new jobs. Disney was just building the World in Kissimmee.
When I returned, I came back with three children in diapers, the clothes on our backs, and coin change in my pocket. I know, as Naomi knew, that I had made some seriously bad decisions. I knew that my circumstances were of my own making. When you do things there are always consequences.
So I know exactly what Naomi meant when she said "don't call me Naomi, call me Mara". I know what bitterness feels like. Naomi knew that God had brought the consequences of her actions right onto her shoulders. God had provided for her, her husband, and her sons. Naomi had gone with her husband seeking something better. She knew that the losses she had suffered were the consequence of her actions.
I'd love to be able to tell my daughter-in-law that whatever she heard from my ex-husband and my mother was all lies and that I was the perfect dutiful wife and mother.... but I know I can't. Of course, it was my fault, just as leaving Bethlehem was Naomi's fault. I am after all a Christian. I should have never allowed the move, I should have never allowed the bad decisions my ex-husband made. I should have never made the bad decisions I made. Had I based all the decisions I made back then on Jesus, I probably wouldn't have even married that guy in the first place.... but we all make mistakes.... except God. God doesn't make mistakes.
So Naomi left during a famine and came back during the harvest. She left wanting more and came back humbled.
She wasn't alone though.... she had Ruth with her. Ruth knew God because of Naomi. Ruth accepted God as her God. Now it's Ruth's story.
