The Lord does stuff you don’t even give him credit for. Like feed you.
Naomi hears that the Lord has provided food -- 'bread' -- for his
people, and since there isn’t much to keep her in Moab, Naomi packs her bags
for Bethlehem. It doesn’t mean she isn’t
grief-stricken and bitter though. Naomi
is on her way, two young women by her side, dutifully trudging off to
who-knows-where.
Naomi gets it. She knows how
much she would be asking of her daughters-in-law if she indulged their
obligation to return to Bethlehem with her, so she gives them an out. Naomi has met loss after loss, famine after relocation,
and she feels beaten. Broken. Utterly defeated. Now she stands before her daughters-in-law a broken,
bitter woman. Misery loves company, but Naomi
doesn’t want to drag these girls into this mess. She wouldn’t wish this on her enemies, let
alone the women who loved her boys.
Naomi invites Orpah and Ruth to go home. "Off you go, go back to your own
mother's homes. And may the Lord show
the kind of kindness[i]
to you that you have shown to my sons and me.
And may the Lord once again give you homes of your own." She’s really trying to push them out the door
(except that they are outside at the moment).
Naomi kisses them goodbye. Even in her bitterness she uses
language that affirms the hand of God in blessing non-Jews. The Lord is God, not just of Israel, but of all nations.
Ever say your last good-bye to someone you really loved? In tears, Orpah and Ruth protest, “No
way. We’re coming with you.”
"Go back, my dear daughters," Naomi insists (everyone is
wiping their eyes now). "Why go
with me? Do I have sons in my belly yet,
that you can marry them? Even if I were
to get married tonight, get pregnant and bear you both sons, can I possibly ask
you to wait for them to grow? Should you
wait for a marriage like that? It’s hard
enough for me – because Lord is against me anyway. I can't let you do
this." And the story says, “They
lifted up their voices and wept, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth
clung to her.”
Orpah gets it. What are her prospects,
staying with this aging woman, leaving for a different land, and stuck in a culture that
obligates her to wait for the next of kin? Orpah does the smart thing, the
sensible thing, the obvious thing, and she kisses her mother-in-law
goodbye. And who can blame her? Heck, no wonder someone tried to name Oprah
Winfrey after her. But who’s the book
named for? Are they going to be talking
about Oprah three thousand years from now? Orpah is a smart cookie, but she's forgettable.
- Ever say your last good-bye to someone you loved deeply? What was her name? What was his name? What blend of emotions were you feeling (grief, bitterness, love, gratitude, etc.)?
- Where are you on the healing journey? What would it look like to find wholeness?
- What is one situation you recently faced in which you responded the smart, obvious, expected way but that was not necessarily the way of faith?
- What’s a situation before you in which you still have a choice about responding in the expected way versus the way of faith (see the next blog post for Naomi’s response)?
[i] This
word kindness – stay tuned.
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