When God's Gone Too Far

Ever feel like this time God has gone too far?  Ever feel as if God has pressed you too hard?  That this time he has gone from near, to distant, to positively cruel?  Maybe you feel abandoned.  You question God’s goodness, maybe even his very existence.  You’ve turned your back on God himself in the wake of one too many violations.  That’s Naomi. 

When she sees that Ruth will not be dissuaded, Naomi says no more.  The two women, one older, one younger, travel alone till they reach Bethlehem.  The little town of Bethlehem is astir at their return, and the local women whisper, "Is this Naomi? I barely recognize her."  This will be no happy homecoming. 

And we are given a glimpse straight into the heart of Naomi.  Naomi’s bitterness overwhelms her.  You understand that in the Ancient Near East, as in many cultures, one’s name is intended to express the inner character of the person. It is to be reflected in one’s actions.  Abraham: Father of a Multitude.  Jesus: Adonai (the LORD) saves.  Barnabas: Son of Encouragement.  And so Naomi corrects them: “Don't call me Pleasant (Naomi).  Call me Bitter (Mara), because the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  I went out full, but have come back empty.   Don't call me Pleasant, because God is against me." 

Do you think God is against you?  Or at least only grudgingly tolerates you?  Is there some affliction in your life, some heartache, some loss, some sin in your past, some crime, some disease, some injury, some condition that has left you believing the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with you?  You’re not alone. 

It’s not a question of whether heartbreak will come, but when. 

The question is, what are you going to do with it?  How will you respond?   

If guilt is the natural response to our sin, bitterness is the response to our being sinned against.  How will you respond when things have gone too far? 

It’s not a question of whether heartbreak will come, but when. 

For all the bitterness, there’s a glimmer of hope in Bethlehem today.  It is the beginning of the barley harvest.  The famine is over.  Naomi’s story is not over yet, and it need not be for you, either. 

And if Elimelech could wonder where the Almighty was in his circumstance, it was Jesus Christ, who said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  When you feel abandoned by God, know that there is a Savior who knows exactly how you feel. 

You see, Jesus Christ is the one whose faithfulness – whose hesed – can bring about the same restoration in your life that Naomi will taste in days to come. 

Naomi has lost her sons.  But it is God the Father, who lost his Son too, so that the death, destruction and despair that many of us have known intimately can one day be reversed.  And those who look to God in faith through his Son, can live with the confidence that

• God understands only too well the loss we know in this life, and that
• the Lord, in his steadfast love – his hesed – does not abandon his own, but can sustain, and as we will see, realize Big Picture purposes beyond what we can imagine or dream. 

It’s not a question of whether heartbreak will come, but when.  The only question is, will you reject the easy out?  Will you keep a soft heart toward God and cooperate with him?  He will work peace in your life now and purpose that will resonate in eternity.     

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. The One from Bethlehem invites you to his Beth-lehem.  The One who is the Bread of Life welcomes you to the House of Bread. 

If you are left bitter because of an event in your past, return with Naomi to the house of bread, the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, and he will make a way for you. 

The Character of God in a Young Woman

The Character of God in a Young Woman

Orpah may be smart in a worldly-wise sense.  Ruth, however, is extraordinary.  She is the woman we’ve been waiting for.  She is the class act.  She isn’t of the “correct” ethnic background.  Her bloodline isn’t blue.  She didn’t go to an Ivy League college.  She isn’t rich.  She isn’t famous.  She doesn’t have a thing the world recognizes as desirable (I like to think she was darn cute though).  She isn’t even Jewish, but she shows the faithfulness of Israel’s God. 

Character isn’t about bank accounts.  Nobility is not about bloodlines.  One of the great themes in the book of Ruth surrounds the word translated in Ruth 1 as kindness.  Naomi speaks of it.  Ruth personifies it.  Later, we’ll see it in her beau, Boaz.  When Naomi blesses Orpah and Ruth and invites them to return home, she speaks of God’s kindness, but the Hebrew word means so much more.  It transliterates (Hebrew written as English) roughly as hesed, with a hard “ch” sound on the h.  It means steadfast love, faithfulness, loyal devotion.  Over and over in Scripture it is one of God’s attributes. 

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...

Exodus 34

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

David, praising God in Psalm 59

It’s a character trait of God and those who are close to him become like him.  Naomi speaks of it, and Ruth demonstrates it. 

While Naomi's sense of the Lord's hesed toward her may have been nil at this point, Naomi formally frees Orpah and Ruth from any of their cultural responsibility toward her.  She blesses her daughters-in-law, saying, "There’s nothing more I can do for you.  So now may the Lord show you the same kind of steadfast love, the same loyal devotion, the same hesed that you have shown to me.  Go on now.  Go." 

Orpah does let go, but Ruth hugs hard.  "Look," Naomi says – and you can almost see her gesturing after her daughter-in-law.  “Your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods (reminding Ruth of her roots).  Come now, follow after your sister-in-law.” 

And this is where Ruth takes her famous stand.  Read it out loud if you like.  Go ahead.  

            Don't urge me to leave you,

            or to turn back from following you. 

            Because where you go, I go.

            Where you stay, I'll stay. 

            Your people shall be my people,

            your God shall be my God. 

            Where you die, I will die, and

            there will I be buried. 

            May the Lord cause my own death and more,

            if anything but death separates you and me." 

Imagine if someone were that devoted to you.  Have you ever been as dedicated to anything in your life as Ruth is dedicated to her mother-in-law?  "I am in it for the long haul.  I will accept your people as my people.  I shall worship your God in the way you worship him.  I will live with you; I will die with you, and no matter what happens, I will never let you go."  That is exactly God's devotion to you.  

Here it is Ruth, a young woman -- likely in her teens or early twenties -- a woman of noble character, herself showing the hesed that may be the only glimmer of hope a woman like Naomi may have ever known, a woman whose life has been overshadowed by heartache and pain.  Here's Ruth, a Moabite woman, a youthful foreigner at the bottom of the social strata, whose selfless devotion to Naomi, to her people and to her God provides the example of hesed to Israelite men and women throughout the kingdom[i].  For Ruth there will be no turning back. She won’t be denied.  Ruth will go with Naomi, Ruth will stay with Naomi.  Ruth will identify with Naomi’s people.  Ruth will bow to Naomi’s God.  Ruth will not simply keep Naomi company till she lives out her remaining days.  This young woman is giving herself to Naomi heart and soul.  She will herself be buried in a foreign land; such is her devotion to Naomi.  Such is hesed.  Such is God's love.  

The kindness Ruth shows is nothing less than the steadfast love of God, demonstrated in Ruth, a quality Christians recognize in Jesus Christ.    Ruth the poor, Moabite widow is a type of Christ, a figure, a foreshadowing one who is to come. 

Here is Ruth, our heroine.  Is there a man out there good enough for her? 

• Do you know anyone who has shown a similar selfless devotion to another as Ruth shows to Naomi? 
• What creates this kind of character in a person?  What quenches it?
• Do you sometimes wish you had some “credential” you lack – more money, better looks, be skinnier, the “right” education, etc.?  How can Ruth’s example encourage you? 

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[i] Ruth was probably written at least few generations later when Israel had a king.  

Why Oprah is a smart cookie.

Why Oprah is a smart cookie. 

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)? 

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[i] This word kindness – stay tuned.  

Devastation

Devastation[i]

Maybe your goldfish died. 

Or your boyfriend just broke up with you. 

You are being picked on at school and no one seems to care.   

You lost your job. 

Your parents are splitting up. 

Maybe a private indulgence is becoming a compulsion is becoming an addiction, and it’s getting away from you.  You thought you had it, and now it has you. 

Maybe your spouse is growing distant and your gut tells you they are spending time with someone else. 

Maybe you’ve lost a child. 

Maybe you’ve been triple-hit by loss and tragedy, and you select like a buffet from the above items, or add others of your own, to suit your sorry circumstance.    

Maybe it sucks to be you right now. 

Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim?  No matter what you say it don't take away the pain that I feel inside… There's got to be more to life than this. There's got to be more to everything I thought exists.

P.O.D. (see the above music vid)

Welcome to the world (not to be confused with life). 

A couple of generations before the glory days of Israel’s King David, a family of four emigrates to the land of opportunity: no, not America.  Moab.  That is, west-central Jordan, just to the east of Israel.  Things have worn thin at home.  The little town of Bethlehem – ironically, the 'house of bread' in Hebrew – has no bread.  A famine is on, and something’s got to give.  People need to eat.  Some are getting desperate. 

Ever move to a different country?  How about a different part of the country?  It’s harder than you think. 

Dad’s name is Elimelech.  Call him Eli if that helps.  His wife is Naomi, and his two boys are Mahlon and Chilion.  You are on your own with those two.  Things are bad enough that they pack their belongings and leave Bethlehem for points East.  They move right out of Israel.  Elimelech takes his wife and kids and moves to the neighboring country of Moab.  The US to Canada.  Russia to China.  Taiwan to North Korea. 

There isn’t a one of us whose people hasn’t immigrated or emigrated at some point.  As Jews from Bethlehem, Elimelech and his family become refugees in a foreign land, resident aliens, like so many today, they are economically challenged outsiders.  They have left family and friends, roots and heritage.  They have opened themselves to discrimination and maybe worse.  From the outside, you have a family driven by their circumstances to head into an uncertain future, to live as foreigners among a people of different customs, and who practice a different religion.  And this at a time when people went to war over religion.[ii]  Elimelech, whose name literally means “my God is King,” is probably wondering, “Is God really King?  Where is God in all this, anyway?  Maybe those Moabites with their gods have got it going on.  The grass sure looks greener over there.” 

A famine is just the warm-up though.  Things get worse.  Elimelech dies, leaving Naomi a widow in a foreign land, in a labour-intensive agricultural economy, and in which women were second-class citizens.  Away from her family, Naomi, now more than ever, is dependent upon her two sons.  Sure hope they hang in. 

Things continue on for a few years.  The family remains in Moab, and Mahlon and Chilion grow to strapping manhood.  They marry two locals girls, Orpah[iii] and Ruth.  Then her sons die, one right after the other.  Without her sons, and as a refugee widow in the Ancient Near East, Naomi is exposed and vulnerable.  She has lost her provider.  She has now lost her only remaining hope for survival in her sons, let alone for a family line.  There goes her pension plan.  Naomi is ethnically, socially, financially and even religiously at the bottom.  And three-fold heartbroken.

Identify a time in your life when you felt isolated, alone and vulnerable.  

What circumstance in your own life leads you to question God’s control, maybe even his very existence (a FB friend just messaged me about this very issue)?  

If it helps to focus your thoughts, write it down. 

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[i] This blog post is based on Ruth 1:1-5. 

[ii] So glad we’re past that, aren’t you?   

[iii] I have a theory that Oprah Winfrey’s parents intended to name her Orpah but misspelled it.