Naomi

Imagine yourself in Naomi’s place. Her husband took her and their two sons into a foreign land to live. The citizens of that land worshiped idols.  She had no other family around her. She had no old friends near her when her husband died. There she was, a widow with two sons in this foreign land.  There were not even any of God’s people in the vicinity who heard about her plight and came to her aid.  What must it have been like for her? How did her husband die?  Was he sick with a lingering illness for a while?  Did she have to care for him by herself with no support group of any kind?   How did she get food and have shelter after he died?  Were her boys old enough to provide for her right away? Did her husband leave her with enough to get by?  What would she return to if she returned home?  There was still a famine back home and no one there to provide for her.  If her boys provided for her after they were old enough and got married then how was she provided for after they died?  We don’t know the answer to these many questions, but from what we do know we must assume that life for her was very difficult.

 

1. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had ____ His  people by giving them bread.___  (Ruth 1:6)

With no husband or son to provide food her and her daughters-in-law in Moab, it was welcome news, indeed , that the famine was over.  There was no male family member back home to provide food either but, because of God’s Law concerning widows, she knew that now that the famine was over they would have food to eat:

(Taken from Exodus 22)

2. “You shall not ______ any widow or fatherless child. (22)

3. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely ____ their ____; (23)

4. And my _____ will become ____, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. (24)

 

5. “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him _______ ." (25)

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6. “At the end of every  third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the ______ who are within your gates, may come and ____ and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may _____ you in all the work of your hand which you do." (Deut. 14:28-29)

 

Not only would Naomi be provided for when she returned because of the laws concerning care for widows, but because of God’s law concerning property.  As a widow, and because her sons had died too, she had inherited property. This property would be a means of acquiring a husband for either herself or Ruth.  A husband for one of them would mean security for both of them.

Yet because of all that had befallen her and the emptiness in her heart from the loss of her loved ones, we know that she was in great anguish.  Certain statements that she made indicate the level of her distress.

To her daughters-in-law she said:

7. "...It grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out ______ me!” (Ruth 1:13)

When she returned to Bethlehem she said to the women:

8. But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very _______ with me. (Ruth 1:20)

9. I went out _____ , and the LORD has brought me home again _____ . Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:21)

10. Find an example in the Book of Ruth of how God provided food for Naomi and Ruth after they returned to Bethlehem.

Naomi means pleasant.  Mara means bitter.  The Scripture says that the whole city was excited that Naomi was coming home.  Naomi, their pleasant, happy friend was returning! They were so glad that she was coming home!  But she did not come back as the same person who left them more than ten years before.  She entreated them, “Call me Mara.”

Did the LORD bring Naomi home empty?  Naomi said that God had brought her home empty.  Nothing could ever replace the loved ones she buried back in Moab.  Yet God always finds a way to work things for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose:

11. And we know that _____ things work together for good to those who _____ God, to those who are the called according to ___ purpose. (Romans 8:28)

A Restorer of Life

(Taken from Ruth 4)

12. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she _____  a  ____. (13)

13. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a ______  ______ ; and may his name be famous in Israel! (14)

14. And may he be to you a _____ of life and a ______ of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than ______  _____ , has borne him.” (15)

15. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a ______ to him. (16)

16. Also the neighbor women gave him a ______ , saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. (16)

17. What does Obed mean?  Why do you think the women named him Obed?

18.  Research Question:  Find another example in the Bible of when someone was very thirsty and/or hungry and God provided sustenance.