Call Me Mara

Introduction

While the book of Ruth was most likely written during the time of King David; it deals with the time period of the Judges. We learn this in verse 1.

Ruth 1:1 NIV84

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.

Most scholars believe the book of Ruth took place somewhere between the times of Gideon and Sampson.

Verse 1 gives us a lot of background information:

The story takes place in the time of the Judges. There was a famine in the land.

We are told the family is from Bethlehem in Judah.

A man (not identified yet), his wife (not identified yet), and 2 sons (also not identified yet) leave Judah and go to Moab (where they are complete foreigners.

It’s in verse 2 that the characters are actually identified.

Ruth 1:2 NIV84

The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

The man’s name—Elimelech (literally “my God is King”). The woman’s name—Naomi (which means “pleasant”). And the two boys are identified as Mahlon, and Kilion. The word translated “Sons” actually means boys—or young children.

They were from the tribe of Ephraim —known as Ephrathites. They were from Bethlehem in Judah.

Finally, they went to Moab and lived there. We’re going to learn that the trip to Moab was supposed to be a short term move. However, Mahlon and Kilion grow up and we learn in verse 3 that they get married in Moab.

Ruth 1:3–5 NIV84

Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth 1:3-5

The Tragedy

Elimelech dies. This forces Naomi to depend on her two boys to supply the needs of the family.

The boys (now grown up) marry two Moabite women: Orpah, and Ruth.

The second part of the tragedy—both boys died! Naomi is left without any men in the family, and she has two daughters-in-law to support.

News from Home

Ruth 1:6–7 NIV84

When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Ruth 1:6-

The news that Naomi receives from home is that the Lord (Yahweh) had come to the aid of His people: (1) He’s providing aid for His people. (2) He’s providing food. She left Israel in a time of famine, but now has news of food!

So Naomi and her two daughters-in-law set off to go back to Israel—the land of Judah!

Go Back Home!

Naomi is headed home. She’s doing back to Bethlehem in Judah—back to Israel from the foreign country of Moab.

She knows what it’s like to live in a foreign land, and so she begins to tell her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab! At the beginning both of them say they will stay with Naomi! Look at verse 8.

Ruth 1:8-10

Ruth 1:8–10 NIV84

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

Naomi is not finished trying to persuade them to stay in Moab!

Ruth 1:11-

But Naomi has a valid argument. (1) They are both still at marrying age. (2) They both were at childbearing age. (3) They have a chance for happiness. Naomi’s happiness has left!

Ruth 1:11–13 NIV84

But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me!”

But Naomi has a valid argument. (1) They are both still at marrying age. (2) They both were at childbearing age. (3) They have a chance for happiness. Naomi’s happiness has left!

Two Different Answers

We discover their answers beginning in verse 14.

Orpah’s Answer

Ruth 1:14–15 NIV84

At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

She’s heading back to Moab. They kiss and Orpah says good-by!

KEY—Orpah was only holding on to what she is comfortable. However, now they are moving to a new land where she is uncomfortable and really doesn’t know very much about where they are going. She decides to stay comfortable. She is staying in Moab!

Naomi uses Orpah’s response to try to persuade Ruth to go back with her! But Ruth has a different idea!

Ruth’s Answer

Ruth 1:16-

Ruth 1:16–18 NIV84

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

(1) Don’t urge me to leave!

(2) Where you go I will go.

(3) Where you stay I will stay.

(4) Your people will be my people.

(5) Your God will be my God

(6) Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried!

This is a TOTAL abandonment of her home land. She is going to Isreal, and she is going to die in Israel. Naomi never meant for any of her family to die in Moab. They had gone down there to escape the famine, but ended up staying there.

KEY—Ruth is willing to risk it all. She is leaving everything she knows to travel and live a completely foreign land!

Their Arrival

Ruth 1:19–21 NIV84

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?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Ruth 1:19-

They travel to Bethlehem, and when they arrive the entire town is a buzz— “Can this be Naomi?” It has been years since they had seen Naomi, and she left with her husband and two sons, and comes back alone—with just one daughter-in-law.

Naomi, says, “Don’t call me Naomi” (Pleasant), “Call me Mara. . .” (Bitter)

She believes the Lord is exercising some kind of judgment on her. She says she left Judah full—but she left in a time of famine.

The

She said the Almighty has made her life very bitter. The word Almighty is the Hebrew word “Shaddai.” The word Lord is the Hebrew word “Yahweh.”

So Naomi says, “Shaddai has made my life very better. I went away full and Yahweh has brought me back empty.”

Then a little later she says, “Yahweh has afflicted (testified against) me; Shaddai has brought about misfortune (disaster) upon me.

KEY—She doesn’t understand the fact that God has a plan! Sometimes we need to understand that we too go through disasters, and end up feeling like God is “against” us! BUT God has a plan that we know nothing about, and that we cannot see or understand!

Ready For God’s Plan

Verse 22 is a transition verse that prepares us to see God’s plan.

Ruth 1:22 NIV84

So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Naomi left in a time of famine and returns at the time of the barley harvest. That puts their arrival in the Hebrew month of Nisan, which would be between March and April.

This verse, prepares us for the unfolding of God’s plan beginning in chapter 2.

So What?

God wants us to totally abandon our old way of life. We need become totally commited the way Ruth did. We need to commit to the fact that God— “elohim” —will be our God— “elohim —no matter what happens!

Is the Elohim of Naomi your Elohim? Is He your Shaddai (almighty)? Do you know Him as Yahweh (Lord)?

Sometimes we have unreal memories of the past. Naomi says she left full! The problem with that idea is that Naomi and her family left because there was a famine! There was not enough food and people were hungry! And they are coming back during the barley harvest.

Question—Do you have a distorted view of your past?

So many times we get frustrated because we do not understand God’s plan. This often causes us to not trust Him. We may feel like God is “testifying against” us. We may feel that God has brought “disaster” upon us—But Yahweh has a plan—and He will accomplish His plan in our lives!

Never stop being a Naomi (pleasant), because we have way too many believing they are Mara (bitter).

Finally, look around! You may be in the middle of a famine, or you may be in the middle of the barley harvest! Look around and see what God is doing!