Sweet to Bitter

In 1953, Elisabeth Howard married fellow missionary Jim Elliot. The two were married on the mission field in Ecuador. February 27, 1955 they had a daughter. They named her Valerie. Things were going well. They were learning the language of the tribal people and working to translate the the Bible into their language.

Her husband Jim hoped to make contact with a particularly dangerous tribe in the region. This would be difficult because of language and cultural differences. They flew their plane over the tribe and dropped gifts, hoping to associate the plane as friendly for when they did make contact. In January of 1956, Jim and 4 other men attempted to make contact. They were speared to death.

Elisabeth was left as a young widow with a baby who was just shy of 1 year old. She was in a foreign country with no family. The other 4 men were her friends as well. Grief and fear were very real at this point in her life.

King James Version Chapter 1

1 NOW it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

6 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 how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. 7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. 9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. 10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; 13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? 20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

v

Setting the Stage:

Time of the Judges (Possibly around chapter 6 - Gideon)

Famine in the Land

Southern Israel—Bethlehem, to Moab, and back to Bethlehem

A. I went out Full (v. 21)

While times were hard, Naomi had her family. There is just something about being with family. In a loving family, when everyone is together, suffering just does not seem as bad. You have each other to lean on. Lets look at this family.

Elimelech - comes from two Hebrew words El - God and Melech - King. His name means “God is king”.

Naomi - Her names means pleasant or sweet

Mahlon - means sickly

Chilion - failing or consumption

With names like these, it is not hard to see where the story is headed for these boys.

While her boys must not have been in the best health, she had them. They were there with her and that was a comfort.

1. There are two other names we must consider:

Bethlehem: means House of Bread

Moab: means From my Father

Even though there was a famine, Elimelech led his family from the House of Bread, in God’s promsed land, to the land of Moab.

2. THE BACK STORY OF MOAB

Lot

Pagan

Wicked

God destroyed it

Lot’s wife was disobedient and looked back —God killed her

Lot’s daughters irrationally decided that there were no men available for them to marry and concocted a plan to get their father drunk and get pregnant by him.

Their plan was successful and they both had sons.

The oldest daughter named her son Moab—from my father—describing his incestuous parentage

The youngest daughter named her son Ammon—Son of my people—probably also implying his incestuous parentage

We also read about Moab not being friendly to Israel as they made their Exodus out of Egypt. The king of Moab hired the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, but God intervened.

This is the Land that Elimelech decided to take his family into.

3. The Pagan Culture

The Moabites worshiped Chemosh.

They sacrificed babies to Chemosh.

I have even heard it said that Ruth and Orpah may have been temple prostitutes before they married Naomi’s sons.

The Bible does not specify this.

We do know that prostitution was a part of the worship of Chemosh.

Now that we have considered the background, lets look at the first 5 verses of Ruth 1.

King James Version Chapter 1

1 NOW it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. 3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. 4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. 5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

These verses set the stage.

It is the time of the judges as we have stated

There is a famine

A husband takes his wife and two sons into this foreign land called Moab because there is food there.

Next we read that Elimelech, the husband, dies.

The boys take wives from the land of Moab.

Orpah—Gazelle

Ruth—A Friend

Proverbs 31:30

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain:

But a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

As we will see, beauty was vain but the friend loved for all times and was closer than a brother.

B. Emptied

Verse 5 tells us that Mahlon and Chilion died.

They did not have children before they died.

Naomi lost that which she valued most in the world.

In her mind:

She was no longer a wife

She was no longer a mother

She had lost her identity

In losing her identity, she told the people to change her name ()

King James Version Chapter 1

19 So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? 20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

Not only did Naomi lose her Husband and Sons, she lost a daughter-in-law (Ruth 1:6-15)

King James Version Chapter 1

6 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 how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. 7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. 8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. 9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. 10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; 13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Even though Orpah did not die, she went back home, and as far as scripture reveals, Naomi never saw her again.

She returned to her people

She returned to her gods

She refused the House of Bread for the people “Of their father”

In her grief, Naomi did not consider what she had.

She did not have the physical or emotional energy to argue with Ruth.

She simply consented to Ruth going with her.

You can almost imagine the solitude and silence as they walked.

Naomi’s mind was on her husband and sons.

She felt abandoned:

Abandoned by her husband

Abandoned by her sons

Abandoned by Orpah

Abandoned by God

“Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

There was one more reality Naomi had to consider, she was a widow, she had no one to provide for her.

She was destined to a life of poverty and struggle.

NOTE:

Naomi does not mean bitter like we think of today. We associate that word to me ill tempered, cantankerous, difficult to get along with, never happy.

Naomi meant that she was in bitter grief. She may have seriously thought that she would never be happy again. However, her true nature would eventually shine through again.

C. God at work in our Bitterness

While Naomi could not see it, God was very much at work in her life.

There were three things that happened in this chapter that Naomi missed in her grief:

A daughter-in-law who loved her like a mother

A daughter-in-law who made a profession of faith

The return during a time of plenty

Verse 22 tells us “and they came into Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.”

“They came into the house of bread in the beginning of barley harvest.”

You can almost hear the future words of Jeremiah whisper through this chapter: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” ().

The Children of Israel had probably only been in the land for about 100 years. I wonder if Naomi remembered the words of Moses in

King James Version Chapter 31

6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Whether she did or didn’t, the promise of God stood true, as we will see.

D. Conclusion

Elisabeth Elliot would remain in Ecuador and continue her work as a Bible translator and missionary. One of the women helping her was from the very tribe that killed her husband. The woman would later return to her tribe, opening the door for missionaries to go to the tribe. Two of those missionaries were Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint (whose husband was also killed with Jim Elliot). Elisabeth would live with the tribe for 2 years before returning to United States.

Elisabeth was able to lead many people to salvation through her words and faithfulness.

Naomi would have a similar ministry, though she does not know it in chapter 1.