Chapter 11
Staying Faithful through Adversity
In This Chapter
Seeing how Naomi survives hardships
Watching childless Hannah get her reward
Grieving with Rizpah
Trusting in the Lord with Susanna
Following the widow Sarah
I nfertility. Deaths of loved ones. You name it. The women in this chapter went through some pretty rough times in their lives. What makes them stand out, however, and what makes many people look to them for inspiration today is that, despite all odds, these women kept their faith in God.
In this chapter, we discuss Naomi, Hannah, Rizpah, Susanna, and Sarah, who meet with great hardships throughout their lives. These women continue praying, however, and believing — despite the troubles before them.
Traveling Naomi: Staying Strong Despite Hardship
Naomi is the mother-in-law to Ruth, and their stories are deeply intertwined. (Check out Chapter 8 of this book for more on Ruth.) Naomi goes through major hardships — death, famine, and ostracism, to name a few — but she proves her loyalty to her family — namely to Ruth — and, ultimately, to God despite any discouragement she feels.
Naomi’s husband dies. Her sons die, and she is left to care for herself. Despite her trials, she perseveres and beats the odds. Even though life was extremely trying in those days for childless widows, Naomi’s faith and courage can serve as examples of how to make it through difficult times today.
Leaving her native land
Though Naomi’s name means “my delight,” much of her life, ironically, was filled with sadness and suffering. When the Bible first introduces Naomi, she is a Hebrew woman living in Bethlehem of Judah with her husband, not long after Moses secures the Promised Land. She leads a comfortable life as the wife of Elimelech, the brother of a prince. Unfortunately, her good fortune is short-lived. Because people are sinning greatly in the eyes of God (through idolatry or worship of false gods), a great famine embraces the land. The family is forced to uproot itself and head for foreign territory.
Naomi leaves with her husband and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. They end up in Moab, a country east of Jordan and the Dead Sea. Although they find food and shelter there, they’ve still been forced to abandon their relatives, neighbors, and friends to start all over again.
Getting hit with tragedy
Here’s the paradox. Her extended family has stayed behind to endure the famine, perhaps trusting that God will provide, while Naomi and her immediate family take a chance on finding better surroundings. Some would say her husband, Elimelech, had courage to brave the unknown, while others would say he lacked the trust in God, who promised to take care of his people. (In Psalm 37:19, God promises “in the days of famine they have abundance.”)
Naomi wouldn’t have been the one to decide whether to leave or stay. Because her husband, Elimelech, was head of the family, he had to make the decision and, therefore, be the one to suffer the guilt if his decision was sinful. Naomi is the faithful wife who accompanies her husband and sons. But she suffers — and some say it’s due to their decision to leave. Soon after they arrive in Moab, Naomi’s husband dies unexpectedly. Scholars debate whether Elimelech was punished for leaving Judah, instead of trusting that God would provide. In any event, Naomi’s husband doesn’t live long in Moab after the move from Judah.
Left a widow, Naomi must count on her two sons, who are of marrying age. Back in Judah, they would have married Jewish girls. But because the family is far from home and there aren’t Jewish girls around, Mahlon and Chilion marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah (no, not Oprah, Orpah), respectively. Ten years pass, and tragedy strikes again. Both sons die as mysteriously as their father before them.
It has been ten years since Naomi left her homeland in Bethlehem of Judah, but now that both her sons have died and news that the famine has ended has reached her, she decides to go back.
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Her daughters-in-law are faced with a decision. If they go with Naomi, they’re unlikely to ever marry again, as Naomi has no other sons and is too old to bear more. (Ancient custom dictated that widows could marry the brothers of their deceased husbands.) If they stay in Moab, they could return to the home of their father and be cared for there. After a teary and emotional conversation, Orpah decides to stay, but Ruth remains devoted to Naomi and chooses to return to the land of Judah with her. (Ruth 1:7–14 tells this part of Naomi’s story, and Chapter 8 in this book has some additional explanation.)
When Naomi returns to Bethlehem with Ruth, she is warmly greeted and explains the intervening years to the townspeople:
Call me no longer Naomi [meaning “pleasant”], call me Mara [meaning “bitter”], for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the LORD has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me.
—Ruth 1:19–21
Escaping poverty
Unfortunately, even though the famine has ended in Judah and Naomi is with her native people, she is still poor, husbandless, and childless.
Ruth goes to work in the only way she can — collecting the gleanings from the fields for a man named Boaz, who is a relative of Elimelech, Naomi’s dead husband. (Gleanings are the leftover grain that remains after reapers have harvested the field.)
As a relative of Elimelech, Boaz can legally marry Ruth, and their firstborn son would be a continuation of Ruth’s dead husband’s line. Ruth visits Boaz, who, impressed by her, asks her to marry him.
This marriage not only assures Ruth of a husband to care for her (and, in turn, to care for Naomi), but it also produces offspring who will be extremely important to historical lineage. Their son, Obed, becomes the father of Jesse, who in turn fathers King David of Israel, an ancestor of Jesus. Ruth 4 is the last we hear of Naomi — as a happy woman because she is a grandmother now that Ruth has given birth to a son. Although she endured a hard life, Naomi emerged a stronger woman with the help of her loyal daughter-in-law.
Barren Hannah: Praying for a Baby
Hannah’s story embodies patience and faith. Through her example, it’s easy to see that God acts on his own timetable and eventually answers prayers. Hannah follows through on her obligation to God, showing that when he grants you what you ask for, you’re bound to serve his will and interests for the greater good. Like Sarah (see Chapter 11) and Mary, the mother of Jesus (see Chapter 6), Hannah experiences a miraculous conception, and the child that God gives to her has a major impact on the world.
Dealing with infertility
Hannah lived her life in or around the eleventh century BC, during the time after Israel was ruled by Judges, but before the time of the monarchy of King David and his predecessors. Hannah is the favorite wife of Elkanah. Unfortunately, Hannah is barren for many years, and Elkanah takes a second wife, Peninnah, who is blessed with many children. (See 1 Samuel 1:1–2.) Understandably, Hannah is distraught by her infertility.
Despite her inability to have children, Hannah remains the love of Elkanah’s life, and Peninnah is jealous. She knows that she is not numero uno in Elkanah’s heart, and her jealousy drives her to ridicule Hannah.
Peninnah slices and dices Hannah with her sharp words and insults her so much that Hannah becomes ashamed of her predicament, as if she somehow is being punished and deserving of her fate. The second wife misses no opportunity to rub salt in the wound, and she taunts Hannah incessantly about her condition. (See 1 Samuel 1:3–7 for the details.)
Elkanah, on the other hand, is a bit dense about the matter, as shown in this passage:
Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
—1 Samuel 1:7–8
Although Elkanah loves Hannah, he doesn’t seem to fully understand her feelings about being infertile.
Reaping God’s rewards
Elkanah and his two wives regularly make a pilgrimage to the temple shrine in Shiloh, where the priest Eli offers sacrifices to the Lord. Here, Hannah initiates her own version of “let’s make a deal” — with God.
Deep in prayer, almost trancelike, Hannah moves her lips but makes no sound. The temple priest, Eli, eyeballs her and concludes that she has indulged in some (worldly) spirits and is drunk rather than devoted to prayer. Angry in his mistaken belief that Hannah has hit the bottle in the house of God, Eli rebukes her. (See 1 Samuel 1:9–18 for more details.)
Of course, the only thing intoxicating to Hannah is her grief and angst, and Eli soon realizes his mistake. She explains her vow to Eli. If God blesses her with a son, she will give him back to the Lord. After the child is weaned, she says, she will offer him up to be raised in the temple, where he will learn temple worship and live the Nazirite vow (no wine or alcohol, no haircuts, and no contact with dead bodies). In essence, this means she’d be giving back the son that God gave to her.
When Eli hears this story, he blesses Hannah. She leaves happy, confident, and trusting that her prayer will be answered. And it is answered. Hannah bears a son who is named Samuel, which means “heard or answered of God.” Hannah believes that a deal is a deal, so after the boy is weaned, Hannah brings Samuel to Eli in order to fulfill the vow she made. (See 1 Samuel 1:19–28 for more details.)
Joyful beyond belief, Hannah sings a hymn of praise and thanksgiving on the day that she presents Samuel to the temple (1 Samuel 2:1–10), which is somewhat similar to the Magnificat recited by Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Luke 1:46–55.
Although she gives Samuel up to God and to Eli, Hannah lovingly and dutifully visits every year: “His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year to year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice” (1 Samuel 2:19).
Although no more is said of Hannah, her strength and faith in God during a time of adversity (being taunted about her infertility) are rewarded with a son whom she in turn gives back to God as a servant and future prophet of the Lord. Her graciousness and appreciation are equally rewarded with other children, which shows how generous God is with those who are patient and faithful like Hannah.
Devout Rizpah: A Mother Grieves
No woman suffered like Rizpah. She was a concubine to King Saul and a devoted mother to their two sons (Mephibosheth and Armoni) in life as well as after they died. Even though her boys were enemies of the state or at least political rivals of the new king, her staunch loyalty to giving them a decent and proper burial finally convinces King David to bury her sons properly as well as to give the same respect and honor for Saul and Jonathan (respectively, the former king and his eldest son by his wife, Ahinoam), whose bodies were likewise left to rot rather than be buried with dignity.
Rizpah witnessed the death of King Saul, her lover, and the gruesome extermination of their two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth. She was also used and abused by those who saw her as an object of desire or as a political tool. First Saul uses her as a concubine rather than as a wife; after his death, she is the object of contention between Abner and Ishbaal (we get to this story later). This strong woman, however, never wavered in her fidelity as a good partner and loving mother despite the sufferings she endured.
Through her actions, Rizpah changed the course of history by influencing a mighty ruler, King David of Israel, and thus helping to turn a cycle of violence and hatred into a time of relative peace. Her life is an example of how diligence and courage can see you through daunting circumstances. Rizpah’s long but persevering vigil influenced David to give respect to the bones of the former king and his son, which sealed his support with all the people of the kingdom, especially those who had been scandalized by his neglect of the memory of his predecessor (King Saul).
Losing her lover — and her sons
Rizpah was a concubine to King Saul (2 Samuel 3:7), the first king to rule over all the tribes of Israel (his reign began in approximately 1010 BC). After King Saul’s death, Rizpah is comforted by the relationships with her two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth.
Soon after Saul’s death, famine devastates Israel, and King David, who now rules the land, asks God why he has punished them. God replies that he has punished the Israelites for the actions of the now deceased King Saul, who during his reign had attempted to wipe out the Gibeonite people.
King David wants to rectify the situation, so he asks the Gibeonites what they would accept as retribution. The Gibeonites answer that David must hand over Saul’s heirs to be tortured and killed. The heirs to be killed included Rizpah’s two sons, as well as the five sons of Saul’s daughter. King David hopes that this sacrifice will placate the Gibeonites and God, thus ending the famine. (See 2 Samuel 21:1–9 for more details.)
Grieving in public
Rizpah’s nightmare only gets worse. Not only are her two sons executed, but their bodies are also left outside to rot for five months. She dutifully covers them as best she can and wards off vultures and beasts of prey to protect their corpses. This lady of the court — who once wore royal purple as the king’s concubine — is now covered in the penitential garb of sackcloth in public mourning of her abandoned sons. Rizpah’s long vigil is possible only because of a mother’s love and her personal faith.
Her long, agonizing vigil by her dead sons’ bodies reaches the ears of David, who is moved by her story. In response, David finally orders the proper burial of Saul’s heirs. He also orders the proper burial of Saul himself and Saul’s son Jonathan, who had been killed years earlier and never been given a dignified burial. After these burials, the famine is soon lifted. (See 2 Samuel 21:10–14 for more details about these events in Rizpah’s life.)
Playing the pawn
In her lifetime, Rizpah also played a part in the struggle for power within the monarchy. When the sons of Saul’s wife, Queen Ahinoam, die in battle, just one legitimate heir to the throne remains — Ishbaal. He had been too young to fight and is still too young to rule, so Saul’s uncle and general, Abner, comes to act as regent. When he can’t control the throne as he would like, Abner takes Rizpah as his own concubine, hoping that if he can have a son with Rizpah, the royal concubine, then he has a remote claim to the throne.
Abner’s move toward the throne incites tensions. Bad blood arises between Ishbaal and his uncle, ending in accusations of incest and other tawdry affairs. Abner defects to Saul’s former enemy (and thus the enemy of Ishbaal), an old rival, King David.
Rizpah’s desires, wishes, and welfare were never foremost in the minds of Abner, Ishbaal, or David. She was a tool to the crown and an avenue to the throne. Yet she shows strength in adversity by persevering for the burial of her dead sons’ bodies. Her use as a bargaining chip is certainly demeaning, but she emerges a woman of honor, as opposed to those who sought to use her as an object rather than relate to her as a person.
The Bible doesn’t mention her again, but her story and connection to the Hebrew monarchy are recorded and retold for subsequent generations to come.
Steadfast Susanna: Asking God for Help
Susanna’s story is found in Daniel 13. (Daniel 13 is part of the deuterocanonical books; see Chapter 2 for more on these books.) She lived in the sixth century BC during the time of Daniel. Susanna (see Figure 11-1 for one artist’s interpretation of her) spares both her virtue and her life by putting her faith in God and never giving in to the powerful men who threaten her. Although she could have easily given in to these evildoers in order to protect her life, she instead decides to act with faith and honesty to overcome evil through prayer and trust in God. Her story shows that faith and fidelity ultimately can be rewarded.
Fighting off the hounds
Susanna is a very beautiful young woman, a devoted spouse, and a virtuous and Godly woman. Like any young woman of leisure (her husband was very rich), Susanna regularly takes an afternoon walk in the garden. Unfortunately, two dirty old men soon get wind of her habit. And here the plot thickens. These men weren’t only dirty and lustful — they were also quite powerful. Although their names aren’t given, it is said that they are Judges. These men cast a lustful eye on Susanna and one day conspire to become peeping toms while she takes a bath on a hot day in her enclosed garden. Hiding in the garden, they lie in wait until Susanna dismisses her two maids. (See Susanna 1:1–16, or Daniel 13:1–16 in some Bibles, for a play-by-play.)
Seizing the opportunity, the codgers approach the naked beauty:
Look, the garden doors are shut, and no one can see us. We are burning with desire for you; so give your consent, and lie with us. If you refuse, we will testify against you that a young man was with you, and this was why you sent your maids away.
—Susanna 1:20-21 or Daniel 13:20–21
Susanna finds herself in a Catch-22. She knows that her life is at stake no matter what she does. She doesn’t want to give in to these brutes, and she knows that the penalty for adultery is death by stoning. Yet if she refuses to acquiesce to their perverted designs, she’s in trouble too.
Virtuous Susanna decides to take her chances and trust in the Lord. She refuses to consent to the old boys’ demands. She screams and so do they, at which point the staff rushes in. Before she can defend herself, the geriatric playboys accuse her of fornicating with a young man who got away. Susanna finds herself in a situation where it is her word against theirs — two male leaders of the community. Susanna doesn’t have much chance of being acquitted. (See Susanna 1:24–42, or Daniel 13:24–42 in other Bibles, for more details.)
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Figure 11-1: Susanna and the Elders by Frans Floris (1519–1570). |
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Scala/Art Resource, NY
Uncovering the truth
Susanna feverishly prays to God for deliverance. Lo and behold, a young man named Daniel comes to her rescue. The Lord inspires him to proclaim that he will not have anything to do with the death of this innocent woman, and because of his proclamation, the men ask him to sit in judgment. They don’t yet know that he knows their dirty deed, and possibly to throw suspicion (from the crowd) off themselves, they act as innocent as can be. In their minds, Daniel is too young, immature, and inexperienced to really be a prophet with whom God communicates. So they play along and humor him in front of everyone else. The two men keep up the charade. (See Susanna 1:44–50 or Daniel 13:44–50 for more.)
Daniel takes on the role of an ancient Perry Mason, uncovering the truth before a riveted and mesmerized audience. He asks that the two elderly accusers be separated and then begins his interrogation of each of them (see Susanna 1:51 or Daniel 13:51).
Great mysteries are usually solved by a small but pivotal detail that the criminal considers irrelevant. Susanna’s case was no exception. Daniel isolates the witnesses and asks them where they witnessed Susanna’s alleged affair. The first says “under a mastic tree,” while the other says “under an evergreen oak.” This damning testimony cost them their very lives, because the penalty the old men had conspired to inflict upon innocent Susanna is now their own. And Susanna’s virtue and reputation is spared. (You can read this part of Susanna’s story in Susanna 1:52–62 or Daniel 13:52–62.)
Susanna’s story ends happily ever after, because the prophet Daniel exposes her false accusers. She defends her virtue rather than give in to the men’s lewd advances. Doing so almost cost her life, but she survives the adversity of lies and slander that many probably believed without any regard to what truly transpired. Her vindication by Daniel is not only good luck but also a legitimate sign of why it pays to persevere to the end.
Cursed Sarah: A Widow’s Stigma
The Book of Tobit is another apocryphal, or deuterocanonical, book that tells the story of a notable woman, Sarah. (See Chapter 2 for more on these books.) Sarah is a widow seven times over — truly the black widow of her day. Although the Bible has stories of many widows, none were quite so cursed as Sarah. Despite her unlucky life, though, Sarah doesn’t despair, doesn’t curse God, and doesn’t resort to idolatry like many of her contemporaries. She remains faithful and trusting that somehow, someday, God will deliver her, and her prayers are eventually answered.
Beating the odds
Each of Sarah’s husbands dies on the wedding night. As an only child, Sarah is embarrassed for her father, Raguel, because she is unable to produce grandchildren for him, thus carrying on his family line. She feels the social stigma and shame of being a repeat widow. The text blames the unfortunate deaths of her seven husbands on the demon Asmodeus, but the kinfolk and neighbors see her as a bad omen (see Tobit 3:7–9). Needless to say, not many modern dating services would want her as a client today.
To add insult to injury, Raguel’s maidservants begin verbally attacking Sarah. They complain that their mistress takes her frustration out on them by beating them. Faced with this shame and abuse, she makes an earnest and heartfelt plea to God to be delivered of this curse, one way or another. The Lord sends the Archangel Raphael (whose name means “God heals”) to answer Sarah’s plea. (See this account in Tobit 3:10–17.)
But Raphael is multitasking. God has also sent him to help an unfairly exiled Israelite named Tobit, whose son, Tobias, has been sent on a journey to help his father recover some money. Tobit had been struck blind in an accident, and God is sending help for his son, Tobias, to reward the father’s faithful acts of the past.
Traveling together, Raphael and Tobias stop off in Sarah’s village, where Raphael suggests that Tobias take her as his wife. Burying seven husbands, one after another, is a hard secret to keep, even before the advent of e-mail and instant messaging, and Tobias is understandably a bit skittish about the idea. As his father’s only son, he has a great desire for self-preservation. (See Tobit 3:16–6:15.)
Getting blessed by an angel
But Tobias follows Raphael’s guidance and decides to marry Sarah, despite her bad track record. On their wedding night, the newlyweds pray together with tenderness and affection, not just to wake up alive the next morning but to also have a long life together. This passage is often used at Catholic weddings.
Tobias began by saying, “Blessed are you, O God of our ancestors, and blessed is your name in all generations forever. Let the heavens and the whole creation bless you forever. You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve as a helper and support. From the two of them the human race has sprung. You said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make a helper for him like himself.’ I now am taking this kinswoman of mine not because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that she and I may find mercy and that we may grow old together.” And they both said, “Amen, Amen.”
—Tobit 8:5–8
Raguel (Sarah’s dad) has less faith than his daughter or son-in-law and digs a grave that night, just in case. But luckily for Sarah, Raphael saves the day by releasing Sarah of the demon who cursed her. She awakens a wife and not a widow. After two weeks, the couple returns to Tobit with Raphael, who performs one more miracle, giving back sight to the old man.
Sarah and Tobias are united in love and marriage. Both of their prayers to God before the wedding night show nervousness but also trust that God will preserve them somehow or give them strength for whatever happens next. Sarah was plagued by her demon, but prayer brings her deliverance, because God heard her plea and sent Raphael to help her and her husband-to-be, Tobias.
The last we hear of Sarah is when she meets her father-in-law, Tobit. Blinded by a bizarre accident (the old bird-droppings-in-the-eye incident in Tobit 2:10), the old man is healed by the Angel Raphael (Tobit 11:7–14). After Tobit’s sight is restored, he can see his son, Tobias, and Tobias’s new wife, Sarah, and the old man blesses his new daughter-in-law. Sarah’s name appears only one more time, when the angel reveals his identity to Tobit: “God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready to enter before the glory of the Lord” (Tobit 12:14–15).