Read Naomi’s story in Ruth 1; 2:1–3; 2:20–3:4; 4:13–17.
Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, were Israelites born and raised in the Promised Land. When a famine hit and there wasn’t enough food for everyone, Naomi, her husband, and their two boys moved from Bethlehem to Moab. In Bethlehem, Naomi’s people worshiped God. Moabites, the people of Moab, worshiped false gods and idols.
Later, Elimelech died and left Naomi with two sons to care for. Her sons, Mahlon and Kilion, grew up and married Moabite women. And then after ten years of living in Moab, both of Naomi’s sons died.
Naomi had lost everything that was important to her. She was a foreigner in Moab, and two daughters-in-law were all she had left. Naomi was homesick. The famine had ended in Israel so she decided to return to her birthplace of Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Naomi and her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, packed their stuff.
Traveling gave Naomi lots of time to think. Ruth and Orpah had both been born and raised in Moab. And now she was leading her daughters-in-law away from their home. How could she ask them to leave their home, their families, and their way of life? How could she expect them to follow an old woman to a strange place and a foreign culture?
Naomi drew in a deep breath. “Go back,” she said. “Both of you go back to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have to my dead sons and to me.” She kissed Ruth and Orpah goodbye. They wept and said, “We’ll go with you to your people.”
“Go home, my daughters,” Naomi said. “Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husbands? No. The Lord’s hand has moved against me.” Although she loved her daughters-in-law, Naomi had nothing to offer Ruth and Orpah. She blessed them and prayed that they would find new rest and possibly new husbands in their own land—a better life than she could offer them.
Ruth and Orpah wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth clung to Naomi. “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going home to her people and her gods. Go with her.”
With tears in her eyes, Ruth looked at Naomi and said, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
That said, Ruth followed Naomi to Bethlehem. As Naomi and Ruth arrived, the women in Bethlehem hurried toward them. “Naomi, is it really you?
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara because the Almighty has made my life bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. The Lord has brought bad things to me.”
At the time, Naomi was too sad to see past her suffering. God was faithful to Naomi. She had come home empty, but God filled her life again with blessings and joy. You can read more about that in Ruth’s story.
We all face hard things sometimes. Maybe you’ve already had some tough times. They can be as simple as failing a test or as complicated as living with a chronic illness like diabetes. Or maybe, like Naomi, someone you love has died—a parent, a brother or sister, a grandparent, a friend, or a favorite teacher.
You can choose to turn your pain or grief over to God. You can trust him to provide what you need to get through it. God is always good. He’s faithful to walk through tough times with you and to help you get through them.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
— Proverbs 3:5–6
I will trust in the Lord’s goodness even in the tough times when I don’t understand why bad things happen.
Dear heavenly father, I confess I can’t always see your purpose for me. Help me in difficult times to remember how much you love me. Please guide me as you guided Naomi. Amen.
In Latin levir means “husband’s brother.” In a levirate marriage, if a husband died and left his wife without a son, his brother would take the widow to be his wife. The first son she had would carry on the name of her dead husband. The continuation of a family name was important in the Jewish culture. You can read more about it in Deuteronomy 25:5–10.
The name Naomi means “pleasant” or “my delight.” The name Mara means “bitter.” Both names fit Naomi at different stages in her life and places in her spiritual journey.
The Moabites, the people group Naomi’s daughters-in-law were from, descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew.