Ruth 1:19-22--Naomi and Ruth Return

Ruth 1:19-22
English Standard Version

Naomi and Ruth Return
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

---

When Naomi came back to Judah, she returned to Bethlehem (where her husband was from).  When they came to town, the text says that the whole town was stirred because of them--the people could hardly believe that it was her because she had been gone for son long and she looked different and sounded different for sure after all she had been through.  In fact, she tries to change her identity when she returns (only God gets to change someone's identity in the Bible, nowhere does that Bible tell us that we get to choose our own identity based off of what we perceive to be reality or how we feel for a time, even if it's a very long time).  I think it's fair to say that Naomi was not only sad, but bitter, for that is the name that she chose for herself.  She suffered much pain over the last decade or so, and she has deep scars that she's carrying around inside her that still hurt and have been allowed to fester and now she is angry with the LORD for the pain that He has allowed to come into her life.

She considers herself to be under the judgment of the LORD (and she may be partially right about that, because going to Moab to seek food was sinful, and allowing their sins to marry Moabite women was also sinful, but those were sins of her husband.  God had spared her because He did not find her to be guilty, but the men in the family were punished.  Once her sons died, Naomi still cared for Orpah and Ruth like they were part of her family, because legally they were, though spiritually they were not.  It is easy to see why Naomi felt the way that she did, but that doesn't mean that God was to blame or that God didn't have a plan for her and Ruth.

The text then moves us along the story to tell us that it was the beginning of the barley harvest when they returned.  That's good news because it sounds like the famine is over, and while they may not have had money for wheat, at least the people had money to plant grain (barley is a less expensive grain than wheat and was the grain that the poorer people ate).  While Naomi was sad about things personally, we will see that she receives joy when she sees others blessed and so it must have been good for her spirits to return to the Land and the People and see the LORD blessing them once again.