RUTHIE!!!

CHAPTER 5

…so she set out from the place where she was, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah…

It was not fair. She was taking them away from their families. She remembered how she had felt upon coming to this land, with its strange tongue, new beliefs, gods made of stone and wood. Her daughters-in-law were young, still very innocent and attractive. They would bear some good men some fine sons. Taking them along with her to Judah would be a mistake.

She turned to them and said she was tired. “We had better rest.”

Ruth was about to make a fire when Naomi stopped her.

“It is not needed. Go. You have to go. You both.Back to your mother’s house. You have been very kind to me, and to my two sons of blessed memory.” She paused and collected herself.

“May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with me and my family. The Lord grant that you find a home, each of you in the house of her husband!”

She was overcome with emotion. Then she kissed them, and they all wept.

After that brief moment of weakness, they said in unison to her, “No. we will return with you to your people.

 “No. You are my only family now. Don’t tell us to leave, Naomi.” That was Ruth.

“Turn back,” Naomi said firmly. “Why will you go with me? I have no more sons to be your husbands. Go your way. I am way too old for marriage and you know that”

“Even if I am to have hope, and have a husband this dark night, and bear sons, would you wait for them to grow? Would you stop yourselves from marrying, from having children? No. I am bitter for your sake; that you have to be involved when the hand of the Lord has stretched forth against me.”

She could see the tears welling up in their eyes, and they started crying again. Orpah kissed her, obviously the sensible one, and since they were not too far from Moab, she gathered her few belongings and walked away, to her home and her future.

Naomi had just finished wiping the tears from her eyes when she noticed: Ruth still stood there, her jaw set stubbornly.

“Now, child,” Naomi said, “don’t be like that. See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return to your people.”

“You said Orpah, Naomi, not me. Don’t tell me to leave you. Where you go I will go. And where you stay I surely will set up camp and tent.”

“Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.”

She seemed drained after her little speech, and looked with pleading eyes at Naomi, who by now was staring at the young one in astonishment. When she was sure she still had her tongue, she shook her head and then asked.

 “Well then,” a slight pause, “what are we waiting for?”

*

“…So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And the whole town was stirred because of them. The women said, “Is this Naomi?”

Halau and the others were on their way to the market; the footpath dusty and worn from its many years of use. She spotted an old lady, one whose gait was suspiciously familiar. She was accompanied by a young woman, obviously a foreigner. Halau noted the younger one’s breathtaking beauty right away, and wondered what her business was, in Judah.

When they had gotten closer, Halau heard the older one speak. It took but a bit for her to place the voice she knew so well.

“Naomi! Is that you?” Halau exclaimed, facing the older woman.

Her head was covered with sackcloth. She uncovered her face and replied, “Halau!” remembering her friend.

“Halau!” then she saw the two girls with Halau’s dark eyes. Naomi’s eyes narrowed, regaining that faraway look, and Halau, a woman of great sense pulled her to the other side of the pathway.

“Your children I suppose” Naomi had said. Halau had looked at the girls who appeared to be drilling the foreigner, had smiled and replied.

“The Lord has been good” studying Naomi’s reaction.

The woman’s face had fallen and she was seemed to be in great distress. Why was she here? And where were her children? Halau wondered if Elim’elech was still in good health, her friend was always a strong one and even she, looked beaten.

“Are you alright? Naomi?”

Naomi was looking at her, Halau’s face telling her all. She shook her head and replied.

“Don’t call me Naomi, Halau. Call me Mara. For Yahweh has dealt bitterly with me. I left Judah full, and He has brought me back empty. What’s the point in calling me Naomi, when the Lord has afflicted me, and brought calamity upon me?” her rheumy eyes watering with many tears yet unshed.

Halau looked at her friend, really looked. Then she understood. “Mara it is, then.”