“So she departed from the place
where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way
to return to the land of Judah. And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,
"Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly
with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”
Pack
up your bags and move on with your life. Hit the trail. Have you ever wanted to
do that…have you ever done just that? My husband was in the US Air Force for
twenty years—so we moved a few times. It was hard to leave friends behind, but
it was always exciting to start off on a new adventure. When he retired it was
both exciting and we had a bit apprehension to start a new civilian life—but we
headed for “home”. We departed from the place we were to return to my hometown
in the land of Washington State. We had joy filled open arms and hearts waiting
for us—a feast of family love.
Naomi
was devastated with the loss of her husband and sons, so she headed for the
land of Judah, her home. She had been living in Moab long enough—the famine was
over and she had no reason to stay there. Her daughters-in-law lived with her,
and thus began to travel with her. Naomi must have realized that they needed to
stay with their own people, their own culture, and not go to live with her in
Judah. She told them to go back to their mother’s home. Naomi probably didn’t
feel that she would be able to feed the two young women once they got to Judah,
which would be her responsibility since there were no living males in their
family to support them.
Spiritually Naomi couldn’t guide her idol
worshipping daughters-in-law since the spiritual leadership of a family was the
eldest male’s responsibility. What was Naomi to do? What would you have done?
Sending them back with the blessing, “May
the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me,”
was the kindest thing that Naomi could have done. The Lord that Naomi spoke of
was Yahweh, the covenant keeping God of Israel. To “deal kindly” meant to be
loyal, steadfast or show faithful love. What a wonderful compassionate blessing
Naomi was bestowing on her daughters-in-law. Naomi loved God with all her
heart, soul and mind and she wanted the best for her daughters-in-law who had
treated her and her sons with loving kindness.
Lord, deal kindly
with us as we seek to know You more deeply.
Traveling Food for Naomi
My husband likes to have fried chicken gizzards and
dill pickles to eat as we travel—but that was not the food of choice for Naomi.
Although the Bible doesn’t tell us what she would have taken along it is likely
that she started out with some fresh goat cheese or yogurt, unleavened pita
bread, some fresh fruit like apricots , and then some grains, dried fruits like
dates, raisins and figs. She would have taken and eaten fresh foods first,
since there wasn’t refrigeration on the road or even in the homes at that time.
Remember that it would have taken seven to ten days to walk back to Bethlehem
from Moab. That meant taking food for seven to ten days with them, probably
wrapped in a cloth, not a Ziploc bag. Trail mix would have been a great food
for the journey.
Naomi’s Trail Mix
1 cup of coarsely ground grain1 cup sliced almonds or pistachio nuts
3 cups dried fruit: raisins, dates, chopped figs
Mix all ingredients and store in a tightly sealed
container. Enjoy while walking, hiking or resting.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek.
All rights reserved.
1 comment:
Mickey, I've enjoyed how you give the historical background on Ruth. I've found there's a lot of historical stuff I don't know - like the fact that it's a Jewish custom to read the entire book of Ruth on Pentecost. My dad didn't even know that! Good job on the Jewish trail mix - I'll have to try that sometime :)
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