Bible Women: Naomi and the Theology of Suffering

And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. Rth 1:20 

Grief Has a Face

The book of Ruth is amazing. It is short, compact and grand. It reads like a drama, in one part teeming with unbounded pathos, and on another a romantic thriller.

An old man embarks on a journey. He is not alone. He has a wife and two sons. He also has a history. He comes from the ‘tribe of God’. His God is a covenant God. He is the life and soul of Israel.  

This ‘came to pass in the days when the judges ruled’. And ‘In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.’

So Elimelech ‘went to sojourn in the country of the Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.’ And they ‘continued there.’

But soon misfortune rained on this poor family.

And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. Rth 1:3-5  

And from here the narrative narrows on this ‘woman’ who ‘was left of her two sons and her husband.’ Her name is Naomi and it means pleasant. But there was nothing pleasant about her fate.

So Naomi and Ruth left Moab and came to Bethlehem. ‘And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?’ 

Grief had settled on Naomi’s face. And it was implacable. The bitterness which rolled forth out of her mouth ran for miles. 

And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? Rth 1:20-21 

The Sovereign God

The Jew sees God in everything, whether in happy times or sad times, whether in riches or poverty, whether in life or death. The God of the Jew is a Sovereign God. The Jew God was the one who defeated the Egyptian gods. The Jew saw it. And the Jew never forgot that. God was the centrality of his faith. So Naomi sees only God in her suffering. And Job laments, ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.’

Now one form of modern Christian theology runs that Christ died to make everybody rich, and if anyone today is poor then that is their own fault.

The other form of Christianity is traditionally based, and like Naomi’s religion, believes in the sovereignty of God. Life and suffering, and riches, and poverty and death are all within the ambit of God.

But these competing theologies were also prevalent during Job’s time. His friends believed Job suffered because of his sins. They defended God vigorously while they heaped all the blame on Job himself. A righteous man (so they believed) was rewarded by God with riches and not suffering. But in the end God rebuked Job’s friends for speaking falsely about him.

The Problem with Not Believing in a Sovereign God

Not believing God for everything is to limit the wisdom and power of God, as it is written:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isa 55:8-9  

This makes believing dependent upon results or works which we can see with our own eyes, and this is a problem to faith which endures. This also makes one permanently discontent and open to covetousness. 

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for. Rom 8:24-25

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of  yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph 2:8-9  

These all died in faith, not having received the promises… Heb 11:13  

It is true God rewards faith, but mostly it is with the internal graces of the heart, like peace, joy, contentment, patience, knowledge, and wisdom.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1Ti 6:6  

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God Col 3:3. 

So hang in there fellow Christian. Keep the faith and believe up to the end, even if it sounds like hoping against hope!

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Rom 5:1-5  

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Jas 1:2-4  

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Jas 1:12  

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1Pe 4:12-13  

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 1Pe 4:16  

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. 1Pe 4:19 

Bible Women: Delilah and Man’s Terrifying Fascination with the Female Body

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. Jdg 16:4  

A Power Stronger than Death

Man’s fascination with the body of a woman is legendary.

He has beheld the moon in full glare at night, and the multitude of stars sweeping the firmament, and the clear blue sky nudging him, and in his heart man has felt the stirrings of a distant God bemusedly looking down at him.

But man, beholding the beauty of the woman sitting next to him, has not felt a single stirring of the spiritual in her or him, but only lust.

So man has taken a pen (being a Naphtali in his heart), and in his writings, he has poured out all his frustrations on paper.

And I’ve seen, in the city, a man drive his car upon an innocent lamp post, simply because he has seen a red skirt cross the street…

Moreover you have read (haven’t you?) of men and the fortunes they have spent in Art Museums, simply to become the owner of a piece of clothing which was once worn by a world famous film actress.

And Abraham’s greatest headache was the beauty of his wife Sarah. She gave men sleepless nights. And Kings even took hold of her. But for God Abraham should’ve been killed.

But Dante, after having been awestruck by the beauty of young Beatrice, saw the hand of God in her. And Dante, choosing rather to pour his praises on the God who created Beatrice (and not the creature), gave us his epic Divine Comedy.

Thus Dante sublimated his infatuation with a woman into a worthier cause than falling astray to the base demands of concupiscence. And in the process we learn that God (Holy Beauty) does not torment. That is the work of the devil.

Womanhood is Beautiful 

In the whole of the Bible no one has waxed more lyrical about breasts than King Solomon in his Song of Songs. But the king does not glorify them. Rather the king glorifies the creator for his majesty, and power, and wisdom, and mystery, using the imagery of a woman.

Marriage is deep. The coming together of two distinct human beings (male and the female), and then becoming ‘one flesh.’ This is a spiritual phenomenon. It is a mystery. God created a woman separate from man, but from man!

And by this I believe God has placed a special honor and sanctity upon the woman. You almost feel a special ‘holiness’ about her. (So we feel sex outside marriage is an abuse, sex with a prostitute is a desecration of the body, and sex with another man’s wife is an execration, a curse).

Therefore it is no surprise that poets, painters and musicians go mad about the female! I think God has made us more intuitive than other people so that through our art we may declare to the world his glory. The beauty of the woman is good, but it is transient. Only the beauty of God is everlasting. Only his beauty is worthy to be worshipped.

And so scripture talks of the church as the bride of Christ. This is the underlying motif of Solomon’s Song of Songs. ‘Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love’ (Pro 5:19).

So let us love God. Let us worship him and praise him at all times. That is the whole purpose for our being here. ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created’ (Rev 4:11).  

‘But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death’ (Pro 8:36). And that is the depth of the trouble we sink into when we reject God’s purpose.    

The Evils of the World, Money, Power and Lust

So Samson, thrilled by the beauty of Delilah, thrilled himself to death. Delilah made him restless. She made him mad until God slipped off his mind. He even forgot that he was a Judge in Israel. Samson fell swiftly from the pinnacle of life to the valley of death.  

‘And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart…’ (Jdg 16:16-17a). 

‘And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him’ (Jdg 16:20b). 

And so for more than eleven hundred pieces of silver (‘and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver’) Delilah was won over. ‘Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand’ (Jdg 16:5b,18b).

And Judas for eleven pieces of silver sold Christ, ‘the king of glory’. For three years he sat at his feet nodding his head knowingly, while all along a bitter war ravaged through his heart.

The Man and the Battle with Image

There are images which, with the help of the media, we have bought.

It is used to be that image of a man holding a cigarette, glass in one hand, and the other brushing a woman’s short skirt.

That image has spoken to men and said loudly, ‘This is life.’

So we pursued it, relentlessly (and are still pursuing it), but the closer we come to it, the further it eludes us, and like a mirage, it keeps shimmering in the distance.

We have thirsted, and drunk, only to wake up and find it was a dream. We have pulled the blanket to cover ourselves, but it has come short, reaching only the knees (Isa 29:8; 28:20).

Outside the days are cold, and the nights shorter.

Waiters fill up the glasses, and sounds of music waft as if from the subterranean. But the floor remains empty, and the lights refuse to dazzle. And slowly the mind relapses into a state of unrelinquished drowsiness.   

We can pursue a thousand images, but in the end we shall have no soul for all of them. Our time on earth is short. It is fleeting, like vapour, and then it is no more. Tomorrow will be too late. The time for salvation is now.

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Jas 1:14-15 

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Joh 6:35  

Bible Women: Deborah, the Palm Tree Prophetess and Poetess

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.  And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. Jdg 4:4-5 

Names Have a History

It is very hard to sit under a palm tree all day long and not be a poet. A palm tree shade is for lovers, poets, prophets – and, revolutionaries.

I love Bible names. Do you?

Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Lear and Rachel. And now Deborah. Beautiful names. Like a palm tree their scent hangs in the air, calling out memories.

What is your daughter’s (or granddaughter’s) name?

I have seen grandmothers try (in broad daylight) to pronounce their granddaughters’ names. And it is a sad event to see them struggle to ‘eat’ them without teeth.

‘What’s in a name?’ scoffed Juliet.

I think everything.

A Christian name comes with territory as familiar as the Bible. It is a name embedded in a story as old as mankind, and I don’t think any grandmother would stammer at something like that.

Names have a history. Do you know yours?

Deborah means ‘bee’.

A Brief background to Deborah’s Story

God was at work (as he still is) to establish a distinctly peculiar people to himself, using the Israel people for our example.

We, the believers, are the children of Abraham by faith, and heirs with Christ, of the promises God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was a covenant relationship. And it is still a covenant relationship today.

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Deu 7:6  

Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Deu 9:5  

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1Pe 2:9  

The pendulum of belief kept swinging among the children of Israel, from belief to unbelief, from anger of God, to their cry for help, and to their deliverance. But they always went back again to apostasy. ‘In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes’ (Jdg 17:6).  

And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Jdg 2:1-2 

And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Jdg 2:14  

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. 

And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 

And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. Jdg 2:16-19 

And this is where and how the judge and prophetess Deborah comes in. 

Israel faces Sisera and 900 Chariots of Iron

The children of Israel cried to God. In his anger God had ‘sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan’ who oppressed them for twenty years. The king rained terror on them, using his captain Sisera, with his ‘nine hundred chariots of iron’.

But God heard them, and he spoke. And Deborah acted. She called Barak to the war against Sisera at river Kishon, but Barak, with ten thousand only men, halted. He said he could only go with Deborah beside him. And Deborah agreed, but she warned him that his glory would go to a woman (not Deborah). But Barak didn’t mind. ‘And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.’

The Deliverance and the Song of Deborah

‘Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day…’

So how many ‘chariots of iron’ are ranged against you today? Have you tried God?

If you believe in him please do. He delivers. And then we break into a song like Deborah. God is able to give one even in the night. Don’t fear. Just believe.

It almost looks natural that a prophet should transform into a poet. It happened with David, it happened with Moses, and it happened with Solomon too, and many others. And so the beauty of Deborah stays. She does not make herself so but God does. She glorifies his name, and in turn, we are lifted by her obedience and trust. She comforts, she encourages, she adjures, she sings and she laughs though she stings like a bee. That’s Deborah. It is a pleasant name, isn’t it?

Bible Women: Rahab, The Prostitute Who Found Grace

And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Jos 6:25  

Names are Hard to Erase

It is the one distinction about the Bible. Its faithfulness. So even though she found grace with God, but it still calls her by her old profession’s name - ‘Rahab the harlot’ (Jam 2:25; Heb 11:31).

It is a testimony to the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the grace of God. There is nowhere it cannot reach. It saves to the uttermost. Has it found you yet or are you still called by your old name?

From the Dust of death to the Grace of God

There are many who presume that prostitutes have no heart. But I have a testimony that they do, for I have had more relationships with prostitutes in my life than I’ve had with normal women.

For about ten years I was a truck driver (which belonged to my father). And as a truck driver I traversed the country and there is virtually no town in Kenya I haven’t slept in. And I didn’t sleep alone. My fellow truck drivers told me it wasn’t normal for an African man to sleep alone and I believed them. 

Most of them are dead now, having succumbed to AIDS. Why didn’t I catch it myself? That is the grace of God. And it is why I am not ashamed to declare his works.

Yes, most prostitutes are ravenous like a pack of hyenas. They will maul you alive if you are not looking.

But a few have a heart. And I almost fell in love with one. I loved prostitutes because they were not emotionally draining. Hers was a trade, and I got the goods I paid for.

But I met one who was different. She didn’t want my money. She wanted to be loved like a human. She wanted us to marry and have children. She wanted to live a normal life. But I felt she was becoming too possessive so I fled. (The men who deal with prostitutes are themselves prostitutes. They have no heart).

So when I read that a prostitute found grace with God I understand. I can resonate with her story, but even more, I can understand God’s unmerited grace which saves even up to the uttermost – even to a prostitute!

From a Moral Pariah to a Saint

Rahab wasn’t saved because she was good.

‘As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one’ (Rom 3:9-10).   

But God had mercy on her because of her faith. By her words to the messengers of God she clearly demonstrated that she believed in the sovereign God of Israel.

And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Jos 2:9-11  

Rahab became an Israelite after the destruction of her pagan city of Jericho.

She went on to marry from Israel and entered into that unique lineage of Christ (Mat. 1:5).

She also enters into the league of Heroes of Faith, and consequently becomes a saint (Heb 11:31).

‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ (Isa 1:18).  

From Ashes to Beauty

God changes everything and he starts a new thing. We who believe were like Rahab before. Spiritually we were like harlots, dead in sins. We shut our ears and eyes to the truth. We were children of disobedience and wrath. But now, by his grace (thank God), we are saved (Eph 2:1-3). We were blind, but now we can see. We were dead, but now we are alive. The veil has lifted and everything is clear now.

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 1Co 6:11  

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Eph 1:7  

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Tit 3:5 

God did it with Rahab. He did it with Tamar. He did it with Bathsheba. He can do it with you too if you can call on his name. He maketh a way where there is no way. He maketh rivers to spring up in the desert. He maketh beauty from ashes. So go girl! Get him!

Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. Mat 21:31b. 

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luk 5:32  

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. Eze 16:8  

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psa 30:11-12