The Love Story #6 — A Widow in a Foreign Land | Moheb Mina
Section Six
”A Widow in a Foreign Land”
Elimelech’s death left the love of his life alone in a foreign land with her two sons.
He was buried in Moab — the land of one of the most hostile peoples to Bethlehem and Judah.
The land he had entered to escape death became the land that received his body.
Naomi’s heart became even heavier.
The loneliness. The responsibility that fell on her shoulders. The partner who understood her culture, her customs, her beliefs, her language — he was gone.
She took off her bright clothing and put on the black dress, as is the custom in some Middle Eastern cultures even to this day.
It was even harder now to keep her walls up. The pressure on her shoulders was enormous. She was a widow. She had gained another identifying mark — not only an outsider and a foreigner, but now a widow.
That stripped away whatever status she had once held in Moab as the wife of Elimelech. In that time, losing a husband meant losing status, protection, and voice.
She had only Mahlon and Chilion now.
Many months passed.
She tried to wrestle with all the thoughts that came to her mind about the loss of Elimelech. She tried to deal with the grief. She tried to understand why Yahweh would bring these crises upon them.
But in the midst of all of that, Mahlon and Chilion never gave up their desire to marry the women they had chosen with their own eyes.
One day, the two sons came to Naomi.
“Mother, we need to talk with you about something. We need to get married. It has been a few months since our father’s death. We can consummate our marriage now.”
In those days, a family observed months of mourning before any celebration was permitted. The sons had waited. Now they were done waiting.
Naomi cried.
“No. No, no. Don’t do this to me. Not again.”
She knew in her heart that by doing this, her family would be departing even further from Yahweh. They would be breaking His commands. So she pleaded with them.
“Things will get better in Bethlehem soon. We will go back there. You can have wives from your own tribe and your own clan. You know we are not permitted to marry Moabites according to the law. Please, my boys — don’t do this to me. Don’t break my heart. We have been through enough.”
They both replied, “Things are so bad in Bethlehem. They won’t change soon. Don’t you know that we are living in a time where everyone does what pleases them? It’s hopeless.”
Naomi knew that by marrying Moabite women, they would be disobeying Yahweh.
“Yahweh has commanded us not to enter into marriage with the Moabites,” she told them.
They tried to argue with her. “Why did Yahweh say that? That is an old law. Don’t you know what is happening back home? People do as they please.”
It was too much for Naomi to handle. But she knew that God had commanded His people for two reasons. So she told them.
“Listen, my sons. When we were coming out of Egypt, the Moabites did not help us. They did not allow us to go through their land to the Promised Land.
‘An Ammonite or Moabite may not join with the men of Israel when they gather to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants, to the tenth generation, may join in the worship of the Lord. The Ammonites and Moabites refused to give you bread and water on your trip at the time you came from Egypt. They also tried to hire Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you.’
— Deuteronomy 23:3-4
“The second reason is what happened at Acacia.
‘While the Israelites were camped near Acacia, the men committed sexual sins with Moabite women. The Moabite women invited the men to come and join in their sacrifices to their false gods. So the Israelites joined in worshiping these false gods. There the Israelites began worshiping the false god, Baal of Peor. And the Lord became very angry with them.’
— Numbers 25:1-2
Naomi did not argue further. She left them to their own choices.
And she could do nothing.
The tents were pitched. The drums were being tuned. Women gathered to prepare the feast.
Children ran between the adults, laughing, chasing, alive with the excitement of celebration.
Naomi stood at the edge of the wedding celebration.
She had not been able to stop it. She had pleaded. She had wept. She had opened the Scriptures and laid the commands of Yahweh before her sons like a wall.
But the wall had not held.
And now here she was.
How did we come to this? she asked herself.
Her sons were getting married. A mother should rejoice at this moment. And part of her did — the part that loved Mahlon and Chilion more than her own breath, the part that had carried them through famine and exile and foreign fields and sleepless nights. That part of her wanted to sing.
But the tears that fell down her cheeks were not only tears of joy.
Some were bitter. Some were sweet. She could not separate them anymore.
There was a pain in her stomach that would not leave. Deep and quiet and persistent. The kind of pain that does not announce itself loudly but simply sits in you and will not move.
As the ceremony began, Naomi’s mind drifted far away from Moab.
She saw herself as a young bride in Bethlehem. She saw her own wedding — the faces of her parents, the blessing of the elders, the prayers lifted to Yahweh in a language she understood, in a land where she belonged. She saw Elimelech’s face as he took her hand. She heard the music of her people, not the strange drums of Moab.
She could hear the voices of her parents. Her tribe. The generations that had carried the covenant from Sinai to Bethlehem and placed it in her hands to pass on. She could hear her mother warning her about the Moabites around a lamp at dusk. She could hear her father reciting the Shema with the seriousness of a man who believed every word.
And now she was watching the name of Elimelech — the name that meant My God is King — pass into the hands of Moabite women.
How could she excuse that?
She could not.
So she stood there. She smiled when her sons looked her way. And she swallowed everything else.
They both got married to Moabite women. One was called Orpah. The other was called Ruth.
Now there were three women under the roof of Elimelech.
The Love Story: In the Dark Despair — He Is Sovereign Behind the Scene
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