From Pleasant To Bitter Series

My point being that no matter what the source of her trials, her anger against God was misplaced and the result of a heart not resting in God’s goodness.

Look now at verse 20 – “And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.”

What did she mean by this? Remember that the meaning of names was more important in ancient society than today, and in Ruth, the meaning of names is essential to understand the book. Naomi means “pleasant” while Mara means “bitter.”

So she was saying, in effect, “Don’t call me Pleasant anymore. Call me the opposite of that—BITTER—because I am just a bitter old woman!”

Notice why she was telling everyone to call her Bitter instead of Pleasant at the end of verse 20– “…for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.”

Look also at verse 21 – “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?”

Naomi had developed a deep resentment and bitterness against God. She was questioning God’s wisdom in His dealings with her—“Why is God doing this to me? I don’t deserve this. He’s got some kind of vendetta against me.”

Now before you judge Naomi too harshly, let’s be honest and admit that, though we may not have stooped to this degree of resentment that Naomi did, we too have probably questioned the Lord’s dealings in our lives during times of trials. I know I certainly have. But to do so is to look at our trials through the eyes of unbelief. In the end the Lord has a purpose in what He wants to accomplish in our lives, and trials are the tools God uses to mold and form us.

Just as with a diamond in the rough, where the craftsman must take sharp tools to chip away the rock growing around the diamond to reveal its glorious beauty, so must God, the Master-Craftsman use trials to chip away the things in our lies that do not conform to His character and will in our lives.

III. NOTE THIRD THAT NAOMI’S COUNTENANCE, ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR CHANGED BECAUSE OF HER BITTERNESS – Verse 19b – “… 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?”

The people were shocked! Naomi didn’t even look the same.

Part of their surprise, I’m sure, was the change that resulted from aging. But that is to be expected when one has been away for some time. Personally, I think something else is intimated here. Doctors tell us that bitterness causes one’s face to become hard-looking because bitterness can cause clinching and grinding of the teeth, resulting in the consequent characteristic hard-set of the jaw we often see with bitter people.

Not only did Naomi LOOK different, but she also had attitudes and actions that revealed a bitter spirit.