Compare Naomi's feelings in Ruth 1:21 with Job's trials. What similarities exist? Naomi’s Bitter Cry – Ruth 1:21 “I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? For the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me.” • “Full” to “empty” – a vivid contrast between past blessing and present loss • Direct attribution of her calamity to the LORD’s hand • Name change to “Mara” (bitter), signaling deep inner anguish Job’s Trials in a Snapshot • Sudden loss of livestock, servants, and all ten children (Job 1:13-19) • Physical affliction with painful sores (Job 2:7-8) • Wife urges him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9) • Friends misread his plight, intensifying the pain (Job 4–31) Key statements: • “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD has given and the LORD has taken away.” (Job 1:21) • “Shall we accept good from God, and not adversity?” (Job 2:10) Shared Threads Between Naomi and Job • Profound personal loss – Naomi: husband and two sons (Ruth 1:3-5) – Job: children, wealth, health (Job 1–2) • Sense that God Himself is the active agent of their suffering – Naomi: “the Almighty has afflicted me.” – Job: “He has torn me in His wrath and hated me.” (Job 16:9) • Honesty in lament yet continued acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty – Naomi confesses “the LORD has brought me back.” – Job blesses the LORD even in bereavement (Job 1:21). • Emotional rawness bordering on despair – Naomi embraces the name “Bitter.” – Job curses the day of his birth (Job 3:1-10). • Hope still flickers through covenant faith – Naomi returns to Bethlehem, the place of God’s provision (Ruth 1:22). – Job declares, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” (Job 19:25). Takeaways for the Believer • Scripture validates candid lament without forfeiting faith. • Loss can feel personally delivered by God, yet He remains trustworthy. • Returning to God’s people and promises (Naomi to Bethlehem; Job to God) positions sufferers for eventual restoration (Ruth 4; Job 42). |
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